handbook
(ˈhændbʊk)
[Found in OE. in form handbóc, -bók, as a rendering of L. manualis and Gr.-L. enchiridion. But the current word was introduced after Ger. handbuch in 19th c.]
A small book or treatise, such as may conveniently be held in the hand; a manual. † a. in OE. The manual of ecclesiastical offices and ritual. Obs.
| a 900 Canons of ælfred 21 in Thorpe Laws II. 350/15 Ða halᵹan bec, saltere and pistolboc, sangboc and handboc. c 1050 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia VIII. 321 Enchiridion þæt ys manualis on lyden & handboc on englisc. a 1100 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 327/26 Manualis, handlin oððe handboc. c 1367 Eulogium Hist. (1863) III. v. lxxxii. 9 Librum in sinu quod ipse vocabat manuale, quod Anglice vocabat handbok. 1563–87 Foxe A. & M. (1596) 130/1 A booke of his owne making in his owne toong, which in the English speach he [K. Alfred] called a handbooke, in Greeke called it Enchiridion, in Latin a manuell. |
b. A compendious book or treatise for guidance in any art, occupation, or study; spec. a book containing concise information for the tourist.
| 1814 (title) A Handbook for modelling wax flowers. 1833 Nicolas Chronol. Hist. Pref. 19 What the Germans would term, and which, if our language admitted of the expression, would have been the fittest title for it, ‘The Hand⁓book of History’. 1836 (title) A Hand-Book for Travellers on the Continent [Murray's]. 1838 H. Rogers Introd. Lect. Eng. Gram. & Comp. 70 Such tasteless innovations as ‘Morning-land’ (Morgen-land) for the East, and ‘hand⁓book’ (hand-buch) for ‘manual’. 1843 Fraser's Mag. XXVII. 649 The compiler of this Handbook [Murray's Handbook to N. Italy] (we are obliged to use his coined word by way of distinction) does not give the prices. 1863 Reader 21 Feb. 190 If by handbook he intends anything of a guide, he has failed in his object. |
c. A betting-book; handbook man, a bookmaker. Also hand-booking, bookmaking. U.S.
| 1894 Voice 20 Sept., In every saloon which boasts a ticker are to be found men who will register a bet to any amount. These ‘handbook’ men are all [etc.]. 1903 N.Y. Evening Post 14 Sept., A case where an officer arrested a handbook man. 1904 N.Y. Times 13 June 1 The handbooking possibilities on the Derby. 1946 Chicago Daily News 26 June 14/2 The mob was..operating hand⁓books with full knowledge of your police department. |