calligraphy

IPA/kəˈlɪɡrəfi/
KK[kəlˈɪɡrəfi]IPA/kəˈlɪɡrəfi/

calligraphy — noun

1. the skill or art of writing letters and words in an attractive way, using a brus

1.nounB1
Definition

the skill or art of writing letters and words in an attractive way, using a brush, a special pen, or similar tools, as well as the writing produced by this skill

Example

Mei-Lin spent Saturday mornings practising Chinese calligraphy with her grandfather's brush.

collocation: practise calligraphy

The museum's new exhibition features Japanese calligraphy by five modern artists.

Common collocations
  • practise calligraphy
  • learn calligraphy
  • study calligraphy
  • calligraphy brush
  • calligraphy set
  • calligraphy class
  • calligraphy workshop
  • piece of calligraphy
  • traditional calligraphy
  • Chinese/Japanese/Arabic calligraphy
  • beautiful calligraphy
  • elegant calligraphy
Synonyms
  • handwriting

    general term for any person's writing style, not necessarily artistic

  • penmanship

    focuses on the skill of writing clearly by hand; more common in American English than British

  • lettering

    the process of drawing letters by hand, often for signs or posters; less formal than calligraphy

  • script

    refers to a particular style of written letters, not the art itself

Grammar Patterns

calligraphy [noun as modifier] (e.g. calligraphy class, calligraphy brush)

Usage Note

Uncountable — you cannot say 'a calligraphy' or 'two calligraphies'. To refer to a single piece, use 'a piece of calligraphy' or 'a calligraphy work'.

Common Mistakes

I bought a calligraphy.
I bought a calligraphy set.
calligraphy is uncountable; use 'a calligraphy set' for the tools.
She has beautiful calligraphies on the wall.
She has beautiful pieces of calligraphy on the wall.
use 'pieces of calligraphy' for multiple works.

Word family

  • calligrapher
    nounB2
  • calligraphic
    adjectiveC1
  • calligraphist
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Handwriting is the broadest term — it refers to anyone's personal way of writing by hand, whether neat or messy. Penmanship is the skill of writing clearly and legibly, often taught in schools; it values readability over artistic flair. Lettering is the act of drawing individual letters, typically for signs, logos, or posters; it is more mechanical and design-focused than calligraphy. Script refers to a typeface or a system of written characters (e.g. cursive script, Arabic script) rather than the artistic process. Calligraphy is the only one that foregrounds beauty and expression as the primary goal. For example, a doctor's handwriting might be hard to read, but a calligrapher's work is meant to be displayed and admired.

handwriting ↗penmanshiplettering ↗script ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • piece of calligraphy
  • art of calligraphy
  • calligraphy class
  • calligraphy workshop
  • calligraphy set
  • calligraphy brush
  • calligraphy pen

Prepositions

  • in calligraphy
  • of calligraphy

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

Calligraphy comes from the Greek words kallos (κάλλος), meaning 'beauty', and graphein (γράφειν), meaning 'to write'. It travelled into English through Latin calligraphia and French calligraphie during the 1600s.