paronychia
9.9
A skin infection around a fingernail or toenail that causes redness, swelling, and pain
- noun
- /ˌpærəˈnɪkiə/
- Specialized
:
paroniquia
- The doctor explained that paronychia can occur from excessive moisture or trauma to the nails.
Examples
-
Chronic paronychia resembles acute antibiotic susceptibility.
Blog text (24) -
If left untreated, paronychia may lead to further complications, including abscess formation.
-
After getting my nails done, I developed paronychia around my cuticles, which was red and painful.
How Severe
Surface Forms
paronychia singular
paronychias plural
Morphology
paronychia = onychia (opaque) = para + onych + ia
The word is historically built from medical Greek elements, but the base form is itself a rare technical term, so the meaning is not transparent to an average B1 learner.
Etymology
Paronychia comes from Greek parts para- meaning 'beside' and onyx meaning 'nail'. So, paronychia is an infection 'beside the nail', which causes redness, swelling, and pain around a fingernail or toenail.