423: opposable (thumbs) Feb 4, 2016

Opposable thumbs are called what they are because the thumb can touch other fingers. Most primates and a few other animals have opposable thumbs, but humans have the most mobility. 'Opposable thumb' does not mean that one has the ability to hate human-thumbs, although we often think of 'oppose' to mean 'act against', and this is true. 'Opposable' in this case is close to the Latin root of, 'opponere', which was influenced by the word, 'oppositus' which means to ‘set or place against’.