Fingerboard

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A compact platform intended for performing finger tricks that mimic skateboarding actions
2. A diminutive board used for executing tricks and stunts with one's fingers, resembling a skateboard
3. The surface on a guitar or similar instrument where strings are pressed down to change notes ; a miniature board designed to be manipulated with fingers to perform skateboarding-style tricks

Etymology: A fingerboard is, literally, a board for the fingers, and the compound is about as transparent as English gets. "Finger" comes from Old English "finger," a word shared across the Germanic languages, while "board" traces back to Old English "bord," meaning a flat plank of wood. Put together, the words describe a flat strip of wood under the strings where the player presses them down to change pitch. The sense is older than the instrument it now names. Early stringed instruments of the medieval period had necks that were often cut or shaped as a single piece with the body, and the separate board of wood on the neck developed as makers wanted a hard, smooth surface that would resist wear from repeated pressing and could be shaped for frets. That practical job is what the word still describes: the part of the instrument that the fingers work against.