handy

handy · adjective¹

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*handugaz“handy, skillful, nimble”
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*handīg
3. Old English · inherited from*hendiġ“skillful”
4. Middle English · inherited fromhandy
5. English todayhandy

From Middle English handy, hondi (attested in personal names), alteration of earlier hendi (“handy, skillful”), from Old English *hendiġ (“skillful”) (attested in listhendiġ (“skilled in art”)), from Proto-West Germanic *handīg, *handag, *handug, from Proto-Germanic *handugaz (“handy, skillful, nimble”), from *handuz (“hand”), equivalent to hand + -y. Cognate with Saterland Frisian jäntich (“handy”), Middle Low German handich (“skillful, apt”), Middle High German handec, hendec (“manual, hand-held”), Old Norse hǫndugr (“efficient”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐌲𐍃 (handugs, “wise, clever”). Akin to Dutch handig (“handy”), Norwegian hendig (“handy”), Swedish händig (“handy”).

handy · noun²

1. Proto-Germanic*handuz
2. Proto-West Germanic*handu
3. Old Englishhand
4. Middle Englishhond
5. Englishhand
6. English todayhandy

From hand + -y (diminutive suffix).

handy · noun³

Clipping of handgun and hand job followed by -y (diminutive suffix).

handy · noun⁴

1. German · derived fromHandy
2. English todayhandy

Disputed; see German Handy: according to some commentators, this meaning is originally from German (a condensed form of Handfunktelefon), whereas others claim there was an early, but now neglected, antetype of it in English (from etymology 1).

Handy · proper noun⁵

Originating as a nickname for a handy person.