Standard Lemma guide

handwriting

noun · verb · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈhændɹaɪtɪŋ/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: HH AE1 N D R AY2 T IH0 NG Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The act or process of writing done with the hand, rather than typed or word-processed.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hand

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Text that was written by hand.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The characteristic writing of a particular person.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A characteristic trait or hallmark by which somebody may be recognised.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

present participle and gerund of handwrite

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, gerund, participle, present

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

the activity of writing by hand

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • handwriting can be slow and painful for one with arthritis

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: writing, committal to writing

Narrower terms: stenography, subscription

7

noun

Meaning 7

something written by hand

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • she recognized his handwriting
  • his hand was illegible

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hand, script

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: writing

Narrower terms: shorthand, stenography, tachygraphy, longhand, running hand, cursive, cursive script, calligraphy, penmanship, chirography, scribble, scratch, scrawl, cacography

History

Etymology

From hand + writing, equal to handwrite + -ing.

Across languages

Translations

104 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: dorëshkrim — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Chinese Mandarin: 手寫 /手写 (shǒuxiě) — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Danish: håndskrift — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Dutch: handschrift — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Finnish: käsinkirjoitus — act or process of writing with the hand
  • French: écriture — act or process of writing with the hand
  • German: Handschrift — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Greek: γραφή (grafí) — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Hungarian: kézírás — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Indonesian: bekas tangan — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Irish: lámhscríbhneoireacht — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Irish: scríbhneoireacht — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Irish: scríobh — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Italian: scrittura — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Italian: grafia — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Japanese: 手書き (tegaki) — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Korean: 육필 (yukpil) — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Latvian: rokraksts — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Lithuanian: rašysena — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Malay: penulisan tangan — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Khiamniungan Naga: chāmshāh — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Norman: êcrituthe — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Persian: دستنویسی (dast-nevisi) — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Polish: pismo odręczne — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Portuguese: manuscritura — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Romanian: scriere de mână — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Romanian: scris de mână — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Russian: собственнору́чная за́пись (sobstvennorúčnaja zápisʹ) — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Serbo-Croatian: rȕkopīs — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Spanish: escritura manuscrita — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Swedish: handskrift — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Tagalog: sulat — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Tagalog: sulat-kamay — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Yiddish: האַנטשריפֿט (hantshrift) — act or process of writing with the hand
  • Albanian: dorëshkrim — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Arabic: خَطّ يَد (ḵaṭṭ yad) — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Arabic: خَطّ (ḵaṭṭ) — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Armenian: ձեռագիր (jeṙagir) — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Belarusian: по́чырк (póčyrk) — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Bulgarian: по́черк (póčerk) — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Chinese Mandarin: 筆跡 /笔迹 (bǐjì) — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Danish: håndskrift — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Dutch: handschrift — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Esperanto: manskribo — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Finnish: käsiala — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • French: écriture — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Georgian: ხელწერა (xelc̣era) — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • German: Handschrift — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Greek: γραφή (grafí) — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Greek: γράψιμο (grápsimo) — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Greek: γραφικός χαρακτήρας (grafikós charaktíras) — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Hebrew: כְּתָב יָד (ktav yad) — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Hungarian: kézírás — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Icelandic: rithönd — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Indonesian: tulisan tangan — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Italian: calligrafia — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Japanese: 筆跡 (hisseki) — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Korean: 필적 (piljeok) — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Central Kurdish: دەسوخەت (desuxet) — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Latin: chirographum — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Lithuanian: rašysena — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Malayalam: കൈയക്ഷരം (kaiyakṣaraṁ) — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Persian: دستخط (dast-xat) — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Polish: pismo — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Portuguese: caligrafia — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Portuguese: letra — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Romanian: caligrafie — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Russian: по́черк (póčerk) — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Serbo-Croatian: рукопис — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Serbo-Croatian: rukopis — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Spanish: letra — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Spanish: grafología — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Spanish: caligrafía — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Swedish: handstil — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Tagalog: sulat — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Tagalog: sulat-kamay — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Thai: ลายมือ (laai-mʉʉ) — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Ukrainian: по́черк (póčerk) — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Vietnamese: chữ viết tay — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Volapük: penät — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Yiddish: האַנטשריפֿט (hantshrift) — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Zulu: isandla — characteristic writing of a particular person
  • Armenian: ձեռագիր (jeṙagir) — text written by hand
  • Bulgarian: ръкопи́с (rǎkopís) — text written by hand
  • Danish: håndskrift — text written by hand
  • Finnish: käsin kirjoitettu teksti — text written by hand
  • Galician: manuscrito — text written by hand
  • Georgian: ხელნაწერი (xelnac̣eri) — text written by hand
  • Greek: γραπτό (graptó) — text written by hand
  • Greek: γραφή (grafí) — text written by hand
  • Hungarian: kézzel írott szöveg — text written by hand
  • Hungarian: kézírásos szöveg — text written by hand
  • Hungarian: kézirat — text written by hand
  • Indonesian: tulisan tangan — text written by hand
  • Latvian: rokraksts — text written by hand
  • Malayalam: കൈയക്ഷരം (kaiyakṣaraṁ) — text written by hand
  • Māori: tuhi-ā-ringa — text written by hand
  • Khiamniungan Naga: chāmshāh — text written by hand
  • Polish: rękopis — text written by hand
  • Portuguese: manuscrito — text written by hand
  • Russian: ру́копись (rúkopisʹ) — text written by hand
  • Swedish: handskrift — text written by hand
  • Tagalog: sulating-kamay — text written by hand
  • Zulu: isandla — text written by hand
Real reading context

handwriting in complete knowledge articles