Meanings
plural hangnails
- A loose, narrow strip of nail tissue protruding from the side edge and anchored near the base of a fingernail or toenail.
Synonyms: agnail, backfriend
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA loose, narrow strip of nail tissue protruding from the side edge and anchored near the base of a fingernail or toenail.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna loose narrow strip of skin near the base of a fingernail; tearing it produces a painful sore that is easily infected
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₃negʰ-
- Proto-Germanic*naglaz
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂énǵʰus“narrow, tight”
- Proto-Germanic*anguz
- Old Englishangnæġl
- Middle Englishagnail
- Englishhangnail
A corruption of agnail (literally “painful (anguished) nail”), by folk-etymological reanalysis as hang + nail; from Middle English agnail, from Old English angnæġl, from ang- (“tight/painful”) + næġl (“nail”). The first part is from Proto-Germanic *anguz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂énǵʰus (“narrow, tight”), while the second is from Proto-Germanic *naglaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃negʰ-. The first component, ang- is also the origin of anguish, anger, and angst, while næġl is the origin of nail. Compare more "pure" Scots angernail, and similarly folk-influenced dialectal variants wrangnail and ragnail, all meaning "hangnail" and from Middle English. Cognate with Old High German ungnagel and Old Frisian angneil, o(n)gneil. Original sense of “loose strip of tissue”; the sense of “pointed corner of nail” is modern, and is connected with the reanalysis, due to stockings catching or “hanging” on the nail.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic سَأْفَة
- سَأْفَة (saʔfa)protruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Basque hatz-bizar
- hatz-bizarprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Catalan repeló
- repelóprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Chinese Mandarin 倒刺, 肉刺
- 倒刺 (dàocì)protruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
- 肉刺 (ròucì)protruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Czech záděra
- záděraprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Danish neglerod
- neglerodprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Dutch nijdnagel, nijnagel
- nijdnagelprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
- nijnagelprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
- dwangnagelprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
- stroopnagelprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Finnish kynsipiikki
- kynsipiikkiprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
French envie, petite peau
- envieprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
- petite peauprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
German Niednagel, Neidnagel
- Niednagelprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
- Neidnagelprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Greek παρωνυχίδα
- παρωνυχίδα (paronychída)protruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Hungarian körömszálka, körömbőr
- körömszálkaprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
- körömbőrprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Icelandic annögl
- annöglprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Italian pipita
- pipitaprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Japanese ささくれ, さかむけ
- ささくれ (sasakure)protruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
- さかむけ (sakamuke)protruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Korean 거스러미
- 거스러미 (geoseureomi)protruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Latin reduvia
- reduviaprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Malay kuku betul
- kuku betulprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Persian ناخنریش
- ناخنریش (nâxon-riš)protruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Polish skórka, zadzior
- skórkaprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
- zadziorprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Portuguese espiga, espigo
- espigaprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
- espigoprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
- espigãoprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
- pelinhaprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Russian заусе́ница, заусе́нец
- заусе́ница (zausénica)protruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
- заусе́нец (zausénec)protruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Slovak záder
- záderprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Spanish padrastro, uñero
- padrastroprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
- uñeroprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
- repeloprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Swedish nagelband
- nagelbandprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Tagalog taingandaga
- taingandagaprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Turkish şeytan tırnağı
- şeytan tırnağıprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Ukrainian за́дирка, за́дерень
- за́дирка (zádyrka)protruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
- за́дерень (záderenʹ)protruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Welsh ewinbil
- ewinbilprotruding piece of nail tissue or skin near base of fingernail or toenail
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
hangnail. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hangnail
“hangnail.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hangnail. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hangnail,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hangnail.
Source: hangnail on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.