scroll

[skrohl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR scroll ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a roll of parchment, paper, copper, or other material, especially one with writing on it: a scroll containing the entire Old Testament.

something, especially an ornament, resembling a partly unrolled sheet of paper or having a spiral or coiled form.

a list, roll, roster, or schedule.

(in Japanese and Chinese art) a painting or text on silk or paper that is either displayed on a wall (hanging scroll) or held by the viewer (hand scroll) and is rolled up when not in use.Compare kakemono, makimono.

the curved head of a violin or other bowed instrument.

a note, message, or other piece of writing.

verb (used with object)

to cut into a curved form with a narrow-bladed saw.

Computers. to move (text) up, down, or across a display screen, with new text appearing on the screen as old text disappears.

verb (used without object)

Computers. to move text vertically or horizontally on a display screen in searching for a particular section, line, etc.

Origin of scroll

1350–1400; Middle English scrowle; blend of scrow, aphetic variant of escrow and rowle roll

Related formsscroll-like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for scroll

manuscript, streamer, paper, document, parchment, scripture, schedule, list, writing, scrawl, roll, volute, papyrus

Examples from the Web for scroll

Contemporary Examples of scroll

Now you can scroll to the next direction on your recipe without getting batter or sauce all over your device.
The Daily Beast’s 2014 Holiday Gift Guide: For the Richard Hendriks in Your Life
Allison McNearney
November 29, 2014
The solution they came up with was the scroll, which let viewers walk through the painting as they unfurled it.
The Many Lives of Artist David Hockney
William O’Connor
November 23, 2014
And if you scroll down the complete Midas List, some visible trends begin to emerge.
We Need to Talk About Silicon Valley's Racism
Samantha Allen
August 22, 2014
I was able to scroll through my feed and read nothing but tweets about Ferguson.
The Real Nightmare of Ferguson
James Poulos
August 15, 2014
Inked onto his ribs is a single rifle bayoneted into the dirt with names listed on a scroll—his dead friends.
War Nostalgia Is Leading Veterans to Places Like Syria. One Went Missing There.
Elliot Ackerman
May 3, 2014

Historical Examples of scroll

Sorcery reads backwards—and I saw him so read from that scroll of his.
The Armourer's Prentices
Charlotte M. Yonge
A good padre in France read to us from a scroll the whole truth of the matter.
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle
A crowd was gathered about him listening, while he read from a scroll in his hands.
Buried Cities, Part 2
Jennie Hall
Roll up the paste, with the fruit spread on it, into a scroll.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
Eliza Leslie
Flour it, roll it out thin again, and then roll it into a scroll.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
Eliza Leslie

British Dictionary definitions for scroll

scroll

noun

a roll of parchment, paper, etc, usually inscribed with writing

an ancient book in the form of a roll of parchment, papyrus, etc

a decorative carving or moulding resembling a scroll
(as modifier)a scroll saw
(in combination)scrollwork

verb

(tr) to saw into scrolls

to roll up like a scroll

computing to move (text) from right to left or up and down on a screen in order to view text that cannot be contained within a single display image

Word Origin for scroll

C15 scrowle, from scrowe, from Old French escroe scrap of parchment, but also influenced by roll

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 scroll

c.1400, "roll of parchment or paper," altered (by association with rolle "roll") from scrowe (c.1200), from Anglo-French escrowe, Old French escroe "scrap, roll of parchment," from Frankish *skroda "shred" or a similar Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *skrauth- (cf. Old English screada "piece cut off, cutting, scrap;" see shred (n.)). As an ornament on furniture or in architecture, from 1610s.

"to write down in a scroll," c.1600, from scroll (n.). Sense of "show a few lines at a time" (on a computer or TV screen) first recorded 1981. Related: Scrolled; scrolling.