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

George R.R. Martin, the beloved scribe behind the A Song of Ice and Fire series, seems fairly convinced that he is a feminist.

From The Daily Beast

If you were particularly interested in one topic, you would order your scribe to write down only the relevant items.

From The Daily Beast

Doing research for a PhD project, he became a scribe of the tribe on their urban adventures.

From The Daily Beast

Or perhaps the conversation reached a breaking point, said feminist scribe Naomi Wolf, because people are simply fed up.

From The Daily Beast

The scribe for Sporting News befriended Ghawi after exchanging messages with her online, he told The Daily Beast.

From The Daily Beast

The wisdom of a scribe cometh by his time of leisure: and he that is less in action, shall receive wisdom.

From Project Gutenberg

Even the scribe has seen this, and has altered were to ware, to give a rime to the eye.

From Project Gutenberg

The readings pleye, pley are evidently false; the scribe has omitted the stroke for n above the vowel.

From Project Gutenberg

The scribe easily turned yerde in into gardin, but ruined the sense by it.

From Project Gutenberg

Sometimes one of the refrains is actually omitted, but this may be the scribe's fault.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• author
• journalist
• writer