I. ˈrü(ˌ)brik, -_brēk noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English rubrike red ocher, heading in red letters of a part of a book, from Middle French rubrique, from Latin rubrica, from rubr-, ruber red — more at red
1. archaic
a. : bole
b. : red ocher
2. : a heading of a chapter, a section, or other part of a book or manuscript distinguished by being done or underlined in a color (as red) different from the rest of the text or by some other device
3.
a.
(1) : a section heading of a discourse or writing
(2) : name , title
as botany, zoology and geography have become increasingly technical … they too have dropped the rubric of natural history — American Naturalist
(3) : something under which a thing is classed : concept , class , category
a variety of names has been applied to the sensations falling under the general rubric , “pressure” — F.A.Geldard
b.
(1) : the title of a statute or law
(2) : a statute, law, commandment, or dictum regarded as authoritative
(3) : a collection or group of statutes, laws, or dicta : canon ; specifically : a collection of ecclesiastical rules
(4) : a rule for the conduct of a liturgical service
the rubrics of the Order of Confirmation
(5) : purity rubric
c. : a formula, commentary, or gloss that elucidates or sets within a context
like accepting a fairy tale as history, through ignoring the prefatory rubric “once upon a time, in a world that never was” — A.G.N.Flew
specifically : an editorial interpolation
clarity is promoted by the use of numbered paragraphs with marginal rubrics — J.C.Stewart
4. : a technique, custom, form, or thing established or settled (as by authority)
hand engraving is an art in its own right, with its own rubrics — O.L.Harvey
no longer wore high laced boots, because the rubrics had changed in these matters — Bruce Marshall
5. obsolete : a calendar of saints
6. or ru·bri·ca -brə̇kə, -brēkə
[Spanish rúbrica paraph, heading, from Latin rubrica ]
: paraph
II. adjective
or ru·bri·cal -brə̇kəl, -brēk-
Etymology: rubric from Middle English rubrike, from rubrike, n.; rubrical from rubric (I) + -al
1.
a. : colored, written, printed in, or marked with red
b. : red-letter
rubric day
2. : of, relating to, or in accordance with a rubric
• ru·bri·cal·ly -brə̇k(ə)lē, -brēk-, -li adverb
III. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: rubric (I)
: to adorn with red : redden