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Glite Dictionary
💅 Nail crescent 📿 Ancient necklace
lunula

lunula

9.9
A small pale crescent at the base of a fingernail or toenail
  • noun
  • /ˈluːn.jə.lə/
  • Specialized
translation icon : lunula
  • The small, white crescent at the base of your nail is called the lunula.

Examples

  • Anyone could make it: the juice of fresh lemons, spiderwebs, the scrapings of raw carrots, the opaque and whitish portion of the toenail called the lunula, and carbonated water.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • You can clearly see the lunula on a healthy nail, which appears as a pale crescent shape.

  • If you look closely, the lunula can often be seen right at the bottom of each fingernail.

Synonyms

half-moon
vslunula
4.2

A pale curved area at the base of a fingernail

is used for that crescent on both fingers and toes
lunule
vslunula
  • Specialized
9.9

A small white half-moon at the base of a fingernail

is the name for the same crescent also found on toenails

Surface Forms

lunula singular
lunulas plural
lunulae plural

Etymology

Lunula comes from the Latin luna, meaning 'moon', with a small ending that makes it a 'little moon'. So the pale, crescent-shaped area at the base of a nail looks like a tiny moon, which is why it is called a lunula.