Jump To:

• script
  script

  noun

  the letters or characters used in writing by hand; handwriting, especially cursive writing.
• Script.
  Script.

  abbreviation

  Scriptural.

script

¹ American  

[skript] / skrɪpt /

noun

• scripts
  plural

1. the letters or characters used in writing by hand; handwriting, especially cursive writing.

2. a manuscript or document.

3. the text of a manuscript or document.

4. the manuscript or one of various copies of the written text of a play, motion picture, or radio or television broadcast.

5. any system of writing.

6. Printing. a type imitating handwriting.

7. Digital Technology. an executable section of code that automates a task.

   You will have to run the script to install the program on your computer.

---

verb (used with object)

• scripts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• scripted,
  past participle,  past
• scripting
  present participle

1. to write a script for.

   The movie was scripted by a famous author.

2. to plan or devise; make arrangements for.

   The week-long festivities were scripted by a team of experts.

3. Digital Technology. to write an executable section of code for (a program) in order to automate a task.

   You can script a program that will scan your files.

verb (used without object)

• scripts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• scripted,
  past participle,  past
• scripting
  present participle

1. Digital Technology. to write an executable section of code that automates a task.

   Most programmers script in more than one programming language.

Script. ² American  

abbreviation

1. Scriptural.

2. Scripture.

---

script British  

/ skrɪpt /

noun

1. handwriting as distinguished from print, esp cursive writing

2. the letters, characters, or figures used in writing by hand

3. any system or style of writing

4. written copy for the use of performers in films and plays

5. law

   1. an original or principal document

   2. (esp in England) a will or codicil or the draft for one

6. any of various typefaces that imitate handwriting

7. computing a series of instructions that is executed by a computer program

8. an answer paper in an examination

9. another word for scrip 3

---

verb

1. (tr) to write a script for

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• scripter
  noun
• underscript
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• scripts
  plural

Participles

• scripting
  present
• scripted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• script
  simple
• scripts
  simple
• have scripted
  perfect
• has scripted
  perfect
• am scripting
  progressive
• are scripting
  progressive
• is scripting
  progressive
• have been scripting
  perfect progressive
• has been scripting
  perfect progressive

Past

• scripted
  simple
• had scripted
  perfect
• was scripting
  progressive
• were scripting
  progressive
• had been scripting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will script
  simple
• will have scripted
  perfect
• will be scripting
  progressive
• will have been scripting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of script

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English (noun), from Latin scriptum, noun use of neuter past participle of scrībere “to write”; replacing Middle English scrit, from Old French escrit, from Latin, as above; (verb) first recorded in 1930–35; from the noun.

Explanation

A script is a written version of a play or movie. If you're auditioning for a movie, you'll get the script to practice a scene or two. Script comes from the Latin scrībĕre, meaning "to write," and all its meanings have to do with something written. Your handwriting is your script. The written version of what you're supposed to say, whether for a wedding toast or a play, is a script. And if you were feeling old-fashioned you could call the grocery list you just wrote a script. It's also a verb. You can script a play.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

script Script. scripts scripted scripting

The executive overseeing production, John Calley, never even read the script, Mr. Boorman believes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

He’s interested in a script he was recently sent that’s set in Africa and is “about how we’re punishing the planet.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

In 2020, with Green attached to direct, the project underwent a reset, which included bringing in screenwriter Samy Burch, a future Oscar nominee for her already penned “May December” script.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

Now his sons, Justin and Dominic, have been able to complete their father's trilogy, after finding a script for the final film.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

Jefferson was perfectly capable of remaining on script and in role as philosopher-king to the end.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

The latter has been reprinted in the Script. rer.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 1 "Gichtel, Johann" to "Glory" by Various

As such he is also mentioned in Script. rer.

From Teutonic Mythology, Vol. 1 of 3 Gods and Goddesses of the Northland by Ph.D.

Script., published in 1548, during Barclay's life time, adorns him with the epithets "Scotus, rhetor ac poeta insignis."

From The Ship of Fools, Volume 1 by Alexander Barclay

It is included in Pelzel and Dobrowsky, Script. rer.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 4 "Coquelin" to "Costume" by Various

The archive haul included papers, scripts and storyboards, but it also shed light on the long shadow cast by The Wicker Man.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

Chandler’s the type of actor who still appreciates being sent physical copies of scripts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

As soon as this column is published, private-fund managers will start working on feel-good scripts that advisers can recite to reassure clients.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

The man inside the bin is the comedian Jon Harvey, an Oxford graduate who has specialised in satire, writing scripts for BBC comedy shows The Thick of It and Have I Got News For You.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

“Hear ye, hear ye,” the others shouted, reading from the scripts Mary Anne had prepared.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

But Ossoff, who’s running for reelection in a swing state that Trump won twice, is a deliberate and relentlessly on-message communicator—sometimes to the point of looking and sounding a little scripted.

From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026

The basic rules: Look for keywords in what a user has typed, find associated rules and return some mixture of scripted words and rearranged input.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

But it’s the actors who execute their vision by playing off of each other and leaning into creative impulse when the scripted scene or real-time audience reaction calls for it.

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026

Unlike Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, or Hope and Crosby, who relied on tightly scripted setups, this disparate yet kindred duo captured America’s heart by being viscerally, uproariously and unpredictably wild.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

The second round was all scripted, and if they didn’t get what they liked, they would just run it again.”

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell

Wordless storytelling, an homage to silent films, is a cinematic scripting choice that demands a deeper level of acting ability we might otherwise overlook in a movie like this.

From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2026

Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers were a few weeks into scripting their upcoming awards show when it hit them: They’d forgotten about the Coldplay kiss-cam couple.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026

"As a result of customer feedback, we recently removed this particular scripting."

From Barron's ● Feb. 27, 2026

As Payne and Taylor noted in their acceptance speech, the win came after 15 years of writing together, scripting such films as “About Schmidt” and “Citizen Ruth.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2025

Can I use Javascript or other scripting languages in my HTML?

From The Project Gutenberg FAQ 2002 by Jim Tinsley

Related Words

• article
• book
• copy
• dialogue
• libretto
• manuscript
• scenario
• text