nayl

Middle English

Alternative forms

• nail, nayle, nayll, neil, neyl, naylle
• næȝl, næil (Early Middle English)

Etymology

Inherited from Old English næġl, from Proto-West Germanic *nagl, from Proto-Germanic *naglaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /næi̯l/
• Rhymes: -æi̯l

Noun

nayl (plural nayles)

1. A nail (fingernail or toenail).
   • a. 1382, John Wycliffe, “Deuteronomy 21:12”, in Wycliffe's Bible:

     Thou schalt brynge hir in to thin hows; which womman schal schaue the heer, and schal kitte the nailes aboute...

     You should bring her into your house; that woman should shave her hair and cut her nails...

2. A nail (metal fastening pin):
   • a. 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Knight's Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, lines 2007–2008:

     The nayl ydryven in the shode anyght; / The colde deeth, with mouth gapyng upright...

     The nail driven in the head's crown at night; / The cold death, with mouth gaping upright...

   1. (figurative) An annoyance; a bothersome predicament.
   2. (figurative) A decisive point in a debate or disagreement.
3. A nail (unit of length or weight)
4. An equivalent to a human nail in animals (e.g. a claw)
5. (rare) An eye disease (of humans or animals).

Derived terms

• nayled
• naylen
• nayler
• naylynge
• trenayl

Descendants

• English: nail
• Scots: nail, nale
• Yola: niel

References

• “nail, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 15 July 2018.