whitlow

Late Middle English, alteration of whitflaw, the first element coming from either Middle Dutch vijt or Low German fit (“abscess”), borrowed from Latin fīcus (“fig-shaped (ulcer)”), though also influenced by white.^[1] The Latin loan also existed in other languages, such as Old English fic (“hemorrhoids”). See flaw.

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈʍɪt.loʊ/, /ˈwɪt.loʊ/

• Audio (US):

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whitlow (plural whitlows)

1. An infection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail.

   Synonyms: felon, (Britain, dialectal, archaic) nimpingang, paronychia, (Britain, dialectal, misspelling) wicklow

   • 1874, Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC:

     'Twas a bad leg allowed me to read the Pilgrim's Progress, and Mark Clark learnt All-Fours in a whitlow.

• agnail, hangnail

• whitlow grass

• paronychia
• felon

• Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “whitlow”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.