manuscript
A book, document, or piece of music written by hand rather than typed or printed; an author's text, submitted for publication.
In modern publishing, it refers to the complete, unedited text of a book or article submitted by an author to a publisher or journal.
Word relationships
- text: The main body of a book or other piece of writing, as distinct from illustrations, appendices, etc.
- document: A piece of written, printed, or electronic matter that provides information or evidence or that serves as an official record.
- draft: A preliminary version of a book, paper, or document, less polished than a manuscript.
- publication: The act of making something publicly known; a printed work.
Commonly confused with
- publication: A 'manuscript' is the raw, submitted work; a 'publication' is the final, printed, and distributed version after editing and production.
Collocations
- submit a manuscript
- original manuscript
- edited manuscript
- book manuscript
- journal manuscript
Example sentences
- "After countless revisions, the author finally submitted the complete manuscript of her novel to her editor." An author preparing their work for submission.
- "The journal sent the submitted manuscript to three experts for peer review before making a publication decision." A journal processing a submission.
Memory hook
A 'MAN' (hand) 'SCRIPT' (writing) is the original text. Hand Written
When not to use
While historically referring to handwritten documents, in contemporary academic and publishing contexts, 'manuscript' specifically means the author's final draft submitted for publication, regardless of how it was produced. Don't use it for a casual note or a rough draft.
Fun facts
- Before the invention of the printing press, all books were manuscripts, painstakingly copied by scribes.
Related words
Our English vocabulary app: FSRS spaced repetition, 5,000+ curated words across 119 topic groups, CEFR A1 to C2. Explore your mastery with the beautiful Vocabulary World feature.