fingerprint

/ˌfɪŋgərˈprɪnt/

/ˈfɪŋgəprɪnt/

Other forms: fingerprints; fingerprinting; fingerprinted

The impression or mark that your finger makes on a surface is a fingerprint. And the one-of-a-kind pattern of raised whorls and lines on your fingertip? That's also a fingerprint.

The earliest attempts to identify people using the prints their fingers made were in the 1820s, and by 1834 the word fingerprint came into use. To fingerprint someone is to press their finger into a pad of ink and then onto paper; after an arrest, the resulting fingerprints are put on file. The pattern on a person's fingertip is nearly unique, distinct, and won't change during their lifetime, making it a useful way to confirm someone's identity.

Definitions of fingerprint

1. noun

   a print made by an impression of the ridges in the skin of a finger; often used for biometric identification in criminal investigations
   types:

   loop

   the basic pattern of the human fingerprint

   thumbprint

   fingerprint made by the thumb (especially by the pad of the thumb)

   type of:

   biometric authentication, biometric identification, identity verification

   the automatic identification of living individuals by using their physiological and behavioral characteristics

   mark, print

   a visible indication made on a surface
2. noun

   a smudge made by a (dirty) finger
   synonyms: fingermark

   type of:

   blot, daub, slur, smear, smirch, smudge, spot

   a blemish made by dirt
3. verb

   take an impression of a person's fingerprints
   type of:

   reproduce

   make a copy or equivalent of
4. noun

   a generic term for any identifying characteristic
   “that tax bill had the senator's fingerprints all over it”

   type of:

   identification

   evidence of identity; something that identifies a person or thing