Also called Holy Scripture. Also called Holy Scriptures. Often Scriptures. the sacred writings of the Old or New Testaments or both together.
(often lowercase) any writing or book, especially when of a sacred or religious nature.
(sometimes lowercase) a particular passage from the Bible; text.
Also called: Holy Scripture. Holy Writ. the Scriptures. Christianity the Old and New Testaments
any book or body of writings, esp when regarded as sacred by a particular religious group
1250–1300; Middle English < Latin scrīptūra writing. See script, -ure
Scripture is a sacred religious text. It usually refers to the Christian Bible, but it can refer to other religions' texts as well. The noun scripture is most often used for specifically Christian writing, and it's often capitalized. However, it can refer to any religion's sacred writing: "Hindu scripture is written on the walls of the temple." In the 1300s, scripture sometimes meant simply "writing," though it more often referred to sacred words, especially in the Christian Bible. Its root word is the Latin script, or "writing."
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Appeared in the November 14, 2025, print edition as 'The Catholic Case for Purgatory in Scripture'.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2025
They might hold a Bible study in a karaoke bar, taking questions over a meal, consulting Scripture on cellphones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
The judgment of Solomon, found in Chapter 3 of 1 Kings, is one of the most familiar stories in the Hebrew Scripture.
From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2025
Scripture and natal charts existed in tandem, along with palm-reading diagrams, recipes for potions and instructions for alchemical reactions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2025
Momma used the baubles to buy several hogs, and that was how Rose Hill came to have pork chops every Sunday after the Scripture was read.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
The lesson of the scripture is that everyone can be redeemed, can change, no matter what mistakes they have made.
From Slate ● Jul. 10, 2026
Sikhs regard it not only as their holy scripture but also as their eternal living Guru.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
Leopold Aschenbrenner’s forecasts about the future of artificial intelligence earned him a cult following on the internet, where his investment firm’s routine regulatory filings are studied like scripture.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
One could read the entire scripture — both the Old and New Testaments — as an allegory for humanity’s penchant for payback, and God’s many warnings against it.
From Salon ● May 19, 2026
Anise gently closes the journal, done with reading her scripture for the day.
From "Hurricane Child" by Kheryn Callender
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
