Holograph

Word of the Day for Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Holograph \HOL-uh-graf, -grahf, HOH-luh-\, adjective:

1. wholly written by the person in whose name it appears: a holograph letter.

noun:
1. a holograph writing, as a deed, will, or letter.

The will was holograph, for Mr. Utterson, though he took charge of it now that it was made, had refused to lend the least assistance in the making of it...
-- Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 1886

“An unexpectedly thoughtful young man," said Chase, straightening the frame of (Queen Victoria's holograph letter. Originally, he had planned to put the Emerson autograph between those of Longfellow and Tennyson but then he had had second thoughts about keeping a valuable letter addressed not so much to him as the Secretary of the Treasury and so, with a sad heart, he handed it over to the Treasure archives...
-- Gore Vidal, Lincoln: A Novel, 1984

Holograph entered English in the 18th century from the Greek holos + graph, meaning "whole written."

 

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com