What's an autograph, anyway?

[mighty bombjack]

I'm feeling philosophical.

Anyone care to define the term "autograph"?

[David Atkatz]

From the OED:
autograph (auto|graph)

Pronunciation: /ˈɔːtəgrɑːf/
noun

*
1a signature, especially that of a celebrity written as a memento for an admirer: fans surged around the car asking for autographs

*
2a manuscript or musical score in an author’s or musician’s own handwriting: the earliest version of the work is possibly an autograph
*
[mass noun] a person’s handwriting: a songbook in Purcell’s autograph

verb
[with object]

*
write one’s signature on (something); sign: the whole team autographed a shirt for him (as adjective autographed) an autographed photo

adjective

*
written in the author’s own handwriting: an autograph manuscript
*
(of a painting or sculpture) done by the artist, not by a copier: five of the drawings are accepted as autograph

Derivatives

autographic
Pronunciation: /-ˈgrafɪk/
adjective

Origin:early 17th century: from French autographe or late Latin autographum, from Greek autographon, neuter of autographos 'written with one's own hand', from autos 'self' + graphos 'written'

[mighty bombjack]

Good start. OK, so how important is this,

"especially that of a celebrity written as a memento for an admirer"

as opposed to the less-purpose-specific verb definition given

"write one’s signature on (something)"?

[mr2686]

An autograph refers to a person's artistic signature.
A famous autograph refers to a signature that's probably been forged again and again by CC.

[mighty bombjack]

Originally Posted by mr2686

An autograph refers to a person's artistic signature.
A famous autograph refers to a signature that's probably been forged again and again by CC.

Must it be artistic?

[mr2686]

Everyone has their own flare about their signature so I'd say they are all naturally artistic.

[mighty bombjack]

Originally Posted by mr2686

Everyone has their own flare about their signature so I'd say they are all naturally artistic.

But does the purpose of writing it matter?

[mighty bombjack]

To illustrate my question, is this an autograph?



The question of artistry is a subjective one, though this does at least resemble his autograph given to admirers.

On the other hand, it does not seem to fit the primary OED definition given above (although "especially" is a handy qualifier)...

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by mighty bombjack

Must it be artistic?

If artistic is part of the definition, that would eliminate 99% of all current baseball players, FWIW.