hand letter

¹

noun

1. a brass letter, mounted in a handle, for printing on the cover of a handbound book.

hand-letter

²

[ hand-let-er ]

verb (used with object)

1. to print by hand:

   She hand-lettered a “for sale” sign.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hand letter¹

First recorded in 1885–90

Origin of hand letter²

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

For example, a wedding with 400 guests will take twice the time to hand letter than an event with 200 guests, Ms. Dulles said.

From New York Times

In his small garage in the north-eastern suburbs of Berlin, Friedrichs-Friedländer engraves each stone by hand, letter by letter, with a hammer and hand-held metal stamps.

From The Guardian

“I learned how to hand letter signs and trucks,” Mr. Boegemann said.

From New York Times

I think it’s really important to consider the way that you are presenting the work to the content of the work, so there’s definitely a reason to consider those kind of fonts and to hand letter.

From Slate

A hand- letter sign taped to the battered cake shop gate indicates whom to call if the mother's body is found.

From BusinessWeek