Origin: Latin suffix -al
Digital has 5 different meanings across 1 category:
A digital option.
"The broker offered us a digital option that would double our investment if the stock closed above $100 by Friday's market close."
In plain English: Digital is a noun referring to data stored as numbers rather than physical objects.
"The digital on my phone keeps showing me an error message."
Usage: As a noun in everyday contexts, "digital" refers to information or communication transmitted in discrete units rather than continuous analog signals. It is most commonly used to describe devices like smartphones or computers that process data digitally, but it can also function as shorthand for a specific digital choice or format.
Having to do with digits (fingers or toes); performed with a finger.
"Please keep your hand steady while I use my digital probe to check your pulse at the base of your thumb."
In plain English: Digital means something that uses electronic signals instead of physical parts to store or send information.
"I pay for my groceries with a digital wallet on my phone."
Usage: In modern usage, digital refers to information processed by computers or electronic devices rather than analog mechanical systems. Although it literally means relating to fingers or toes, this original sense rarely appears in everyday conversation outside of specific medical or anatomical contexts.
The word digital comes from the Latin digitālis, which was formed by combining digitus (meaning "finger" or "toe") with the suffix -alis. It entered English as a doublet of digitalis, originally describing something related to fingers or toes.