A finger or toe; a unit of measurement equal to the width of a finger used in astronomy and medicine.
From Old French and Latin 'digitus' (finger). Used in medieval and Renaissance scientific texts to measure angles and distances when modern tools didn't exist.
Before we had protractors and rulers, scientists actually measured angles in 'fingers' and 'hand-breadths'—one doigt was about 1/8 of a degree! Astronomers would literally use their own hands as measuring instruments, which is why 'digit' now means finger and also a number.
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