Hyphenation
red-hand·edTurkish pronunciation
redhändıdPronunciation
/ˈredˈhandəd/ /ˈrɛdˈhændəd/
Etymology
[ 'red-'han-d&d ] (adverb or adjective.) 1819. To be taken with red hand in ancient times was to be caught in the act, like a murderer with his hands red with his victim's blood. The use of red hand in this sense goes back to 15th-century Scotland and Scottish law. Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe (1819) contains the first recorded use of taken red-handed for someone apprehended in the act of committing a crime. The expression subsequently became more common as caught red-handed. Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997), pp. 135-136 and 138.