handwriting

[hand-rahy-ting]

noun

1. writing done with a pen or pencil in the hand; script.

2. a style or manner of writing by hand, especially that which characterizes a particular person; penmanship.

   an eccentric handwriting.

3. a handwritten document; manuscript.

handwriting

/ ˈhændˌraɪtɪŋ /

noun

1. writing by hand rather than by typing or printing

2. a person's characteristic writing style

   that signature is in my handwriting

Word History and Origins

Origin of handwriting¹

1375–1425; late Middle English hand writyng; hand + writing

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. handwriting on the wall, a premonition, portent, or clear indication, especially of failure or disaster: Also writing on the wall.

   The company had ignored the handwriting on the wall and was plunged into bankruptcy.

Example Sentences

The act of handwriting helps him commit things to memory.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“You are smart and kind,” she wrote in pencil, the handwriting surrounded by crayon hearts.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Letter paper was scarce in Plinkst, but she had found a stack of yellowed sheets in the nursery that still bore the faded trace of Master Gogolev’s handwriting.

Read more on Literature

“You must mean our collection of the letters of Agatha Swanburne. There are thousands of them, for she was a faithful correspondent. Luckily, her handwriting was superb.”

Read more on Literature

The accusation, based on a comparison of handwriting on a document found in the German's wastepaper basket in Paris, kicked off what would become known as the "Dreyfus affair".

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• calligraphy 
• longhand 
• manuscript 
• scrawl 
• script 
• writing