dedo

From Spanish and Portuguese dedo (“digit, finger”), from Old Spanish and Old Galician-Portuguese dedo, from Latin digitus, from Proto-Indo-European *deyǵ- (“to show, to point out”). Doublet of digit.

dedo (plural dedos)

1. (historical) A traditional short Spanish unit of length, usually about equal to 1.75 cm.
2. (historical) A traditional short Portuguese unit of length, usually about equal to 1.8 cm.

• finger, digit (in Spanish or Portuguese contexts)

• (Spanish unit): punto (¹⁄₁₀₈ dedo), linea (¹⁄₉ dedo), pulgada (1+¹⁄₃ dedos), coto (6 dedos), palmo (12 dedos), pie (16 dedos), codo (24 dedos), vara (48 dedos)
• (Portuguese unit): ponto (¹⁄₉₆ dedo), linha (¹⁄₈ dedo), grao (¹⁄₄ dedo), polegada (1+¹⁄₂ dedos), palmo (12 dedos), Portuguese foot (18 dedos), covado (36 dedos), vara (60 dedos)

Inherited from Spanish dedo (“finger”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈdedo/, [ˈd̪e.d̪o]
• Hyphenation: de‧do

dedo

1. finger

From Old Galician-Portuguese dedo, from Latin digitus. Cognate with Portuguese dedo, Spanish dedo and Catalan dit.

• IPA^(key): /ˈdedo/ [ˈd̪e.ð̞ʊ]
• Rhymes: -edo

dedo m (plural dedos)

1. finger
2. toe

   Synonym: deda

3. jigger

• “dedo”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• “dedo”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026

From Old Spanish dedo, from Latin digitus.

dedo m

1. (anatomy) finger

From dē- + dō (“to give”).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈdeː.doː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈdɛː.do]

dēdō (present infinitive dēdere, perfect active dēdidī, supine dēditum); third conjugation

1. (transitive) to hand over, surrender, give up, consign, deliver, yield, abandon

   Synonyms: dēserō, relinquō, omittō, concēdō, cēdō, dēcēdō, dēstituō, dēficiō, oblīvīscor, linquō, dēsinō, dissimulō, trādō, addīcō, praetereō, neglegō, dēspondeō, pōnō, dō, reddō, remittō, permittō, dēferō, trānsferō, tribuō

2. to devote, dedicate

   Synonyms: studeō, serviō

• dēditīcius
• dēditiō
• dēditus

• Romanian: deda

• “dedo”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “dedo”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “dedo”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• dedo in Enrico Olivetti, editor (2003-2026), Dizionario Latino, Olivetti Media Communication
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to abandon oneself to inactivity and apathy: desidiae et languori se dedere
    
  • to devote oneself absolutely to the pursuit of pleasure: se totum voluptatibus dedere, tradere
    
  • to devote oneself entirely to literature: se totum litteris tradere, dedere
    
  • to abandon oneself to vice: animum vitiis dedere
    
  • to abandon oneself (entirely) to debauchery: se (totum) libidinibus dedere
    
  • to give up one's person and all one's possessions to the conqueror: se suaque omnia dedere victori
    

Inherited from Latin digitum.

Cognate with Old Spanish dedo.

• IPA^(key): /ˈde.do/
• Rhymes: -edo
• Hyphenation: de‧do

dedo m (plural dedos)

1. digit (finger or toe)

• Fala: deu
• Galician: dedo
• Portuguese: dedo (see there for further descendants)

• Ferreiro, Manuel (2014–2026), “dedo”, in Universo Cantigas: edición crítica da poesía medieval galego-portuguesa [Universo Cantigas: critical edition of Galician-Portuguese medieval poetry] (in Galician), A Coruña: University of A Coruña, →ISSN
• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “dedo”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “dedo”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese dedo, from Latin digitus, from Proto-Indo-European *deyǵ- (“to show, point out, pronounce solemnly”). Doublet of dígito, which was borrowed. Compare Galician dedo, Spanish dedo, and Catalan dit.

• Audio (Brazil):

  (file)

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -edu
• Hyphenation: de‧do

dedo m (plural dedos)

1. digit, a part of the body inclusive of fingers or toes
2. (informal, measure) finger, the width of a finger as an approximate unit of length

   adicione quatro dedos de leite ― add four fingers of milk

3. (historical, measure) dedo, a traditional Portuguese unit of measurement about equal to 1.8 cm
4. (figuratively) a small amount or something, either physical or metaphorical

   Coloque um dedo de açúcar.

   Add a small amount of sugar

   Há um dedo de psicologia no atendimento ao cliente.

   There is a hint of psychology in costumer service.

The use of dedo as either finger or toe is usually inferred by context. If needed, one can say dedo da mão (“hand digit”) or dedo do pé (“foot digit”).

• dedo da mão (finger), dedo do pé (toe)

• ponto (¹⁄₉₆ dedo), linha (¹⁄₈ dedo), grão (¹⁄₄ dedo), polegada (1+¹⁄₂ dedos), palmo (12 dedos), côvado (36 dedos), vara (60 dedos), braça (120 dedos)

• Kabuverdianu: dedu
• Kristang: dedu
• Papiamentu: dede
• → Nheengatu: dedu

• “dedo”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “dedo”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *dědъ.

• IPA^(key): /ɟedɔ/, [ˈɟedɔ]
• Rhymes: -edɔ
• Hyphenation: de‧do

dedo m pers (relational adjective dedovský, diminutive dedko or deduško)

1. old man

   Synonym: starec

2. grandfather

   Synonyms: starý otec, ded

   Dedo Mráz—Grandfather Frost (inspired by the Russian Дед Мороз, a nonreligious variation of Santa)

• “dedo”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2026

Inherited from Old Spanish dedo, from Latin digitus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deyǵ- (“to show, point out, pronounce solemnly”). Doublet of dígito, which was borrowed rather than inherited. Cognate with Catalan dit, Galician and Portuguese dedo, French doigt, Italian dito, Romanian deget.

• IPA^(key): /ˈdedo/ [ˈd̪e.ð̞o]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -edo
• Syllabification: de‧do

dedo m (plural dedos)

1. finger

   El pan, el queso y la fruta con dos dedos comerás; con tres también podrás; mas con cuatro ya es cosa bruta.

   Bread, cheese and fruit with two fingers thou shalt eat; with three thou also mayest; but with four it is the stuff of brutes already.

2. (anatomy) digit (a part of the body inclusive of fingers or toes)
3. thimble (a small device to protect a thumb or finger during sewing)
4. (informal) finger (the width of a finger as an approximate unit of length)
5. (historical) dedo (a traditional Spanish unit of measurement about equal to 1.75 cm)

• dedo del pie (toe), dedo de mano (finger)

• (historical unit of length): punto (¹⁄₁₀₈ dedo), línea (¹⁄₉ dedo), pulgada (1+¹⁄₃ dedos), coto (6 dedos), palmo (12 dedos), pie (16 dedos), codo (24 dedos), vara (48 dedos)

• pulgar

• “dedo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Borrowed from Spanish dedo, from Old Spanish dedo, from Latin digitus. Doublet of dihito.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈdedo/ [ˈd̪ɛː.d̪o]
• Rhymes: -edo
• Syllabification: de‧do

dedo (Baybayin spelling ᜇᜒᜇᜓ) (anatomy)

1. finger

   Synonym: daliri

From English dead +‎ Spanish -o. Compare deds.

• (Standard Tagalog)
  • IPA^(key): /ˈdedoʔ/ [ˈd̪ɛː.d̪oʔ] (“dead”, adjective)
    • Rhymes: -edoʔ
  • IPA^(key): /deˈdoʔ/ [d̪ɛˈd̪oʔ] (“in trouble”, adjective)
    • Rhymes: -oʔ
• Syllabification: de‧do

dedò (Baybayin spelling ᜇᜒᜇᜓ) (slang)

1. dead

   Synonyms: patay, yari, (slang) deds, (slang) tigok, (slang) todas

dedô (Baybayin spelling ᜇᜒᜇᜓ) (slang)

1. (figurative) in trouble; dead meat

   Synonyms: patay, lagot, huli

• “dedo”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018
• Zorc, R. David; San Miguel, Rachel (1993), Tagalog Slang Dictionary, Manila: De La Salle University Press, →ISBN, page 38