subscribo

Forms

subscrībō (present infinitive subscrībere, perfect active subscrīpsī, supine subscrīptum); third conjugation^[1] Plautus spells it susscr-;^[2] suscr- is found in an inscription.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin sub- + scrībō (“to write”).^[2][1] De Vaan traces scrībō to Proto-Italic *skreif-e/o- (“to carve”) and Proto-Indo-European *skreybʰ-e/o- (“to carve”).^[3] He compares Oscan scriftas (“written”), Umbrian screhto (“written”) and Latvian skrīpât (“to scratch, scribble”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it in a law phrase: a character will sign a suit against the man tomorrow.^[2][4] He spells it ⟨susscrībō⟩.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The basic sense is to write underneath or after: Cicero tells of a statue with an inscription added below, and Horace of a man who wants "father of cities" written under his statues.^[2][5] It is to note down and record, and of the censors to enter an offence against someone's name in the roll.^[2] In lawsuits it is to sign a charge as a prosecutor, or to add one's name in support of one.^[2] It is also to endorse a document, and Suetonius has Otho's first signed order a large grant for finishing the Golden House.^[2] Figuratively it is to support a person or an opinion, as in Livy.^[2] English subscribe comes from it in the early 15th century, first in the sense "sign at the bottom of a document".^[6] Church Latin glosses it to sign, agree, prosecute.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of signing a suit.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of writing below and of censors' notes.^[2][4]
• 65–8 BC – Horace of inscriptions under statues.^[2][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of supporting someone's hatred.^[2][4]
• early 15th century – English borrows it as subscribe.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To write below or after, append; to inscribe beneath.^[2][5][1]
2. To give a book a subtitle; to add the closing formula to a letter.^[2]
3. To note down, record; of the censors, to enter an offence against a name.^[2][1]
4. To sign, endorse a document; to authorize a payment.^[2][1]
5. (law) To sign a charge as prosecutor; to sign in support of a prosecutor.^[2][7]
6. To support a person or view; to agree, assent.^[2][1][7]

Word family

• subscrīptiō
• subscrīptor
• subscrīptus

Related words

• scrībō
• English subscribe

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson