whitlow

Meanings

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

1. A surname.
2. A locality in the Gwydir council area, north eastern New South Wales, Australia.

Etymology

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