paronychia

[par-uh-nik-ee-uh]

noun

Pathology.

1. inflammation of the folds of skin bordering a nail of a finger or toe, usually characterized by infection and pus formation; felon.

Other Word Forms

• paronychial adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of paronychia¹

1590–1600; < Latin parōnychia < Greek parōnychía whitlow, equivalent to par- par- + onych- (stem of ónyx ) claw, nail + -ia -ia

Example Sentences

He was diagnosed with a severe case of paronychia, or the infection of the skin around the nail, and was told he required emergency surgery to remove the affected flesh.

Read more on Fox News

Long-term, habitual nail nibblers can also suffer from a type of infection called paronychia, Scher says.

Read more on Time

This is well exemplified in the internal and superficial paronychia, one of which is attended with great pain and fever, and the other with little pain and no fever.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

As the result of lateral deviation of growth, the nail presses upon the surrounding tissues, producing a varying degree of inflammation—paronychia.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

Hence light is as intolerable in this kind of ophthalmia, as pressure is to the finger in the paronychia.

Read more on Project Gutenberg