unguis Latin · revision 7304

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Plautus|origins=ine-pro *h₃negʰ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈʊŋ.ɡʷɪs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈuŋ.ɡʷis]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''unguis''' ''m'' (genitive unguis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ According to de Vaan it is from the PIE ⟨u⟩-stem *h₃n̥gʰ-u-, from [[ine-pro|*h₃negʰ-|t=nail]], later remade as an ⟨i⟩-stem in Italic.^(Wiktionary) Cognate with [[grc|ὄνυξ|tr=ónux|t=nail, claw]] and [[sa|अङ्घ्रि|tr=áṅghri]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The ablative is ⟨unguī⟩ or ⟨ungue⟩.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus, of a fingernail and of a nail's breadth.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==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.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) In Plautus a nail's breadth was a small distance, and in Cicero a toenail stood for the extremity of the body.^(OLD 2012) It meant a claw or talon, as in Lucilius, a hoof, and in Celsus a growth over the cornea, a pterygium.^(OLD 2012) In Columella it was a metal hook, and in Varro a kind of shellfish, perhaps a razor shell.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a claw, nail.^(Stelten 1995) British Medieval Latin had ''ad unguem'' “exactly”.^(DMLBS) Italian ''ugno'' may continue it, and [[en|unguis]] is a learned borrowing.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a nail.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of a talon.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a fingernail.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses ''ad unguem''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A fingernail; a toenail, ''ad unguem'', to a nicety.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A nail's breadth.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A claw, [[m|en|talon]]; a hoof.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(medicine)'' A [[m|en|pterygium]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # A metal hook.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A shellfish, perhaps a razor shell.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[unguiculus]]

+ * [[ungula]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|nail]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}