manuscript
/ˈmæn.jəˌskɹɪpt/
manuscript · adj — handwritten, or by extension manually typewritten, as opposed to being mechanically reproduced. It carries an Arena rating of 1467, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, manuscript ranks #2,126 of 42,854 for Qualifying, #5,289 of 17,134 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #5,549 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #6,118 of 17,142 for Most Vivid Words.
manuscript is pronounced /ˈmæn.jəˌskɹɪpt/.
Why “manuscript” is a great word
A document or book written by hand or manually typed, not mechanically reproduced, or the original copy of a work submitted for publication. From Medieval Latin manūscrīptus, from Latin manū, ablative of manus ("hand"), + scrīptus, past participle of scribere ("to write"), first attested in English in 1597. Unlike "autograph," which denotes a signature or a holograph emphasizing personal origin, or "typescript," confined to the mechanical clatter of a typewriter, "manuscript" carries the broader dignity of the crafted artifact itself. It is the ink-stained fingers of a monk illuminating vellum, the carbon-paper ghost of a novelist's revisions, the unbound sheaf of poems waiting in a publisher's slush pile—each a fragile, tangible record of thought, bearing the quiet weight of human attention before it is swallowed by print.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
1597, from Medieval Latin manūscrīptus, a calque of Germanic origin, equivalent to Latin manū (ablative of manus (“hand”)) + Latin scrīptus (past participle of scribere (“to write”)). Not found in Classical Latin.
adj
- Handwritten, or by extension manually typewritten, as opposed to being mechanically reproduced.
noun
- A book, composition or any other document, written by hand (or manually typewritten), not mechanically reproduced.
- A single, original copy of a book, article, composition etc, written by hand or even printed, submitted as original for (copy-editing and) reproductive publication.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- handwrit 72% match — manuscript; any nonprinted or handwritten text vs manuscript →
- manuscribe 68% match — To write by hand. vs manuscript →
- handwritten 65% match — Written with a person's hand, as opposed to typed. vs manuscript →
- authograph 61% match — a handwritten manuscript vs manuscript →
- handwrite 60% match — To write something manually, normally used to emphasise that it is not being typed. vs manuscript →
- holograph 56% match — A handwritten document that is solely the work of the person whose signature it bears, especially a letter, deed, or will; an original manuscript, a protograph. vs manuscript →
- penman 56% match — A scribe, or a person who copies texts. vs manuscript →
- mechanographic 55% match — Written, copied, or recorded by machinery, or produced by mechanography. vs manuscript →