scribe

1
[ skrahyb ]
See synonyms for scribe on Thesaurus.com
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.

  1. Also called sopher, sofer. Judaism. 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.

  2. a writer or author, especially a journalist.

verb (used without object),scribed, scrib·ing.
  1. to act as a scribe; write.

verb (used with object),scribed, scrib·ing.
  1. to write down.

Origin of scribe

1
1350–1400; Middle English <Latin scrība clerk, derivative of scrībere to write

Other words from scribe

  • scribal, adjective
  • un·scrib·al, adjective

Words Nearby scribe

Other definitions for scribe (2 of 3)

scribe2
[ skrahyb ]

verb (used with object),scribed, scrib·ing.
  1. to mark or score (wood or the like) with a pointed instrument as a guide to cutting or assembling.

noun

Origin of scribe

2
First recorded in 1670–80; perhaps aphetic form of inscribe

Other definitions for Scribe (3 of 3)

Scribe
[ skreeb ]

noun
  1. Au·gus·tin Eu·gène [oh-gys-tanœ-zhen], /oʊ güsˈtɛ̃ œˈʒɛn/, 1791–1861, French dramatist.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use scribe in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for scribe (1 of 2)

scribe

/ (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

  1. Old Testament a recognized scholar and teacher of the Jewish Law

  2. Judaism a man qualified to write certain documents in accordance with religious requirements

  3. an author or journalist: used humorously

  4. another name for scriber

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

Origin of scribe

1
(in the senses: writer, etc) C14: from Latin scrība clerk, from scrībere to write; C17 (vb): perhaps from inscribe

Derived forms of scribe

  • scribal, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for Scribe (2 of 2)

Scribe

/ (French skrib) /


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

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