unguis

English

Etymology

From Latin unguis (“nail, claw, hoof”). Doublet of onyx.

Noun

unguis (plural ungues or unguises)

1. (zoology) The nail, claw, talon, or hoof of a finger, toe, or other appendage.
2. One of the terminal hooks on the foot of an insect.
3. (botany) The slender base of a petal in some flowers; a claw; an ungula.
4. (historical) An old measure equal to the length of the nail of the little finger.

Derived terms

• subunguis

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “unguis”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin unguis (“nail, claw, hoof”), so-called because of its transparency and its shape, reminiscent of a fingernail.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔ̃.ɡɥis/

Noun

unguis m (plural unguis)

1. (anatomy) The smallest of the facial bones, located at the inner wall of the orbit.

References

• “unguis”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *ungus, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃negʰ- (“nail”). Cognates include Ancient Greek ὄνυξ (ónux), Old Irish inga, Sanskrit नख (nakhá, “claw, nail”), Old Armenian եղունգն (ełungn), Old Church Slavonic ногъть (nogŭtĭ), Lithuanian nagas, Persian ناخن (nâxon), Albanian nyell, and Old English næġl (English nail).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈun.ɡʷis/, [ˈʊŋɡʷɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈun.ɡwis/, [ˈuŋɡwis]

Noun

unguis m (genitive unguis); third declension

1. (anatomy) fingernail, toenail
2. talon, claw
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 2.257:

     Iamque satur nigrīs longum rapit unguibus hydrum

     And now, having eaten his fill [of figs], [the raven] snatches up a long water-snake in his black talons.

3. hoof

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem, ablative singular in -e or occasionally -ī).

	singular	plural
nominative	unguis	unguēs
genitive	unguis	unguium
dative	unguī	unguibus
accusative	unguem	unguēs unguīs
ablative	ungue unguī	unguibus
vocative	unguis	unguēs

Derived terms

• ad unguem
• in unguem
• unguicula
• ungula

Descendants

• >? Sicilian: ugnu
• → English: unguis
• → French: unguis

References

• “unguis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “unguis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• unguis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.