Agnail

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈæɡneɪl/

Definitions

1. A specific condition characterized by the overgrowth of skin along the edges of a nail can cause irritation and discomfort at the site of the nail bed
2. A condition marked by the abnormal growth of skin around the nail that leads to pain and inflammation in the affected area
3. The pathological overgrowth of tissue surrounding a nail which may result in discomfort and irritation for the individual

Etymology: The sore little flap of skin beside a fingernail has a name that once meant something closer to "painful nail." Its first element, Old English "ang-", meant "tight" or "painful," the same root that gives us "anguish" through Latin, while "nægl" simply meant "nail." So the word is a plain compound: a nail that hurts. Over time the "ang-" element faded from everyday English, leaving the form "agnail" to look like a mysterious unit of its own. Folk writers sometimes linked it to "hangnail," and the two words did blur together, but "hangnail" is a later reshaping of the same old compound rather than a separate source. The "nail" half reaches back much further. It descends from a Proto-Germanic word that also gave German "Nagel," Dutch "nagel," and Swedish "nagel," all meaning the same thing.