scriba

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈskriː.ba]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈskriː.ba]^[1]

Forms

scrība m (genitive scrībae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin scrībō (“to write”) + -a, an agent noun.^[2][1][3] Scrībō is *skreif-e/o- (“to carve”), from Proto-Indo-European *skreibʰ-e/o- (“to carve”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Plautus (c. 250–184 BC).^[5] Festus says the ancients called both copyists and poets scribae.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It first meant a writer, copyist or poet.^[2][7] It came to mean a public clerk who kept records and accounts, attached to magistrates such as quaestors and aediles, as in Cicero's speeches against Verres, and a private secretary, as in Nepos and Livy.^[2][7][3] Lewis & Short set the public scriba against the librarius, a private secretary, and the notarius, a stenographer.^[6]

In the Vulgate the scribae are the scribes, the teachers of the Jewish law.^[7][8] In medieval Latin it meant a public notary and a chancery clerk.^[9] English scribe was borrowed in the late 12th century in that biblical sense.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of public clerks.^[7][5]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of the Jewish scribes.^[7][5]
• late 12th century – English scribe is borrowed.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A writer; a copyist; a poet.^[2][7]
2. A public clerk, secretary (to a magistrate).^[2][1]
3. A private secretary.^[7][1]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A scribe, a teacher of the Jewish law.^[7]
5. (Medieval Latin) A notary; a chancery clerk.^[9]

Related words

• scribo
• English scribe

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill