- handwriting (n.)
- also hand-writing, "writing with the hand; form of writing peculiar to a person," early 15c., from hand (n.) + writing, translating Latin manuscriptum and equivalent to Greek kheirographia. Earlier was simply hand (n.) "handwriting, style of writing;" and Old English had handgewrit "handwriting; a writing."
An ordinary note in his [Horace Greeley's] handwriting is said to have been used for a long time as a railroad pass, then as a servant's recommendation, and finally taken to a drug-store as a doctor's prescription. ["Frank Leslie's Magazine," August 1884]
