handcuff

/ˈhændˌkʌf/

handcuff

English Noun Top 18,069

Definition

One ring of a locking fetter for the hand or one pair.

Etymology

From hand + cuff (“end of shirtsleeve”). Possibly an adaptation of Middle English handcops (“shackles for the hand, handcuffs”), from Old English handcops, from hand + cops, cosp (“fetter, chains”), but due to a lack of continuity (centuries between Old English and the modern term), generally analyzed as a re-invention. Nominal form first appears c. 1591 in the publications of John Florio. Verbal form first appears c. 1649.