uña

Forms

uña f (plural uñas)^[1] Old Spanish wrote unna, vnna and hunna beside uña.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish uña, inherited from Vulgar Latin *ungla, inherited from Latin ungula (“hoof, claw”).^[4][5][6][1] The Latin noun is formed from unguis (“fingernail, claw”) with the diminutive suffix -ula.^[7][5] The word has been in general use at every period and is common to all the Romance languages.^[4]

The same Latin word is Portuguese unha, Catalan ungla, French ongle, Italian unghia and Romanian unghie.^[8][4][9] Corominas calls the Spanish sound development regular, as in the Portuguese and Catalan words.^[4] In his Catalan dictionary he adds that /u/ stays before this cluster in Catalan, Spanish and Portuguese alike.^[10]

The base noun goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₃ngʰ-u- (“nail”), and the derivative itself may continue an old l-formation, *h₃ngʰ-l-h₂-.^[11] Wiktionary notes that the Latin derivative is not clearly diminutive in meaning and differs in gender from its base, and suggests the same explanation.^[1] Cognates are Ancient Greek ὄνυξ (ónux, “nail, claw”), Lithuanian nãgas and Old High German nagal.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas's first record is a charter of 1112.^[4][5] The Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, known from a 14th-century copy) compares a painful parting to the nail torn from the flesh: así·s' parten unos d'otros commo la uña de la carne.^[12][4] Early law codes use it for the claws of hens: the Fuero de Alcalá (c. 1235) frees from penalty the owner whose hens have their uñas and beaks clipped.^[12]

Semantic evolution

Already in the 13th century the word covered the nail and claw, the hoof of animals, the sting at the end of a scorpion's tail and a growth in the corner of the eye; all four senses are in Alfonso X's Lapidario and General estoria.^[3] The Fazienda de Ultra Mar (c. 1200) gives a beast unnas de azero “claws of steel”.^[12]

Autoridades (1739) adds the hooked point of metal tools and the curved thorns of plants.^[13] The Academy's 1843 dictionary records the figurative sense “skill at stealing”, usually in the plural.^[14] The same edition has the stub of a pruned branch;^[14][15] Alemany (1917) adds the finger notch cut into a piece of wood and the fluke of an anchor.^[14][15]

In much of Latin America uña also names a guitar plectrum and a staple remover.^[16][17]

Timeline

• 1112 – first record, in a charter.^[4][5]
• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid: commo la uña de la carne.^[12]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses it for the nail, the scorpion's sting and an eye growth.^[3]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija records the derivative uñero.^[4][5]
• 1739 – Autoridades defines the nail and claw, the hoof and the hook of a tool.^[13]
• 1843 – the Academy records the figurative “skill at stealing”.^[14]
• 1899 – the Academy gives the etymology, Latin ungula.^[18]

Meanings

Noun

1. A nail (fingernail or toenail); a claw of an animal: Se limaba las uñas en silencio.^[6][1]
2. The hoof of animals without separate toes.^[6][1]
3. The curved sting at the end of a scorpion's (alacrán) tail.^[6]
4. A curved thorn of some plants.^[6]
5. The dry stub of a pruned branch left on the trunk.^[6]
6. A hard scab that forms on animals' sores.^[6]
7. A growth on the lacrimal caruncle of the eye.^[6]
8. The hook or curved point of some metal tools;^[19] (nautical) the fluke of an anchor.^[6][19]
9. A notch cut in a piece of wood or metal to move it with a finger.^[6]
10. (colloquial, mostly plural) Skill at or a strong bent for stealing.^[6]
11. (botany) The narrow base of some petals, as in the carnation.^[6]
12. (Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Bolivia, Uruguay) A plectrum for stringed instruments.^[16]

Word family

• uñada
• uñate
• uñero
• pintaúñas
• uñeta
• uñoso
• cortaúñas

Related words

• pezuña
• ungulado
• Latin unguis
• Portuguese unha

Usage notes

Set phrases include ser uña y carne “to be inseparable” and con uñas y dientes “tooth and nail”.^[1][19] Uña de caballo is the coltsfoot, and uña de gato a medicinal climbing plant of Peru and Uruguay.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. uña
3. ^ a b c Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. uña
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 715
5. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. uña
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. uña
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. ungula
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 6980
10. ^ Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 8, 981
11. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. unguis
12. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. uña
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 395
14. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 726
15. ^ a b Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1632
16. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. uña
17. ^ Academia Dominicana de la Lengua; Instituto Guzmán Ariza de Lexicografía (2024), Diccionario del español dominicano, 2nd ed., online at https://ded.igalex.org, p. s.v. uña
18. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 996
19. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. uña