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PlainSpell

hand

UK /hænd/noun, verb

hand is spelled H-A-N-D: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 257 times per million words in written English, the 373rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hand means “The part of the forelimb below the forearm or wrist in humans and other primates, and the corresponding part in many other animals” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hand is hands.

How many letters and syllables are in hand?

Letters4: H-A-N-D
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing257 times per million words; the 373rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is hand?

Hand appears 257 times per million words in written English, the 373rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce hand?

  • UK /hænd/
  • UK [hænd] ~ [hand]
  • British /hand/

Hand has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-hand.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Back_ache-hand.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-hand.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with hand

Also written: hand, foot, and mouth disease, hand-foot-mouth disease.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with hand?

8 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as hand from its last stressed vowel (/ænd/, British pronunciation):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of hand

  • hands plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • handing participle, present
  • handed participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does hand mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The part of the forelimb below the forearm or wrist in humans and other primates, and the corresponding part in many other animals.

    Her hands are really strong.

  2. 2

    A limb of certain animals, such as the foot of a hawk, or any one of the four extremities of a monkey.

  3. 3

    An index or pointer on a dial; such as the hour and minute hands on the face of an analog clock, which are used to indicate the time of day.

  4. 4

    The set of cards held by a player.

  5. 5

    A round of a card game.

  6. 6

    A bundle of tobacco leaves tied together.

  7. 7

    A bunch of bananas, a typical retail amount, where individual fruits are fingers.

  8. 8

    Four inches, a hand's breadth.

verb

  1. 1

    To give, pass or transmit with the hand, literally or figuratively.

    He handed them the letter. She handed me an opportunity.

  2. 2

    To lead, guide, or assist with the hand; to conduct.

    to hand a lady into a carriage

  3. 3

    obsoleteTo manage.

  4. 4

    obsoleteTo seize; to lay hands on.

  5. 5

    rareTo pledge by the hand; to handfast.

  6. 6

    To furl (a sail).

  7. 7

    obsoleteTo cooperate.

phrase

as HAND
  1. 1

    Initialism of have a nice day.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate hand?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of hand: HFM.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Hand in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchmain, mains, menotte, menottes (part of the fore limb), aiguille (index or pointer on a dial, such as on an…), matelot (servant, laborer, workman, trained for special…)
GermanHand (part of the fore limb), Zeiger (index or pointer on a dial, such as on an…), Handlanger (servant, laborer, workman, trained for special…), Seite (side; part; direction, either right or left), Handschrift (handwriting; style of penmanship), reichen (to give, pass or transmit with the hand)
Portuguesemão (part of the fore limb), ponteiro (index or pointer on a dial, such as on an…), mão de obra (servant, laborer, workman, trained for special…), direção (side; part; direction, either right or left), letra (handwriting; style of penmanship), dar (to give, pass or transmit with the hand)
Spanishmano (part of the fore limb), manecilla, saeta, saetilla (index or pointer on a dial, such as on an…), pata, patas (limb of certain animals)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does hand come from?

From Middle English hond, hand, from Old English hand, from Proto-West Germanic *handu, from Proto-Germanic *handuz. See also Dutch and Swedish hand (“hand”), Danish hånd, German Hand, West Frisian hân. Perhaps compare Old Swedish hinna (“to gain”), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰-𐌷𐌹𐌽𐌸𐌰𐌽 (fra-hinþan, “to take captive, capture”); and Latvian sīts (“hunting spear”), Ancient Greek κεντέω (kentéō, “prick”), Albanian çandër (“pitchfork, prop”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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