Okuzeka
History vocabulary · Sources and Archives

Manuscript

Meaning in history, with examples

/ˈmænjuskrɪpt/nounCore term

In history, manuscript means: A book or document written by hand, especially one produced before printing became common; also an author's text before it is published.

In Turkish: el yazması, yazma eser, yazma

How it is used

Historians and librarians speak of medieval, Ottoman or illuminated manuscripts, manuscript collections and manuscript libraries. A text may survive in one manuscript or many, and scholars compare copies to establish it. Abbreviated MS, plural MSS.

Example sentences

  1. The Süleymaniye Library holds tens of thousands of Ottoman manuscripts.

  2. Only two manuscripts of the chronicle have survived.

Common collocations

  • illuminated manuscript
  • medieval manuscript
  • manuscript collection
  • a surviving manuscript
  • manuscript copy
  • archiveA collection of historical records kept for long-term use, or the building or institution where such records are stored and made available to researchers.
  • chronicleA written account of historical events arranged in the order in which they happened, usually composed during or soon after the period it describes.
  • primary sourceEvidence created at the time being studied or by people who witnessed it, such as letters, diaries, official records, photographs or objects.
  • provenanceThe origin of a document or object and the record of who has owned or kept it since it was made, used to judge whether it is genuine and lawfully held.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Sources and Archives

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