hangnail

Where does the word "hangnail" come from? It comes from Old English angnægl, and was adopted directly into English (1670s).

Hangnail’s story begins in Old English: angnægl meant “painful corn.” Ang- 'painful, tight' + nægl, the 'nail' being a corn or hard growth on the foot. It reached English by 1670s as hangnail. Reshaped as if the skin 'hangs' from the fingernail, and moved from the foot to the finger. Today, hangnail means a piece of torn skin at the root of a fingernail.

1. Stage 1 · Old English · medieval angnægl "painful corn", ang- 'painful, tight' + nægl, the 'nail' being a corn or hard growth on the foot.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1670s hangnail "torn skin by a fingernail", reshaped as if the skin 'hangs' from the fingernail, and moved from the foot to the finger.