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escribir

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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word escribir

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1100 a document cited by Corominas, spelt escrivir More words from the 11th century
Inherited from
Latin *scribio via Old Spanish
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *skreybʰ-

Pronunciation

  • /eskɾiˈbiɾ/, [es.kɾiˈβ̞iɾ][1]

Forms

escribir (first-person singular present escribo, first-person singular preterite escribí, past participle escrito or (Argentina and Uruguay) escripto)[1] Old Spanish wrote escrivir with ⟨v⟩ until the 16th century in the texts that keep the two letters apart;[1] escrevir was very common in literature until then, and later in popular speech.[2] Berceo has the old strong preterite escripso; the learned participle spelling escripto was usual for centuries and survives in Argentina and Uruguay.[2][1] Old Spanish forms include escriuir, escrebir, escriuio and scriui.[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish escrivir, inherited from Vulgar Latin *scrībīre, from Latin scrībō (“to write”).[2][4][5][1] The verb passed from the third conjugation to the verbs in /-ir/, and Latin initial /sk/ took a prothetic /e/.[1][2]

The same verb is Portuguese escrever, Galician escribir, Asturian escribir, Catalan escriure, Occitan escriure, French écrire, Italian scrivere and Romanian scrie.[6][1]

The Latin verb continues Proto-Indo-European *skreybʰ- (“to scratch, carve”): writing was first scratching or carving.[7][1][8] Its cognates include Oscan and Umbrian participles meaning “written”, Latvian skrīpât (“to scratch, scribble”) and Old Norse hrífa (“to scratch”).[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates escrivir to a document of 1100 and to the Cantar de mio Cid.[2] In the Cid (c. 1140, in a 14th-century copy) the participle refers to the king's letter: ca escripta es la carta “for the letter is written”.[9] The Auto de los Reyes Magos (c. 1180) asks whether the new king's birth iace in escripto, is set down in writing.[9] The noun escritura is older still, in the Glosas Silenses.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Alfonso X's prose already has the main modern senses: to form letters on parchment, to compose books, to communicate something in writing, and to enter one's name on a list.[10] Covarrubias in 1611 complains that so many have taken to writing that there is no room left for the books.[11] The Diccionario de Autoridades insisted that the verb be spelt with ⟨b⟩, as in Latin scribere, and not with ⟨v⟩ as some still did.[12]

From 1817 the Academy listed the reflexive senses “to be entered in a town's register” and “to enlist in a body such as the army”, and the proverb Escribe antes que des, y recibe antes que escribas, a warning to take precautions in business.[13] Writing music was added in 1884.[14] Wiktionary adds typing on a keyboard and texting.[1] In the Dominican Republic escribir al Papa is a jocular euphemism for going to the toilet.[15]

Timeline

  • 1100 – first record of escrivir.[2]
  • 1111 – escriván “scribe, notary”, later escrivano.[2]
  • c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid: escripta es la carta.[9][4]
  • 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses it for authors writing about stones.[10]
  • 1438 – first record of describir;[16] escritor follows in 1444.[4]
  • 1525 – first record from the Americas, at Santo Domingo.[16]
  • 1607 – first record of escribiente.[4]
  • 1732 – the Diccionario de Autoridades recommends the spelling with ⟨b⟩.[12]
  • 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology, Latin scribere.[14]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To write: to represent words or ideas with letters or other signs on paper or another surface: Escribió su nombre en la pizarra.[5][1]
  2. To compose books, articles, speeches and the like; to be an author: Escribe novelas policiacas.[5][1]
  3. To communicate something to someone in writing; to write a letter to someone.[5][1]
  4. To write out music, its notes and signs.[5]
  5. (reflexive) To put one's name down on a list; to enlist in a body such as the army or a religious community.[5]
  6. To type on a keyboard; to text someone.[1]

Word family

  • escribidor
  • escribiente
  • reescribir
  • sobrescribir
  • escrito
  • escritura
  • adscribir
  • circunscribir
  • describir
  • escribano
  • escritor
  • escritorio
  • escritural
  • escriturar
  • inscribir
  • manuscribir
  • prescribir
  • suscribir
  • transcribir
  • escriba
  • Latin scrībō

Usage notes

The past participle is irregular: escrito.[1] Phrases: escribir a vuela pluma “to dash off”, máquina de escribir “typewriter”.[1] No se escribe expresses that something is beyond words: no se escribe lo bien que lo pasamos.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 711
  3. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. escribir
  4. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. escribir
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. escribir
  6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 7745
  7. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  8. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 275
  9. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. escribir
  10. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. escribir
  11. ^ Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 772
  12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 572
  13. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 381
  14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 451
  15. ^ Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. escribir
  16. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. escrebir

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Escribir.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/escribir. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

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