释义 |
agnailn.Origin: Probably a word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Probably cognate with or formed similarly to Old Frisian ongneil , ogneil , ognīl ingrowing nail, hangnail < the Germanic base of ange n. + the Germanic base of nail n. Compare (with the same initial element) Old English angseta carbuncle, abscess, boil, and see discussion at ange adv. and n. Compare later hangnail n.The original semantic motivation for this formation is unclear. Although all the complaints it denotes cause pain in or around the fingernails and toenails (compare nail n. I.), it is possible that the word may originally (in sense 1) have shown nail n. II., the hard, rounded external callus of the corn (and perhaps also its internal root) being taken to resemble an iron nail driven into the foot. Compare e.g. Old English wernægel wart, tumour on the back of cattle (see warnel n. and discussion at that entry), and, with similar extension of meaning, classical Latin clāvus (iron) nail, also ‘wart, tumour, corn’ (see clavus n.). Senses 2 and 3 would then show subsequent extension to other painful conditions affecting the area around the fingernail or toenail, by association with nail n. 1. However, this argument does not appear to be supported by the senses attested for the cognate in Old Frisian. With sense 2 perhaps compare also French angonailles (1611 in Cotgrave, glossed as ‘botches, (pockie) bumps, or sores’) and post-classical Latin anghiones , anguinalia , carbuncles (attested in undated saints' lives). The forms in n- and gn- show metanalysis (see N n.). The regional variant angernail apparently shows remodelling of the first element by association with anger n. the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > skin disorders > [noun] > hardening or thickening > hard skin > corn eOE (Royal) (1865) i. xxxiv. 80 Wið angnægle, argesweorf & ealde sapan & ele. c1350 Nominale (Cambr. Ee.4.20) in (1906) 4* Vngle ele et vrtil, Nayle angenayle and too. ?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 119 (MED) To a corne i. agnail [L. cornu]..þat is in þe feete consuleþ Henric..þat it be shauen & pared aboue þe corne or horne as mych as it shal be possible. ?c1450 in G. Müller (1929) 102 (MED) For angenayll þat waxin in feet. 1530 J. Palsgrave f. cvii/2 Agnayle vpon ones too, corret s ma. 1562 W. Turner f. 2 Figges..purge away angnaylles and suche harde swellinges. 1575 G. Gascoigne xliii. 137 They skinne a kybed heele, they fret an angnale [printed anguayle] off, So thus I skippe from toppe to toe. 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny II. xx. iii. 38 Passing good for to be applyed to the agnels or corns of the feet. 1611 R. Cotgrave Frouelle, an agnell, pinne, or warnell in the toe. 1662 R. Bayfield iv. xii. 231 You shall see a round root underneath, which causeth the Corn or Agnail to grow again. 1783 (new ed.) Morticini..agnails, or rather corns, especially on the feet and toes. 1824 W. Carr 8 I wor feaful flaid shoe'd nivver a dreed toth' uvver side o'th' Gill; an thou knaws shoe ollas pleeans feafully o' nang-nails. 1825 J. T. Brockett Ang-nails, corns in the feet.—Cumb. 1839 322 In the north of England, the more customary application of the word angnail, or, as it seems to be pronounced, nangnail, is rather to designate the painful growing-in of the nails of the feet, than either a corn or the small whitlow, sometimes called a back-friend. 1866 J. E. Brogden Nangnail, a corn, a bunion. 1901 12 Oct. 306/1 In the West Riding deformed and peculiar toe and finger nails are frequently called ‘nang nails’. the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > suppuration > [noun] > a suppuration > agnail or whitlow 1562 W. Turner f. 25v The asshes [of wild grapes]..are good for medicines for the eyes, and wyth hony it healeth whit flawes, agnayles [printed aguayles] & goomes bledinge. 1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens ii. lxxxi. 258 Good to be layde unto..ulcered nayles, or agnayles, whiche is a paynefull swelling aboute the ioyntes and nayles. 1597 W. Langham 95 It draweth out splents and broken bones, and openeth noughtie vlcers and agnayles, that grow about the rootes of the nayles. 1656 T. Blount Agnail, a sore between the finger and the nail. 1721 N. Bailey Agnail, a sore at the root of the nail on the fingers or toes. 1755 S. Johnson Agnail, a disease of the nails, a whitlow. 1866 A. J. Cooley xvi. 374 Whitlow—‘paronychia’—is a painful inflammation at the end of one of the fingers, and mostly under or about the nail. When it occurs near the root of a nail it is commonly called an agnail. 1886 E. L. Trouessart 236 Whitlow and Agnail.—These two complaints are produced by pricking the finger with some instrument charged with microbes. the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > disorders of nails > [noun] 1737 N. Bailey (ed. 8) Agnail,..a sore Slip of Skin at the Root of a Nail. 1799 4 40 The servant poisoned by touching an agnail on his finger with the flesh of a putrid hare which he was skinning. 1844 J. O. Halliwell (1846) I Agnail, a hang-nail, either on the finger or toe. Hangnails, small pieces of partially separated skin about the roots of the finger-nails. Various dialects. 1879 Agnail, a term applied to the shreds of epidermis which separate from the skin covering the root of the nail, and which, on being torn, give rise to a painful state of the fingers. 1882 Oct. (Suppl.) 6 This method practised daily will keep the nails in perfect preservation, also preventing agnails. 1907 J. H. Kellogg 1402 ‘Hang-nails’, or ‘ag-nails’, on the fingers, are frequently means of inoculation in dissection. 1911 W. A. Woodbury i. iv. 52 Look carefully to all hangnails, or agnails, as they are called, and if present remove them with the emery board, leaving the free edge of the nail regular and smooth. 1959 5 If this is done every day, the formation of agnails will be prevented and the general appearance of the hands will be improved. 2004 G. Newsome tr. K. Čapek 14 A bit of soil will get into your body through an agnail or something and will cause a sort of poisoning or inflammation. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online December 2021). < n.eOE |