different between inscribe vs scribe

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ?nscr?b?, from in- (“upon”) and scr?b? (“to write”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?sk?a?b/
• Rhymes: -a?b

Verb

inscribe (third-person singular simple present inscribes, present participle inscribing, simple past and past participle inscribed)

1. (transitive) To write or cut (words) onto (something, especially a hard surface, or a book to be given to another person); to engrave.

   I inscribed the book with a message for Kate.

   I inscribed my name into the book.

2. (geometry) To draw a circle, sphere, etc. inside a polygon, polyhedron, etc. and tangent to all its sides.

Synonyms

• enwrite, inwrite

Related terms

• inscription
• circumscribe

Translations

Latin

Verb

?nscr?be

1. second-person singular present active imperative of ?nscr?b?

Spanish

Verb

inscribe

1. Informal second-person singular (tú) affirmative imperative form of inscribir.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present indicative form of inscribir.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present indicative form of inscribir.

English

Etymology

From Middle English scribe, from Old French scribe (“scribe”), from Late Latin usage of scriba (“secretary”) (used in the Vulgate Bible translation to render Ancient Greek ?????????? (grammateús, “scribe, secretary”), which had been used in its turn to render the Hebrew ????? (“writer, scholar”)) from scribere (“to write, draw, draw up, draft (a paper), enlist, enroll, levy; orig. to scratch”), probably akin to scrobs (“a ditch, trench, grave”).

The verb sense used in carpentry comes from the way a workman uses a compass to mark a line before cutting.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sk?a?b/
• Rhymes: -a?b

Noun

scribe (plural scribes)

1. Someone who writes; a draughtsperson; a writer for another; especially, an official or public writer; an amanuensis, secretary, notary, or copyist.
   1. A person who writes books or documents by hand as a profession.^W
2. (informal) A journalist.
3. (archaic) A writer and doctor of the law; one skilled in the law and traditions; one who read and explained the law to the people.
4. A very sharp, steel drawing implement used in engraving and etching, a scriber.

Synonyms

• amanuensis
• scrivener
• tabellion

Derived terms

• scribal
• scribely

Translations

Verb

scribe (third-person singular simple present scribes, present participle scribing, simple past and past participle scribed)

1. To write.
2. To write, engrave, or mark upon; to inscribe.
   • 1812, Anonymous, The Trial

     he scribed his name on the mould, and wrote it on the two pieces of pasteboard

3. To record, as a scribe.
4. To write or draw with a scribe.
5. (carpentry) To cut (something) in order to fit it closely to an irregular surface, as a baseboard to a floor which is out of level, a board to the curves of a moulding, etc.
6. To score or mark with compasses or a scribing iron.

Related terms

• ascribe
• circumscribe
• describe
• inscribe
• prescribe
• proscribe
• shrive
• transcribe

Translations

See also

• notary

Further reading

• scribe in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• scribe in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin scr?ba. Doublet of écrivain.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sk?ib/

Noun

scribe m (plural scribes)

1. scribe

Further reading

• “scribe” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Interlingua

Verb

scribe

1. present of scriber
2. imperative of scriber

Latin

Verb

scr?be

1. second-person singular present active imperative of scr?b?

Occitan

Verb

scribe

1. (Gascony) to write