manuscript
a handwritten or typed draft of a text
Roots
- manu / manus: hand or by hand
- scrib / script: write, draw, or mark
Other words with the manu / manus root
- manual: done by hand or used as a guide
Other words with the scrib / script root
- ascribe: to attribute something to a cause or source
- circumscribe: to limit or draw around
- describe: to say or write what something is like
- inscribe: to write or carve onto something
- inscription: words written or carved onto a surface
- prescribe: to officially recommend or order
- proscribe: to forbid officially
Manuscript is hand plus writing: a text before it becomes a finished book or print.
The editor returned the manuscript with careful notes in the margin.
Manu gives hand and script gives writing. The word once kept the handwritten page close; modern manuscripts can be typed, but they are still drafts of writing before publication.