Digit- prefix means what?

• A. Finger, toe
• B. In front of, before
• C. About, around
• D. Hand

Answer: (A)

The main concept here is that the root digit- comes from Latin digitus, meaning finger or toe. In medical terminology, digit- is used to refer to the fingers or toes, not the whole hand and not prepositions like before or around. That’s why the best meaning is finger or toe. You can see it in terms like digital (relating to fingers) and digitate (having finger-like projections). The other ideas come from different roots: front of/before would come from prefixes like ante- or pre-, and around would be peri- or circum-, which aren’t what digit- conveys.