inscribe
[in-skrahyb]
- 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).
Origin of inscribe
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for inscribe
Contemporary Examples
Ushers passed around little pieces of paper on which congregants could inscribe messages of support to victims of sexual abuse.
Faithful Struggle With Scandal at Penn State, Where Football Is ReligionJacob Bernstein, Jessica Bennett
November 14, 2011
Historical Examples
A statuary was directed to inscribe on a monument the age of the deceased, namely 81.
To get by heart; hence to register; to write or inscribe an authentic account of.
OrthographyElmer W. Cavins
Thou must inscribe on a white parchment an image of the sun.
Godolphin, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
Con was obliged to subjoin: 'Inscribe it on the dungeon-door of tyranny.'
The Celt and Saxon, CompleteGeorge Meredith
Those who have by accident passed through it, have not been induced by its appearance to inscribe its name in their note-books.
inscribe
- 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 intersectCompare circumscribe (def. 3)
Word Origin
C16: from Latin inscrībere; see inscription
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for inscribe
v.
1550s (form inscriven is from late 14c.), from Latin inscribere "to write in or on," (see inscription). Meaning "to dedicate (by means of an inscription)" is from 1640s. Related: Inscribed; inscribing.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper