A. adj. 1. Anat. a. Pertaining to, connected with, a nail or claw; esp. ungual phalanx, the terminal bone in the digits of the hand or foot.
1834. Roget, Anim. & Veg. Phys., I. 405. To the last joint, which is often termed the ungual bone, there is usually attached either a nail, a claw, or a hoof.
1836. Penny Cycl., V. 22/2. An external thick condyle, with which the ungual phalanx is articulated.
1898. A. S. Packard, Entomol., 101. The ungual joint is wanting in the weevil Anoplus.
b. Ungual bone, a lachrymal bone.
1888. Cassell’s Encycl. Dict., s.v. Lachrymal.
2. Path. Affecting the nail.
1872. T. Bryant, Pract. Surg., 450. Ungual exostosis … is a bony outgrowth from the extreme phalanx of the great toe.
B. sb. An ungual phalanx, claw, or bone.
In recent use.
