The story
- Old English · inherited fromhandclāþ“handcloth”
- Middle English · inherited fromhandcloth
- English todayhandcloth
From Middle English handcloth, from Old English handclāþ (“handcloth”), equivalent to hand + cloth. Cognate with Danish håndklæde (“handtowel”), Icelandic handklæði (“handcloth”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.