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manuscript

MAN-yuh-skript /ˈmænjuskrɪpt/

nounB2GRESATTOEFL

LiteraryHistoricalAcademic

A book, document, or piece of music written by hand rather than typed or printed; an author's unpublished work.

Historically referred to hand-written texts; today, it refers to the raw, typed text submitted by an author for publication.

The story behind the word. Before the printing press, every single book had to be copied by hand. The word 'manuscript' reflects this labor, coming from the Latin 'manu' (by hand) and 'scriptus' (written). It was literally a 'hand-written' object.

Word relationships

draft: A draft is any working version of a text, while a manuscript is specifically the complete version prepared for publication.
typescript: A typescript is specifically typed, whereas a manuscript can be hand-written or typed.

publication: A publication is the finalized, printed, and distributed version of a text.

Commonly confused with

transcript: A transcript is a written record of spoken words, whereas a manuscript is an original creative work.

Word family

manuscripts (noun): Plural form of manuscript.

Collocations

original manuscript
unpublished manuscript
submit a manuscript
ancient manuscript

Example sentences

"The museum recently acquired a rare, hand-written manuscript of a poem by John Keats." A news report about a rare literary discovery.
"She spent three years writing the novel and finally sent the completed manuscript to her publisher." An author discussing the publishing process.

Memory hook

Think of 'manual' (done by hand) and 'script' (writing). Manual script = manuscript. Written by hand.

When not to use

Do not use to describe a book that has already been printed, bound, and sold in bookstores.

Fun facts

The Voynich Manuscript is a famous 15th-century hand-written book written in an entirely unknown script and language that has never been decoded.