Etymology

handwheel

H4A1N1D2W4H4E1E1L1

Today it means: Any wheel worked by hand, whether used to allow leverage, as of a valve or a handbrake, or to allow fine adjustment, as of a set screw. Full definition →

English wheel ← Middle English whel ← Old English hwēol
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic*handuz
  2. Proto-West Germanic*handu
  3. Old Englishhand
  4. Middle Englishhond
  5. Englishhand
  6. Proto-Indo-European*kʷelh₁-redup.
  7. Proto-Indo-European*kʷekʷléh₂
  8. Proto-Germanic*hweulō
  9. Old Englishhwēol
  10. Middle Englishwhel
  11. Englishwheel
  12. English todayhandwheel

From hand + wheel.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.