hand
/hænd/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms hands handing handed handest handedst handeth
- noun The part of the forelimb below the forearm or wrist in humans and other primates, and the corresponding part in many other animals. “Her hands are really strong.”
- noun A limb of certain animals, such as the foot of a hawk, or any one of the four extremities of a monkey.
- noun An index or pointer on a dial; such as the hour and minute hands on the face of an analog clock, which are used to indicate the time of day.
- noun (card games) The set of cards held by a player.
- noun A round of a card game.
- noun (tobacco manufacturing) A bundle of tobacco leaves tied together.
- noun (collective) A bunch of bananas, a typical retail amount, where individual fruits are fingers.
- noun (chiefly in measuring the height of horses) Four inches, a hand's breadth.
- verb (ditransitive) To give, pass or transmit with the hand, literally or figuratively. “He handed them the letter. She handed me an opportunity.”
- verb (transitive) To lead, guide, or assist with the hand; to conduct. “to hand a lady into a carriage”
- verb (transitive, obsolete) To manage.
- verb (transitive, obsolete) To seize; to lay hands on.
- verb (transitive, rare) To pledge by the hand; to handfast.
- verb (transitive, nautical) To furl (a sail).
- verb (intransitive, obsolete) To cooperate.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
manus mound mund paw biscuit hooks mauler meat hook mitt hired hand hired man handwriting script deal bridge player helping hand pass reach pass on turn over give
Etymology
From Middle English hond, hand, from Old English hand, from Proto-West Germanic *handu, from Proto-Germanic *handuz.
See also Dutch and Swedish hand (“hand”), Danish hånd, German Hand, West Frisian hân. 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”).
From Middle English handen, honden, from the noun (see above); and also from henden (> English hend), from Old English *hendan, ġehendan (“to seize by hand, grasp, hold”), from Proto-West Germanic *handijan, from Proto-Germanic *handijaną (“to take by hand, grasp”), from the noun (see above). Cognate with Old Frisian handa, henda (“to grasp, seize”), Middle Low German handen, henden (in derivatives), Dutch handen, henden (“to arrange, dispose, be handy”), Dutch overhandigen (“to hand, hand over”), Middle High German handen (“to cut, hew”), Middle High German henden (“to give hands to; take hold of, seize”), Old Norse henda (“to grasp, seize, take by hand”).
* As a Dutch, German, and English surname, from the noun hand, or used to translate surname for hand in other languages.
* Also as an English surname, possibly from a pet form of Randall or names like Johan and Henry.
Webster’s 1913
- noun That part of the fore limb below the forearm or wrist in man and monkeys, and the corresponding part in many other animals; manus; paw. See Manus.
- noun That which resembles, or to some extent performs the office of, a human hand; as: (a) A limb of certain animals, as the foot of a hawk, or any one of the four extremities of a monkey.
- verb To give, pass, or transmit with the hand; as, he handed them the letter.
- verb To lead, guide, or assist with the hand; to conduct; as, to hand a lady into a carriage.
Etymology [AS. hand, hond; akin to D., G., & Sw. hand, OHG. hant, Dan. haand, Icel. hönd, Goth. handus, and perh. to Goth. hinpan to seize (in comp.). Cf. Hunt.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “hand”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details