Definition: A type of shorthand where writing speed is emphasized. Note: This is opposed to brachygraphy where brevity of writing is emphasized. The Lord's Prayer in Pitman shorthand.

Etymology: The word derives from the Greek tachys, swift or speedy + graphein, to write.

Oxford English Dictionary: Its first citation is from 1641: "Tachygraphy. The most exact and compendious methode of short and swift writing." (Shelton (title))

Quotation: "‘The art or practice of quick writing’ … variously applied to shorthand, and (in palæography) to cursive as distinguished from angular letters, to the Egyptian hieratic, and to the Greek and Latin writing of the Middle Ages with its many abbreviations and compendia." (Source: Oxford English Dictionary s.v. Tachygraphy)

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