calligraphy

[ kuh-lig-ruh-fee ]
See synonyms for calligraphy on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. fancy penmanship, especially highly decorative handwriting, as with a great many flourishes: She appreciated the calligraphy of the 18th century.

  2. handwriting; penmanship.

  1. the art of writing beautifully: He studied calligraphy when he was a young man.

  2. a script, usually cursive, although sometimes angular, produced chiefly by brush, especially Chinese, Japanese, or Arabic writing of high aesthetic value.

  3. Fine Arts. line or a group of lines either derived from or resembling letter forms and characterized by qualities usually associated with cursive writing, especially that produced with a brush or pen.

Origin of calligraphy

1
First recorded in1605–15, calligraphy is from the Greek word kalligraphía beautiful writing. See calli-, -graphy

Other words from calligraphy

  • cal·lig·ra·pher, cal·lig·ra·phist, noun
  • cal·li·graph·ic [kal-i-graf-ik], /ˌkæl ɪˈgræf ɪk/, cal·li·graph·i·cal, adjective
  • cal·li·graph·i·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use calligraphy in a sentence

  • It was the demand for copies of this that exhausted Caxton's calligraphic patience, and led to his employment of a printer.

  • These letters displayed so much linguistic and calligraphic skill that the vizir Ibn-Alarif became anxious to know the writer.

  • By means of his clever pen and calligraphic skill he won his way into the Chinese capital.

    The Religions of Japan | William Elliot Griffis
  • The whole history of this calligraphic contest, written by Bale himself, is preserved amongst the Harl.

  • Among all the calligraphic monuments of Portugal it is claimed that the most splendid is the “Bible of the Hieronymites.”

    Illuminated Manuscripts | John W. Bradley

British Dictionary definitions for calligraphy

calligraphy

/ (kəˈlɪɡrəfɪ) /


noun
  1. handwriting, esp beautiful handwriting considered as an art: Also called: chirography

Derived forms of calligraphy

  • calligrapher or calligraphist, noun
  • calligraphic (ˌkælɪˈɡræfɪk), adjective
  • calligraphically, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012