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  • scribe
    scribe
    noun
    a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of printing.
  • Scribe
    Scribe
    noun
    Augustin Eugène 1791–1861, French dramatist.
Synonyms

scribe

1 American  
[skrahyb] / skraɪb /

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, soferJudaism. 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, scribing
  1. to act as a scribe; write.

verb (used with object)

scribed, scribing
  1. to write down.

scribe 2 American  
[skrahyb] / skraɪb /

verb (used with object)

scribed, scribing
  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 American  
[skreeb] / skrib /

noun

  1. Augustin Eugène 1791–1861, French dramatist.


scribe 1 British  
/ 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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scribe 2 British  
/ skrib /

noun

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

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

Explanation

A scribe is a term for someone employed to make written copies of documents. Before printing was invented, the busy scribes in a village would write copies of all the legal documents. As a noun, scribe has several meanings. It's used as an informal term to refer to journalists. Scribe also refers to a sharply pointed tool used for marking wood or metal to be cut. As a verb, it means "to score a line on something with a pointed instrument." The master craftsmen instructed you to scribe a line on the piece of wood where he pointed, to mark the spot where he wanted it cut.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing scribe

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Back in California, Scribe is another tech firm that allows companies to automatically create AI user guides.

From BBC • Aug. 7, 2024

Then we’ll stop by Lady & Larder for a Scribe rosé pinot noir, colorful candles and crackers.

From Los Angeles Times • May 24, 2024

Call it "Get to the Hed," "Bet Your Hed" or "The Hed-less Scribe."

From Salon • Feb. 20, 2023

Amazon also introduced the Kindle Scribe, the next generation of its Kindle that enables users to write directly on the page.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 28, 2022

About the middle of October Mendelssohn was in communication with Lumley, lessee of Her Majesty's, for an opera, libretto by Scribe, on the same subject.

From Shakespeare and Music by Wilson, Christopher