The hands (med./lat.: manus, pl. manūs) are the two intricate, prehensile, multi-fingered body parts normally located at the end of each arm (medically: "terminating each anterior limb/appendage") of a human or other primate. They are our chief organs for physically manipulating the environment, from the roughest to the finest motor skills (wielding a club; threading a needle), and since the fingertips contain some of the densest areas of nerve endings on the human body, they are also our richest source of tactile feedback from our environment, so that our sense of touch is intimately associated with our hands. Like other paired organs (eyes, ears, legs), each hand is dominantly controlled by the opposing brain hemisphere, and thus handedness, or preferred hand choice for single-handed activities such as writing with a pen, reflects a significant individual trait.

Hand can also refer to an individual's handwriting ("written in his own hand"; "a hand so free...").

What constitutes a hand?

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Although many mammals and other animals have grasping appendages similar in form to a hand, these are scientifically not considered to be so, and have other varying names, including paws. Using the term hand is merely a scientific usage of anthropomorphization, to distinguish the terminations of the front paws from the hind ones. The only true hands appear in the mammalian order of primates. Hands must also feature opposable thumbs, as described later in the text.

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