Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “handles” come from?

handles (English) comes from English handle, from Middle English handel, from Old English handle, from Old English handlian, from Proto-West Germanic handulōn, from Proto-Germanic handlōną, from Proto-Germanic handuz — hand.

handles (English): plural of handle; Third-person singular simple...

Definitions

  1. plural of handle; Third-person singular simple...

Ancestry of “handles”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishhandleThe part of an object which is held in the hand...
2Middle Englishhandel—
3Old Englishhandlea handle
4Old Englishhandlianto handle
5Proto-West Germanichandulōnto handle
6Proto-Germanichandlōnąto take or hold in the hand, seize, grip
7Proto-Germanichanduzhand
Every word from Proto-Germanic handuz →