Etymology

hand axe

Today it means: A hatchet or throwing axe. Full definition →

Middle English hand-ax ← Old English handæx ← Proto-Germanic *handakwisī
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*handakwisī
  2. Old English · inherited fromhandæx“hatchet”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromhand-ax
  4. English todayhand axe

From Middle English hand-ax, handax, handex, hond axe, from Old English handæx (“hatchet”), from Proto-Germanic *handakwisī. By surface analysis, hand + axe.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.