manacle

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)meh₂-“to beckon, signal”
2. Latin · derived frommanicula“handle of a plough; manacle”
3. Old French · derived frommanicle“armlet; gauntlet; (in plural) manacles”
4. Middle French · derived frommanicle
5. Anglo-Norman · derived frommanicle
6. Middle English · inherited frommanacle
7. English todaymanacle

The noun is derived from Middle English manacle, manakelle, manakil, manakyll, manicle, manikil, manycle, manykil, manykle, from Anglo-Norman manicle, manichle (“gauntlet; handle of a plough; (in plural) manacles”), and Middle French manicle, Old French manicle (“armlet; gauntlet; (in plural) manacles”) (modern French manicle, manique (“gauntlet”)), from Latin manicula (“handle of a plough; manacle”), from manus (“hand”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂- (“to beckon, signal”)) + -cula (from -culus, variant of -ulus (suffix forming diminutive nouns)). Doublet of manicle and manicule. The verb is probably derived from the noun, although according to the Oxford English Dictionary it is attested slightly earlier.

Words from the same roots