different between superscribe vs subscript

English

Etymology

From Latin superscr?bo (“write over”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /su?p??sk???b/

Verb

superscribe (third-person singular simple present superscribes, present participle superscribing, simple past and past participle superscribed)

1. (transitive) to write on the exterior of, the surface of, or above.

   He superscribed each character with its Latin-alphabet equivalent.

2. (transitive) to write (something) on the exterior of an object, such as a document or an envelope.

   His wife superscribed her own notes on each of his letters before sending them in packets to the editor.

3. (transitive) To address (an envelope etc.).
   • 1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial 2007, p. 121:

     That Friday, which began like any other, when my fate was brought up from the kitchen, superscribed to me, and put into my ignorant hand.

Latin

Verb

superscr?be

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

English

Etymology

sub- +? script

Noun

subscript (plural subscripts)

1. (typography) A type of lettering form written lower than the things around it.

   In chemical formulas the number of atoms in a molecule is written as a subscript, so we write H₂O for water which has two atoms of hydrogen for each one of oxygen.

2. (computing) A numerical index into an array.

Antonyms

• superscript

Related terms

• script
• subscribe
• subscription

Translations

Verb

subscript (third-person singular simple present subscripts, present participle subscripting, simple past and past participle subscripted)

1. (mathematics, sciences, typography, transitive, of a variable) To provide with a subscript.
   • 1996, Nancy A. Lynch, Distributed Algorithms, Elsevier, page 210:

     As in the chapters on the synchronous model, we use the convention of subscripting a variable by the index of the process at which the variable resides.

   • 2011, William M. Davis (original author Cifford E. Dykstra), Physical Chemistry: A Modern Introduction (Second Edition), CRC Press, page 424:

     The elements of these matrices are subscripted with a row–column index, that is, with two integers that give the row and column position in the array.

2. (mathematics, sciences, typography, transitive, of a text) To convert to a subscript form.

Antonyms

• superscript

Adjective

subscript (not comparable)

1. Written underneath.

See also

• Appendix:Subscript
• superscribe