cerato-, cerat-, kerato-, kerat-, ker-, kera-, kerat-

1. A skin disease characterized by clusters of dilated blood vessels and by thickened skin, forming warty growths; especially, on the scrotum, fingers, and toes.
2. An intradermal cavernous hemangioma covered by a wartlike thickening of the horny layer of the epidermis. Also called telangiectatic wart.

Pain in the cornea of the eye: Raymond's right eye hurt him a lot, and the ophthalmologist explained that he had a condition of keratalgia that was a disorder causing agony in the the transparent convex membrane that covered the pupil and iris of the eye, or the transparent membrane covering the eyeball.

Any of a family of scleroproteins that form the primary constituents of epidermis, hair, nails, and horny tissues.

Included are the cytokeratins of epithelial tissue and the hard keratins of ectodermally derived structures; such as, hair and nails.

Because it is insoluble in gastric juice, keratin is sometimes used to coat pills designed to dissolve in the intestine.

Leather is almost pure keratin.

One kind of fungus that grows on the protein of the hair and nails: A keratinophile can thrive on a person's toenails, for example.

Regarding the ability to grow on keratin: A keratinophilic fungus uses the protein of hair and nails to thrive on.

Denoting fungi that use keratin as a substrata: After reading about keratinophily, Max learned that a parasite, a fungus, like a dermatophyte, infects especially an individual's fingernails or toenails.