chirography

*****************************************************************
Leprechauns are said to possess a hidden crock of gold. 
Capture your own treasury of literary terms and topics here. 
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/book.pl?encylit.htm&9
*****************************************************************

The Word of the Day for March 23 is: 

chirography   \kye-RAH-gruh-fee\   noun
   *1: handwriting, penmanship
     2: calligraphy

Example sentence:
     As she leafed through her father's old book, Sheila noted 
that its margins were filled with annotations made in his 
distinct chirography.

Did you know?
     Some might argue that handwriting is a dying art in this 
age of electronic communication. Nevertheless, we have a fancy 
word for it. The root "graph" means "writing" and appears in 
many common English words such as "autograph" and "graphite." 
The lesser-known root "chir," or "chiro-," comes from a Greek 
word meaning "hand" and occurs in words such as "chiromancy" 
(the art of palm reading) and "enchiridion" (a handbook or 
manual), as well as "chiropractic." "Chirography" first appeared 
in English in the 17th century and probably derived 
from "chirograph," a now rare word referring to a legal document 
or indenture. "Chirography" should not be confused 
with "choreography," which refers to the composition and 
arrangement of dances. 

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.