handy

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈhæn.di/^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from hand and -y.^[2][3][4] Hoad explains the early sense, manual, as evolved from handiwork, and the later senses as a new formation replacing Middle English hende, from Old English gehende, at hand.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Skilled with the hands, implied in surnames: about 1300 in Etymonline;^[2] of or done by the hand, manual, before 1310 in the OED, now obsolete.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Wielded by the hand is from 1586.^[5] Conveniently accessible, near at hand, is from 1650, the 1640s in Etymonline,^[5][2] and convenient to handle from 1694.^[5] Clever with the hands is from 1662;^[5] Merriam-Webster dates this sense from about 1525.^[3] Come in handy is a later colloquial phrase.^[6][7]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – skilful (in surnames).^[2]
• before 1310 – manual (obsolete).^[5]
• 1650 – near at hand.^[5]
• 1662 – clever with the hands.^[5]
• 1694 – easy to handle.^[5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Useful and convenient: a handy tool.
2. Close at hand; easy to reach.
3. Skilful with one's hands.

Word family

• handiness
• handily
• handyman
• handyperson
• unhandy

Related words

• hand
• handiwork

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin