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NAYL · noun

Proto-Indo-EuropeanProto-GermanicProto-West GermanicOld EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Origin

Nail comes from Middle English nail or nayl, from Old English næġl, from Proto-West Germanic *nagl, from Proto-Germanic *naglaz, from a Proto-Indo-European root *h₃nogʰ- meaning 'nail.' The verb form comes separately from Middle English naylen, from Old English næġlan.

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Related words

It's a close cousin of German and Low German Nagel, Dutch and Swedish nagel, and Danish and Norwegian negl, all pointing back to the same Germanic root — and further back, it shares ancestry with Latin unguis and Ancient Greek ónux, both meaning claw or nail.

More words

From Proto-West Germanic

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