Etymograph

English

handle

Handle comes from Middle English handel, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *handulā.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*handulā1reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150handle1
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500handel1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1692–1717handle1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English handle
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions: “They overturned him to all his interests by the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*handulāWiktionary, English handlereconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150handleWiktionary, English handle
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500handelWiktionary, English handle
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1692–1717handleWiktionary, English handle. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions: “They overturned him to all his interests by the…”

Explore everything descended from *handulā →

Another origin of handle

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*handuz‘hand’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*handulōną‘to take, grip, feel’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*handulōn‘to handle’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150handlian‘to handle, feel, deal with, discuss’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500handlen
  6. Englishtodayhandle

No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.

Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app

Today it means

noun The part of an object which is (designed to be) held in the hand when used or moved.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “handle”. 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-West Germanic *handulā / handle