Etymograph

English

hand

Hand comes from Middle English hond, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *handuz.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*handuz1reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*handu1reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150hand1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hond1
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588hand1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English hand
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “Who […] Haue paſt the armie of the mightie…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*handuzWiktionary, English handreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*handuWiktionary, English handreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150handWiktionary, English hand
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hondWiktionary, English hand
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588handWiktionary, English hand. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “Who […] Haue paſt the armie of the mightie…”

The story

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’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *handuz

Another origin of hand

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500handen
  2. Englishtodayhand

Today it means

noun The part of the forelimb below the forearm or wrist in humans and other primates, and the corresponding part in many other animals.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “hand”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *handuz / hand

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