Etymologically
Log in

ungula

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 19 October 2026 at 20:03. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈʊŋ.ɡʊ.ɫa][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈuŋ.ɡu.la][1]

Forms

ungula f (genitive ungulae); first declension[1]

Etymology

De Vaan takes it as inherited from Proto-Italic *onglā-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ngʰ-l-h₂- (“nail”), beside unguis (“nail”) from the u-stem Proto-Indo-European *h₃ngʰ-u-.[2] He compares Ancient Greek ὄνυξ (ónux, “nail, claw, hoof”), Lithuanian nagà (“hoof”) and Old English nægel (“nail”).[2] The OLD instead derives it from unguis with the diminutive suffix ⟨-ula⟩;[3][1] Wiktionary notes that it is not diminutive in sense and its gender does not match, so it may be an inherited formation.[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,[2][4] who in the Aulularia has a cock beginning to scratch with its claws.[3]

Semantic evolution

It is a hoof, above all a horse's: Ennius has the horseman go and the hollow hoof shake the earth with its beat.[3][5] Cato uses a pig's trotter in cooking, and it was also used in medicine.[3][5] It is also a bird's claw or talon.[3] Poets use it for a horse.[1] In Church Latin it is also an iron claw used for torture, and the name of an aromatic spice.[6][7][1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a cock's claws.[3][4]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius of the hoof of a horse.[3][4]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato of a pig's trotter.[3][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of a hoof shaking the plain.[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A hoof; a pig's trotter as food or medicine.[3][5][6][1]
  2. A bird's claw, talon.[3][5][6][1]
  3. (poetic) A horse.[1]
  4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) An iron claw, an instrument of torture.[6][7]
  5. An aromatic spice.[6][1]

Word family

  • exungulo
  • ungella
  • ungulātus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University 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 c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill