In card games, a hand so poor it has virtually no chance of winning; also historical legal term for permanent property control.
Compound of 'dead' + 'hand.' In cards, from the gambling sense of 'dead' (worthless). Historically, 'dead hand' (Latin: 'manus mortua') referred to church property held in perpetuity—property that couldn't be sold or change hands, essentially 'dead' economically.
Medieval lawyers called permanent church property a 'dead hand' because it would never move or circulate in commerce—wealth trapped forever. The phrase traveled from medieval law courts straight into poker, showing how different fields rediscover the same metaphors.
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