English
subscribe
Subscribe comes from Latin subscrībō ‘write beneath’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsubscrībōas subscrībere‘write beneath’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500subscriben
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1510subscribe
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsubscrībōas subscrībere‘write beneath’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500subscriben
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1510subscribe
Earliest quotation: c. 1510, Thomas More: “[They] subscribed their names under them.”
Every English word from Latin subscrībō
Today it means
verb To write (one’s name) at the bottom of a document; to sign (one's name).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin subscrībō / subscribe