description English · revision 3739

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1340|origins=la scrībō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dɪˈskrɪp.ʃᵊn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|descripcioun]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|description]] and directly [[der|la|dēscrīptiō|t=representation, description, copy]] (accusative dēscrīptiōnem),^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) a noun of action from the past participle of [[m|la|dēscrībere|t=to write down, copy, sketch]],^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) from [[m|la|dē-|t=down]] and [[m|la|scrībere|t=to write]],^(Etymonline) from [[ine-pro|*skribh-|t=to cut]].^(Etymonline) It is related to [[describe]] and [[script]].^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A statement that describes or portrays something: 1340 in the OED.^(OED 1989) Etymonline dates descripcioun to the late 14th century, as the act of delineating or depicting.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Setting something forth in words by its recognisable features is from about 1380,^(OED 1989) as is writing down in a register, enrolment.^(OED 1989) A sort or kind, capable of being described, is from about 1391 in the OED,^(OED 1989) and Etymonline dates “type, sort, kind” to 1781, from the notion of the qualities that represent a class.^(Etymonline) In logic, a definition by accidental properties is from 1628.^(OED 1989) ''Beyond description'' means to an astonishing extent.^(COED 2004)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1340 – a descriptive account.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1380 – the act of describing; enrolment.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1391 – a sort or kind.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1628 – in logic.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1781 – type, kind.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act or technique of [[describe|alt=describing]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A spoken or written account of something.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A picture or representation.^(AHD)

+ # A sort or kind: ''vehicles of every description''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[redescription]]

+ * [[job description]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[describe]]

+ * [[descriptive]]

+ * [[script]]

+ * [[scribe]]

+ * [[inscription]]

+ * [[prescription]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}