autograph

1 of 3

noun

au·​to·​graph ˈȯ-tə-ˌgraf 

: something written or made with one's own hand:

a

: an original manuscript or work of art

b

: a person's handwritten signature

autography

ȯ-ˈtä-grə-fē 

noun

autograph

2 of 3

adjective

: being in the writer's own handwriting : not copied or duplicated

an autograph letter

autograph

3 of 3

verb

autographed; autographing; autographs

transitive verb

1

: to write with one's own hand

2

: to write one's signature in or on

autograph a book

Synonyms of autograph

Noun

• signature
• hand

Verb

• sign

Examples of autograph in a Sentence

Noun

We asked her for her autograph.

There were several autograph seekers outside the theater.

Verb

asked the baseball player to autograph the bill of his cap

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

However, Grimmie's life was cut short when an obsessive fan fatally shot her during an autograph signing near downtown Orlando. —Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 10 June 2026

Moments after a winner was determined, the Dutch players approached the Riverside Stadium stands, greeted fans and signed autographs. —Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 10 June 2026

Adjective

Those are autograph sellers 100 percent of the time. —Lacey Rose, HollywoodReporter, 20 May 2026

Within seconds, a smiling Ayo Dosunmu got in Wembanyama’s face, saying something that didn’t appear to be an autograph request. —Jared Weiss, New York Times, 13 May 2026

Verb

News of the find — Abel’s singular, literally, Topps Superfractor rookie autographed card — didn’t take long to get back to Abel. —Betsy Helfand, Twin Cities, 8 June 2026

Over the next few hours, dozens of fans stream in to get their comic books signed and to take photos with Buendia, some bringing instruments to be autographed by the singer, too. —Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 27 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from New Latin autographum "manuscript in a person's own handwriting, the author's own manuscript," noun derivative from neuter of Latin autographus "written in one's own hand," borrowed from Greek autógraphos, from auto- auto- + -graphos -graph

Note: Early Modern English has besides autograph the forms with Latin and Greek endings autographum and autographon. Compare French (sixteenth century) aftographe, autographe "manuscript in the hand of the author," another possible direct source for the English word.

Adjective

borrowed from Latin & Greek; Latin autographus "written in one's own hand," borrowed from Greek autógraphos — more at autograph entry 1

Verb

derivative of autograph entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1605, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

circa 1676, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1817, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing autograph

• autograph book

Rhymes for autograph

• biograph
• cenotaph
• chronograph
• epigraph
• epitaph
• hodograph
• holograph
• hydrograph
• lithograph
• micrograph
• monograph
• multigraph

Kids Definition

autograph

1 of 2 noun

au·​to·​graph ˈȯt-ə-ˌgraf 

: a person's signature written by hand

autograph

2 of 2 verb

: to write one's signature in or on