(composed of ὁλός "all," and γράφω "I write"), in the civil law, something written wholly in the hand-writing of the person who signs it. The word is chiefly used in speaking of a testament written wholly in the testator's own hand.

The Romans did not approve of holographic testaments; and, though Valentinian authorised them by a novel, they are not used where the civil law is in full force.