script

Pronunciation

• IPA: /skrɪpt/^[1]

Etymology

It is an alteration, under the influence of Latin, of earlier scrite (before 1300),^[2][3] borrowed from Old French escrit (“a writing, a written paper”) (also Anglo-French scrit; modern French écrit),^[2][3][4] from Latin scrīptum (“a writing, a book”), the neuter past participle of scrībere (“to write”) (see scribe),^[3][2][5] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *skribh- (“to cut, separate”).^[3] Etymonline notes that the original notion is of carving marks in stone or wood, and that the Celtic and Germanic words for writing (German schreiben, Irish scríobhaim) also come from scribere.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A piece of writing, a text: about 1374 in the OED, about 1385 in Barnhart, in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

In law, the original document of which there are copies is from 1856.^[6] A typeface made to look like handwriting is from 1838,^[6][3] handwriting as distinct from print from 1860,^[6][2] and a writing system from 1883.^[6][2][3] In the theatre, script as a short form of manuscript, the text of a play, is from 1884 in Etymonline, 1897 in the OED;^[3][6] the text of a film or broadcast is from 1931.^[6] The verb, to write a script or adapt a work for film or broadcasting, is from 1935,^[2][3] and in figurative use, following a set plan, by 1977.^[3] In social psychology, a script is the behaviour expected in a situation (1968), and in slang it is short for a prescription (1951).^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1374 – a piece of writing.^[6]
• 1838 – a script typeface.^[6]
• 1860 – handwriting.^[6]
• 1883 – a writing system.^[6]
• 1884 – the script of a play.^[3]
• 1935 – the verb.^[2]
• 1951 – a prescription (slang).^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The written text of a play, film or broadcast.
2. Handwriting, or a style of writing; a typeface imitating it.
3. A writing system: Cyrillic script.
4. (computing) A short program run by another program.
5. (British) A candidate's written answers in an examination.

Verb

1. To write the script for a film or broadcast.
2. To plan or control events or behaviour in detail.

Word family

• scripter
• scriptorium
• scriptwriter
• script doctor

Related words

• scripture
• scribe
• manuscript
• describe
• prescription
• shrive
• conscript

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press