hand English · revision 2324

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 830 (Old English hond)|origins=gem-pro *handuz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /hænd/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|hand]], [[inh|ang|hand]] (also [[m|ang|hond]]),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) from [[gem-pro|*handuz]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Its relatives include [[nl|hand]], [[de|Hand]] and [[non|hǫnd]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) The word has no known relatives outside Germanic^(Barnhart 1988) and its origin is uncertain.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) Klein and Chambers connect it with a Germanic verb meaning “to seize”, so that it would first have meant “the grasper”.^(Klein 1966)^(Chambers 2008) Like many Indo-European words for the hand, the Germanic ones could also mean the hand and arm together.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The Old English plural [[m|ang|handa]] gave way in Middle English to [[m|enm|handen]], and then to the modern plural in -s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The human hand: Old English ''hond'', before 830,^(Barnhart 1988) and earlier in the compound ''handful'' (about 700).^(Barnhart 1988) In Old English it also meant “side, direction” and “power, control, possession”, from the hand's grip.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Hand'' meaning “handwriting” dates from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) A ''hand'' was a manual worker from the 1580s,^(Etymonline) a hired workman from the 1630s and a sailor from the 1660s;^(Etymonline) ''all hands'' for a whole ship's crew is from the late 16th century.^(Cresswell 2021) The hand of a clock dates from the 1570s,^(Etymonline) and the unit of four inches, now used only for the height of horses, from the 1560s.^(Etymonline)^(HTOED) The cards held by one player were a ''hand'' from the 1620s,^(Etymonline) and applause from 1838.^(Etymonline) ''Hand over fist'' grew out of ''hand over hand'' (mid-18th century), used of a sailor climbing or hauling a rope, and ''hands down'' comes from a jockey so sure of winning that he could drop his hands (mid-19th century).^(Cresswell 2021) The verb, “to take charge of, seize”, dates from about 1400;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the earlier verbs were ''hend'' and ''handle''.^(Etymonline) “To pass something to someone” is from the 1640s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and ''hand it to'' “to give credit to” is slang from 1906.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''Handbook'' was Old English, a translation of Medieval Latin ''manuālis liber'',^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988) ''handwriting'' is from 1421^(Barnhart 1988) and ''handy'' from 1535.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 700 – ''handful''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 830 – Old English ''hond''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 14th century – handwriting.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+ * c. 1400 – verb, to take charge of.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1421 – ''handwriting''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1560s – a measure of four inches.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1570s – the hand of a clock.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1580s – a manual worker.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1620s – a hand of cards.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1640s – verb, to pass to someone.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1838 – a round of applause.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1906 – ''hand it to''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The end part of the arm below the [[wrist]], made up of the [[palm]], fingers and thumb.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A [[pointer]] on a dial, such as that of a [[clock]].^(AHD)^(HTOED)

+ # A manual worker; a member of a crew: ''a farmhand'', ''all hands''.^(AHD)^(Cresswell 2021)

+ # A role or part in doing something: ''had a hand in it''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Control or possession: ''in good hands''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A side or direction: ''on the other hand''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # [[handwriting|alt=Handwriting]].^(AHD)^(Hoad 1986)

+ # A round of [[applause]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # The cards held by a player, or one round of a card game.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A unit of length of four inches, used for the height of [[horse|alt=horses]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To give or pass with the hands.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # To help or guide with the hands.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(nautical)'' To roll up and secure a sail; to [[furl]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[hander]]

+ * [[handless]]

+ * [[handlike]]

+ * [[deckhand]]

+ * [[farmhand]]

+ * [[stagehand]]

+ * [[hand down]]

+ * [[hand in]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[handle]]

+ * [[handy]]

+ * [[handsome]]

+ * [[manual]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}