Word of the day: Holograph

Holograph

[HA-lə-graf]

Part of speech: noun

Origin: French, early 17th century

A manuscript handwritten by the person named as its author.

Examples of holograph in a sentence

"Some authors prefer to write a holograph to start, rather than type."

"The holograph was merely a first draft of her novel."

About Holograph

This word was borrowed from the French “holographe,” but it originally came via late Latin from the Greek “holographos.” This comes from “holos,” meaning “whole,” and “-graphos,” meaning “written, writing.”

Did you Know?

Many authors prefer producing a handwritten holograph of their work before typing and sending the draft to a publisher. They include Joyce Carol Oates, Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King, and Margaret Atwood, among others. Hemingway once said, “I write description in longhand because that’s hardest for me and you’re closer to the paper when you work by hand, but I use the typewriter for dialogue because people speak like a typewriter works.”