manuscript
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
A book, composition or any other document, written by hand, not mechanically reproduced.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
manyuhskriptSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmænjəskɹɪpt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A book, composition or any other document, written by hand (or manually typewritten), not mechanically reproduced.
A single, original copy of a book, article, composition etc, written by hand or even printed, submitted as original for (copy-editing and) reproductive publication.
Handwritten book or document
The form of a literary work submitted for publication
adjective
Handwritten, or by extension manually typewritten, as opposed to being mechanically reproduced.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A book, composition or any other document, written by hand (or manually typewritten), not mechanically reproduced.
Used this way, manuscript is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in technical or specialist writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Technical/specialist writing
Nearby words
- holograph , a specialist term, precise but narrower
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use manuscript
- “The author submitted her first manuscript to a publisher.”
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Other combinations
Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “manuscript” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.