handiwork
(ˈhændɪwɜːk)
Forms: 1 handᵹeweorc, 2–4 handi-, hondiwerc, -werk(e; 6 handye-, -ie-, 6– handy work, 7– handiwork.
[OE. hand-ᵹeweorc, f. hand + ᵹeweorc work (a collective form). OE. had also handweorc handwork containing the simple weorc work. As ᵹeweorc, iwork did not survive in ME., hand-iwerc, was naturally analysed as a compound of the simple werc, with handi, often written separately, and treated as an adj.: see handy. See also, under handwork, the ME. northern form hande-werk.]
1. Work of the hands; a thing or collection of things made by the hands of any one.
| c 1000 ælfric Deut. iv. 28 And ᵹe þeowiaþ fremdum Godum, manna hand ᵹeweorc. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 129 And sette hine ouer his hondiwerc. a 1225 St. Marher. 10 Help me þin hondi werc. c 1340 Cursor M. 1589 (Trin.) His owne hondiwerke so soone Wolde god not hit were for⁓done. 1535 Coverdale Ps. xviii[i]. 1 The very heauens declare the glory off God, and the very firmament sheweth his handye worke. 1635 Quarles Embl. iii. x, I am thy handy-worke, thy creature, Lord. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) I. 126 The Pagans heretofore Did their own Handy⁓works adore. 1795 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Pindariana Wks. 1812 IV. 230 To see the handiworks of God In sun and moon and starry sky. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) II. 112 To see the sempstress' handiwork. |
2. Work done by the hands or by direct personal operation or agency. Sometimes, the work of man's hands as opposed to nature.
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) ix. 15 On his hand ᵹeweorce byð ᵹefangen se synfulla. 1540 Coverdale Fruitf. Less. iii. Wks. (Parker Soc.) I. 350 They..undertake to get their own living with their handy-work. 1551 T. Wilson Logike (1580) 44 b, An Image whiche is an artificial thyng, is made by the handie worke of man. 1658 Bromhall Treat. Specters v. 327 The cave..seemed as if it had been made by handywork. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 67 The shapes of nature being of another kind of make than those of handy⁓works. 1820 Hazlitt Lect. Dram. Lit. 2 What they performed was chiefly nature's handy-work. |
b. Work (of any kind); doing, performance.
| 1838 Dickens O. Twist xxix, That was your handiwork, Giles, I understand. 1874 Green Short Hist. viii. §5. 510 The Liturgy and Canons had been Laud's own handiwork. |
3. Manual employment: working with the hands, as opposed to head-work; practical work. [Cf. ]
| 1565 J. Halle Hist. Expost. (Percy) 41 Chirurgery is Operatio manualis, that is handye worke. Wherefore..call it the handye worke of medicine. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 1326 The Estates..have raised handiworks as well as traffike and navigation to the highest point of perfection. 1669 Woodhead St. Teresa ii. vii. 55 She accounted Handy-work a great means of advancing, and perfecting her Religions. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. Pref. 2 To what purpose would Geometry serve, were it not to contrive Rules for Handy-Works? 1866 J. Brown Horæ Subs. Ser. i. Pref. note, We wish we saw more time, and more handiwork, more mind spent upon anatomy and surgery. |