A small piece of torn or peeling skin at the base or side of a fingernail, often painful when inflamed.
From Middle English, combining 'hang' and 'nail.' Despite the name, it's not actually part of the nail itself but the skin around it; the 'hang' refers to the loose, protruding skin. Medieval people called it this because it seems to 'hang' from the nail area.
The word 'hangnail' is a perfect example of folk etymology creating a misleading name—it's actually called a 'nail' because medieval speakers thought it was part of the nail, when really it's just irritated skin, and doctors still can't fully explain why this simple condition can be so painfully disproportionate to its size.
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