Word of the Day

: January 13, 2016

chirography

noun kye-RAH-gruh-fee

What It Means

1 : handwriting, penmanship

2 : calligraphy

chirography in Context

"This envelope had the air of an official record of some period long past, when clerks engrossed their stiff and formal chirography on more substantial materials than at present." — Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, 1850

"The stone bore confusing etchings: Arabic numerals coupled with Roman; the letter 'H' in ancient Spanish chirography; a puzzling mass of ovoid figures, circles and rectangles; and the weblike drawing that gave it its name." — Evan Moore, The Houston Chronicle, 6 May 2001

Did You Know?

Though some might argue that handwriting is a dying art in the age of electronic communication, this fancy word for it persists. The root graph means "writing" and appears in many common English words such as autograph and graphite. The lesser-known root chir, or chiro-, comes from a Greek word meaning "hand" and occurs in words such as chiromancy ("the art of palm reading") and enchiridion ("a handbook or manual"), as well as chiropractic. Chirography first appeared in English in the 17th century and probably derived from chirograph, a now rare word referring to any of various legal documents. Chirography should not be confused with choreography, which refers to the composition and arrangement of dances.