Etymologically
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subscriptio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [sʊpˈskriːp.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [subˈskrip.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

subscrīptiō f (genitive subscrīptiōnis); third declension[1] It is also spelled suscrīptiō and subscrībtiō.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin subscrībō (“to write underneath”) + -tiō.[2][1] That verb is made from sub- (“under”) and scrībō (“to write”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,[3] who in a letter to Atticus says he noticed a portrait of Africanus from the inscription under the statue.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It is anything written below or after something:[2][4] an inscription on the base of a statue, as in Cicero; a closing greeting in a letter, whose absence Suetonius records;[2] and an imperial rescript written under a petition in reply, as in Gaius.[2] It also means an entry under a heading, as Cicero's register of land, and a censor's note against a citizen's name.[2] From the act of signing it came to mean a signature or endorsement, as in the jurists,[2] and in law the prosecutor's endorsement of the charge, which Ulpian says must come first.[2][4] It also means the charge itself in an indictment, as in Pliny the Younger,[2] and the role of assistant prosecutor: Cicero speaks of men who asked to join the prosecution whoever was given the lead.[2] Stelten gives "signature, a note below" for Church Latin.[5] English subscription came from it partly through French around 1400, first meaning writing at the end of a document.[6]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of an inscription under a statue and of an assistant prosecutor.[2][3]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius of a letter without a closing greeting.[2]
  • 140–180 AD – Gaius of an imperial rescript.[2]
  • before 223 AD – Ulpian of the prosecutor's endorsement.[2]
  • c. 1400 – subscription appears in English.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Something written underneath: an inscription on a statue base; a closing greeting; an imperial rescript.[2][4][1]
  2. An entry under a heading; a censor's note against a name.[2]
  3. A signature, endorsement;[2][4][5] (law) the prosecutor's endorsement of a charge.[2][4][5]
  4. (law) The specification of the charge in an indictment; the role of assistant prosecutor.[2][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com