calligraphy

noun

cal·​lig·​ra·​phy kə-ˈli-grə-fē 

1

a

: artistic, stylized, or elegant handwriting or lettering

b

: the art of producing such writing

2

: penmanship

3

: an ornamental line in drawing or painting

calligraphic

ˌka-lə-ˈgra-fik 

adjective

calligraphically

ˌka-lə-ˈgra-fi-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Did you know?

Kalli- is a Greek root meaning "beautiful", and "beautiful" in the case of calligraphy means artistic, stylized, and elegant. Calligraphy has existed in many cultures, including Indian, Persian, and Islamic cultures; Arabic puts a particularly high value on beautiful script, and in East Asia calligraphy has long been considered a major art. Calligraphers in the West use pens with wide nibs, with which they produce strokes of widely differing width within a single letter.

Synonyms

• handwriting

Examples of calligraphy in a Sentence

she specializes in scrollwork with beautiful calligraphy

Recent Examples on the Web

After his mother’s death, he was sent to study Urdu and Islamic calligraphy at his grandfather’s madrassa in Sidhpur, Gujarat. —Oscar Holland, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2025

On the sidelines of the runway shows were launch events including a late-night dinner at Carbone that eyewear retailer Eyewa hosted to launch its collaboration with eL Seed, a French Tunisian calligraphy artist and muralist. —Miles Socha, Footwear News, 23 Oct. 2025

My kindergarten classmates tended to gravitate towards calligraphy, swimming, ballet and English conversation classes, but I would rather be caught dead than do anything that involved ‘learning together’. —Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2025

According to her, calligraphy is a great fall hobby for the hardworking Capricorn. —Cori Sears, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

French or Greek; French calligraphie, from Greek kalligraphia, from kalli- beautiful (from kallos beauty) + -graphia -graphy

First Known Use

1590, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Kids Definition

calligraphy

noun

cal·​lig·​ra·​phy kə-ˈlig-rə-fē 

1

a

: beautiful handwriting

b

: the art of producing such handwriting

2

: penmanship sense 2

calligrapher

-rə-fər

noun