English
postscribe
Postscribe comes from Latin postscrībō ‘to write after or under’, from Proto-Italic *skreiβō ‘to carve’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kréybʰeti.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kréybʰeti1reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*skreiβō1‘to carve’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscrībō1‘write’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpostscrībō2as postscribere‘to write after or under’
- Englishearliest quotation 1629postscribe2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin postscribo
- 2 Wiktionary, English postscribe
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1629, Thomas Adams: “It was but mannerly in Bellarmine to postscribe two…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kréybʰetiWiktionary, Latin postscriboreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*skreiβōWiktionary, Latin postscribo‘to carve’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscrībōWiktionary, Latin postscribo‘write’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpostscrībōWiktionary, English postscribeas postscribere‘to write after or under’
- Englishearliest quotation 1629postscribeWiktionary, English postscribe. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1629, Thomas Adams: “It was but mannerly in Bellarmine to postscribe two…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kréybʰeti
through Proto-Italic *skreiβō ‘to carve’
prescription, scripture, transcript, inscription, conscription, shriver, scriptural, nondescript, conscript, descript, 27 more
through Latin scrībō ‘write’
description, script, prescribe, scribble, shrift, transcribe, scrivener, ascribe, inscribe, 35 more
Today it means
verb To make or add a postscript.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “postscribe”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin postscribo. 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)kréybʰeti / postscribe