Digit

Digit (Lat. digitus, 'a finger'), a term applied to the ten symbols of number, 0, 1, 2, &c. to 9; thus, 305 is said to be a number of three digits. Numbers were originally indicated by the fingers, and hence the name. Astronomers use digit to signify a twelfth-part of the diameter of the sun or moon, and speak of an eclipse of seven digits, meaning that seven-twelfths of the diameter is covered.