cursive

Cursive is a style of handwriting in which the letters of a word are connected, enabling a flowing, rapid script. In most cursive systems, the pen is not lifted between most letters, and letter shapes often feature loops and slanted strokes. Cursive is distinct from print or block letters and from calligraphy; it is primarily a handwriting style rather than a designed script.

Historically, cursive traces its development to the need for faster writing with a single motion of the hand. In Europe, copperplate or roundhand scripts of the 17th–18th centuries influenced many cursive forms. In the United States, Spencerian Script (mid-19th century) and Palmer Method (early 20th century) dominated school instruction, emphasizing legibility and speed. Other movements, such as D’Nealian in the 1960s, sought to ease the transition from print to cursive by introducing connecting forms during early schooling.

Education and use: Cursive has traditionally been taught in schools to improve writing speed and fluency, but its place has been debated. Some curricula reduce or remove formal cursive instruction, while others preserve it for legibility in signatures, personal correspondence, and historical documents. Beyond schooling, many people develop personal stylistic variants, and cursive hand can be valued for aesthetic or practical reasons, such as signature distinctiveness or note-taking flow.

In the digital era, cursive remains common in personal handwriting, though computer fonts and input tools offer many non-joining alternatives. Some languages with joining scripts have long-standing traditions of cursive-like handwriting; in English, cursive denotes the connected form rather than a specific formal script.