Etymologically
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unguis

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈʊŋ.ɡʷɪs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈuŋ.ɡʷis][1]

Forms

unguis m (genitive unguis); third declension[1]

Etymology

According to de Vaan it is from the PIE ⟨u⟩-stem *h₃n̥gʰ-u-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃negʰ- (“nail”), later remade as an ⟨i⟩-stem in Italic.[1] Cognate with Ancient Greek ὄνυξ (ónux, “nail, claw”) and Sanskrit अङ्घ्रि (áṅghri).[2][1][3] The ablative is ⟨unguī⟩ or ⟨ungue⟩.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus, of a fingernail and of a nail's breadth.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a fingernail, as in Cicero and Pliny, and ad unguem “to a nicety”, from the craftsman testing a surface with his nail, as in Virgil and Horace.[2][5] In Plautus a nail's breadth was a small distance, and in Cicero a toenail stood for the extremity of the body.[2] It meant a claw or talon, as in Lucilius, a hoof, and in Celsus a growth over the cornea, a pterygium.[2] In Columella it was a metal hook, and in Varro a kind of shellfish, perhaps a razor shell.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a claw, nail.[6] British Medieval Latin had ad unguem “exactly”.[7] Italian ugno may continue it, and English unguis is a learned borrowing.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a nail.[2][4]
  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of a talon.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a fingernail.[5][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses ad unguem.[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A fingernail; a toenail, ad unguem, to a nicety.[2]
  2. A nail's breadth.[2]
  3. A claw, talon; a hoof.[2]
  4. (medicine) A pterygium.[2]
  5. A metal hook.[2]
  6. A shellfish, perhaps a razor shell.[2]

Word family

  • unguiculus
  • ungula

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press