cursivus

Cursivus is a Latin term meaning 'running' or 'flowing.' In palaeography, it designates cursive handwriting—the rapidly written script used for everyday documents as opposed to formal book hands. The term appears in scholarly descriptions of manuscripts as a class of scripts rather than a single, standardized alphabetic system.

Historically, cursivus developed from the need for quicker writing in late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Scribes applied ligatures, connected letters, and simplified forms to speed production and save space in commercial records, private letters, and notarial documents. Regional varieties existed, including Italian notarial cursiva and various Northern European cursive forms, reflecting local conventions and writing tools.

Typical features of cursivus include letter connections, ligatures, abbreviated forms, and irregular word spacing. Letter shapes are often less regular than formal hands; strokes favor speed over symmetry, and pen nibs and ink trails influence an appearance that can vary widely between authors and periods.

In modern scholarship, cursivus is a conventional descriptor used in palaeography and manuscript studies to categorize informal, rapidly written hands. It helps distinguish everyday textual material from carefully prepared codices and inscriptions. The term remains primarily literary and scholarly, rather than a term used by contemporary handwriting practitioners.