the form of a literary work submitted for publication
"The author spent weeks refining her manuscript before sending it to publishers."
handwritten book or document
"The museum displayed an ancient manuscript written entirely by hand on parchment pages."
A book, composition or any other document, written by hand (or manually typewritten), not mechanically reproduced.
"The rare manuscript was discovered tucked away in an old chest, showing that it had been entirely written by hand centuries ago."
In plain English: A manuscript is an original document written by hand that has not yet been published or printed.
"The author spent weeks editing her manuscript before sending it to the publisher."
handwritten, or by extension manually typewritten, as opposed to being mechanically reproduced.
"The scholar carefully preserved her original manuscript in a leather-bound volume before it was ever printed."
"The manuscript edition of this classic novel includes marginal notes added by the original author."
Usage: Use "manuscript" primarily as a noun for an unpublished work; when used adjectivally before another noun like "style," it implies the text was written by hand rather than typed or printed. Avoid using this adjective to describe modern digital documents, which are mechanically reproduced even if originally drafted on paper.
The word manuscript entered English in 1597 from Medieval Latin as a direct translation of Germanic terms meaning "written by hand." It was not used in Classical Latin but describes documents created manually rather than printed or typed.