Handwritten

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Created by hand using a pen or pencil rather than typed or printed by machine
2. Produced manually with a writing instrument as opposed to being generated digitally or through a printing process
3. Crafted through the use of a pen or pencil instead of being made via electronic means or mechanical printing

Etymology: "Handwritten" is about as transparent as English compounds get: "hand" plus "written," the past participle of "write." The "written" half traces back to Old English "writan," which originally meant to scratch or cut marks into a surface, a sense that survives in the idea of carving letters into stone or wood. "Hand" comes from Old English "hand," and the compound describes text produced by a person's own hand rather than by a press, a typewriter, or a machine. The compound is a plain descriptive formation, so there is little hidden history to uncover. Its usefulness grew as mechanical printing spread, since "handwritten" became the natural way to distinguish manuscript from printed material.

Synonyms: script, manuscript, cursive

Antonyms: typed, printed