scroll

Pronunciation

• IPA: /skɹəʊl/ (UK); /skɹoʊl/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English scrowell, an alteration under the influence of rolle (“roll”) of scrowe,^[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Anglo-Norman escrowe (Old French escroe (“scrap, strip of parchment”)),^[2][3][4] from Frankish *skrōda (“shred”),^[2][3] from Proto-Germanic *skraudō, which also gave Old English scrēade (“piece cut off”) (see shred).^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A roll of parchment or paper, a written document: 1405 (scrowell) in Barnhart, about 1400 in Etymonline;^[2][3] the earlier scrowe is probably from before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle.^[2]

Semantic evolution

A letter or piece of writing is from 1534,^[6] and a list of names from 1546.^[6] A strip bearing an inscription is from before 1600,^[6] and a spiral ornament like a partly unrolled scroll from the early 15th century on garments, by the 1610s on furniture and in architecture.^[3] The Scroll of the Law, the Torah, is from 1887.^[6] The verb, to write down in a scroll, is from 1606,^[2][3] and to move text across a computer screen by 1981.^[3]

Timeline

• probably before 1200 – scrowe.^[2]
• 1405 – scrowell, a roll of parchment.^[2]
• 1534 – a letter.^[6]
• 1606 – to scroll (verb).^[2]
• 1981 – to scroll a screen.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A roll of parchment or paper, especially one with writing on it.
2. An ancient book written on such a roll.
3. An ornament like a partly unrolled scroll, as on an Ionic column.

Verb

1. To move text or images up, down or across a computer screen.
2. To roll up like a scroll.

Word family

• scrolled
• scroll-like
• scroll saw
• Vitruvian scroll

Related words

• shred
• escrow
• scrod

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b 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 Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press