scribe

¹

[ skrahyb ]

noun

1. a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of printing.
2. a public clerk or writer, usually one having official status.
3. Also called sopher, sofer. Judaism. one of the group of Palestinian scholars and teachers of Jewish law and tradition, active from the 5th century b.c. to the 1st century a.d., who transcribed, edited, and interpreted the Bible.
4. a writer or author, especially a journalist.

verb (used without object)

, scribed, scrib·ing.

1. to act as a scribe; write.

verb (used with object)

, scribed, scrib·ing.

1. to write down.

scribe

²

[ skrahyb ]

verb (used with object)

, scribed, scrib·ing.

1. to mark or score (wood or the like) with a pointed instrument as a guide to cutting or assembling.

noun

1. scriber.

Scribe

³

[ skreeb ]

noun

1. Au·gus·tin Eu·gène [oh-g, y, s-, tan, , œ, -, zhen], 1791–1861, French dramatist.

Scribe

¹

/ skrib /

noun

1. ScribeAugustin Eugène17911861MFrenchWRITING: author of vaudevillesTHEATRE: dramatistMUSIC: librettist Augustin Eugène (oɡystɛ̃ øʒɛn). 1791–1861, French author or coauthor of over 350 vaudevilles, comedies, and libretti for light opera

scribe

²

/ skraɪb /

noun

1. a person who copies documents, esp a person who made handwritten copies before the invention of printing
2. a clerk or public copyist
3. Old Testament a recognized scholar and teacher of the Jewish Law
4. Judaism a man qualified to write certain documents in accordance with religious requirements
5. an author or journalist: used humorously
6. another name for scriber

verb

1. to score a line on (a surface) with a pointed instrument, as in metalworking

Derived Forms

• ˈscribal, adjective

Other Words From

• scribal adjective
• un·scribal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of scribe¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin scrība clerk, derivative of scrībere to write

Origin of scribe²

First recorded in 1670–80; perhaps aphetic form of inscribe

Word History and Origins

Origin of scribe¹

(in the senses: writer, etc) C14: from Latin scrība clerk, from scrībere to write; C17 (vb): perhaps from inscribe

Example Sentences

Her audition for that comedy's breakout character, Kelli, began in the show’s writers’ room; she was the first scribe to be hired.

From Salon

He also said the same thing to virtually every other scribe he met.

From Los Angeles Times

“It’s still a nightmare,” said Hogan, 32, who works as a medical scribe.

From Los Angeles Times

The 104 pages, or 52 leaves were written by one scribe at the dawn of Christianity, over a period of 40 years.

From BBC

No less a scribe than William Shakespeare claimed that bees “teach the act of order to a peopled kingdom.”

From New York Times

Related Words

• author
• journalist
• writer