handcuff

The story

1. Old English · inherited fromhandcops
2. Middle English · inherited fromhandcops“shackles for the hand, handcuffs”
3. English todayhandcuff

From hand + cuff (“end of shirtsleeve”). Possibly an adaptation of Middle English handcops (“shackles for the hand, handcuffs”), from Old English handcops, from hand + cops, cosp (“fetter, chains”), but due to a lack of continuity (centuries between Old English and the modern term), generally analyzed as a re-invention. Nominal form first appears c. 1591 in the publications of John Florio. Verbal form first appears c. 1649.

Words from the same roots