paleography
UK /ˌpalɪˈɒɡɹəfi/ · US /ˌpeɪliˈɑɡɹəfi/ noun
Forms paleographies palaeography palæography
- noun The study of old or ancient forms of writing.
- noun Ancient scripts or forms of writing themselves, as uncial, scriptio continua, or methods of using papyrus scrolls.
- noun (obsolete) Paleogeography.
Etymology
From paleo- + -graphy; imitating Latin palaeographia for the first sense and French paléographie and paléogéographie for the second and third senses.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An ancient manner of writing; ancient writings, collectively; as, Punic paleography.
- noun The study of ancient inscriptions and modes of writing; the art or science of deciphering ancient writings, and determining their origin, period, etc., from external characters; diplomatics.
Etymology [Paleo- + -graphy: cf. F. paléographie.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “paleography”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details