English
light-handed
Light-handed comes from Middle English lyghte handyd.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lyghte handyd
- Englishearliest quotation 1817light-handed
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lyghte handyd
- Englishearliest quotation 1817light-handed
Earliest quotation: 1817, Sir Walter Scott: “Thae Hielandmen are o' the westland clans, and just…”
A compound of light ‘the radiation which allows for vision by…’ + honded
Proto-Indo-European *lewk- ‘light’
Proto-Indo-European *lewktom
Proto-Germanic *leuhtą ‘light’
Proto-West Germanic *leuht ‘light’
Old English lēoht ‘light, daylight’
Middle English light ‘the radiation which allows for vision by brightening objects and colours’
Every English word from Middle English lyghte handyd
Today it means
adj Gentle; benign and with minimal intervention.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English lyghte handyd / light-handed