Etymology of the Word "Hand"

The English word "hand" derives from:

1. Old English hand, hond (noun).
2. Proto-Germanic *handuz – "hand, grip, power, control" (cf. Old Saxon hand, Old Norse hǫnd, German Hand, Gothic handus).
3. Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰes- or *ǵʰēs- – "to seize, take, grasp" (source also of grasp, gripe, get).

The PIE root *ǵʰes- also underlies Latin prehendere (→ prehensile, comprehend) and Greek χάσμα (chasm, "gap"). The sense of "manual worker" (hired hand) emerged in Middle English; "hand" as a unit of measure (4 inches for horses) dates to 1560s.