describe English · revision 4516

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=a. 1250|origins=la describere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|descriven]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) [[bor|fro|descrivre]], descrire (13th century),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and directly [[der|la|dēscrībere|t=to write down, copy; sketch, represent]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from dē “down” and scrībere “to write”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) from [[ine-pro|*skreybʰ-|alt=*skribh-|t=to cut]].^(Etymonline) The later form describen, from about 1425, replaced descriven in an effort to Latinize the spelling.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) It is related to [[scribe]] and [[description]].^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Before 1250 in Barnhart, as descriven in the Ancrene Riwle;^(Barnhart 1988) “to interpret, explain”, a sense now obsolete, in the mid-13th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) To represent orally or in writing: about 1300.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To form or trace by motion is from the late 14th century, as of a curve described by a moving point,^(Etymonline) and to outline or delineate from about 1400.^(Etymonline) The Latin-style spelling dates from about 1450.^(Etymonline) In the 16th century it meant to write down or set forth in writing (1526) and to enrol in a register (1535), both now obsolete,^(OED 1989) and to set forth in words by reference to qualities from 1513.^(OED 1989) ''Description'' is from about 1380, in Chaucer's House of Fame,^(Barnhart 1988) and ''descriptive'' from 1751, in Johnson's Rambler.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a. 1250 – descriven.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1300 – to represent in words.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1380 – ''description''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 14th century – to trace by motion.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1450 – Latinized spelling.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1751 – ''descriptive''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To give an [[account]] of in speech or writing.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To convey an idea of; to [[characterize]]: ''he described her as kind''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To trace or draw the outline of: ''the ball described an arc''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[describable]]

+ * [[describer]]

+ * [[describability]]

+ * [[describably]]

+ * [[misdescribe]]

+ * [[overdescribe]]

+ * [[predescribe]]

+ * [[redescribe]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[description]]

+ * [[descriptive]]

+ * [[descriptivist]]

+ * [[descriptor]]

+ * [[scribe]]

+ * [[inscribe]]

+ * [[prescribe]]

+ * [[subscribe]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Describe, narrate, recount, relate and report all mean to tell the facts or details of something in speech or writing; describe stresses giving a picture of it.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}