Cheir
/kʰeːr/noun
An Ancient Greek word meaning "hand."
Did you know?In Greek thought, the hand was a tool of power and skill, and cheir became a building block for later words tied to healing, action, and divination by the hand.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*gʰesr̥-
“hand”
Ancient Greek
Greek
χείρ
“hand”
Classical Greek
Greek
χειρο-
“hand- as a combining form”
Late Latin
Latin
chir- / cheir-
“hand, used in learned compounds”
Modern English
English
cheir
“a learned transliteration of Greek cheir, used in scholarly contexts”
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