Autographs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person’s own handwritten signature used as a form of identification ; an original handwritten manuscript or document created by its author
2. The unique signature of an individual, often collected for keepsakes ; a document or text written by hand by the person who composed it
3. An inscription of one’s name written personally by someone, especially a celebrity ; an original text or work penned by its creator rather than printed

Etymology: "Autographs" is the plural of "autograph," and the singular noun comes from Ancient Greek "autógraphon," meaning "a writing in one's own hand." The word is built from "auto-" ("self") and "-graph" ("writing"), so its original sense was simply something a person had written personally, not a celebrity's signature. Greek passed it to Latin as "autographum," and it was that Latin form that English eventually borrowed. The modern sense of a famous person's signature is a later narrowing. Once a document was prized for being written by a particular hand, collectors and admirers began to treat a notable person's own writing, and especially their signature, as a sought-after object in its own right. The plural form therefore usually refers to a collection of such signatures or handwritten pages gathered by fans or historians.

Synonyms: signatures, scribbles