In engineering and computer science, there is a tendency to use the term stroke for a single connected component of ink (in Off-line handwriting recognition) or a complete pen-down trace (in on-line handwriting recognition).
However, in this definition, a complete word written as connected cursive script should also be called a stroke.
In the research field of handwriting motor control, the term ballistic stroke is used.
[1] It is defined as the trajectory segment between two consecutive minima in the absolute velocity of the pen tip.
The time delay between the cortical brain command and a muscle contraction is so large that the 100 millisecond ballistic strokes need to be planned by the brain, as feedback by hand-eye coordination requires a much slower movement than is the case in the normal handwriting process.