handy

From Middle English handy, hondi (attested in personal names), alteration of earlier hendi (“handy, skillful”), from Old English hendiġ (“skillful”) (as in listhendiġ (“skilled in art”)), from Proto-Germanic *handugaz (“handy, skillful, nimble”), from *handuz (“hand”), equivalent to hand +‎ -y. Cognate with Middle Low German handich (“skillful, apt”), Middle High German handec, hendec (“manual, hand-held”), Old Norse hǫndugr (“efficient”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐌲𐍃 (handugs, “wise, clever”). Akin to Dutch handig (“handy”), Norwegian hendig (“handy”), Swedish händig (“handy”).

• enPR: hăn'di, IPA^(key): /ˈhæn.di/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ændi

handy (comparative handier, superlative handiest)

1. Easy to use, useful.

   Some people regard duct tape as a handy fix-all.

2. Nearby, within reach.

   Synonym: at hand

   You wouldn’t have a screwdriver handy, would you?

   I keep a first-aid kit handy in case of emergency.

3. Of a person: dexterous, skilful.

   Synonym: crafty

   She's very handy: she made all her own kitchen cupboards.

4. (slang) Physically violent; tending to use one's fists.
   • 1974, William Purcell, British Police in a Changing Society (page 68)

     We had a sergeant who was a bit handy with the rougher elements. He dealt with them a little bit differently to what I do.

   • 2012, Tania Carver, Choked

     The Sloanes said he had nothing on them, that he threatened them, made up a lot of lies. Tried to attack them, got a bit handy.

5. Of a freight ship: having a small cargo capacity (less than 40,000 DWT); belonging to the handysize class.

• handily
• handiness
• unhandy

• handy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• handy in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• handy at OneLook Dictionary Search

hand +‎ -y (“diminutive suffix”)

handy (plural handies)

1. (vulgar, slang) A hand job.

• Haydn

handy (comparative handier, superlative handiest)

1. handy
2. dexterous, skilful
3. amenable (of an animal)