-fingerprinte-

n. [ Finger + print. ] 1. an impression of the pattern of ridges on the skin of the last joint of a person's finger, left on a surface after a person has touched the surface. Fingerprints left by persons who have committed crimes are considered as reliable physical evidence linking an individual with a crime, because each person's fingerprints are distinctively different from those of others, allowing identification of a person with high confidence. [ PJC ]

2. a fingerprint{ 1 } made intentionally in ink on a paper form for the purpose of identification of the individual. [ PJC ]

3. any distinctive pattern of characteristics or properties of an object which can serve to identify that object; as, the distinctive fingerprint of eugenol in the mass spectrum allowed easy recognition of its presence in the sample. [ PJC ]

4. a smudge made by a (dirty) finger. [ wns=3 ]
Syn. -- fingermark. [ WordNet 1.5 ]