calligraphy

/kəˈlɪɡɹəfi/kuh-LIH-gruh-fee

Meaningbeautiful writing

Common meaning: the art of fine handwriting

callibeautiful, fineLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 397 · scan
graphto scratch marks, hence to write or drawLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 317 · scan
ynoun ending: study, state or act

‘beautiful, fine’ + ‘to scratch marks, hence to write or draw’ → calligraphy

Journey through time

Neither part’s path through time is traced in our sources yet; each root is shown from its dictionary entry.

calli — Greek καλός “beautiful, fine” (dictionary form; path not traced)
graph — Ancient Greek γράφω (gráphō) “to scratch marks, hence to write or draw” (dictionary form; path not traced)

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Greek καλός ‘beautiful, fine’ + Ancient Greek γράφω (gráphō) ‘to scratch marks, hence to write or draw’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), entry γράφω (gráphō), p. 317 · dictionary scan; Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry PARAGRAPH, p. 420 · dictionary scan

Roots

γράφω (gráphō) Ancient Greek “to scratch marks, hence to write or draw”
καλός Greek “beautiful, fine”

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