Meaning

noun the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb

noun a hired laborer on a farm or ranch

noun something written by hand

originFrom Middle English handen, honden, from the noun (see above); and also from henden (> English hend), from Old English *hendan, ġehendan (“to seize by hand, grasp, hold”), from Proto-West Germanic *handijan, from Proto-Germanic *handijaną (“to take by hand, grasp”), from the noun (see above). Cognate with Old Frisian handa, henda (“to grasp, seize”), Middle Low German handen, henden (in…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0