cuticle
noun
[ ˈkjuːtɪk(ə)l ]
• the dead skin at the base of a fingernail or toenail.
• "you've been gnawing at your cuticles"
• the outer cellular layer of a hair.
• "the cuticle is the hair's protective shield"
• a protective and waxy or hard layer covering the epidermis of a plant, invertebrate, or shell.
• "the body is covered with a non-living cuticle of chitin"
Origin:
late 15th century (denoting a membrane of the body): from Latin cuticula, diminutive of cutis ‘skin’.
