Etymology

subscribe

S1U1B3S1C3R1I1B3E1

Today it means: To write (one’s name) at the bottom of a document; to sign (one's name). Full definition →

Middle English subscriben ← Latin subscrībere
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Latin · derived fromsubscrībere“write beneath”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromsubscriben
  3. English todaysubscribe

From Middle English subscriben, subskryben, from Latin subscrībere (“write beneath”). By surface analysis, sub- + scribe. Compare its native English equivalent underwrite.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.