subcribere

Subscribere is a Latin verb meaning to subscribe, to sign under, or to endorse a document. In Latin usage, the action often describes writing one’s name beneath a text to attest, approve, or pledge agreement with the terms of the document. The sense can extend from simply signing to giving formal endorsement or support for a charter, contract, or letter. In some medieval and late antique texts, the act is closely tied to officials or witnesses who sign as attestation.

Etymology and form come from the prefix sub- (under) combined with scribere (to write). The literal sense “to write under” explains the historical notion of signing beneath the main text. The verb is typically treated as a third‑conjugation verb, with the standard Latin pattern around subcrib- or subscrib-. A common Latin form is subscribo (I subscribe), with forms like subscribis, subscribit, and subscribimus. The perfect tense is often subscripsi (I subscribed), with corresponding subscripsisti, subscripsit, and subscripserunt; the participle is subscriptus, and the noun subscription or subscripto (the act of signing) appears in medieval and post-classical Latin.

Variants and spelling: some manuscripts show subcribere as a reduced or alternate spelling, but the standard classical form is subscribere. In modern scholarship, the term is chiefly of historical interest and is cited in discussions of Latin diplomatics, inscriptions, and philology.

See also: subscribe, subscription, subscripio, subscripto, Latin diplomatics.