different between handy vs obtainable

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English handy, hondi (attested in personal names), alteration of earlier hendi (“handy, skillful”), from Old English hendi? (“skillful”) (as in listhendi? (“skilled in art”)), from Proto-Germanic *handugaz (“handy, skillful, nimble”), from *handuz (“hand”), equivalent to hand +? -y. Cognate with Middle Low German handich (“skillful, apt”), Middle High German handec, hendec (“manual, hand-held”), Old Norse h?ndugr (“efficient”), Gothic ???????????????????????????? (handugs, “wise, clever”). Akin to Dutch handig (“handy”), Norwegian hendig (“handy”), Swedish händig (“handy”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: h?n'di, IPA^(key): /?hæn.di/
• Rhymes: -ændi

Adjective

handy (comparative handier, superlative handiest)

1. Easy to use, useful.

2. Nearby, within reach.

   Synonym: at hand

3. Of a person: dexterous, skilful.

   Synonym: crafty

4. (slang) Physically violent; tending to use one's fists.
5. Of a freight ship: having a small cargo capacity (less than 40,000 DWT); belonging to the handysize class.

Derived terms

• handily
• handiness
• unhandy

Antonyms

• awkward

Translations

References

• handy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• handy in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• handy at OneLook Dictionary Search

Etymology 2

hand +? -y (“diminutive suffix”)

Noun

handy (plural handies)

1. (vulgar, slang) A hand job.

Translations

Etymology 3

Clipping of handgun +? -y (“diminutive suffix”)

Noun

handy (plural handies)

1. (MLE, slang) A handgun.

Translations

Anagrams

• Haydn

Scots

Adjective

handy (comparative handier, superlative handiest)

1. handy
2. dexterous, skilful
3. amenable (of an animal)

English

Etymology

From obtain +? -able.

Adjective

obtainable (comparative more obtainable, superlative most obtainable)

1. Able to be obtained.
   • 2007, Bill Mason, Connetquot targeted: BLACK POWDER HISTORY, Newsday.com, 14 July,

     Potassium nitrate, sulphur and charcoal are combined in proportions and through methods easily obtainable in books and on the Internet.

Synonyms

• gettable, procurable; repertible (obs.)

Antonyms

• See unobtainable

Derived terms

• unobtainable

Translations