calligraphy
noun
cal·lig·ra·phy
kə-ˈli-grə-fē 
1
a
: artistic, stylized, or elegant handwriting or lettering
b
: the art of producing such writing
2
3
: an ornamental line in drawing or painting
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Kalli- is a Greek root meaning "beautiful", and "beautiful" in the case of calligraphy means artistic, stylized, and elegant. Calligraphy has existed in many cultures, including Indian, Persian, and Islamic cultures; Arabic puts a particularly high value on beautiful script, and in East Asia calligraphy has long been considered a major art. Calligraphers in the West use pens with wide nibs, with which they produce strokes of widely differing width within a single letter.
Examples of calligraphy in a Sentence
she specializes in scrollwork with beautiful calligraphy
Recent Examples on the Web
The company is also expected to announce a new bidirectional Arabic and English keyboard, a virtual calligraphy pen for Apple Pencil users and a new system for syncing hotel Wi-Fi login details across devices.
—
Bloomberg, Oc Register, 28 May 2025
File photo of four-kanji character, taken on Dec. 22, 2020, as high school students pose following a calligraphy performance in Osaka.
—Jordan King, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 May 2025
This includes etching images of skyscrapers from the region on the GPU and placing Arabic calligraphy on the exterior.
—Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 12 May 2025
Siemens, a tall woman with glasses and a short blonde bob, runs a museum that combines the area’s Native American history and Mennonite community with traditional skills like calligraphy and canning fruit.
—CNN Money, 14 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for calligraphy
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Bloomberg, Oc Register, 28 May 2025
File photo of four-kanji character, taken on Dec. 22, 2020, as high school students pose following a calligraphy performance in Osaka.
—Jordan King, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 May 2025
This includes etching images of skyscrapers from the region on the GPU and placing Arabic calligraphy on the exterior.
—Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 12 May 2025
Siemens, a tall woman with glasses and a short blonde bob, runs a museum that combines the area’s Native American history and Mennonite community with traditional skills like calligraphy and canning fruit.
—CNN Money, 14 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for calligraphy
Cite this Entry
“Calligraphy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/calligraphy. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
calligraphy
noun
cal·lig·ra·phy
kə-ˈlig-rə-fē
1
a
: beautiful handwriting
b
: the art of producing such handwriting
calligrapher
noun
-rə-fər
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