The term 'regular-fingered' combines 'regular,' from Latin 'regula,' meaning 'rule' or 'standard,' and 'fingered,' from Old English 'finger,' meaning 'digit.'

'Regular' evolved from the Latin 'regula' through Old French 'reguler,' while 'fingered' remained largely unchanged from Old English 'finger.'

Initially, 'regular' meant 'according to rule,' and 'fingered' referred to having fingers. The combined term 'regular-fingered' has maintained its meaning of having standard fingers.