whitlow
/ˈʍɪt.loʊ/ noun, proper noun
Forms whitlows
- noun Inflammation and/or infection in the cuticle and/or the nailbed of a fingernail or toenail.
- proper noun A surname.
- proper noun A locality in the Gwydir council area, north eastern New South Wales, Australia.
Synonyms
felon nimpingang wicklow paronychia onychia
Etymology
From Late Middle English, an alteration of whitflaw, with the first element deriving either from Middle Dutch vijt or Low German fit (“abscess”), borrowed from Latin fīcus (“fig-shaped (ulcer)”), though also influenced by white. The Latin loan also existed in other languages, such as Old English fic (“hemorrhoids”). See flaw.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An inflammation of the fingers or toes, generally of the last phalanx, terminating usually in suppuration. The inflammation may occupy any seat between the skin and the bone, but is usually applied to a felon or inflammation of the periosteal structures of the bone.
- noun An inflammatory disease of the feet. It occurs round the hoof, where an acrid matter is collected. Whitlow grass (Bot.), name given to several inconspicuous herbs, which were thought to be a cure for the whitlow, as Saxifraga tridactylites, Draba verna, and several species of Paronychia.
Etymology [Prov. E. whickflaw, for quickflaw, i. e., a flaw or sore at the quick; cf. Icel. kvika the quick under the nail or under a horse's hoof. See Quick, a., and Flaw.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “whitlow”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details