thumbnail
n. countablen. a very small version of a larger picture on a computer or phone screen. You click on it to see the full-sized image.
n. a reduced-size version of a digital image or video, used for indexing, browsing, or previewing content. Often serves as a hyperlink to the original file.
Click the thumbnail to see the full photo.
The gallery page displays several dozen thumbnails at once to help users find the specific image they need.
Content creators spend hours designing eye-catching thumbnails, as these small preview images significantly influence whether a viewer decides to click on a video.
From thumb + nail. Compare West Frisian tommeneil (“thumbnail”), Dutch duimnagel (“thumbnail”), German Daumennagel (“thumbnail”). The phrase thumbnail sketch was first attested 1852. Verb sense attested 1930s.
Commonly used in digital contexts; can also refer to the physical fingernail, though the computing sense is now more frequent in learner materials.