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Glite Dictionary
Finger Lakes

Finger Lakes

1 3.7
A region of long narrow lakes in central New York that run north to south
  • proper noun
translation icon : Lagos Finger
  • ARS is breaking new ground in grape research in New York's Finger Lakes region, whose storied history with viticulture and the wine industry dates back to the 1850s.
  • Finger Lakes region

Examples

  • In actuality, Forsline stands on a dirt road bisecting apple orchards north of the Finger Lakes community of Geneva, New York.

    Academic text (2006)

  • The increasingly sophisticated viticulture of New York's Finger Lakes is intertwined with the region's enduring apple trade.

  • In New York's Finger Lakes Region

    Academic text (2006)

  • - Remember when we went wine tasting in the Finger Lakes, and she refused to drink anything but Italian wines?

    Splitsville (2025)

  • The Finger Lakes region's short summers require grapes that ripen early.

    Academic text (2006)

  • Hammondsport is a picturesque village on Keuka Lake in New York's Finger Lakes region.

  • In New York's Finger Lakes Region, visitors can enjoy beautiful scenery and numerous outdoor activities.

Surface Forms

Finger Lakes main

Morphology

Finger + lake

This is a descriptive toponym formed from 'finger' + 'lakes' so a learner who knows both words can infer it denotes lakes that resemble fingers (i.e., a series of long, narrow lakes) and thus a region of such lakes. The composition is literal and follows regular noun-modifier patterns common across languages, making the sense readily derivable from the constituents.

Etymology

Finger Lakes gets its name from the way the long, narrow lakes look like a row of long fingers on a map. So the name 'Finger Lakes' now means the region made up of those narrow lakes.