Word.ws English Dictionary

hand-writing

hand-writing is the archaic form of handwriting.

Meaning of handwriting

Noun

handwriting (usually uncountable, plural handwritings)

  1. (usually) The act or process of writing done with the hand, rather than typed or word-processed.
    Synonyms:
    hand
  2. (usually) Text that was written by hand.
    Synonyms:
    manuscript
  3. (usually) The characteristic writing of a particular person.
    • He took up the letter: well did he know the delicate and graceful handwriting; but he saw that the characters were tremulous, and it had obviously been written at different times.1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 284–285
  4. (broadly, usually) A characteristic trait or hallmark by which somebody may be recognised.
    • And, my friend believes, Armedov is getting paid by...? Yes, our friends at Langley! CIA handwriting all over it, he reckons!2013, Chris Payne, High Crimes And Low Stakes: Chris Payne, page 259

Forms of hand-writing

pluralhand-writings

Questions about hand-writing

What is hand-writing the archaic form of?
Hand-writing is the archaic form of handwriting.

Words near hand-writing in the dictionary

  1. hand-works
  2. hand-woven
  3. hand-wringing
  4. hand-wringingly
  5. hand-wringings
  6. hand-writing
  7. hand-writings
  8. hand-written
  9. Handa
  10. handakuten
  11. Handal

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hand-writing (page history and authors); handwriting (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “hand-writing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hand-writing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.