manuscript

American  

[man-yuh-skript] / ˈmæn yəˌskrɪpt /

noun

1. the original text of an author's work, handwritten or now usually typed, that is submitted to a publisher.

2. any text not printed.

3. a book or document written before the invention of printing.

4. writing, as distinguished from print.

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adjective

1. handwritten or typed, not professionally printed.

manuscript British  

/ ˈmænjʊˌskrɪpt /

noun

1. a book or other document written by hand

2. the original handwritten or typed version of a book, article, etc, as submitted by an author for publication

3. 1. handwriting, as opposed to printing

   2. ( as modifier )

      a manuscript document

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Other Word Forms

• manuscriptal
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of manuscript

1590–1600; < Medieval Latin manūscrīptus written by hand, equivalent to Latin manū by hand (ablative of manus ) + scrīptus written; see script

Explanation

A manuscript is a handwritten work. It's still a manuscript if it's typed — if a publisher asks for your manuscript, don't send her something scrawled on notebook paper! The noun manuscript evolved from the Latin manu scriptus, meaning “written by hand.” Manu is “hand” and scriptus is “to write." It refers to old documents actually written by hand before books were made, but it can also refer to a writer's unpublished work whether it's handwritten or typed. Samuel Johnson said, “Your manuscript is both good and original, but the part that is good is not original and the part that is original is not good.” Harrumph!

Example Sentences

Recently, an ordinary manuscript landed on my desk.

From Slate • May 3, 2026

Requests for things that weren’t available — say, an unpublished “Harry Potter” manuscript, if the timing were right — really did happen at Vogue in the aughts.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 30, 2026

We declare that the authors utilized the ChatGPT for language editing purpose only, and the original manuscript texts were all written by human authors, not by artificial intelligence.

From Science Daily • Apr. 28, 2026

More likely they were mistakes from the manuscript Dunlap was working from that the printer later corrected.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

Emotions swirled in his head—relief that Harrison was alive, disappointment that his manuscript was buried in Nsukka, anxiety about the fate of Port Harcourt.

From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Related Words

• article
• document
• text