Etymograph

English

handling

Handling comes from Middle English handlinge, from Old English handlung (handle + -ing).

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150handlung1‘handling’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500handlinge1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1590handling1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English handling
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto VIII: “the heauens, and your faire handeling / Haue made…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150handlungWiktionary, English handling‘handling’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500handlingeWiktionary, English handling
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1590handlingWiktionary, English handling. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto VIII: “the heauens, and your faire handeling / Haue made…”

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Today it means

noun A touching, controlling, managing, using, taking care of, etc., with the hand or hands, or as with the hands.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “handling”. 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 / Old English handlung / handling