English Online Dictionary. What means thumbnail? What does thumbnail mean?
English
Etymology
From thumb + nail. The phrase thumbnail sketch was first attested 1852. Verb sense attested 1930s.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈθʌm.neɪl/
- Rhymes: -eɪl
Noun
thumbnail (plural thumbnails)
- The fingernail on the thumb.
- A rough sketch (e.g., the size of one's thumbnail).
- (chiefly computing) A small picture, used as a compact representation of a larger image.
- (social media) A picture displayed by posts and videos pre-clicked conveying the matters discussed/shown in that post.
Usage notes
- (computing): Unlike an icon, which is generally a representative symbol, a thumbnail is a smaller identical copy of the original larger image.
Derived terms
- thumbnail moon
Descendants
- → Japanese: サムネイル (samuneiru), サムネール (samunēru), サムネ (samune) — clipping
- → Portuguese: thumbnail
- → German: Thumbnail
Translations
See also
- (computing): icon, thumbshot
Verb
thumbnail (third-person singular simple present thumbnails, present participle thumbnailing, simple past and past participle thumbnailed)
- (transitive) To describe concisely.
- (transitive, computing) To create a smaller representation of (a larger image).
Derived terms
- thumbnailer
Translations
Further reading
- Maven's Word of the Day, December 11, 1997
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “thumb”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Portuguese
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English thumbnail.
Pronunciation
Noun
thumbnail m (plural thumbnails)
- (computing) thumbnail (a miniature preview of a larger image)
- Synonym: miniatura