I. ˈskrīb noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin scriba official writer, from scribere to write; akin to Greek skariphasthai to scratch an outline, sketch, skariphos stylus, sketch, keirein to cut — more at shear
1. : one of a class of men devoted to the study and exposition of the law during the Persian and early Greek periods of Jewish history and serving originally as copyists, editors, and interpreters of Scripture and especially of the law and in New Testament times mainly as jurists — called also sopher ; compare rabbi
2.
a. : an official or public writer acting usually as a clerk or keeper of accounts
b. : one who writes at dictation
c. : an official having secretarial duties ; specifically : the secretary of a girl scout troop
d. : a copier of manuscripts
e. : a skilled penman
3.
a. : one who writes : author , writer ; specifically : journalist
b. : a paid political writer or journalist
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
intransitive verb
: to work as a scribe : write
transitive verb
: to write down : inscribe
III. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: probably short for describe
1.
a. : to mark (as wood, metal, or brick) by cutting or scratching a line with a pointed instrument (as a scriber or a pair of compasses)
b. : to make (as a line) by cutting or scratching
2. : to cut (an object) to fit closely to a somewhat irregular surface (as a board to the curves of a molding)
IV. noun
( -s )
1. dialect Britain
a. : a written mark
b. : a short piece of writing
2.
a. : scriber
b. : a tool used (as in marking survey lines) for cutting marks into wood or bark
c. also scribe saw : a saw-toothed tool for cutting up beef carcasses