Handbook

How to spell handbook

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce handbook

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does handbook mean?

1. nounA concise book of instructions, facts, or guidance on a particular subject, meant for quick reference.

Handbook in a sentence

• Every new employee receives a staff handbook on their first day.

• The driving examiner expects candidates to have read the official handbook.

Where does handbook come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Handbook is a thoroughly native English compound, joining the Old English words 'hand' and 'boc' (book). It is one of the oldest words of its kind, recorded in Old English as 'handboc', meaning a small book that could be carried in the hand or kept close for ready reference. For a long stretch the Latin-derived word 'manual' (from manus, the Latin word for hand) crowded it out of fashionable use, since 'manual' carries exactly the same literal idea of something hand-held. The plain English compound was deliberately revived in the nineteenth century by writers who preferred homegrown vocabulary, and it has flourished ever since. Because both halves are everyday words spelled just as they sound, the only thing to remember is that it is written as one solid word, not as 'hand book' or 'hand-book'.

How the word is built

• hand (the human hand, by extension something held or handy)
• book (bound volume)