handbreadth

H4A1N1D2B3R1E1A1D2T1H4

noun

A space equal to the breadth of the hand; a palm.

Similar
tefachtefahhandsbreadth
OriginMiddle English handbrede →
Scrabble 21
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounhandbreadth (plural handbreadths)

plural handbreadths

  1. A space equal to the breadth of the hand; a palm.

    Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee:

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalm 39:5
    2 more examples

    […] I saw the library casement open a handbreadth; I knew I might be watched thence; so I went apart into the orchard.

    1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter XXIII, in Jane Eyre. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC

    She followed him into the scullery, and combed her hair before the handbreadth of mirror by the back door.

    1928, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 14, in Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Gutenberg edition, [Florence, Italy]: [ […] Tipografia Giuntina, […]], →OCLC; republished as Lady Chatterley’s Lover (eBook no. 0100181h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, August 2011, archived from the original on 11 Nov 2020

    Synonyms: tefach, tefah

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA space equal to the breadth of the hand; a palm.

Similar
tefachtefah

More synonyms by meaning

nounany unit of length based on the breadth of the human hand

Similar
handsbreadth
Broader
linear unitlinear measure
Also see
handfulhandsbreadth

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Middle Englishhandbrede
  2. Englishhandbreadth

Alteration (due to breadth) of Middle English handbrede, hondbrede (“handbreadth”); equivalent to hand + breadth. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Houndebratte (“handbreadth”), West Frisian hânbreedte (“handbreadth”), Dutch handbreedte (“handbreadth”), German Handbreite (“handbreadth”) and Handbreit, Swedish handsbredd (“handbreadth”), Norwegian håndsbredd (“handbreadth”), Icelandic handbreidd (“handbreadth”).

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Hungarian tenyérnyi
  • tenyérnyiA measurement - the width of a hand
Māori whānuitanga ringa
  • whānuitanga ringaA measurement - the width of a hand
Welsh dyrnfedd
  • dyrnfeddA measurement - the width of a hand
Cite this entry
APA

handbreadth. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/handbreadth

MLA

“handbreadth.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/handbreadth. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “handbreadth,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/handbreadth.

Source: handbreadth on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.