scribere

Scribere is a Latin verb meaning to write, to inscribe, or to compose text. It appears across Latin literature, law, and documentation and serves as the etymological source of many terms in English and the Romance languages. In classical use it covers writing by hand, copying texts, and recording information.

Grammatically, scribere belongs to the third conjugation (infinitive scribere). The present active indicative forms include scribo, scribis, scribit, scribimus, scribitis, scribunt; the imperfect is scribebam, scribebas, scribebat, and so on; the future is scribam, scribes, scribet, scribemus, scribetis, scribent. The perfect system uses scripsi, scripsisti, scripsit, scripsimus, scripsistis, scripserunt; the supine is scriptum. Passive forms mirror this pattern (present: scribor, scriberis, scribitur, etc.). The perfect passive participle is scriptus (masc.), scripta (fem.), scriptum (neut.).

Usage notes: scribere governs a direct object for what is written (scribere epistulam, to write a letter) and can describe inscriptions on stone or parchment. The verb yields numerous derivative forms in English and other languages: script, scribe, scripture, manuscript, inscription, and related terms. The same root appears in Romance languages: Spanish escribir, French écrire, Italian scrivere, all tracing back to scribere.