cursive

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French cursif, from Medieval Latin cursīvus, from Latin cursus.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɝsɪv/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɜːsɪv/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)sɪv

Adjective

A letter written in a cursive hand

cursive (comparative more cursive, superlative most cursive)

1. Running; flowing.
2. (of writing) Having successive letters joined together.
   • 2025, Santanu Bhattacharya, Deviants, Fig Tree, page 269:

     Then Mambro handed me his manuscript, a sheaf of loose pages really, his cursive handwriting scrawled over them, the exaggerated tails of the f’s and the j’s, the distinct loop of the q.

3. (grammar) Of or relating to a grammatical aspect relating to an action that occurs in a straight line (in space or time).

Derived terms

• cursive singing
• cursivity
• cursivization
• noncursive
• precursive
• semicursive

Translations

having successive letters joined together

• Armenian: ձեռագիր (hy) (jeṙagir)
• Catalan: cursiu
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 草書 / 草书 (zh) (cǎoshū)

• French: cursif (fr), attaché (fr)
• Georgian: გადაბმული (gadabmuli)
• German: kursiv (de)
• Hungarian: folyóírással írott
• Indonesian: kursif (id), miring (id)
• Italian: corsivo (it)
• Japanese: 筆記体 (ja) (hikkitai)
• Malay: berangkai
• Norwegian: kursiv (no)
• Portuguese: cursivo (pt)
• Romanian: cursiv (ro)
• Russian: рукопи́сный (ru) (rukopísnyj), курси́вный (ru) (kursívnyj)
• Spanish: en cursiva
• Swedish: kursiv (sv), handskriven (sv)
• Turkish: italik (tr)
• Vietnamese: viết thảo

Noun

cursive (countable and uncountable, plural cursives)

1. (countable) A cursive character, letter or font.
2. (countable) A manuscript written in cursive characters.
3. (uncountable) Joined-up handwriting.

   Antonym: printing

   Hypernym: handwriting

Antonyms

• print

Derived terms

• cursively
• cursiveness
• minuscule cursive
• Roman cursive

Related terms

• course
• discursive
• incursive

Translations

character

• Bulgarian: курсив (bg) (kursiv)
• Catalan: cursiva (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 草書 / 草书 (zh) (cǎoshū), 手寫體 / 手写体 (zh) (shǒuxiětǐ)

• Dutch: cursief (nl) f
• Finnish: kursiivi (fi)
• French: cursive (fr) f
• German: Kursivbuchstabe m
• Indonesian: huruf sambung, kursif (id)
• Japanese: 草書 (ja) (そうしょ, sōsho) (for kanji or kana), 筆記体 (ja) (ひっきたい, hikkitai) (for Latin or Greek letters)
• Korean: 필기체(筆記體) (ko) (pilgiche)
• Polish: kursywa (pl) f
• Russian: рукопи́сный шрифт m (rukopísnyj šrift), ско́ропись (ru) f (skóropisʹ), курси́в (ru) m (kursív)
• Turkish: el yazısı (tr)

manuscript

• Dutch: cursiefje (nl)
• Indonesian: tulisan sambung
• Japanese: 草書 (ja) (そうしょ, sōsho) (for kanji or kana)
• Russian: ру́копись (ru) f (rúkopisʹ)

joined-up handwriting

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 草書 / 草书 (zh) (cǎoshū)

• Finnish: kaunokirjoitus (fi)
• German: Schreibschrift (de) f, Kursivschrift (de) f, Verbundschrift f, kursive Schrift f, fließende Handschrift f
• Norwegian: løkkeskrift (no) m or f
• Swedish: skrivstil (sv) c
• Turkish: el yazısı (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} corsivo (it) m

See also

• handwriting
• italic
• longhand
• shorthand

Anagrams

• cruives, cuviers

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kyʁ.siv/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

cursive f (plural cursives)

1. cursive letter

Adjective

cursive

1. feminine singular of cursif

Further reading

• “cursive”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• cuivres, cuivrés