handlanger

Meanings

1. An unskilled assistant to an artisan.
2. An aide, an assistant.
3. Alternative letter-case form of Handlanger.

1. A low-ranking artillery soldier in the Austro-Hungarian Army.

Etymology

Borrowed from Afrikaans handlanger (“assistant, helper”), from Dutch handlanger (“accomplice, henchman; assistant, helper”), analyzable as hand (“hand”) + langen (“to hand over or pass to”) + -er (“-er”, agent suffix) (in the sense of someone who puts things into another person's hands), from German Handlanger (“handyman; henchman”), from Hand (“hand”) + langen (“to hand over, to give; to reach for something”) + -er (“-er”, agent suffix).