scriptorium

American  

[skrip-tawr-ee-uhm, -tohr-] / skrɪpˈtɔr i əm, -ˈtoʊr- /

noun

scriptoriums, plural scriptoria plural

1. a room, as in a monastery, library, or other institution, where manuscripts are stored, read, or copied.

---

scriptorium British  

/ skrɪpˈtɔːrɪəm /

noun

1. a room, esp in a monastery, set apart for the writing or copying of manuscripts

---

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• scriptoriums
  plural
• scriptoria
  plural

Etymology

Origin of scriptorium

1765–75; < Medieval Latin scrīptōrium; see script, -tory ²

Example Sentences

In his "Scriptorium," a room lined with hundreds of pigeonholes stuffed with more than 5 million quotation slips, Murray presided like a medieval abbot.

From Time Magazine Archive

Every considerable monastery had a room, called Scriptorium, where this work was performed.

From View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages, Vol. 3 by Hallam, Henry

Scriptorium, skrip-tō′ri-um, n. a writing-room, esp. that in a monastery.—adj.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

Concerning the "Scriptoria" in monasteries and in particular the "Scriptorium" of St. Albans, see Hardy, "Descriptive Catalogue," 1871, Rolls, vol. iii. pp. xi. ff.

From A Literary History of the English People From the Origins to the Renaissance by Jusserand, Jean Jules

Scriptorium work was considered equal to labour in the fields.

From Arts and Crafts in the Middle Ages A Description of Mediaeval Workmanship in Several of the Departments of Applied Art, Together with Some Account of Special Artisans in the Early Renaissance by Addison, Julia de Wolf Gibbs