nijdnagel – Dutch noun declension

Dutch noun forms of nijdnagel

Noun: nijdnagel
Gender: Masculine Hyphenation:
Sg.nijdnagel
Pl.nijdnagels

Sample Sentences

  • De scharnieren van eene doos, enz. bestaan uit pijpkens en nijdnagels. [1892, Leonard Lodewijk de Bo, Westvlaamsch idioticon, volume 2, page 743:]
  • 1902, Alfons Van Houcke, Vak- & kunstwoorden. No. 6, Ambacht van den loodgieter & zinkbewerker, vol. 2, publ. by A. Siffer, page 504.
  • Den nijdnagel wordt ofwel platte (Sch. 409), of een afgeschuinde (Sch. 410), òf een halfbolronde kop (Sch. 411) geslagen. ((please add an English translation of this quotation))

Etymology

Probably from nijpnagel. Likely changed through folk etymology after nijd (“envy”) + nagel (“nail”); reportedly a superstition existed in early modern Europe that hangnails were caused by other people's envy. Cf. German Niednagel and French envie; also see English hangnail, which also underwent folk-etymological modification. See: German Nouns 'Niednagel'.

Translations