Etymograph

English

inscribe

Inscribe comes from Latin īnscrībō ‘to write in or upon something, inscribe’, from Proto-Italic *skreiβō ‘to carve’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreybʰ- ‘to scratch, to tear’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kreybʰ-1‘to scratch, to tear’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kréybʰeti2reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*skreiβō3‘to carve’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscrībō1‘to write’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnscrībō1‘to write in or upon something, inscribe’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2000inscribe1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English inscribe
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *skreiβō
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin scribo
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2000, Elizabeth A. Johnson, Mary of Nazareth: Friend of God and Prophet: “This coheres with the pattern of Scripture, which inscribes…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kreybʰ-Wiktionary, English inscribe‘to scratch, to tear’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kréybʰetiWiktionary, Proto-Italic *skreiβōreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*skreiβōWiktionary, Latin scribo‘to carve’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscrībōWiktionary, English inscribe‘to write’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnscrībōWiktionary, English inscribe‘to write in or upon something, inscribe’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2000inscribeWiktionary, English inscribe. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2000, Elizabeth A. Johnson, Mary of Nazareth: Friend of God and Prophet: “This coheres with the pattern of Scripture, which inscribes…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kréybʰeti

transcription, 28 more

through Proto-Italic *skreiβō ‘to carve’

prescription, scripture, transcript, shriver, conscription, scriptural, nondescript, conscript, descript, 29 more

through Latin scrībō ‘to write’

description, script, prescribe, scribble, shrift, scrivener, ascribe, transcribe, 36 more

Today it means

verb To write or cut (words) onto (something, especially a hard surface, or a book to be given to another person); to engrave.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “inscribe”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Italic *skreiβō, Latin scribo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreybʰ- / inscribe

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