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nail. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
nail, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
nail in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
nail you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English nail, nayl, Old English næġl, from Proto-West Germanic *nagl, from Proto-Germanic *naglaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃nogʰ- (“nail”).
Cognates
Compare
Saterland Frisian Nail (“nail”),
West Frisian neil,
Low German Nagel,
Dutch nagel,
German Nagel,
Danish negl,
Swedish nagel), (compare
Irish ionga,
Latin unguis,
Albanian nyell (“ankle, hard part of a limb”),
Lithuanian nagas,
Russian нога́ (nogá,
“foot, leg”),
но́готь (nógotʹ,
“nail”),
Ancient Greek ὄνυξ (ónux),
Persian ناخن (nâxon),
Sanskrit नख (nakhá).
Noun
The nail (
sense 1) of a
thumbA metal nail (fastener; sense 5)
nail (plural nails)
- The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.
When I'm nervous I bite my nails.
- The basal thickened portion of the anterior wings of certain hemiptera.
- The terminal horny plate on the beak of ducks, and other allied birds.
- The claw of a bird or other animal.
- A spike-shaped metal fastener used for joining wood or similar materials. The nail is generally driven through two or more layers of material by means of impacts from a hammer or other device. It is then held in place by friction.
1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter II, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., , →OCLC:Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill.
- A round pedestal on which merchants once carried out their business, such as the four nails outside The Exchange, Bristol.
- An archaic English unit of length equivalent to 1⁄20 of an ell or 1⁄16 of a yard (2
+1⁄4 inches or 5.715 cm).
Derived terms
Translations
on fingers and toes
- Acehnese: gukèë
- Afar: lifiq
- Afrikaans: nael (af), vingernael
- Aklanon: kuku
- Albanian: thua (sq) m
- Aleut: qagalgiq
- Amharic: ጥፍር (ṭəfr)
- Arabic: ظُفْر (ar) m (ẓufr)
- Chadian Arabic: خنفر (ḵunfar)
- Egyptian Arabic: ضفر m (ḍofr)
- Hijazi Arabic: ظِفِر m (ḍifir)
- Aragonese: please add this translation if you can
- Aramaic:
- Classical Syriac: ܛܦܪܐ f (ṭep̄rā)
- Armenian: եղունգ (hy) (eġung)
- Old Armenian: եղունգն (ełungn)
- Aromanian: unglji f
- Assamese: নখ (nokh)
- Asturian: uña (ast) f
- Avar: малъ (malˢ)
- Azerbaijani: dırnaq (az)
- Baluchi: ناکن (nákun), ناہن (náhun)
- Bashkir: тырнаҡ (tırnaq)
- Basque: azazkal
- Bats: მჵაჲრი̆ (m'ayrĭ)
- Bau Bidayuh: sirun
- Belarusian: пазно́гаць m (paznóhacʹ), но́гаць m (nóhacʹ)
- Bengali: নখ (bn) (nokh)
- Bezhta: милъо (milˢo)
- Breton: ivin (br) m, ivinoù (br) pl
- Brunei Malay: kuku
- Bulgarian: но́кът (bg) m (nókǎt)
- Burmese: လက်သည်း (my) (laksany:) (fingernail), ခြေသည်း (my) (hkresany:) (toenail)
- Catalan: ungla (ca) f
- Cebuano: kuko
- Central Dusun: sondulu
- Central Melanau: silou
- Chechen: мӏара (mˀara)
- Cherokee: please add this translation if you can
- Chinese:
- Dungan: зыҗя (zɨži͡a), җиҗя (žiži͡a)
- Mandarin: 指甲 (zh) (zhǐjia), 手指甲 (zh) (shǒuzhǐjia)
- Chuvash: пӑта (păt̬a)
- Coptic: ⲓⲉⲃ m (ieb)
- Cornish: ewin m
- Crimean Tatar: tırnaq
- Czech: nehet (cs) m
- Dalmatian: jongla f
- Danish: negl (da)
- Dongxiang: ghimusun
- Dutch: nagel (nl) m
- Egyptian: (ꜥnt f)
- Erzya: кенже (kenže)
- Esperanto: ungo (eo)
- Estonian: küüs (et)
- Even: оста (osta)
- Evenki: осикта (osikta)
- Ewe: please add this translation if you can
- Faroese: negl (fo) f
- Finnish: kynsi (fi)
- Franco-Provençal: ongla f
- French: ongle (fr) m
- Middle French: ongle m
- Old French: ongle m
- Friulian: ongule f
- Galician: unlla (gl) f, uña (gl) f
- Georgian: ფრჩხილი (ka) (prčxili)
- German: Nagel (de) m
- Greek: νύχι (el) n (nýchi)
- Ancient: ὄνυξ m (ónux)
- Greenlandic: kukik
- Gujarati: નખ (gu) m (nakh)
- Haitian Creole: zong (fingernail), zong pye (toenail)
- Hebrew: צִפֹּרֶן / ציפורן (he) f (tzippóren)
- Higaonon: sulu
- Hindi: नाख़ुन m (nāxun), नख (hi) m (nakh)
- Hinukh: молъу (moλu)
- Hungarian: köröm (hu)
- Hunsrik: Naaghel m, Naal m
- Icelandic: nögl (is) f
- Ido: unglo (io)
- Ilocano: kuko
- Indonesian: kuku (id)
- Ingush: мӏара (mˀara)
- Interlingua: ungue, ungula (ia)
- Iranun: kinuku
- Irish: ionga (ga) f
- Italian: unghia (it) f
- Japanese: 爪 (ja) (つめ, tsume)
- Javanese: kuku (jv), kanaka
- Kannada: ಉಗುರು (kn) (uguru)
- Kaqchikel: ixk’äq
- Kazakh: тырнақ (kk) (tyrnaq)
- Khmer: ក្រចក (km) (krɑcɑɑk)
- Kimaragang: sondulu
- Korean: 손톱 (ko) (sontop)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: نینۆک (ckb) (nînok), نیوخان (nîwxan)
- Northern Kurdish: nînok (ku) f, neynok (ku) f
- Kyrgyz: тырмак (ky) (tırmak)
- Lak: михь (mix̂)
- Lao: ເລັບ (lo) (lep), ເລັບມື (lep mư̄), ເລັບຕີນ (lep tīn)
- Latgalian: nogs m
- Latin: unguis
- Latvian: nags (lv) m
- Ligurian: óngia f
- Lithuanian: nagas m
- Lombard: ongia (lmo) f, ungia f
- Lotud: sondulu
- Low German: Nagel (nds) m
- German Low German: Nagel (nds), Tengel (Ostfriesland, Oldenburg)
- Luxembourgish: Nol m
- Macedonian: нокт m (nokt)
- Malay: kuku (ms)
- Malayalam: നഖം (ml) (nakhaṁ)
- Maltese: difer
- Manchu: ᡥᡳᡨᠠᡥᡡᠨ (hitahūn)
- Manx: ingin f
- Maore Comorian: kofu
- Marathi: नख (mr) (nakh)
- Mongolian:
- Cyrillic: хумс (mn) (xums)
- Nanai: хосакта (hosakta)
- Neapolitan: ogna f
- Ngazidja Comorian: fuu class 5/6
- Northern Altai: тыргак (tïrgak)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: negl (no) m
- Nynorsk: nagl m
- Occitan: ongla (oc) f, ungla (oc) f
- Odia: ନଖ (or) (nôkhô)
- Ojibwe: (my nail) nishlanzh
- Old Church Slavonic: ногъть m (nogŭtĭ)
- Old East Slavic: ногъть m (nogŭtĭ), пазногъть m (paznogŭtĭ)
- Old English: næġl m
- Old French: ungle m
- Old Javanese: kuku
- Old Turkic: 𐱃𐰃𐰺𐰭𐰴 (tïrŋaq)
- Oromo: qeensa
- Ossetian: ных (nyx)
- Ottoman Turkish: طرناق (tırnak), ناخن (nâhun), ظفر (zufr)
- Papiamentu: uña
- Pashto: نوک (ps) m (núk)
- Pela: laʔ³¹ saŋ³⁵ (fingernail)
- Pennsylvania German: Naggel m
- Persian: ناخن (fa) (nâxon)
- Piedmontese: ongia f
- Pitjantjatjara: piri
- Polish: paznokieć (pl) m
- Portuguese: unha (pt) f
- Quechua: sillu
- Canka Quechua: sillu
- Waiwaş Quechua: şillu
- Wanka Quechua: şillu
- Rohingya: nok
- Romanian: unghie (ro) f
- Romansch: ungla f (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Surmiran, Puter, Vallader), ùngla f (Sutsilvan)
- Rungus: sondullu
- Russian: но́готь (ru) m (nógotʹ)
- Sabah Bisaya: sindulu
- Saho: lific
- Sami:
- Northern: gazza
- Skolt: kõʒʒ
- Southern: guehpere
- Sanskrit: नख (sa) m or n (nakha)
- Sardinian: úgna f
- Campidanese: unga f
- Saterland Frisian: Nail m
- Scottish Gaelic: ìne f
- Sebop: cilun
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: но̏кат m
- Roman: nȍkat (sh) m
- Sicilian: ugna (scn) f
- Sinhalese: නියපොතු (niyapotu), ඇඟිලි (æⁿgili), අතැඟිලි (atæⁿgili) (fingernail), පයැඟිලි (payæⁿgili) (toenail)
- Slovak: necht (sk) m
- Slovene: noht (sl) m
- Somali: ciddi
- Sorbian:
- Lower Sorbian: nokś m
- Upper Sorbian: nochć
- Southern Altai: тырмак (tïrmak)
- Spanish: uña (es) f, garra (es) f
- Swahili: ukucha (sw)
- Swedish: nagel (sv) c
- Sylheti: ꠘꠃꠈ (noukó)
- Tagal Murut: salindu
- Tagalog: kuko
- Tajik: нохун (tg) (noxun)
- Talysh: nanqır
- Tamil: நகம் (ta) (nakam)
- Tarantino: unghie f
- Tarifit: iššar m
- Tatar: тырнақ
- Tausug: kukku
- Telugu: గోరు (te) (gōru), నఖము (te) (nakhamu)
- Tetum: kukun
- Thai: เล็บ (th) (lép), เล็บมือ (lép-mʉʉ)
- Tibetan: སེན་མོ (sen mo)
- Timugon Murut: salindu
- Tocharian B: mekwa
- Tok Pisin: (please verify) kapa bilong pinga
- Turkish: tırnak (tr)
- Turkmen: dyrnak
- Udi: мух (muχ)
- Udmurt: гижы (gižy)
- Ukrainian: ні́готь m (níhotʹ)
- Urdu: ناخن m (nāxun)
- Uyghur: تىرناق (tirnaq)
- Uzbek: tirnoq (uz)
- Venetian: ongia (vec) f, onza f
- Vietnamese: móng (vi), móng tay
- Volapük: nuel (vo)
- Walloon: ongue (wa) f
- Waray-Waray: kulo
- Welsh: ewin (cy) m or f
- West Coast Bajau: keku
- West Frisian: neil
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: sulu
- Yagnobi: нахна (naxna)
- Yakut: тыҥырах (tıñıraq)
- Yiddish: נאָגל m (nogl)
- Zazaki: nengu (diq), negu, neku
- Zulu: uzipho (zu) class 11/10
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one of the four round pedestals (the nails) in Bristol
archaic English unit of length
- French: seize (fr) m (actually 1⁄16 of an ell or 2.9 inches)
- Zazaki: nengêk
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See also
Etymology 2
From Middle English naylen, from Old English næġlan.
Verb
nail (third-person singular simple present nails, present participle nailing, simple past and past participle nailed)
- (transitive) To fix (an object) to another object using a nail.
- Coordinate terms: pin, rivet, screw; see also Thesaurus:join
He nailed the placard to the post.
- (intransitive) To drive a nail.
- Synonym: hammer
He used the ax head for nailing.
- (transitive) To stud or boss with nails, or as if with nails.
- (slang) To catch.
- Synonyms: arrest, collar, nick; see also Thesaurus:capture
1765, “A Song in High Life”, in The Merry Medley, volume 1, London: W. Hoggard, page 35:I pray you now send me some dub, / A bottle or two to the needy. / I beg you won't bring it yourself, / The harman is at the Old-Bailey; / I'd rather you'd send it behalf, / For, if they twig you they'll nail you.
1943 October 9, The Australian Women's Weekly, page 3, column 4:Military Intelligence seems to be on the spot in a quiet sort of way. I just met a G-2 slue-foot and he was a most efficient guy! They're keeping low, I think, until they nail their man.
1993, Peter M. Lenkov, Robert Reneau, Daniel Waters, Demolition Man, spoken by Captain Healy (Steve Kahan):Dammit, John, I'm tired of this 'Demolition Man' stuff! […] Now, I know you've been trying to nail this psycho for two years, but try remembering a little thing called official police procedure.
2005, Lesley, transl. Brown, Sophist, 261a, translation of original by Plato:we'll nail the sophist to it, if we can get him on that charge;
- (transitive, slang) To expose as a sham.
- (transitive, slang) To accomplish (a task) completely and successfully.
- Synonyms: ace, fullbring, fulfill
- Antonym: screw
I really nailed that test.
2023 July 6, Dan Milmo, quoting Mark Zuckerberg, “Zuckerberg uses Threads to say Twitter has missed its chance”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:The chief executive and founder of Meta used his new Threads account to say Twitter had not “nailed” its opportunity to become a mega app and that his copycat version would be “focusing on kindness”.
- (transitive, slang) To hit (a target) effectively with some weapon.
2011 October 1, Tom Fordyce, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland”, in BBC Sport:Fly-half Ruaridh Jackson departed early with injury but Chris Paterson nailed a penalty from wide out left to give Scotland an early lead, and Jackson's replacement Dan Parks added three more points with a penalty which skimmed over the crossbar.
- (transitive, vulgar, slang) Of a male, to engage in sexual intercourse with.
- Synonyms: dick, pound, rail, screw; see also Thesaurus:copulate with
1985, John Hughes, The Breakfast Club (motion picture):Allison Reynolds: I'm a nymphomaniac. […] The only person I told was my shrink. / Andrew Clark: And what did he do when you told him? / Allison Reynolds: He nailed me.
- (military) To spike, as a cannon.
1598, Robert Barret, he Theorike and Practike of Modern Warres:That the Ordinance be not nayled, nor the munition fiered.
- (transitive) To nail down: to make certain, or confirm.
- Synonyms: clinch, fix, lock down, pin down
- (slang, transitive, obsolete) To steal.
1866, Temple Bar, volume 16, page 507:Loud was the laughter at this and other remarks about nailing "stooks" (silk pocket handkerchiefs), "clouts" (cotton ditto), german sausages, &c.
Derived terms
Translations
employ a nail as a fastener
- Armenian: մեխել (hy) (mexel)
- Asturian: clavar
- Breton: tachañ (br)
- Bulgarian: заковавам (bg) (zakovavam)
- Catalan: clavar (ca)
- Czech: přibít
- Danish: sømme
- Dutch: nagelen (nl), inkloppen (nl)
- Finnish: naulata (fi), naulita (fi)
- French: clouer (fr)
- Friulian: inclaudâ
- Galician: cravar (gl), chapar
- German: festnageln (de), nageln (de), annageln (de)
- Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌲𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (ganagljan)
- Greek: καρφώνω (el) (karfóno)
- Ancient: ἐφηλόω (ephēlóō)
- Haitian Creole: kloure
- Hebrew: סִמֵּר (he) (simér), (with a nail specifically) מִסְמֵר (he) (mismér)
- Hungarian: szegez (hu), szögez (hu), rászegez (hu), rászögez, odaszegez (hu), odaszögez (hu)
- Ingrian: naaglia, naaglita
- Interlingua: clavar
- Italian: inchiodare (it)
- Low German:
- German Low German: nageln
- Luxembourgish: festneelen, unneelen, neelen
- Macedonian: заковува (zakovuva)
- Malayalam: ആണിയടിക്കുക (āṇiyaṭikkuka)
- Manx: trein
- Maori: taratiti
- Norwegian: spikre
- Polish: wbijać gwóźdź
- Portuguese: pregar (pt)
- Russian: прибивать (ru) (pribivatʹ), приколачивать (ru) (prikolačivatʹ), пригвоздить (ru) (prigvozditʹ) (figuratively)
- Slovene: pribiti
- Spanish: clavar (es), clavetear (es)
- Swedish: spika (sv), nagla (sv)
- Turkish: çivilemek (tr), çakmak (tr)
- Ukrainian: прибивати impf (prybyvaty), прибити pf (prybyty)
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accomplish something completely and successfully
hit a target effectively with some weapon
engage in sexual intercourse
See also
Anagrams
- I-lan, INLA, Ilan, LNAI, Lain, Lani, Lian, Lina, Nila, anil, lain
Bouyei
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Noun
nail
- grandmother
Etymology 2
Noun
nail
- snow
- ice
Middle English
Noun
nail
- Alternative form of nayl
Turkish
Etymology
Inherited from Ottoman Turkish نَائِل (nāʾil), from Arabic نَائِل (nāʔil), active participle of نَالَ (nāla, “to bestow, to give, to grant”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /naːˈil/
- Hyphenation: na‧il
Adjective
nail
- Who does or has receive, obtain, attain.
Declension
predicative forms of nail
present tense
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positive, declarative
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positive, interrogative
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negative, declarative
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negative, interrogative
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ben (I am)
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nailim
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nail miyim?
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nail değilim
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nail değil miyim?
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sen (you are)
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nailsin
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nail misin?
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nail değilsin
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nail değil misin?
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o (he/she/it is)
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nail / naildir
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nail mi?
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nail değil
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nail değil mi?
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biz (we are)
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nailiz
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nail miyiz?
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nail değiliz
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nail değil miyiz?
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siz (you are)
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nailsiniz
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nail misiniz?
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nail değilsiniz
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nail değil misiniz?
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onlar (they are)
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nail(ler)
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nail(ler) mi?
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nail değil(ler)
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nail değiller mi?
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past tense
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positive, declarative
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positive, interrogative
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negative, declarative
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negative, interrogative
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ben (I was)
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naildim
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nail miydim?
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nail değildim
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nail değil miydim?
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sen (you were)
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naildin
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nail miydin?
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nail değildin
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nail değil miydin?
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o (he/she/it was)
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naildi
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nail miydi?
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nail değildi
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nail değil miydi?
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biz (we were)
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naildik
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nail miydik?
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nail değildik
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nail değil miydik?
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siz (you were)
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naildiniz
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nail miydiniz?
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nail değildiniz
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nail değil miydiniz?
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onlar (they were)
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naildiler
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nail miydiler?
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nail değildi(ler) / değillerdi
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nail değil miydiler?
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indirect past
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positive, declarative
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positive, interrogative
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negative, declarative
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negative, interrogative
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ben (I was)
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nailmişim
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nail miymişim?
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nail değilmişim
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nail değil miymişim?
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sen (you were)
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nailmişsin
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nail miymişsin?
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nail değilmişsin
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nail değil miymişsin?
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o (he/she/it was)
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nailmiş
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nail miymiş?
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nail değilmiş
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nail değil miymiş?
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biz (we were)
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nailmişiz
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nail miymişiz?
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nail değilmişiz
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nail değil miymişiz?
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siz (you were)
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nailmişsiniz
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nail miymişsiniz?
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nail değilmişsiniz
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nail değil miymişsiniz?
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onlar (they were)
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nailmişler
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nail miymişler?
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nail değilmiş(ler) / değillermiş
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nail değil miymişler?
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conditional
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positive, declarative
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positive, interrogative
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negative, declarative
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negative, interrogative
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ben (if I)
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nailsem
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nail miysem?
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nail değilsem
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nail değil miysem?
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sen (if you)
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nailsen
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nail miysen?
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nail değilsen
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nail değil miysen?
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o (if he/she/it)
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nailse
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nail miyse?
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nail değilse
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nail değil miyse?
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biz (if we)
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nailsek
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nail miysek?
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nail değilsek
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nail değil miysek?
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siz (if you)
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nailseniz
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nail miyseniz?
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nail değilseniz
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nail değil miyseniz?
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onlar (if they)
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nailseler
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nail miyseler?
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nail değilseler / değillerse
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nail değil miyseler?
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Derived terms
Related terms
References
- ^ Redhouse, James W. (1890) “نَائِل”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon, Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 2069
- ^ Kélékian, Diran (1911) “نَائِل”, in Dictionnaire turc-français, Constantinople: Mihran, page 1267
- ^ Şemseddin Sâmi (1899–1901) “نَائِل”, in قاموس تركی (in Ottoman Turkish), Constantinople: İkdam Matbaası, page 1453
- ^ Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “nail”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
Further reading
Vietnamese
Etymology
English nail.
Pronunciation
Noun
nail
- nailcare
- làm nail ― perform nailcare
- nghề nail ― nailcare as a profession
2022, T.TH, “Kình ngư Nguyễn Hữu Kim Sơn chọn ĐH Duy Tân làm bến đỗ”, in Tuổi trẻ online:Hiện tại ba em đang quản lý một nhà hàng cùng một tiệm nail khá lớn ở Mỹ, do chính ba mở ra.- My father currently manages a restaurant and a rather large nail salon in America, which he opened himself.
Welsh
Pronunciation
Noun
nail
- Nasal mutation of dail.
Mutation