Etymograph

English

hand

Hand comes from Middle English hond, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *handuz.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*handuzreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*handureconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150hand
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hond
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588hand

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*handuzreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*handureconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150hand
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hond
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588hand

Earliest quotation: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “Who […] Haue paſt the armie of the mightie…”

The story

Perhaps compare Old Swedish hinna (‘to gain’), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰-𐌷𐌹𐌽𐌸𐌰𐌽 (fra-hinþan, “to take captive, capture”); and Latvian sīts (‘hunting spear’), Ancient Greek κεντέω (kentéō, “prick”), Albanian çandër (‘pitchfork, prop’).

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *handuz

Another origin of hand

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500handen
  2. Englishtodayhand

Today it means

noun The part of the forelimb below the forearm or wrist in humans and other primates, and the corresponding part in many other animals.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *handuz / hand

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