Definition of Fingernail Fingernail: A fingernail is produced by
living skin cells in the finger. A fingernail consists of
several parts including the nail plate (the visible part of the
nail), the nail bed (the skin beneath the nail plate), the
cuticle (the tissue that overlaps the plate and rims the base of
the nail), the nail folds (the skin folds that frame and support
the nail on three sides), the lunula (the whitish half-moon at
the base of the nail) and the matrix (the hidden part of the
nail unit under the cuticle). Fingernails grow from the matrix.
The nails are composed largely of keratin, a hardened protein
(that is also in skin and hair). As new cells grow in the
matrix, the older cells are pushed out, compacted and take on
the familiar flattened, hardened form of the fingernail. The
average growth rate for nails is 0.1 mm each day (or 1
centimeter in 100 days). The exact rate of nail growth depends
on numerous factors including the age and sex of the individual
and the time of year. Fingernails g