Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

scriptorium

[skrip-tawr-ee-uh m, -tohr-]
noun, plural scrip·to·ri·ums, scrip·to·ri·a [skrip-tawr-ee-uh, -tohr-] /skrɪpˈtɔr i ə, -ˈtoʊr-/.
  1. a room, as in a monastery, library, or other institution, where manuscripts are stored, read, or copied.
Show More

Origin of scriptorium

1765–75; < Medieval Latin scrīptōrium; see script, -tory2
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for scriptorium

Historical Examples

  • The hardships of the scriptorium were greatest, of course, in winter.

    Bibliomania in the Middle Ages

    Frederick Somner Merryweather

  • The Scriptorium is said to have been usually over the chapter-house.

  • The care of the library and the scriptorium was intrusted to the librarian.

  • The scriptorium of the Cathedral was an important department, and was ably governed.

    Medival London

    William Benham

  • He set all in order in the scriptorium where he had toiled for five long years.

British Dictionary definitions for scriptorium

scriptorium

noun plural -riums or -ria (-rɪə)
  1. a room, esp in a monastery, set apart for the writing or copying of manuscripts
Show More

Word Origin

from Medieval Latin
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 scriptorium

n.

"writing room," 1774, from Late Latin scriptorium "place for writing," noun use of neuter of Latin scriptorius "pertaining to writing," from Latin scriptus, past participle of scribere "to write" (see script (n.)).

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper