English
handsel
Handsel comes from Middle English handsell.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500handsell
- Englishearliest quotation 1596handsel
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500handsell
- Englishearliest quotation 1596handsel
Earliest quotation: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Book VI, Canto XI: “That whoso hardy hand on her doth lay ,…”
Every English word from Middle English handsell
Today it means
noun A lucky omen.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English handsell / handsel