shorthand

Etymology

It is formed from English short + hand,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} with short in the sense "rapid" and hand in the sense "handwriting".^[3] The OED compares the earlier short writing.^[2] The verb is formed from the noun.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A system of rapid writing with abbreviations and symbols: about 1622, in T. Randolph's inscription on the grave of William Laurence.^[2] Merriam-Webster and the Historical Thesaurus give 1636,^[5][7] Etymonline the 1630s and Dictionary.com 1630–40.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense, any short or simplified way of expressing something, appears in the same first text according to the OED,^[2] while the Shorter Oxford dates it to the late 17th century.^[4] Johnson (1755) defined it as "a method of writing in compendious characters".^[8] The adjective is recorded from 1651,^[2] and the sense "brief, compendious" from 1822.^[7] The verb, to write in shorthand, is recorded from 1866 in the OED,^[2] from the mid-18th century in the Shorter Oxford, which also dates shorthander, a writer of shorthand, to the mid-18th century.^[4] The figurative verb, to refer to something in a short simplified way, is recorded from 1975.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1622 – a system of rapid writing; also a short way of expressing something.^[2] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1636.^[5]
• 1651 – adjective, of or written in shorthand.^[2]
• 1866 – verb, to write in shorthand.^[2]
• 1871 – verb, to take down speech in shorthand.^[2]
• 1975 – verb, to express something in a short simplified way.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A system of rapid writing using symbols, abbreviations and simple strokes, used especially for taking dictation; stenography.^[9][5][2]
2. Any short or simplified way of expressing or referring to something: Among the staff, “the move” was shorthand for the relocation to Leeds.^[5][2][4]

Adjective

1. Using shorthand, or written in shorthand: a shorthand typist.^[9][5][4]
2. Expressed in a brief or abbreviated way.^[5][2]

Verb

1. To write or take down in shorthand.^[2][4]
2. To express or refer to something in a short simplified way.^[2]

Related words

• longhand
• short
• hand

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins