Where does “handbook” come from?
Handbook derives from English hand and Middle English booke, from Old English bōc, from Proto-Germanic būkaz, tracing back through Proto-Indo-European roots.
handbook (English): A topically organized book of reference on a...
Definitions
- A topically organized book of reference on a...
Ancestry of “handbook”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Swedish | handbok | handbook, manual |
| 2 | Old English | handbōc | handbook |
| 3 | Old English | hand | A hand |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | handu | hand |
| 5 | Swedish | hand | A hand; A hand; the set of cards held by a player |
| 6 | Old Swedish | hand | A hand; A direction; A behalf |
| 7 | Old Norse | hǫnd | hand |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | handuz | hand |