unghia

Forms

unghia f (plural unghie)^[1] The older and popular Tuscan form is ugna.^[2][3][4] Old forms include Old Italian ungia, Old Italian ongia, Old Italian unchia and Old Italian unglia, and the old plural could be le unghia.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *ungla, the syncopated form of Latin ungula (“claw, hoof”).^[1][6][2][7] The Latin word is a diminutive of unguis (“nail, claw”); using a diminutive in place of its base is a general tendency of Vulgar Latin, as in orecchia.^[6][2][8] DELI argues that the Latin word, at first a bird's claw, came to mean the human nail.^[6] Wiktionary notes that the formation is irregular for a Latin diminutive and may be an old Proto-Indo-European *h₃n̥gʰ-l-h₂ with an l-suffix, and de Vaan likewise reconstructs Proto-Italic *onglā-.^[1][9]

The word is found across the Romance languages: French ongle, Occitan ongla, Catalan ungla, Spanish uña, Portuguese unha, Sardinian ungia, Romansh ungla and Romanian unghie.^[2][10] The French word is masculine.^[10]

The base word is an old Indo-European one, the u-stem Proto-Indo-European *h₃n̥gʰ-u- remade as an i-stem.^[9] Its cognates are Ancient Greek ὄνυξ (ónux), Old Irish ingen, Lithuanian nãgas, Old High German nagal, German Nagel and English nail, though they cannot all be traced to one starting form.^[2][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Dante's Inferno (1300–1313), for the horny plate at the tip of a finger or toe.^[6] There con l'unghie si fendea ciascuna il petto (each was tearing her breast with her nails).^[5]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the word also named the hoof of animals (Crescenzi), and the form ugna appears.^[11] Later senses come from the shape: Biringuccio used it before 1537 for the bevelled end of a tool and for a tool so cut, and the 16th-century Ricettario fiorentino for the narrow base of a petal.^[6][11] Unghia cavallina, coltsfoot, continues Late Latin ungula caballina, a calque of Greek hippouris.^[11]

The plural meaning “clutches” is recorded in Petrocchi's dictionary (1891), and the sense “a tiny amount or distance”, as in non ci corre un'unghia, in Tommaseo (1879).^[6] Panzini recorded l'unghia del leone, the mark of a genius, from the Latin saying ex ungue leonem, in 1931.^[11] Colloquial Italian pays sull'unghia, on the nail, in cash and at once.^[3][12]

Timeline

• 1300–1313 – First record, in Dante's Inferno.^[6]
• 14th century – The form ugna and the sense “hoof” appear.^[11]
• Before 1537 – Biringuccio uses it for the bevelled end of a tool.^[6]
• 1879 – Tommaseo records the sense “tiny amount”.^[6]
• 1891 – Petrocchi records the plural sense “clutches”.^[6]
• 1931 – Panzini records l'unghia del leone.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. (anatomy) A nail on a finger or toe; the claw or hoof of an animal: Il gatto affila le unghie sul divano.^{[7][3][12][1]}
2. (figurative, plural) clutches, power: finire nelle unghie dei creditori.^[3][12][13]
3. (figurative) A tiny amount or distance: Mancava un'unghia alla vittoria.^[7][3][14]
4. The end of a tool cut at a slant or ending in a hook, or a tool so made.^[7][3][14]
5. The small groove on the blade of a penknife used to open it.^[7][3]
6. (botany) The narrow lower part of a petal.^[7]
7. (bookbinding) The edge of a book cover that projects beyond the pages.^[7][14]
8. (architecture) Each of the four webs of a groin vault.^[7][14]

Word family

• unghiata
• unghiato
• unghiello
• unghiolo
• unghione
• unghiuto
• unghiatura
• adunghiare

Related words

• ugna
• ungueale
• Latin unguis
• Latin ungula

Usage notes

Common phrases are mangiarsi le unghie (to bite one's nails), tirare fuori le unghie (to show one's claws) and con le unghie e con i denti (tooth and nail).^[3][12][4] Unghia incarnita is an ingrown nail.^[3][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
5. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 21, 537
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3952
12. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
14. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse