Interdigitate
Verb
- (Of two or more things) Interlock like the fingers of two clasped hands.
Example Sentences
“The contractors you recommended did a great job interdigitating the old hardwood flooring with the new.”
“The chair was finely woven with interdigitating lines of colored cane.”
“When the safe’s lock is engaged, the protective steel bands interdigitate and make it impossible to open.”
Word Origin
Latin, mid-19th century
Why this word?
“Interdigitate” is a 19th-century merger of Latin pieces. The prefix “inter-” (meaning “between”) joins “digitus” (meaning “finger or toe”) to evoke the image of fingers meshed together in sequence. Most people have a personal preference toward how they interdigitate (in the literal sense of interlocking their fingers). Some people prefer to have their right thumb on top when they clasp their hands, others prefer to have their left on top, and a third group of ambidextrous people are comfortable either way. Beyond having ruled out a genetic explanation for this preference, researchers do not know why the preference exists. The word “interdigitate,” however, can be used for any interlocking pattern, not just fingers.