Skriptum

Skriptum is a term used in several European languages to denote a written work, most commonly a manuscript or a short, self-contained text such as lecture notes or a student handout. The word derives from the Latin scriptum, meaning something written, and in Germanic languages the form skriptum or Skriptum has historically been used to designate a compact, often instructional text produced for a particular purpose, in contrast to a more extensive monograph.

In medieval and early modern contexts, skriptum referred to a short tract, a glossed compendium, or a student's set of notes compiled by a teacher or scribe. It could function as a course reader or a posthumous collection of marginalia. In university settings, the term was sometimes employed to describe lecture notes distributed to pupils, and occasionally to denote an early edition of a text prepared for teaching rather than for publication.

In modern usage, skriptum is less common in everyday speech in German-speaking countries, where Skript or Skripte is standard for lecture notes. In bibliographic or library catalogs, skriptum may appear as a formal designation for a manuscript or a small, self-contained text. Outside German-speaking contexts, cognate terms in Latin, Czech, Polish, or Hungarian traditions also carry the sense of a written tract or manuscript.

See also: manuscript, lecture notes, script, codex.