chirography

American  

[kahy-rog-ruh-fee] / kaɪˈrɒg rə fi /

noun

1. handwriting; penmanship.

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chirography British  

/ kaɪˈrɒɡrəfɪ, ˌkaɪrəˈɡræfɪk /

noun

1. another name for calligraphy

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Other Word Forms

• chirographer noun
• chirographic adjective
• chirographical adjective

Etymology

Origin of chirography

First recorded in 1645–55; chiro- + -graphy

Example Sentences

Not its content, but its chirography: stubborn, insecure, self-centered, secretive, ungenerous and frigid.

From Time Magazine Archive

Even though some words were beyond their ken, 1947-5 boys & girls batted 44.68% on such items as accessible, chirography, descendant and evanescent.

From Time Magazine Archive

I have known persons who seemed absolutely to plume themselves on the illegibility of their scrawls; because, unfortunately, so many men of genius have indulged in a most shameful style of chirography.

From Pencil Sketches or, Outlines of Character and Manners by Leslie, Eliza

We shall not object to your chirography, so you must practise it often, and let me hear of your progress and well-doing.

From From Manassas to Appomattox Memoirs of The Civil War in America by Longstreet, James

Now and then one came, a little missive in angular chirography, telling how she longed to return to them, which they read and re-read by candlelight.

From The Girl From Tim's Place by Munn, Charles Clark