Etymology Dictionary

NAIL,  the horny scale at the end of the human fingers and toes; a spike of metal.  (E.)   M. E. nail, nayl; the pl. nayles, used of the human nails, is in Havelok, 2163; the pl. nailes, i.e. iron spikes, is in Chaucer, C. T. 6351.—A. S. nægel, in both senses, Grein, ii. 274.   [The loss of g is regular, and occurs in hail, sail, &c.] + Du. nagel, in both senses. + Icel. nagl, the human nail; nagli, a spike, peg. + Dan. nagle, in both senses. + Swed. nagel, in both senses. + Goth. nagls*, only in the derived verb ganagljan, to nail. + G. nagel, in both senses.   β. All from a Teut. type NAGLA or NAGLI, a nail (Fick, iii. 159); to be divided as nag-la, nag-li, the suffix denoting the agent.   The sense is 'gnawer,' i.e. in the case of the finger-nails, 'scratcher,' and, in the case of the peg, 'piercer.'   All from the Teut. base NAG, to gnaw, scratch, pierce, appearing in G. nagen, to gnaw, and in the E. nag, g-naw; see Nag (2), Gnaw.   γ. It is difficult to explain fully the allied words in other languages, in which only the sense of finger-nail or toe-nail survives.   Still we may certainly connect Lithuan. nagas, a claw, nail, Russ. nogote, a nail, Skt. nakha (for nagha), a nail of the finger or toe; all from a ✔NAGH, to gnaw or pierce, which is lost in these languages, except in so far as it is represented by Skt. niksh, to pierce.   δ. The Gk. ὄνυξ, a nail, claw, Lat. unguis, Gael. and Irish ionga, W. ewin, go back to a ✔ANGH, which appears to be a transposed (and earlier) form of the ✔NAGH; see Curtius, i. 400.   Der. nail, vb., A. S. næglian, whence the pp. nægled, in Grein; nail-er.   ➩ The remarkable variation of Lat. unguis from A. S. nægel throws doubt on the above solution.