[fin.ger.print] n (1859) 1: the impression of a fingertip on any surface; also: an ink impression of the lines upon the fingertip taken for the purpose of identification
2: something that identifies: as a: a trait, trace, or characteristic revealing origin or responsibility b: analytical evidence (as a spectrogram) that characterizes an object or substance; esp: the chromatogram or electrophoretogram obtained by cleaving a protein by enzymatic action and subjecting the resulting collection of peptides to two-dimensional chromatography or electrophoresis -- fingerprint vt -- fin.ger.print.ing n