inscribe

American  

[in-skrahyb] / ɪnˈskraɪb /

verb (used with object)

• inscribes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• inscribed,
  past participle,  past
• inscribing
  present participle

1. to address or dedicate (a book, photograph, etc.) informally to a person, especially by writing a brief personal note in or on it.

2. to mark (a surface) with words, characters, etc., especially in a durable or conspicuous way.

3. to write, print, mark, or engrave (words, characters, etc.).

4. to enroll, as on an official list.

5. 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.

6. British.

   1. to issue (a loan) in the form of shares with registered stockholders.

   2. to sell (stocks).

   3. to buy (stocks).

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inscribe British  

/ ɪnˈskraɪb /

verb

1. to make, carve, or engrave (writing, letters, a design, etc) on (a surface such as wood, stone, or paper)

2. to enter (a name) on a list or in a register

3. to sign one's name on (a book, photograph, etc) before presentation to another person

4. to draw (a geometric construction such as a circle, polygon, etc) inside another construction so that the two are in contact but do not intersect Compare circumscribe

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• inscribableness
  noun
• inscriber
  noun
• preinscribe
  verb (used with object)
• reinscribe
  verb (used with object)
• superinscribe
  verb (used with object)
• inscribable
  adjective
• uninscribed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• inscribing
  present
• inscribed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• inscribe
  simple
• inscribes
  simple
• have inscribed
  perfect
• has inscribed
  perfect
• am inscribing
  progressive
• are inscribing
  progressive
• is inscribing
  progressive
• have been inscribing
  perfect progressive
• has been inscribing
  perfect progressive

Past

• inscribed
  simple
• had inscribed
  perfect
• was inscribing
  progressive
• were inscribing
  progressive
• had been inscribing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will inscribe
  simple
• will have inscribed
  perfect
• will be inscribing
  progressive
• will have been inscribing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of inscribe

1545–55; < Latin inscrībere, equivalent to in- in- ² + scrībere to write; see scribe ¹

Explanation

To inscribe means to write something in a permanent or formal way. When you have a jeweler inscribe your initials inside your new ring, she uses a machine to carve them into the metal. A stone carver might inscribe your grandfather's name on a memorial stone, and your best friend might inscribe his name and a favorite quote in the back of your yearbook. In geometry, to inscribe is to fit one shape inside another, like when a triangle fits neatly inside a circle with its points just touching the perimeter. The Latin root of inscribe is inscribere, "to write in or on."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

inscribe inscribes inscribed inscribing

Depending on the magnitude of the game, and of the challenge, Burruss would name the cast after a mountain peak, and use a Sharpie to inscribe the cast accordingly.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2025

The U.S. has banned the sale of tools known as extreme ultraviolet lithography machines, which inscribe silicon wafers with microscopic patterns filled by billions of transistors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2025

"Mr Onakoya is a symbol of excellence and resilience that distinguish Nigerians both at home and abroad... Go, make history, and inscribe our name in gold," Nigeria's Vice-President Kashim Shettima posted on X.

From BBC ● Apr. 19, 2024

If you get sued, stress the expressive elements of your business, from your choice of furnishings, colors and fabrics to marketing, including the fanciful words you inscribe on the bibles in each room.

From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2023

I joined the ranks of the Artificery, studying how to blow glass, mix alloys, draw wire, inscribe metal, and sculpt stone.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

A high-powered laser pulse then inscribes these minuscule voxels into square glass plates that are roughly the size of a CD.

From Barron's ● Feb. 18, 2026

For a reader self-identified as a “young budding historian obsessed with history,” Caro inscribes, “To a fellow history lover.”

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 18, 2023

A glowing, impossibly narrow point inscribes itself firmly on San Francisco’s skyline.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 16, 2021

A hundred frowny faces can’t console the grieving widow like a single piece of stationery on which a friend inscribes her sympathy.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 12, 2019

There is no frost upon the windows of Marco’s flat, so he inscribes lines of symbols in the shape of a letter A with ink, pressing his darkened fingers against the panes.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

KD1 — which is inscribed on her leg band — hails from the Prado Basin, some 70 miles southwest of Big Bear.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

There are many meanings that have been inscribed to “Cut Piece,” in which Ono invited the audience to come on stage and, with a pair scissors, cut off a small piece of her dress.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

These achievements represent extraordinary progress toward the promise inscribed in the Declaration of Independence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

After it was inscribed as intangible cultural heritage, the government provided free venues, allocated annual subsidies to support regular competitions, and attracted sponsorship.

From Barron's ● Jun. 28, 2026

Their luxury was teatime, between four and five, when they took down from the wooden slatted shelves their miniature brown teapots inscribed with their names and sat together in a little dayroom off the ward.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

"They're inscribing something about their cosmology, their belief systems, into the earth itself in a very dramatic way."

From BBC ● Nov. 27, 2025

Choosing a message is important, but so is inscribing it in the asphalt.

From Slate ● Sep. 3, 2025

They left signed jerseys in their teammates’ lockers like classmates inscribing yearbooks after the school year, except the end came much more suddenly than any planned graduation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 13, 2025

For days, locals congregated at its base, inscribing 1,000 paper bags that held tealight candles and lined the Alki promenade as luminarias.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 17, 2022

He had spent hours on the details of the monkey’s features, inscribing them with progressively finer points.

From "A Single Shard" by Linda Sue Park

Related Words

• carve
• engrave
• etch