handle

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈhæn.dᵊl/^[1]

Etymology

The noun is inherited from Middle English handel,^[2] inherited from Old English handle,^[3][4] formed from hand and the instrumental suffix -el, as in thimble from thumb and spindle from spin.^[3][4] The verb is inherited from Old English handlian (“to touch or move with the hands”),^[3][4] also formed from hand, perhaps with a frequentative suffix.^[3] It is cognate with Old Frisian handelia, Old High German hantalōn “to feel, touch, manage” (German handeln “to trade, act”) and Old Norse hǫndla “to seize”.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun, the part of a thing made to be grasped: before 800.^[4][6] The verb, to touch or feel with the hands: about 1000.^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

In Old English the verb already meant “to deal with, discuss”, and Middle English hondlen also meant “to fondle” and “to treat roughly”.^[3] To wield a tool or weapon is from about 1205,^[6] and to deal with a matter or course of action from 1523.^[6] The noun's figurative sense, a means of taking hold of something, is from before 1535.^[6] The slang sense “name, nickname” is from 1870, first American, from earlier talk of adding a handle (a title such as Mister or Sir) to one's name, recorded from 1833.^[3] Fly off the handle, from an axe head flying off, is American from 1833 to 1844.^[3][6] The total sum of money bet on an event is a modern sense.^[7]

Timeline

• before 800 – noun, a handle.^[4][6]
• c. 1000 – verb, to touch with the hands.^[4][6]
• c. 1205 – to wield.^[6]
• 1523 – to deal with a matter.^[6]
• 1833 – a title added to a name.^[3]
• 1843–4 – fly off the handle.^[6]
• 1870 – a nickname.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The part of an object designed to be held in the hand.
2. A means of understanding or controlling: to get a handle on.
3. (informal) A name or nickname.
4. The total amount of money bet on an event.

Verb

1. To touch, hold or move with the hands.
2. To deal with or manage; to have responsibility for.
3. To cope with: she can handle pressure.
4. To trade in a commodity.
5. Of a vehicle, to respond to control.

Word family

• handleless
• handled
• handleable
• handleability
• handlebar
• handling
• panhandle
• stickhandle

Related words

• hand
• handsel
• manhandle

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster