Definitions For Eponychium

Noun

{{en-noun, eponychia}} (anatomy) The thickened layer of skin adjoining fingernails and toenails, particularly at the base of the nail. (zoology, veterinary medicine) The protective capsule that surrounds the hoof of foetuses and neonates of hoofed animals, which disappears soon after birth, but remnants of which remain as part of the permanent hoof.

Usage notes

layer of skin Sometimes confused with cuticle. Properly, the cuticle is a layer of dead skin connecting the eponychium to the nail and forming a seal. The eponychium is living tissue.

Synonyms

layer of skin medial nail fold, proximal nail fold

Related terms

eponychial hyponychium paronychium perionychium

See also

nail fold {{pedialite, nail fold}}