handlanger

Meaning

Noun

• An unskilled assistant to an artisan.
• An aide, an assistant.

Origin

• Borrowed from Afrikaans handlanger ("assistant, helper"), from Dutch handlanger ("accomplice, henchman; assistant, helper"), analyzable as hand + langen + -er (in the sense of someone who puts things into another person's hands), from German Handlanger ("handyman; henchman"), from Hand + langen + -er.