1. A method for recognizing unconstrained cursive handwritten words, comprising: processing an image of a handwritten word of one or more characters, the processing step including segmenting each imaged word into a set of one or more segments and determining a sequence of segments using an over-segmentation-relabeling algorithm; extracting feature information of one segment or a combination of several consecutive segments; repeating said extracting step until feature information from all segments or combinations thereof have been extracted; and classifying the imaged word as having a string of one or more characters using the extracted feature information.