nail

Meanings

Noun

  • The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.
  • The basal thickened portion of the anterior wings of certain hemiptera.
  • The terminal horny plate on the beak of ducks, and other allied birds.
  • The claw of a bird or other animal.
  • A spike-shaped metal fastener used for joining wood or similar materials. The nail is generally driven through two or more layers of material by means of impacts from a hammer or other device. It is then held in place by friction.
  • A round pedestal on which merchants once carried out their business, such as the four nails outside The Exchange, Bristol.
  • An archaic English unit of length equivalent to of an ell or of a yard ( inches or 5.715 cm).

Verb

Origin

  • From Middle English nail, nayl, Old English næġl, from Proto-West Germanic *nagl, from Proto-Germanic *naglaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃nogʰ- ("nail").
  • Compare Saterland Frisian Nail ("nail"), West Frisian neil, Low German Nagel, Dutch nagel, German Nagel, Danish negl, Swedish nagel), (compare Irish ionga, Latin unguis, Albanian nyell ("ankle, hard part of a limb"), Lithuanian nagas, Russian нога́ ("foot, leg"), но́готь, Ancient Greek ὄνυξ, Persian ناخن, Sanskrit नख.
  • From Middle English naylen, from Old English næġlan.

Modern English dictionary

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