calligraphy

American  

[kuh-lig-ruh-fee] / kəˈlɪg rə fi /

noun

calligraphies plural

1. fancy penmanship, especially highly decorative handwriting, as with a great many flourishes.

   She appreciated the calligraphy of the 18th century.

2. handwriting; penmanship.

3. the art of writing beautifully.

   He studied calligraphy when he was a young man.

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

5. 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.

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calligraphy British  

/ kəˈlɪɡrəfɪ, ˌkælɪˈɡræfɪk /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• calligrapher
  noun
• calligraphist
  noun
• calligraphic
  adjective
• calligraphical
  adjective
• calligraphically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• calligraphies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of calligraphy

First recorded in 1605–15, calligraphy is from the Greek word kalligraphía beautiful writing. See calli-, -graphy

Explanation

Ever see a framed diploma in your doctor's office filled with fancy old fashioned curvy handwriting announcing they trained at such and such a university? Well, that style of writing is calligraphy, and it's mostly used for important public documents. The word calligraphy comes from two Greek words stuck together, kallos, meaning "beauty," and graphein, meaning "to write" — literally "beautiful writing." In the days before printing was invented, all books and documents were written by hand using calligraphy, the most famous examples being the bibles written by medieval monks.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

calligraphy calligraphies

It looked disorientingly familiar to a fellow Egyptian American: Art from Egypt lined the walls, with brass pieces and calligraphy you’d find in a Cairo bazaar.

From Slate ● Apr. 29, 2026

Signage for new and defunct art galleries appear with letters roasted dry by the relentless California sun until the edges of words peel away, looking like they were written in calligraphy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2026

To illustrate, she holds up a box of charred scraps covered in Arabic calligraphy.

From BBC ● Dec. 4, 2025

Enthusiasts of the Dutch and Flemish Golden Age will be delighted to learn of the more quotidian arts that rounded out this visually rich epoch: hand-wrought lace, calligraphy, botanical illustrations and more.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025

So Grandpa drove us to an art supply store where she bought me a calligraphy pen and a bottle of ink.

From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg

Brienne calligraphies his final noble life deeds into the Book of Brothers, using phrases like “impossible odds” and “alone” and “without loss of life.”

From The New Yorker ● May 20, 2019

Related Words

• longhand
• manuscript
• scrawl
• script
• writing