inscribe
Americanverb (used with object)
-
inscribes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
inscribed,
past participle, past
-
inscribing
present participle
-
to address or dedicate (a book, photograph, etc.) informally to a person, especially by writing a brief personal note in or on it.
-
to mark (a surface) with words, characters, etc., especially in a durable or conspicuous way.
-
to write, print, mark, or engrave (words, characters, etc.).
-
to enroll, as on an official list.
-
Geometry. to draw or delineate (one figure) within another figure so that the inner lies entirely within the boundary of the outer, touching it at as many points as possible.
to inscribe a circle in a square.
-
British.
-
to issue (a loan) in the form of shares with registered stockholders.
-
to sell (stocks).
-
to buy (stocks).
-
verb
-
to make, carve, or engrave (writing, letters, a design, etc) on (a surface such as wood, stone, or paper)
-
to enter (a name) on a list or in a register
-
to sign one's name on (a book, photograph, etc) before presentation to another person
-
to draw (a geometric construction such as a circle, polygon, etc) inside another construction so that the two are in contact but do not intersect Compare circumscribe
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
inscribablenessnoun
-
inscribernoun
-
preinscribeverb (used with object)
-
reinscribeverb (used with object)
-
superinscribeverb (used with object)
-
inscribableadjective
-
uninscribedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
inscribesimple
-
inscribessimple
-
have inscribedperfect
-
has inscribedperfect
-
am inscribingprogressive
-
are inscribingprogressive
-
is inscribingprogressive
-
have been inscribingperfect progressive
-
has been inscribingperfect progressive
Past
-
inscribedsimple
-
had inscribedperfect
-
was inscribingprogressive
-
were inscribingprogressive
-
had been inscribingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of inscribe
1545–55; < Latin inscrībere, equivalent to in- in- 2 + scrībere to write; see scribe 1
Explanation
To inscribe means to write something in a permanent or formal way. When you have a jeweler inscribe your initials inside your new ring, she uses a machine to carve them into the metal. A stone carver might inscribe your grandfather's name on a memorial stone, and your best friend might inscribe his name and a favorite quote in the back of your yearbook. In geometry, to inscribe is to fit one shape inside another, like when a triangle fits neatly inside a circle with its points just touching the perimeter. The Latin root of inscribe is inscribere, "to write in or on."
Vocabulary lists containing inscribe
I Am Malala
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Write Stuff: Scrib, Script
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
myPerspectives 9.1
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Depending on the magnitude of the game, and of the challenge, Burruss would name the cast after a mountain peak, and use a Sharpie to inscribe the cast accordingly.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2025
If the company is able to achieve this level of precision, it could help chip makers inscribe even smaller microscopic lines into silicon wafers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 2, 2025
Over a period of six weeks, Heywood and Land roll and cut the clay, inscribe the disc with the honoree’s name and accomplishments, then apply the characteristic blue glaze and fire it in a kiln.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 18, 2023
If you get sued, stress the expressive elements of your business, from your choice of furnishings, colors and fabrics to marketing, including the fanciful words you inscribe on the bibles in each room.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2023
I joined the ranks of the Artificery, studying how to blow glass, mix alloys, draw wire, inscribe metal, and sculpt stone.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
A high-powered laser pulse then inscribes these minuscule voxels into square glass plates that are roughly the size of a CD.
From Barron's ● Feb. 18, 2026
For a reader self-identified as a “young budding historian obsessed with history,” Caro inscribes, “To a fellow history lover.”
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 18, 2023
A glowing, impossibly narrow point inscribes itself firmly on San Francisco’s skyline.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 16, 2021
A hundred frowny faces can’t console the grieving widow like a single piece of stationery on which a friend inscribes her sympathy.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 12, 2019
There is no frost upon the windows of Marco’s flat, so he inscribes lines of symbols in the shape of a letter A with ink, pressing his darkened fingers against the panes.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
People are commonly greeted by wishing that their names be inscribed in the Book of Life—because on Rosh Hashanah God examines our past deeds and determines our individual fates for the following year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
She said she inscribed it with, “Turn this book back into a tree.”
From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2026
The man was not instantly recognisable, but gold medals and gilded certificates piled nearby were inscribed with the name Hussam Luka.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
The D-Day landings join more than 50 French sites already inscribed on the list, alongside the spectacular Mont Saint Michel island in Normandy and the Palace of Versailles.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
The recipe is incomplete, since the lamp ought to be inscribed with mysterious characters and there is an incantation to be mumbled.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
"They're inscribing something about their cosmology, their belief systems, into the earth itself in a very dramatic way."
From BBC ● Nov. 27, 2025
The diagnostic definition has changed dramatically in that time, inscribing children with a broad range of abilities, needs and behaviors within a single term: autism spectrum disorder.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
Choosing a message is important, but so is inscribing it in the asphalt.
From Slate ● Sep. 3, 2025
Kushner goes even further, inscribing their gesamtkunstwerk — a heady fusion of ballet, opera, Shakespearean tragedy and nascent youth culture — in a pantheon of revolutionary modernist masterpieces.
From New York Times ● Nov. 30, 2021
Min was inscribing lotus blossoms and peonies between the ribbed lines of one of the melon vases.
From "A Single Shard" by Linda Sue Park
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
