Etymology

fingernail

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Today it means: The hard, flat translucent covering near the tip of a human finger, useful for scratching and fine manipulation. Full definition →

Middle English finger neil(e)
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited fromfinger neil(e)
  2. English todayfingernail

From Middle English finger neil(e); equivalent to finger + nail. Compare Middle English nayl of fynger (“fingernail”) and Old English handnæġl (“fingernail”). Compare also Saterland Frisian Fingernail (“fingernail”), West Frisian fingerneil (“fingernail”), Dutch vingernagel (“fingernail”), German Fingernagel (“fingernail”), Danish fingernegl (“fingernail”), Swedish fingernagel (“fingernail”), Norwegian fingernegl (“fingernail”), Icelandic fingurnögl (“fingernail”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.