handwriting

English

A handwritten list of Anglican bishops of England, probably copied from a 17th-century book called Angliæ Notitia, or The Present State of England

Etymology

hand +‎ writing

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈhændɹaɪtɪŋ/
Hyphenation: hand‧writ‧ing

Noun

handwriting (usually uncountable, plural handwritings)

The act or process of writing done with the hand, rather than typed or word-processed.
Text that was written by hand.
The characteristic writing of a particular person.
- 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], OCLC 21345056, pages 284–285:
  He took up the letter: well did he know the delicate and graceful handwriting; but he saw that the characters were tremulous, and it had obviously been written at different times.
- 1895, F. Marion Crawford, Taquisara‎:
  It was still early in the morning when Elettra brought her a letter, bearing the postmark of the city, and addressed in one of those small, clear handwritings which seem naturally to belong to scholars and students.
- 1893, Joseph B. Lightfoot, Essays on "Supernatural Religion"‎:
  In some handwritings of the seventh or eighth century, where the letters have a round form, the substitution of OT for EG would be far from difficult.
- 1914, P. S. Allen, The Age of Erasmus‎:
  Great libraries are only just beginning to gather up the manuscript minutiae which their books contain; to identify handwritings; to decipher monograms; to collect facts.
(by extension) A characteristic trait or hallmark by which somebody may be recognised.
- 2013, Chris Payne, High Crimes And Low Stakes: Chris Payne (page 259)
  And, my friend believes, Armedov is getting paid by...? Yes, our friends at Langley! CIA handwriting all over it, he reckons!
- 2016, Nilgin Yusuf, Fashion's Front Line (page 112)
  The show needs to portray the designer's handwriting but it should also be innovative too.

Synonyms

(the act or process of writing done by hand): longhand
(text written by hand): manuscript
(characteristic writing of a person): chirography, autograph, penmanship

Related terms

handwritten
handwrite
handwrit

Translations

act or process of writing with the hand

Chinese:
Mandarin: 手寫／手写 (zh) (shǒuxiě)
Dutch: handschrift (nl) n
Finnish: käsinkirjoitus
French: écriture de main
German: Handschrift (de) f
Greek: γραφή (el) f (grafí)
Hungarian: kézírás (hu)
Indonesian: bekas tangan (id)
Irish: lámhscríbhneoireacht f, scríbhneoireacht f, scríobh m
Italian: scrittura (it) f, grafia (it) f
Japanese: 手書き (てがき, tegaki)
Korean: 육필 (yukpil)
Latvian: rokraksts m
Lithuanian: rašysena f
Malay: penulisan tangan
Norman: êcrituthe f
Persian: دست‌نویسی‎ (dast-nevisi)
Portuguese: manuscritura f
Romanian: scriere de mână, scris de mână
Russian: собственнору́чная за́пись f (sobstvennorúčnaja zápisʹ)
Serbo-Croatian: rȕkopīs (sh) m
Spanish: escritura manuscrita f
Swedish: handskrift (sv) c
Tagalog: sulat (tl)
Yiddish: האַנטשריפֿט‎ f (hantshrift)

characteristic writing of a particular person

Arabic: خَطّ يَد‎ m (ḵaṭṭ yad), خَطّ‎ (ar) m (ḵaṭṭ)
Armenian: ձեռագիր (hy) (jeṙagir)
Belarusian: по́чырк m (póčyrk)
Bulgarian: по́черк m (póčerk)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 筆跡／笔迹 (zh) (bǐjì)
Danish: håndskrift c
Dutch: handschrift (nl) n
Esperanto: manskribo
Finnish: käsiala (fi)
French: écriture (fr) f
Georgian: ხელწერა (xelc̣era)
German: Handschrift (de) f
Greek: γραφή (el) f (grafí), γράψιμο (el) n (grápsimo), γραφικός χαρακτήρας (el) m (grafikós charaktíras)
Hebrew: כְּתָב יָד‎ (he) m (ktav yad)
Hungarian: kézírás (hu)
Icelandic: rithönd f
Italian: calligrafia (it) f
Japanese: 筆跡 (ja) (ひっせき, hisseki)
Korean: 필적 (ko) (piljeok)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: دەسوخەت‎ (desuxet)
Latin: chirographum
Malayalam: കൈയക്ഷരം (kaiyakṣaraṃ)
Persian: دست‌خط‎ (dast-xat)
Polish: pismo (pl) n
Portuguese: caligrafia (pt) f, letra (pt) f
Romanian: caligrafie (ro) sg or f
Russian: по́черк (ru) m (póčerk)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: рукопис m
Roman: rukopis (sh) m
Spanish: letra (es) f
Swedish: handstil (sv) c
Tagalog: sulat (tl), sulat-kamay
Thai: ลายมือ (th) (laai-mʉʉ)
Ukrainian: по́черк m (póčerk)
Vietnamese: chữ viết tay
Volapük: penät (vo)
Yiddish: האַנטשריפֿט‎ f (hantshrift)
Zulu: isandla (zu) class 7/8

text written by hand

Armenian: ձեռագիր (hy) (jeṙagir)
Bulgarian: ръкопи́с m (rǎkopís)
Finnish: käsin kirjoitettu teksti
Georgian: ხელნაწერი (xelnac̣eri)
Greek: γραπτό (el) n (graptó), γραφή (el) f (grafí)
Hungarian: kézzel írott szöveg, kézírásos szöveg, kézirat (hu)
Latvian: rokraksts m
Malayalam: കൈയക്ഷരം (kaiyakṣaraṃ)
Maori: tuhi-ā-ringa
Polish: rękopis (pl) m
Portuguese: manuscrito (pt) m
Russian: ру́копись (ru) f (rúkopisʹ)
Swedish: handskrift (sv) c
Zulu: isandla (zu) class 7/8

Verb

handwriting

present participle of handwrite