An individual who bites his or her nails may be said to have _____.

• A. Onychophagy
• B. Onycholysis
• C. Onychomycosis
• D. Onychia

Answer: (A)

The term for biting the nails is onychophagy. It comes from onych-, meaning nail, and -phagy, meaning eating, which aptly describes the act of biting nails. The other terms describe different nail problems: onycholysis is the nail plate lifting away from the nail bed, often due to trauma or moisture; onychomycosis is a fungal infection that thickens and discolor nails; onychia is inflammation of the nail bed or surrounding tissue. So, onychophagy is the correct way to name the nail-biting habit.