Etymology

handbook

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Today it means: A topically organized book of reference on a certain field of knowledge, regardless of size, but archetypally one to be kept readily at hand. Full definition →

Middle English handbok ← Old English handbōc ← German Handbuch
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The story

  1. German · calque ofHandbuch“handbook”
  2. Old English · inherited fromhandbōc“handbook”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromhandbok
  4. English todayhandbook

From Middle English handbok, from Old English handbōc (“handbook”), possibly reinforced as a calque of German Handbuch (“handbook”). By surface analysis, hand + book. Compare West Frisian hânboek (“handbook”), Dutch handboek (“handbook”), German Low German Handbook (“handbook”), Danish håndbog (“handbook”), Swedish handbok (“handbook”), Icelandic handbók (“handbook”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.