scribe

scribe · noun¹

1. Old French · derived fromscribe“scribe”
2. Middle English · inherited fromscribe
3. English todayscribe

From Middle English scribe, from Old French scribe (“scribe”), from Late Latin usage of scrība (“secretary”) (used in the Vulgate Bible translation to render Ancient Greek γραμματεύς (grammateús, “scribe, secretary”), which had been used in its turn to render the Hebrew סופר (“writer, scholar”)) from scrībere (“to write, draw, draw up, draft (a paper), enlist, enroll, levy; orig. to scratch”), probably akin to scrobs (“a ditch, trench, grave”).

scribe · verb²

1. Latin · derived fromscrībō“to write”
2. Middle English · inherited fromscryben“to write”
3. English todayscribe

From Middle English scryben (“to write”), from Latin scrībō (“to write”). Doublet of shrive. The carpentry sense comes from the way a workman uses a compass to mark a line before cutting.

Words from the same roots