English

handwheel

From hand + wheel.

A compound of hand + wheel

Proto-Germanic *handuz

Proto-West Germanic *handu

Old English hand

Middle English hond

English hand

Proto-Indo-European *kʷékʷlos ‘wheel’

Proto-Germanic *hwehwlą ‘wheel’

Proto-Germanic *hweulō ‘wheels (plural of *hwehwlą)’

Old English hwēol ‘wheel’

Middle English whel ‘wheel’

English wheel

Today it means

noun Any wheel worked by hand, whether used to allow leverage, as of a valve or a handbrake, or to allow fine adjustment, as of a set screw.

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

Etymograph / handwheel