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

Sitting in her living room, it is impossible to miss a white wall adorned in black handwriting.

From BBC

“My dad’s handwriting was terrible. He looked like he should have been a doctor. You can hardly read anything he wrote. My mother had perfect penmanship,” she continued.

From Salon

There was another troubling detail: Martinez had cashed a $109 check he said Baker had given him, but a handwriting expert determined that Baker’s signature was forged.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s a numbers game, meticulously filling notebooks in handwriting Silverman describes as “tiny letters all perfectly the same size,” then revisiting and sharpening material until the joke emerges, like a vision.

From Los Angeles Times

They discovered that the handwriting and dimensions were consistent with those of the six previously known 1300 originals.

From BBC

Related Words

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