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penmanship

penmanship

15 5.3
The skill of writing by hand clearly and neatly
  • noun
  • /ˈpɛn.mən.ʃɪp/
translation icon : caligrafía
  • His penmanship was so neat that it made reading his notes easy.
  • Palmer Method of Penmanship
  • penmanship methods
  • good penmanship

So I think it's meant for when you're sat doing your fancy Japanese like penmanship or something.

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Examples

  • Cecilia had beautiful penmanship.

  • Very steady penmanship there, Mr. B.

  • I used some penmanship and I wrote this letter.

  • Your penmanship is impossible David.

  • It's just... your penmanship is really remarkable.

  • The penmanship is so confident.

  • Studies show students are starting to show poor penmanship on tests and essays.

    Blog text (17)
  • My aunt sure had lousy penmanship.

  • But she'd left a note by the phone in that distressingly perfect penmanship of hers.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • The teacher, alone in the classroom, was at his desk grading the penmanship lesson.

    Fiction book (1990)

Synonyms

handwriting
vspenmanship
141 1.4

The way a person writes letters and words by hand

emphasizes refined skill and beauty rather than mere personal style
hand
vspenmanship
93 8.1

The way a person forms letters when they write

is about general skill and clarity beyond a single person's informal style
calligraphy
vspenmanship
17 7.1

Beautiful writing done by hand used for decoration or art

is broader, covering clear, skilled writing not only decorative work
chirography
vspenmanship
  • Archaic
9.9

A person's neat, beautiful way of writing by hand

focuses more on general skill and clarity rather than artful decoration

Antonyms

1 7.6

Writing or print that is hard to read

How Neat

calligraphy
17 7.1
penmanship
15 5.3
script
18 4.6
handwriting
141 1.4
scrawl
6 5.7

Surface Forms

penmanship singular
penmanships plural

Morphology

penmanship = penman (semi-transparent) = pen + man + ship

The word is transparently built on 'penman' plus '-ship', but the sense has shifted from 'the skill of a penman' to the more specific modern meaning of handwriting quality.

Etymology

Penmanship comes from pen, a writing tool, and the ending -manship, seen in craftsmanship, which means 'skill'. So, penmanship is the 'skill' of writing by hand, which is why it means neat or beautiful handwriting.