Etymologically
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transcribo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [trãːˈskriː.boː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [tranˈskriː.bo][1]

Forms

trānscrībō (present infinitive trānscrībere, perfect active trānscrīpsī, supine trānscrīptum); third conjugation[1] It is also spelled transscrībō.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin trāns- (“across, over”) + scrībō (“to write”).[2][1] De Vaan traces scrībō to Proto-Italic *skreif-e/o- (“to carve”) and Proto-Indo-European *skreibh-e/o- (“to carve”), with the Italic cognates Oscan scriftas (“written”) and Umbrian screhto (“written”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first example is in the Rhetorica ad Herennium,[2][5] which speaks of copying out plays with one's own hand (si vestra manu fabulas … transcripsissetis).[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Its basic sense is to copy written matter from one book or tablet to another: Cicero speaks of a will copied into other tablets, Pliny the Elder of authors copied out word for word, and Pliny the Younger of a book copied in a thousand copies.[2][3] Cicero also uses it of making a false copy, forging public records.[2] From copying it came to mean transferring a name to another roll or register, enrolling in another community or unit, as in Livy and Virgil,[2] and transferring an item in an account to someone else, as Livy says of debts made over to allies who were not bound by the laws.[2][6] It became a legal term for making property over to someone,[6] and the poets use it freely of handing something on: Ovid asks whether part of a life can be transferred to another.[2] In Ecclesiastical Latin it means to write over, transfer, copy, forge, alter or assign.[7] English borrowed transcribe from it in the 1550s.[8]

Timeline

  • 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium speaks of copying out plays.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of copying a will and of forging public records.[2][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of transferring names to another register and debts to other persons.[2][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of enrolling people in a city.[2][5]
  • 1550s – English borrows it as transcribe.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To copy out written matter from one book or tablet to another, transcribe; to copy a picture.[2][3]
  2. To make a false copy of, forge.[2]
  3. To transfer to another roll or register; to enrol in another community or unit.[2][6]
  4. To transfer an item in an account, make over;[2][6] (law) to convey property to someone.[2][6]
  5. (figurative) To hand over, transfer something to someone.[2]

Word family

  • transcriptīcius
  • transcriptiō
  • trānscrīptus
  • English transcribe

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com