inscribe
Americanverb (used with object)
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to address or dedicate (a book, photograph, etc.) informally to a person, especially by writing a brief personal note in or on it.
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to mark (a surface) with words, characters, etc., especially in a durable or conspicuous way.
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to write, print, mark, or engrave (words, characters, etc.).
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to enroll, as on an official list.
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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.
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British.
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to issue (a loan) in the form of shares with registered stockholders.
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to sell (stocks).
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to buy (stocks).
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verb
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to make, carve, or engrave (writing, letters, a design, etc) on (a surface such as wood, stone, or paper)
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to enter (a name) on a list or in a register
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to sign one's name on (a book, photograph, etc) before presentation to another person
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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
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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inscribablenessnoun
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inscribernoun
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preinscribeverb (used with object)
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reinscribeverb (used with object)
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superinscribeverb (used with object)
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inscribableadjective
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uninscribedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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inscribesimple
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inscribessimple
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have inscribedperfect
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has inscribedperfect
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am inscribingprogressive
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are inscribingprogressive
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is inscribingprogressive
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have been inscribingperfect progressive
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has been inscribingperfect progressive
Past
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inscribedsimple
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had inscribedperfect
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was inscribingprogressive
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were inscribingprogressive
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had been inscribingperfect progressive
Future
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."
Vocabulary lists containing inscribe
I Am Malala
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The Write Stuff: Scrib, Script
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A Separate Peace
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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.
See Examples For:
During Greco-Roman times, Egyptian artists were called upon to inscribe funerary spells on linen mummy bandages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026
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
Over a period of six weeks, Heywood and Land roll and cut the clay, inscribe the disc with the honoree’s name and accomplishments, then apply the characteristic blue glaze and fire it in a kiln.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 18, 2023
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
The cadets inscribe the words into their composition books.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
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
The D-Day landings join more than 50 French sites already inscribed on the list, alongside the spectacular Mont Saint Michel island in Normandy and the Palace of Versailles.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 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
At the heart of the new system are rechargeable smart bricks and microprocessors that can read digital tags inscribed inside other Smart Play pieces.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
Words to be inscribed alongside those of FDR and Churchill, no doubt.
From Salon ● May 24, 2026
Dates inscribed on many of the coins provided the most conclusive proof of the time in which the ship had sailed and had met with disaster.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
The diagnostic definition has changed dramatically in that time, inscribing children with a broad range of abilities, needs and behaviors within a single term: autism spectrum disorder.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
Choosing a message is important, but so is inscribing it in the asphalt.
From Slate ● Sep. 3, 2025
Mr Rimmer explains that his systems can provide that failsafe verification, by inscribing data inside the diamond - data that is impossible to remove, but does not devalue the gem in any way.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2022
What anchors the “Bolañoverse,” our reviewer, Garth Risk Hallberg, commented, is “the loss of youth inscribing a larger loss of historical possibility.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 25, 2022
Now imagine trying to estimate the size of the triangle by inscribing little rectangles inside the triangle.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
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.
