The word Manuscripts derived from which of the following language?

The correct answer is Latin.

Key Points

• The word manuscript is derived from the medieval Latin usage ‘manu’ meaning ‘by hand’ and ‘scribere’ means ‘to write’. Thus, any book or document written by hand is called a manuscript.
• Manuscripts are sources of human history available in various kinds of media like stones,
  clay tablets, palm leaves, metal leaves, bark, animal skin, cloth, paper, etc
• Most of the manuscripts were written in Sanskrit, Prakrit and Tamil language.

Additional Information

• Manuscripts were written on varied subjects such as religious beliefs and practices, the lives of kings, medicine, and science. Besides, there were epics, poems, musical dance dramas and plays.
• India possesses an estimated five million manuscripts, probably the largest collection in the world.
• The Spitzer Manuscripts are the oldest surviving philosophical manuscripts in Sanskrit.
• The oldest manuscripts in the world are in the Pseudo-Apulelus Herbarium, dating back to the 6-7th century.