chirographum Latin · revision 33867

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=grc χειρόγραφον}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [kʰiːˈrɔ.ɡra.pʰũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [kiˈrɔː.ɡra.fum]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''chīrographum''' ''n'' (genitive chīrographī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''chīrografum''.^(OLD 2012)

+ A masculine ''chīrographus'' and a Greek-form neuter ''chīrographon'' also occur.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|χειρόγραφον|tr=kheirógraphon|t=handwriting; bond]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010) Köbler explains the Greek word from [[m|grc|χείρ|tr=kheír|t=hand]] and [[m|grc|γράφω|tr=gráphō|t=to write]].^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is frequent in Cicero, who uses it of a person's own handwriting: in the second ''Philippic'' he asks by what witness he is to be convicted: by his handwriting?^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From one's own handwriting it came to mean a document written by one's own hand, as in the ''Brutus'' and in Plancus' letter to Cicero, where he trusted another man's handwritten assurances.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In business and law it was a bond or acknowledgement of debt under one's own hand, which Lewis & Short distinguish from the ''syngrapha'' and do not find in Cicero;^(Lewis & Short 1879) Gaius, the Digest, Suetonius and Gellius use it so.^(Lewis & Short 1879) A masculine ''chīrographus'' occurs in Quintilian.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In Medieval Latin it is a subscription, a deed or charter, the word written across an indenture, and an indenture itself.^(Niermeyer 1976) Stelten gives “handwriting, bond”.^(Stelten 1995) English has [[m|en|chirograph]], a formal written legal document, from the late 13th century in Anglo-French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero, of handwriting and of handwritten documents.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 140–180 AD – Gaius, of a written bond.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * late 13th century – An Anglo-French ''chirograph'', a formal legal document.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # One's own [[m|en|handwriting]], [[m|en|autograph]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A document written in a person's own hand, a [[m|en|manuscript]]; a written assurance.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(law, business)'' A [[m|en|bond]] or acknowledgement of debt under one's own hand.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A subscription; a deed, [[m|en|charter]]; an [[m|en|indenture]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|chirograph]]

+ * [[en|chirography]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}