hand

From Middle English hond, hand, from Old English hand (“hand, side (in defining position), power, control, possession, charge, agency, person regarded as holder or receiver of something”), from Proto-Germanic *handuz (“hand”) (compare Dutch, Norwegian Nynorsk, Swedish hand, German Hand, West Frisian hân), of uncertain origin. 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”).

• enPR: hănd, IPA^(key): /hænd/

• Audio (RP)

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• Audio (GA)

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• Audio

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• Rhymes: -ænd

hand (plural hands)

1. The part of the fore limb below the forearm or wrist in a human, and the corresponding part in many other animals.

   Her hands are really strong.

   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 7, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

     I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.

   • 2012, John Branch, “Snow Fall : The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, in New York Time‎:

     Using her hands like windshield wipers, she tried to flick snow away from her mouth. When she clawed at her chest and neck, the crumbs maddeningly slid back onto her face. She grew claustrophobic.

2. That which resembles, or to some extent performs the office of, a human hand.
   1. A limb of certain animals, such as the foot of a hawk, or any one of the four extremities of a monkey.
   2. 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.
3. In linear measurement:
   1. (chiefly in measuring the height of horses) Four inches, a hand's breadth.
      • 1945 August 17, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter 1, in Animal Farm: A Fairy Story, London: Secker & Warburg, OCLC 3655473:

        Boxer was an enormous beast, nearly eighteen hands high, and as strong as any two ordinary horses put together.

   2. (obsolete) Three inches.
4. A side; part, camp; direction, either right or left.
   • Exodus 38:15:

     On this hand and that hand, were hangings.

   • 1649, John Milton, Eikonoklastes:

     For that the Protestants were then on the winning hand, it must needs be plain; who, notwithstanding the miss of those forces, which at their landing here mastered without difficulty great part of Wales and Cheshire, yet made a shift to keep their own in Ireland.

   • From a speech delivered by Bertrand Russell on accepting the 1950 Nobel Prize in Literature:

     I maintain, however, on the one hand, that there are few occasions upon which large bodies of men, such as politics is concerned with, can rise above selfishness, while, on the other hand, there are a very great many circumstances in which populations will fall below selfishness, if selfishness is interpreted as enlightened self-interest.

5. Power of performance; means of execution; ability; skill; dexterity.
   • 1712 October 2, Joseph Addison, The Spectator, number 499:

     My friend Will Honeycomb has told me for above this half year, that he had a great mind to try his hand at a Spectator, and that he would fain have one of his writing in my works.

   • 1920, Mary Roberts Rinehart; Avery Hopwood, chapter I, in The Bat: A Novel from the Play (Dell Book; 241), New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing Company, OCLC 20230794, page 01:

     The Bat—they called him the Bat. […]. He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he played a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the fence couldn't swear he knew his face.

6. An agent; a servant, or manual laborer, especially in compounds; a workman, trained or competent for special service or duty; a performer more or less skillful.

   an old hand at speaking;  large farms need many farm hands

   • 1690, John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding:

     But a Dictionary of this sort, containing, as it were, a Natural History, requires too many Hands, as well as too much Time, Cost, Pains and Sagacity, ever to be hoped for; and till that be done, we must content ourselves with such Definitions of the Names of Substances, as explain the Sense Men use them in.

   • 1811, William Hazlitt, “A Day by the Fire”, in The Reflector:

     I was always reckoned a lively hand at a simile.

   • 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 2, in The Affair at the Novelty Theatre‎:

     For this scene, a large number of supers are engaged, and in order to further swell the crowd, practically all the available stage hands have to ‘walk on’ dressed in various coloured dominoes, and all wearing masks.

7. An instance of helping.

   Bob gave Alice a hand to move the furniture.

   • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:

     The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on an afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.

8. Handwriting; style of penmanship.

   a good hand

   • 1600, William Shakespeare, As You Like It, IV-iii:

     I say she never did invent this letter; This is a man’s invention and his hand

   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. In Six Volumes, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: Printed by A[ndrew] Millar, […], OCLC 928184292:

     I have sometimes known a poet in danger of being convicted as a thief, upon much worse evidence than the resemblance of hands hath been held to be in the law.

   • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island:

     I found written on the other side, in a very good, clear hand, this short message […]

   • 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde:

     "This is a strange note," said Mr. Utterson; and then sharply, "How do you come to have it open?" "The man at Maw's was main angry, sir, and he threw it back to me like so much dirt," returned Poole. "This is unquestionably the doctor's hand, do you know?" resumed the lawyer. "I thought it looked like it," said the servant rather sulkily; and then, with another voice, "But what matters hand of write?" he said. "I've seen him!"

   • 2013 September 14, Jane Shilling, “The Golden Thread: the Story of Writing, by Ewan Clayton, review [print edition: Illuminating language]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review)‎, page R28:

     [T]he pleasure of writing on wax with a stylus is exemplified by the fine, flowing hand of a Roman scribe who made out the birth certificate of Herennia Gemella, born March 128 AD.

9. A person's autograph or signature.

   Given under my Hand and Seal of the State this 1st Day of January, 2010.

10. Personal possession; ownership.
    • 1603, Richard Knolles, The History of the Turks:

      Receiving in hand one year’s tribute.

11. (usually in the plural, hands) Management, domain, control.

    in safe hands;  in good hands;  He lost his job when the factory changed hands.  With the business back in the founder's hands, there is new hope for the company.  With John in charge of the project, it's in good hands.

    • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Luke 1:1

      Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us […]

    • 1670, John Milton, The History of Britain:

      But Albinus, in those troublesome times ensuing under the short reign of Pertinax and Didius Julianus ¶, found means to keep in his hands the government of Britain.

12. That which is, or may be, held in a hand at once.
    1. (card games) The set of cards held by a player.
       1. A round of a card game.
    2. (tobacco manufacturing) A bundle of tobacco leaves tied together.
    3. (collective) The collective noun for a bunch of bananas.
13. Applause.

    Give him a hand.

    • 2013, Tom Shone, Oscar nominations pull a surprise by showing some taste – but will it last? (in The Guardian, 11 January 2013)

      Also a big hand for Silver Linings Playbook, an exuberant modern screwball comedy we had, in an unseemly fit of cynicism, deemed "too entertaining" for Academy voters.

14. (historical) A Native American gambling game, involving guessing the whereabouts of bits of ivory or similar, which are passed rapidly from hand to hand.
15. (firearms) The small part of a gunstock near the lock, which is grasped by the hand in taking aim.
16. A whole rhizome of ginger.
17. The feel of a fabric; the impression or quality of the fabric as judged qualitatively by the sense of touch.

    This fabric has a smooth, soft hand.

18. (archaic) Actual performance; deed; act; workmanship; agency; hence, manner of performance.
    • 1717, Edward Hyde Clarendon, History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England: Begun in the Year 1641, volume 2:

      They who thought they could never be secure in any peace, except the King were first at their mercy, and so obliged to accept the conditions they would give him, were willing to change the hand in carrying on the war; and many, who thought the Earl of Essex behaved himself too imperiously, were willing to have the command in one who was more their equal.

    • Judges 6.36:

      Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by my hand.

19. (archaic) Agency in transmission from one person to another.

    to buy at first hand (from the producer, or when new);  to buy at second hand (when no longer in the producer’s hand, or when not new);  It's not a rumor. I heard it at first hand.

20. (obsolete) Rate; price.
    • 1625, Francis Bacon, The Essays or Counsels Civil and Moral:

      For time is the measure of business, as money is of wares; and business is bought at a dear hand, where there is small dispatch.

• (part of the arm below the wrist): manus (obsolete), paw (of some animals)

Hand is used figuratively for a large variety of acts or things, in the doing, or making, or use of which the hand is in some way employed or concerned; also, as a symbol to denote various qualities or conditions, as,

(a) Activity; operation; work; — in distinction from the head, which implies thought, and the heart, which implies affection.

His hand will be against every man. — Genesis 16:12

(b) Power; might; supremacy; — often in the Scriptures.

With a mighty hand . . . will I rule over you. — Ezekiel 20:33.

(c) Fraternal feeling; for example to give, or take, the hand; to give the right hand

(d) Contract; — commonly of marriage; for example to ask the hand; to pledge the hand

• (part of the fore limb below the forearm): index finger, middle finger, palm, pinky, ring finger, thumb

See hand/translations § Noun.

Poker hands in English · poker hands (layout · text)
high card	pair	two pair	three of a kind	straight
flush	full house	four of a kind	straight flush	royal flush

Appendix:English collective nouns

hand (third-person singular simple present hands, present participle handing, simple past and past participle handed)

1. (transitive) To give, pass, or transmit with the hand, literally or figuratively.
   • 2013 August 10, “Can China clean up fast enough?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:

     It has jailed environmental activists and is planning to limit the power of judicial oversight by handing a state-approved body a monopoly over bringing environmental lawsuits.

   He handed them the letter.   She handed responsibility over to her deputy.

2. (transitive) To lead, guide, or assist with the hand; to conduct.

   to hand a lady into a carriage

3. (transitive, obsolete) To manage.
   • a. 1709, Matthew Prior, “The Lady's Looking-Glass”, in Poems on Several Occasions:

     I bless my chain; I hand my oar. / Nor think on all I left on shore.

4. (transitive, obsolete) To seize; to lay hands on.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

5. (transitive, rare) To pledge by the hand; to handfast.
6. (transitive, nautical, said of a sail) To furl.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Totten to this entry?)

7. (intransitive, obsolete) To cooperate.

• hand in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

• Dahn, Danh, NADH, dahn

From Dutch hand.

hand (plural hande, diminutive handjie)

1. hand

hand

1. Obsolete spelling of han (“he”)

From Middle Dutch hant, from Old Dutch hant, from Proto-Germanic *handuz.

• Rhymes: -ɑnt

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• IPA^(key): /ɦɑnt/

hand f (plural handen, diminutive handje n)

1. hand of a human or other simian

Clipping of handball. Compare foot from football.

• ^{(aspirated h)} IPA^(key): /ɑ̃d/

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hand m (uncountable)

1. handball

   On va jouer au hand, tu veux venir?

   We're going to play handball. Do you want to come?

• handball

From Old English hand

hand (plural hands)

1. Alternative form of hond (“hand”)

• English: hand

• hånd

From Old Norse hǫnd, from Proto-Germanic *handuz

Picture dictionary
handflate handledd tommel pekefinger langfinger ringfinger lillefinger
Click on labels in the image

• IPA^(key): /han/, [hɑn]
• Homophones: han, hann
• Rhymes: -ɑn

hand f or m (definite singular handa or handen, indefinite plural hender, definite plural hendene)

1. (anatomy) a hand

• hanske (“glove”)

“hand” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Old Norse hǫnd, from Proto-Germanic *handuz. Akin to English hand.

• IPA^(key): /hɑnd/, /hɑnː/
• Homophones: han, hann (in some dialects)
• Rhymes: -ɑn

hand f (definite singular handa, indefinite plural hender, definite plural hendene)

1. (anatomy) hand

• hanske (“glove”)

“hand” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• hond

From Proto-Germanic *handuz. Compare Old Frisian and Old Saxon hand, Old High German hant, Old Norse hǫnd.

• IPA^(key): /hɑnd/

hand f

1. hand

• handbōc
• handġewrit

• Middle English: hond, hand
  • English: hand
  • Scots: hand, haund
  • Yola: hoane

• hond

From Proto-Germanic *handuz.

hand f

1. hand

• North Frisian:
  • Föhr-Amrum: hun
  • Hallig: höön
  • Heligoland: Hun
  • Mooring: hönj
  • North Goesharde: houn
• Saterland Frisian: Hound, Hounde
• West Frisian: hand, hân

From Proto-Germanic *handuz. Compare Old Frisian and Old English hand, Old High German hant, Old Norse hǫnd.

hand f

1. hand

• Middle Low German: hant
  • Westphalian:

    Westmünsterländisch: Hand

    Ravensbergisch-Lippisch: Hand

  • Plautdietsch: Haunt

From Old Norse hǫnd, from Proto-Germanic *handuz.

hand f

1. hand
2. direction
3. behalf
4. sort, kind

• Swedish: hand

From Old Swedish hand, from Old Norse hǫnd, from Proto-Germanic *handuz. Cognate with Danish hånd, Norwegian hand, English hand and German Hand.

• IPA^(key): /hand/

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hand c

1. (anatomy) hand

   Han tjatade jämt om att hon måste tvätta händerna.

   He was always nagging on her to wash her hands.

2. (card games) hand; the set of cards held by a player

   Hon fick en bra hand, och satsade högt.

   She was dealt a good set of cards, and placed a high bet.

• hand in Svenska Akademiens ordlista över svenska språket (13th ed., online)