(composed of ὅλος "all," and γράφω "I write"), in the civil law, something written wholly in the handwriting 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.