ongle

Forms

ongle m (plural ongles)^[1] Old French ungle, usually feminine until the 16th century.^[2][3] Anglo-Norman ongle, oungle, ungele.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French ungle, inherited from Vulgar Latin *ungla, a syncopated form of ungula (“claw, talon, hoof”), from unguis (“nail”).^[3][5][1] The base word disappeared early, as it left no trace in the Romance languages;^[3][6] Bloch and Wartburg and the TLFi see the use of the derivative as popular in origin, like other Vulgar Latin names for parts of the body (compare jambe).^[3][6] Until the 16th century the word was mostly feminine, like its Latin source, and La Fontaine still made it feminine.^[3][2][6]

Cognate with Italian unghia, Romanian unghie, Occitan ongla, Catalan ungla, Spanish uña and Portuguese unha.^[7][8] The Latin word for nail goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₃negʰ-, whose descendants include Ancient Greek ὄνυξ (ónux) (borrowed as onyx), Old High German nagal and Lithuanian nagas.^[1][9][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, in the Voyage de saint Brendan (early 12th century), is for the talon of a bird of prey.^[3][9] The wolf's claw follows in Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire (1121–1134), and the human nail about 1130, in the Laws of William: al ungle del petit dei “at the nail of the little finger”.^[3][8]

Semantic evolution

The word was first used of animals, naming the talons of birds of prey, the claws of carnivores and the hooves of ungulates; phrases now said of people, such as avoir bec et ongles (1606), come from this use.^[9][3] From about 1130 it also named the human nail, and entered the phrases ronger ses ongles (1370), figuratively “to fret” from Montaigne (1580), and rogner les ongles à quelqu'un “to curb someone's power” (14th century).^[3][9]

Sur l'ongle “perfectly” (1606) translates Latin ad unguem, which Erasmus took for a metaphor from marble workers testing a surface with the nail; it lives on as jusqu'au bout des ongles (1694).^[9][3] Avoir les ongles crochus, first a description of a usurer (1842), came to mean “to be grasping” (1896).^[3][9] By analogy the word was used in veterinary medicine (early 14th century) and for hook-shaped instruments of torture (1366).^[3][9]

Timeline

• Early 12th century – First record, for a bird's talon, in the Voyage de saint Brendan.^[3]
• 1121–1134 – Philippe de Thaon uses it of a wolf's claw.^[3]
• c. 1130 – First used of the human nail, in the Laws of William.^[3]
• 1366 – It names an instrument of torture.^[3]
• 1370 – Ronger ses ungles in Oresme.^[3]
• 16th century – The word becomes masculine.^[3][6]
• 1606 – Bec et ongles and sur l'ongle.^[3]
• 1694 – Jusqu'au bout des ongles.^[3]
• 1842 – Avoir les ongles crochus, of a usurer.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A nail, the horny plate covering the tip of a finger or toe: couper les ongles d'un enfant.^[10][3]
2. The claw or talon of an animal.^[3][4]
3. Se ronger les ongles: to bite one's nails; figuratively, to fret.^[10][9]
4. Jusqu'au bout des ongles: through and through, completely.^[3][9]
5. Avoir les ongles crochus: (familiar) to be greedy or grasping.^[3][9]
6. Avoir les ongles en deuil: (familiar) to have dirty nails.^[10][11]

Word family

• onglée
• onglet

Related words

• onyx
• Latin ungula
• Latin unguis

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
4. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 37a
6. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse