inscription

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English inscripcioun,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Latin īnscrīptiō (“a writing upon, inscription”),^{[5][6][7][8][9]} a noun of action from īnscrībō (“to write on or in”),^[5][7][3] from in- (“in, on”) and scrībō (“to write”),^[5][6] which Etymonline traces to Proto-Indo-European *skribh- (“to cut”).^[5] The OED compares French inscription, found in Rabelais in the 16th century.^[7] The verb inscribe came later, in 1552, replacing an earlier inscriven (1382).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A short statement at the beginning of a book or psalm naming its author or contents; a title or heading: before 1382, in the prologues of the Wycliffite Bible.^[2][6][7] The Oxford Dictionary of English describes the first sense as a descriptive or dedicatory passage at the beginning of a book.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The meaning "something inscribed" is first recorded in 1538, according to Barnhart,^[6] and the OED's first quotation for words written or engraved on a surface, such as a monument or coin, is from John Leland's Itinerary (before 1552).^[7] From the late 15th century Scots and civil law used inscription for an accusation in which the accuser accepted the punishment of the accused if the charge proved false, a sense obsolete by 1726.^[7][9] Technical uses followed: in geometry, the inscribing of one figure in another (1570), and in anatomy, a mark on a muscle where a tendon crosses it (1578).^[7] Johnson (1755) gave "something written or engraved" and "title".^[11] The dedication of a book or work of art to a person dates from 1741, in Richardson's Pamela,^[7] and the action of inscribing from about 1652.^[7]

Timeline

• before 1382 – a title or statement of authorship at the head of a book.^[2][6]
• 1479 – Scots law, an accusation (obsolete by 1726).^[7]
• 1538 – something inscribed.^[6]
• 1570 – geometry, the inscribing of one figure in another.^[7]
• 1578 – anatomy, a mark on a muscle.^[7]
• 1741 – a dedication of a book or work of art.^[7]
• 1800 – the registering of stock.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Words or letters engraved, carved or written on something, such as a monument, a coin or a tomb: The inscription on the gravestone had worn away.^[12][4][7]
2. A short signed dedication or note written in a book or on a work of art.^[12][4][7]
3. The act of inscribing.^[12][7]
4. A title, heading or short description placed at the beginning of a book or other work.^[4][7][9]
5. (obsolete, 1479–1726) In Scots and civil law, an accusation in which the accuser agreed to suffer the penalty if the charge was false.^[7][9]

Word family

• inscriptional
• inscriptionless

Related words

• inscribe
• scribe
• script
• superscription

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins