A compound of hand + span
Proto-Germanic *handuz
Proto-West Germanic *handu
Old English hand
Middle English hond
English hand
Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- ‘to stretch’
Proto-Germanic *spannō ‘span, handbreadth’
Old English spann
Middle English spanne ‘a span’
English span
Today it means
noun The distance between the outstretched tips of the little finger and thumb when used as a unit of measurement.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / handspan
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