paleography

American  

[pey-lee-og-ruh-fee, pal-ee-] / ˌpeɪ liˈɒg rə fi, ˌpæl i- /

noun

1. ancient forms of writing, as in documents and inscriptions.

2. the study of ancient writing, including determination of date, decipherment, etc.

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Other Word Forms

• paleographer
  noun
• paleographic
  adjective
• paleographical
  adjective
• paleographically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of paleography

First recorded in 1810–20; paleo- + -graphy

Explanation

Are you fascinated with hieroglyphs, cuneiform, and other ancient forms of writing? You might want to take a class in paleography, the study of historical manuscripts and writing systems. Experts in paleography have learned to decipher archaic systems of writing, going all the way back to clay tablets marked with Sumerian cuneiform and Aramaic letters written on papyrus. The languages studied through paleography are ancient, and it takes time to puzzle them out and put them in a historical context so that their content can be understood. The Greek roots of paleography are palaiós, "old," and graphein, "to write."