Etymologically
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scriba

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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]

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