Calligraphy, which means "beautiful writing" in Greek, is arranging the letters aesthetically according to certain rules and writing on things like paper, cardboard, and so on; using a pen or a brush. Performers of the art are called "calligrapher".

The earliest beautiful writing examples are seen in 3^rd millennium BC in Egypt. In various cultures, the functional and artistic uses of different writing styles are encountered. Artistic texts are designed with aesthetic concerns, while functional ones are written with easy-to-read and easy-to-write characters. In the 16^th and 17^th centuries, both aesthetic and functional writing became widespread in the West. In the Far East, calligraphy is regarded as the essence of the painting art. In the 19^th century, the art of calligraphy is revived in the West and art is brought back to the agenda.