Diplomatics
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The science of authenticating, dating, and interpreting old official documents. countable, uncountable
"Paleography might teach men to read documents, diplomatics to date them and to test their authenticity; but the full significance of an ancient deed might easily escape the most exact paleographer and the most accomplished diplomatist, for the want of that finished sense for legal technicality which is the natural fruit of a conveyancing practice."
Example
More examples"Paleography might teach men to read documents, diplomatics to date them and to test their authenticity; but the full significance of an ancient deed might easily escape the most exact paleographer and the most accomplished diplomatist, for the want of that finished sense for legal technicality which is the natural fruit of a conveyancing practice."
Etymology
Probably from Italian or Ecclesiastical Latin diplomatica.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.