Handheld

How to spell handheld

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce handheld

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does handheld mean?

1. adjectiveDesigned to be held and operated in one or both hands rather than mounted or set down.
2. nounA portable electronic device, such as a games console or scanner, operated while held in the hand.

Handheld in a sentence

• adjective

  The surveyor used a handheld scanner to record the dimensions.

• noun

  The warehouse staff log every parcel on a handheld before it ships.

• adjective

  A handheld vacuum cleaner is ideal for the stairs and the car.

• noun

  His old gaming handheld still runs on two batteries.

Where does handheld come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a transparent modern English compound, built from two of the oldest words in the language: 'hand', from Old English 'hond' or 'hand', meaning the body part at the end of the arm, and 'held', the past participle of 'hold', from Old English 'healdan', meaning to keep or grasp. Both roots are solidly Germanic and have close cousins across the other Germanic languages, such as Dutch 'hand' and German 'halten'. The compound itself is recent rather than ancient: it came into common use in the twentieth century to describe tools, cameras, and later electronic devices small enough to be operated while grasped in one hand. Because both parts are familiar everyday words, the only real spelling question is whether it is written as one word, and modern usage settles firmly on the closed form 'handheld' with no hyphen or space.

How the word is built

• hand (the body part)
• held (past participle of hold)