inscribe

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin īnscrībō, from in- (“upon”) and scrībō (“to write”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈskɹaɪb/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪb

Verb

inscribe (third-person singular simple present inscribes, present participle inscribing, simple past and past participle inscribed)

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

   I inscribed the book with a message for Kate.

   I inscribed my name into the book.

2. (geometry) To draw a circle, sphere, etc. inside a polygon, polyhedron, etc. and tangent to all its sides.

   Antonym: (rare) escribe

Synonyms

• enwrite, inwrite

Related terms

• inscription
• circumscribe

Translations

to write or cut words onto something

• Bulgarian: надписвам (bg) (nadpisvam)
• Catalan: inscriure (ca)
• Finnish: kaivertaa (fi)
• French: graver (fr)
• German: beschriften (de)
• Greek: επιγράφω (el) (epigráfo)
• Old Turkic: 𐰋𐰃𐱅𐰃 (biti-)
• Romanian: inscripționa, înscrie (ro), grava (ro)
• Russian: начертать (ru) (načertatʹ)
• Spanish: inscribir (es)
• Turkish: yazmak (tr), kazımak (tr), kakmak (tr)
• Welsh: llythrennu (cy)

to draw a circle, sphere

• Bulgarian: вписвам (bg) (vpisvam)
• Catalan: inscriure (ca)
• Czech: vepsat
• Greek: εγγράφω (el) (engráfo)
• Romanian: înscrie (ro)
• Russian: впи́сывать (ru) impf (vpísyvatʹ), вписа́ть (ru) pf (vpisátʹ)

Latin

Verb

īnscrībe

1. second-person singular present active imperative of īnscrībō

Spanish

Verb

inscribe

1. inflection of inscribir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative