Ring finger

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The ring finger

The ring finger ( Latin Digitus Annularis ), formerly Goldfinger and heart Finger called, is the fourth finger of the hand ( Digitus manus quartus ) and is located between the middle finger and the little finger . It is supported by three phalanx bones.

The finger length ratio ( 2D: 4D ) of the ring and index finger , as a result of fetal hormone levels, is associated with various personality characteristics and disease dispositions .

etymology

Marriage - husband puts the wedding ring on his wife

The name ring finger is due to the fact that rings ( Latin annulus for "ring") are often worn on this finger . In Germany and some other European countries, the engagement ring is worn on the left ring finger and the wedding ring is later worn on the right ring finger, in Switzerland and Italy the other way round. In antiquity and antiquity , it was believed that a vein from the left ring finger leads directly to the heart and thus to love, which is why both Egyptians and Romans wore the wedding ring on this finger (“… nervum quendam tenuissimum ab eo uno digito, de quo diximus, ad cor hominis pergere ac pervenire ”, Aulus Gellius , Noctes Atticae X, 10).

The (right) ring finger has taken over the function of the digitus medicinalis from the middle finger and is therefore also called the doctor's finger . Doctors originally used the middle finger to apply ointments, but at the same time it was known as the finger ( digitus impudicus ). Presumably, by changing the doctor's finger to the ring finger, the doctor's healing hand should be freed from the touch of obscene.

According to László A. Magyar, the name of the finger reflects the belief in its magic effect in many cultures , for example in Turkey , Finland , Bulgaria and Russia it is called nameless fingers out of respect (cf. Russian безымянный палец ; Turkish adsız parmak ; Finnish nimetön sormi ; Bulgarian безимен пръст ), also in China ( 无名指 ).

Agility and commitment

Although the motor control of the hand occupies a large region in the brain, the ring finger has only limited mobility compared to the other fingers. In terms of evolutionary biology , the ring finger mainly has a supporting function in grasping and practically no tasks of its own. Therefore, the ring finger is used the least of all fingers alone, but mostly together with its neighboring fingers. When playing musical instruments ( fingering ) or typing , the finger takes on independent tasks.

The budding pianist and later composer Robert Schumann hung weights on his ring fingers to strengthen them. He suffered tendinitis and his ring fingers were permanently damaged. His prospect of becoming a concert pianist was destroyed, but his career as a composer began.

literature

  • László A. Magyar: Digitus Medicinalis - the Etymology of the Name . In: Actes du Congr. Intern. d'Hist. de Med. XXXII . Antwerp 1990, p. 175–179 ( geocities.com ( memento of July 29, 2009 on the Internet Archive )).

Web links

Commons : ring finger  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Ringfinger  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. What the length of the index and ring finger reveals . Welt Online , September 20, 2011, accessed December 12, 2017
  2. S. Lutchmaya, S. Baron-Cohen, P. Raggatt, R. Knickmeyer, JT Manning: 2nd to 4th digit ratios, fetal testosterone and estradiol. In: Early Human Development. 77, 2004, pp. 23-28, doi: 10.1016 / j.earlhumdev.2003.12.002 .
  3. wedding ring. arte.tv, collision
  4. Amoris vein . Americamagazine.org
  5. Why do you wear the wedding ring on the right in Germany? Juwelier-schmuck.de - guide
  6. Thomas Gleinser: Anna von Diesbach's Bernese 'Pharmacopoeia' in the Erlacher version of Daniel von Werdts (1658) , Part II: Glossary . (Medical dissertation Würzburg), now at Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 1989 (=  Würzburg medical-historical research. Volume 46), p. 39 ( artzet finger ).
  7. Ludwig Klages: Character Studies II . In: Complete Works . 1st edition. tape 5 . Bouvier, Bonn 1979, ISBN 3-416-01364-6 , pp. 458 .
  8. History of everyday gestures: From digitus medicinalis to the finger . In: Deutsches Ärzteblatt , 1998; 95 (22), p. [36]
  9. What the finger has to say . In: Berliner Morgenpost , March 13, 2009
  10. a b Thomas de Padova: Why is the ring finger so immobile? In: Der Tagesspiegel , March 28, 2012. Retrieved June 11, 2020.