scrip

[skrip]

noun

a receipt, certificate, list, or similar brief piece of writing.
a scrap of paper.
Finance.
1. a certificate representing a fraction of a share of stock.
2. a certificate to be exchanged for goods, as at a company store.
3. a certificate indicating the right of the holder to receive payment later in the form of cash, goods, or land.

paper currency in denominations of less than one dollar, formerly issued in the United States.

Origin of scrip

1610–20; earliest sense “scrap of paper” perhaps gradational variant of scrap¹; subsequent sense development shows influence of script and subscription, with def. 3a specifically a shortening of subscription receipt

Related formsscrip·less, adjective

Can be confusedscrip script

scrip

[skrip]

noun Archaic.

a bag or wallet carried by wayfarers.

Origin of scrip

1250–1300; Middle English scrippe < Medieval Latin scrippum pilgrim's pack < ?

scrip

[skrip]

noun Informal.

a prescription, as for a drug.

Origin of scrip

First recorded in 1965–70; shortening of prescription

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for scrip

Contemporary Examples of scrip

Buying prescription drugs without a scrip is a serious legal offense, as Rush Limbaugh could tell you.
Don't Legalize Marijuana: The Case for More Paternalism in America
David Frum
January 10, 2013

Historical Examples of scrip

Behold me with staff and scrip, footing it merrily in the Land of Pardons.
Ballads of a Bohemian
Robert W. Service
I pay over the money for your scrip, and you pocket a premium.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 58, Number 360, October 1845
Various
Again, you have the word scrip—as a scrip of paper, government scrip.
English Past and Present
Richard Chevenix Trench
On my windmill locations I put "Scrip" in blocks of forty acres.
Ranching, Sport and Travel
Thomas Carson
He drew from his pocket a roll of scrip, and handed one to Frank.
The Telegraph Boy
Horatio Alger, Jr.

British Dictionary definitions for scrip

scrip

noun

a written certificate, list, etc
a small scrap, esp of paper with writing on it
finance
1. a certificate representing a claim to part of a share of stock
2. the shares allocated in a bonus issue

Word Origin for scrip

C18: in some senses, probably from script; otherwise, short for subscription receipt

scrip

noun

archaic a small bag or wallet, as carried by pilgrims

Word Origin for scrip

C14: from Old French escreppe, variant of escarpe scarf 1

scrip

script

noun

informal a medical prescription

Word Origin for scrip

C20: short for prescription

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for scrip

"certificate of a right to receive something" (especially a stock share), 1762, probably shortened from (sub)scrip(tion) receipt. Originally "receipt for a portion of a loan subscribed," meaning "certificate issued as currency" first recorded 1790.