Manicle

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A decorative mark in the shape of a pointing hand used in manuscripts to draw attention to text ; a typographical symbol resembling a hand used historically in printed or written works to indicate important passages ; a medieval annotation sign shaped like a pointing finger employed to highlight notable sections in documents
2. A manuscript symbol shaped like a pointing hand employed to emphasize particular text ; an ornamental pointer symbol used traditionally in typography and handwritten manuscripts to mark noteworthy content ; a hand-shaped mark from historical texts utilized to attract reader focus on specific elements
3. A pointing hand-shaped notation found in medieval and early printed texts designed to draw attention to certain words or paragraphs ; a historical editorial or decorative device in the form of a stylized hand indicating emphasis or instruction within a document ; a typographic or manuscript sign depicting a finger pointing used to flag important information for readers

Etymology: The word "manicle" names the pointing hand symbol, the little drawn fist with an extended index finger that printers and scribes used to flag a passage in a text. Its path to that sense runs through armour. In Old French, "manicle" meant a gauntlet, the glove of mail or plate worn by a knight, and the same stem gave us "manacle," the iron cuff for a prisoner's wrist. The two words are doublets, siblings that came into English by separate routes from one Latin ancestor, "manus," meaning hand. Middle English took "manicle" from Old French and used it for the gauntlet. The later hand-shaped mark is a shift from the glove to the gesture it encloses: a gloved or enclosed hand becomes a drawn hand, and the pointing finger that directs the reader's eye is the mark's whole purpose. A close cousin, "manicule," is the more common spelling for the same printer's symbol.

Synonyms: manicule, pointer, index mark