From manus (“hand”) possibly via an unattested intermediate noun *mancia (compare the proper noun Mancia) +‎ -ola (diminutive suffix).

manciola f (genitive manciolae); first declension

1. (rare) diminutive of manus: a small hand
   • c. 177 CE, Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae 19.7.10:

     Item notauimus, quod 'oblitteram' gentem pro 'oblitterata' dixit; item, quod hostis, qui foedera frangerent, 'foedifragos', non 'foederifragos' dixit; item, quod rubentem auroram 'pudoricolorem' appellauit et Memnonem 'nocticolorem'; item, quod forte 'dubitanter' et ab eo, quod est 'sileo', 'silenta loca' dixit et 'puluerulenta' et 'pestilenta' et quod 'carendum tui est' pro 'te' quodque 'magno impete' pro 'impetu'; item quod 'fortescere' posuit pro 'fortem fieri' quodque 'dolentiam' pro 'dolore' et 'auens' pro 'libens'; item 'curis intolerantibus' pro 'intolerandis', quodque 'manciolis' inquit 'tenellis' pro 'manibus' et 'quis tam siliceo?'

     • 1927 translation by John C. Rolfe

       We also observed that he spoke of an extinct race as oblittera instead of oblitterata, and that he characterized enemies who broke treaties as foedifragi, not foederifragi; that he called the blushing Aurora pudoricolor, or “shame-coloured” and Memnon, nocticolor, or “night-coloured”; also that he used forte for “hesitatingly,” and said silenta loca, or “silent places,” from the verb sileo; further, that he used pulverulenta for “dusty” and pestilenta for “pestilent,” the genitive case instead of the ablative with careo; magno impete, or “mighty onset,” instead of impetu; that he used fortescere for fortem fieri, or “become brave,” dolentia for dolor, or “sorrow,” avens for libens, or “desirous”; that he spoke of curae intolerantes, or “unendurable cares,” instead of intolerandae, manciolae tenellae, or “tender hands,” instead of manus, and quis tam siliceo for “who is of so flinty a heart?”

Mentioned by Aulus Gellius as one of the unusual words used by the poet Laevius.

First-declension noun.

• “manciola”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• manciola in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.