scrip

[ skrip ]

/ skrɪp /

noun

a receipt, certificate, list, or similar brief piece of writing.

a scrap of paper.

Finance.

a certificate representing a fraction of a share of stock.
a certificate to be exchanged for goods, as at a company store.
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.

Nearby words

scrimshander, scrimshank, scrimshaw, scrinia, scrinium, scrip, scrip dividend, scrip issue, scripophile, scripophily, scripps

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

Definition for scrip (2 of 3)

scrip

[ skrip ]

/ skrɪp /

noun Archaic.

a bag or wallet carried by wayfarers.

Origin of scrip

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

Definition for scrip (3 of 3)

scrip

[ skrip ]

/ skrɪp /

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for 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|DAILY BEAST
The brokers are, in fact, becoming bankers, and payments of all kinds are readily made in scrip.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 62, Number 361, November, 1845.|Various
Inability to compel payment of wages in cash; so that employer may pay in truck or scrip not redeemable in lawful money.
Ethics|John Dewey and James Hayden Tufts
I knew very well,' said he, 'that it was money that was crying for Scrip Alf, and not people.'
Arne: Early Tales and Sketches|Bjornstjerne Bjornson

Then he plucked up a heart, and looked to his weapons and put the other loaves into his scrip.
The Wood Beyond the World|William Morris
The next morning Osberne went his way riding on a good horse, and not without treasure in his scrip.
The Sundering Flood|William Morris

British Dictionary definitions for scrip (1 of 3)

scrip

/ (skrɪp) /

noun

a written certificate, list, etc

a small scrap, esp of paper with writing on it

finance

a certificate representing a claim to part of a share of stock
the shares allocated in a bonus issue

Word Origin for scrip

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

British Dictionary definitions for scrip (2 of 3)

scrip

/ (skrɪp) /

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

British Dictionary definitions for scrip (3 of 3)

scrip

script

/ (skrɪp) /

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

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.