Scripsit

Scripsit is a Latin verb form meaning “he wrote” or, more generally, “has written.” It is the third-person singular perfect active indicative of scribere, the basic verb “to write.” The form is commonly used to attribute authorship in Latin texts, inscriptions, manuscripts, and colophons. In practice, phrases such as X scripsit Y translate as “X wrote Y,” with the name of the author preceding the verb.

In historical usage, scripsit appears in scholarly and editorial contexts to identify the writer of a work, especially in medieval and early modern manuscripts and early printed editions. It functions as a concise attribution, often found after the name of the author on title pages, colophons, or dedications. Because the perfect form is identical across gender, scripsit does not mark gender and is determined by context.

Etymologically, scripsit derives from the Latin root scrib- (to write) and relates to related forms such as scribo, scriptum, and scriptura. In modern Latin-language scholarship, the verb remains a standard tool for indicating authorship in a compact, formal way.

See also scribo, script, inscription, colophon, and attribution.