manuscript

Where does the word "manuscript" come from? It comes from Latin manus, passing through Latin before entering English (1590s).

Manuscript’s story begins in Latin: manus meant “hand.” Hand, combined with scriptus (written). Within Latin, it grew into manu scriptus by ancient. Written by hand, from manus (hand) and scriptus (written). It reached English by 1590s as manuscript. Settled as the English word for a document written by hand or an author's unpublished work. Today, manuscript means a handwritten or typed document, especially an author's unpublished work.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient manus "hand", hand, combined with scriptus (written).
2. Stage 2 · Latin · ancient manu scriptus "written by hand", written by hand, from manus (hand) and scriptus (written).
3. Stage 3 · English · 1590s manuscript "a document written by hand, or an author's unpublished work", settled as the English word for a document written by hand or an author's unpublished work.