Manacled

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Being in a condition where the hands are constrained by physical restraints, which restricts mobility and autonomy
2. Existing in a state where one is secured by chains or cuffs, resulting in limited freedom and movement
3. Having one's wrists encircled by metal cuffs to restrict movement and prevent escape

Etymology: Before it meant anything about prisoners, "manacle" was a small piece of hand armour. Its Latin ancestor "manicula" was a diminutive of "manus", "hand", and it could mean a gauntlet or the handle of a plough, a tool the hand grips. The sense of something that closes around the hands came later, as medieval French and Anglo-Norman speakers used the same word for both armour and the restraints that bound a prisoner's wrists. "Manacle" reached English in Middle English through Anglo-Norman and Middle French, and it kept that double life for centuries. The word "manicule", a doublet from the same Latin source, survives today mainly as the name of the little pointing-hand symbol printed in old books. "Manacled" is the past participle of the verb "manacle", which is probably derived from the noun, though the Oxford English Dictionary attests the verb slightly earlier.

Synonyms: chained, bound, handcuffed, restrained, shackled

Antonyms: free, unbound, liberated, released, unshackled