What is "chirograph"

Chirograph \Chi"ro*graph\, n. [Gr. ? written with the hand; chei`r hand + gra`fein to write.] (Old. Law)

1. A writing which, requiring a counterpart, was engrossed twice on the same piece of parchment, with a space between, in which was written the word chirographum, through which the parchment was cut, and one part given to each party. It answered to what is now called a charter party.

2. The last part of a fine of land, commonly called the foot of the fine.
   --Bouvier.

n. 1 (context legal historical English) A kind of mediaeval document written in duplicate (or more) on a single piece of parchment, then cut across a single word, so that each holder of a portion can prove it matches the others. 2 (context legal historical English) A papal decree whose circulation, unlike an encyclical, is limited to the Roman curia. 3 (context obsolete English) The last part of a fine of land; the "foot of the fine".

A chirograph is a medieval document, which has been written in duplicate, triplicate or very occasionally quadruplicate on a single piece of parchment, with the Latin word "chirographum" (occasionally replaced by some other term) written across the middle, and then cut through to separate the parts.