Etymology

onychotillomania

Today it means: A compulsion for picking and tearing at one's fingernails or toenails. Full definition →

Ancient Greek ὄνυξ
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromὄνυξ“nail”
  2. English todayonychotillomania

From Ancient Greek ὄνυξ (ónux, “nail”) (compare onycho-) + τίλλω (tíllō, “to pluck”) + -mania.

Words from the same roots

Ancient Greekὄνυξ all →

onyxendonyxleuconychiaonycho-

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.