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ungual (UHNG-gwuhl) - adj., pertaining to, bearing, or resembling a nail, claw, or hoof.
I admit I'm curious how the resembling sense is useful for things so differently shaped as a claw and a hoof, but enough dictionaries include it I am as well. The claw part, btw, also covers talons -- I mean, that's a default for claw, but it seemed worth making that explicit. Coined around 1830 from Latin unguis, nail/claw/hoof, which has the same PIE root *h₃negʰ-, nail (of finger/toe) as English nail.
---L.
I admit I'm curious how the resembling sense is useful for things so differently shaped as a claw and a hoof, but enough dictionaries include it I am as well. The claw part, btw, also covers talons -- I mean, that's a default for claw, but it seemed worth making that explicit. Coined around 1830 from Latin unguis, nail/claw/hoof, which has the same PIE root *h₃negʰ-, nail (of finger/toe) as English nail.
---L.
