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rescribo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word rescribo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
190–159 BC, Terence
Ultimate origin
Latin (scrībō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin scribo
French écrire
Latin conscribo
Latin discribo
Latin describo
English describe
Latin descriptio
English description
Latin scriba
English scribe
Latin scriptor
Latin scriptura
Latin circumscribo
Latin praescribo
Latin rescribo
Latin subscribo
English subscribe
Latin perscribo

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [rɛsˈkriː.boː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [resˈkriː.bo][1]

Forms

rescrībō (present infinitive rescrībere, perfect active rescrīpsī, supine rescrīptum); third conjugation[1] The Vindolanda tablets spell it resscr-.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin re- + scrībō (“to write”).[3][1][2] De Vaan derives ⟨scrībō⟩ from Proto-Italic *skreif-e/o- (“to carve”) and Proto-Indo-European *skreibʰ-e/o- (“to carve”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest example is from Terence, in the bookkeeping sense: a man is told to go to the forum and have the money paid back to him by a written transfer.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

In Cicero it is above all to write back, answer a letter: he answered Atticus' morning letter at once and now replies to the evening one.[6][3] Under the Empire it is the emperor's written answer to a request for a ruling, a rescript, as Trajan's to Pliny, and a jurist's written opinion on a point of law.[3] It is also to write a reply in refutation: Tacitus says Caesar answered Cicero's praise of Cato with a speech written as if before judges.[3] Pliny the Younger uses it of rewriting faulty passages, and Livy and Caesar of enrolling troops anew or transferring them to another unit.[3]

Church Latin has it for write again, write back.[7] English rescribe (mid-15th century), now archaic, is from it.[8]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence of repaying money by written transfer.[3][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of answering letters.[3][6][5]
  • 59 BC–AD 17 – Livy of enrolling new legions.[3][5]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of a written refutation.[3][5]
  • before 223 AD – Ulpian of imperial rescripts.[3][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To write back, reply in writing.[3][6][1][7]
  2. (law) Of the emperor, to give a written ruling, a rescript; of a jurist, to give a written opinion.[3][1]
  3. To write in refutation.[3]
  4. To rewrite, write again.[3][7]
  5. (bookkeeping) To pay back by written transfer, credit.[3][1]
  6. (military) To enrol troops in place of others; to transfer to another unit.[3][1]

Word family

  • rescriptiō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Rescribo.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/rescribo. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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