This article is about the protective shield worn on the finger or thumb. For the wire rope termination device, see Wire rope § Thimbles.
A thimbleDer Fingerhüter(Thimblemaker) from Das Ständebuch by Jost Amman, 1568
A thimble is a small pitted cup worn on the finger that protects it from being pricked or poked by a needle while sewing. The Old English word þȳmel, the ancestor of thimble, is derived from Old English þūma, the ancestor of the English word thumb.[1]