English
inscribe
Inscribe comes from Latin īnscrībō ‘to write in or upon something, inscribe’, from Proto-Italic *skreiβō ‘to carve’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreybʰ- ‘to scratch, to tear’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kreybʰ-‘to scratch, to tear’root as named
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kréybʰetireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*skreiβō‘to carve’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscrībō‘to write’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnscrībō‘to write in or upon something, inscribe’
- Englishearliest quotation 2000inscribe
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kreybʰ-‘to scratch, to tear’root as named
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kréybʰetireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*skreiβō‘to carve’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscrībō‘to write’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnscrībō‘to write in or upon something, inscribe’
- Englishearliest quotation 2000inscribe
Earliest quotation: 2000, Elizabeth A. Johnson, Mary of Nazareth: Friend of God and Prophet: “This coheres with the pattern of Scripture, which inscribes…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kréybʰeti
through Proto-Italic *skreiβō ‘to carve’
prescription, scripture, transcript, shriver, conscription, scriptural, nondescript, conscript, descript, 29 more
through Latin scrībō ‘to write’
description, script, prescribe, scribble, shrift, scrivener, ascribe, transcribe, 36 more
Today it means
verb To write or cut (words) onto (something, especially a hard surface, or a book to be given to another person); to engrave.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreybʰ- / inscribe