subscribe
Americanverb (used with object)
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to pledge, as by signing an agreement, to give or pay (a sum of money) as a contribution, gift, or investment.
He subscribed $6,000 for the new church.
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to give or pay in fulfillment of such a pledge.
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to append one's signature or mark to (a document), as in approval or attestation of its contents.
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to attest by or as by signing.
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to append, as one's signature, at the bottom of a document or the like; sign.
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to agree or assent to.
verb (used without object)
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to pledge, as by signing an agreement, to give or pay money as a contribution, gift, or investment.
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to give or pay money in fulfillment of such a pledge.
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to obtain or have a subscription to a publication, concert series, service, etc..
She subscribes to two food magazines.
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to give one's consent; sanction.
I will not subscribe to popular fallacies.
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to sign one's name to a document.
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to give approval to the contents of a document by signing one's name.
verb
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(usually foll by to) to pay or promise to pay (a sum of money) as a contribution (to a fund or charity, for a magazine, etc), esp at regular intervals
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to inscribe or sign (one's name, etc) at the end of a contract, will, or other document
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to give support or approval
to subscribe to the theory of transubstantiation
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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subscribernoun
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subscribershipnoun
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presubscribeverb
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resubscribeverb
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nonsubscribingadjective
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subscribableadjective
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unsubscribedadjective
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unsubscribingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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subscribesimple
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subscribessimple
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have subscribedperfect
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has subscribedperfect
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am subscribingprogressive
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are subscribingprogressive
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is subscribingprogressive
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have been subscribingperfect progressive
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has been subscribingperfect progressive
Past
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subscribedsimple
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had subscribedperfect
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was subscribingprogressive
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were subscribingprogressive
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had been subscribingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of subscribe
1375–1425; late Middle English subscriben < Latin subscrībere, equivalent to sub- sub- + scrībere to write
Explanation
If you subscribe to something, you sign up to receive it regularly. If you subscribe to the New York Times, it's delivered to your door every morning or you get online access. When you subscribe to a belief, you adopt it as your own. You might subscribe to the notion that children should be seen and not heard, or you might wholeheartedly subscribe to your town's proposal to save the wetlands. A less common use of subscribe is to sign your name on something, reflecting the origin of the word, which comes from the Latin subscribere, "to write below," that is, to sign at the bottom of a document.
Vocabulary lists containing subscribe
Latin Root "sub" Words
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Latin Love: Scribere: To write (scrib, scrip)
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The Taming of the Shrew
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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.
“Influencerdom is the new American dream,” journalist Fortesa Latifi proclaimed earlier this month at the launch of her book “Like, Follow, Subscribe: Influencer Kids and the Cost of a Childhood Online.”
From Salon • May 10, 2026
Subscribe here External link to receive timely analysis of the forces driving volatility across the energy sector.
From Barron's • Mar. 9, 2026
Subscribe to Don’t Short Yourself for free here to receive it weekly — beginning on Jan. 27.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 2, 2026
Subscribe to the Best of the Web email.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 22, 2025
Subscribe when you get the chance to any and all smoke funds.
From A Yankee in the Trenches by Holmes, Robert Derby
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
