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
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
Now there are two more names to inscribe on the wall of remembrance.
From BBC ● May 26, 2022
The first step was to inscribe a triangle inside the parabola.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
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
At the end, Joe Kelly comes out wearing a white T-shirt, which his wife quickly inscribes with “Kelly 99” in marker on the back, revealing the fourth jersey number of his 13-year career.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2023
In addition to the path of a woman in the world of movie-making, Gerwig inscribes another personal theme: the relationship of an artist to her family.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 31, 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
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
Starmer, speaking to British reporters on his flight home, said the pistols were inscribed with the name of each leader and accompanied by a box of ammunition.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
These achievements represent extraordinary progress toward the promise inscribed in the Declaration of Independence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Words to be inscribed alongside those of FDR and Churchill, no doubt.
From Salon ● May 24, 2026
He inscribed Ophelia’s copy of The Comedians, “To Ophelia, who knows the real Haiti.”
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
"They're inscribing something about their cosmology, their belief systems, into the earth itself in a very dramatic way."
From BBC ● Nov. 27, 2025
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
“I’ll never get tired of inscribing ‘The Strip Sack’ on anything I sign,” Hightower wrote.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 21, 2023
She tries to think the way she imagines Marco might have as he wrote it, picturing him inscribing each page, rendering the delicate ink branches of the tree that winds throughout the book.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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.
