1
: a member of a learned class in ancient Israel through New Testament times studying the Scriptures and serving as copyists, editors, teachers, and jurists
2
a
: an official or public secretary or clerk
b
: a copier of manuscripts
3
: writer
specifically
: journalist
scribed; scribing
1
: to mark a line on by cutting or scratching with a pointed instrument
2
: to make by cutting or scratching
Examples of scribe in a Sentence
Noun (1)
variations between the different manuscripts attest to the fallibility of the scribes who transmitted them
the scribe keeps the minutes of the club's meetings
a book of dusty poems by some now-forgotten scribe
Verb (2)
carefully scribed two lines into the wood
Recent Examples on the Web
James Byrne, The Conversation, 17 Mar. 2025
The film is being created and produced by Peaky Blinders scribe Steven Knight and directed by Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace, who were responsible for LCD Soundsystem’s 2012 concert film Shut Up and Play the Hits.
—Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 13 Mar. 2025
James Byrne, The Conversation, 17 Mar. 2025
The scribes of ancient Egypt were among the world’s first bureaucrats, and while scribal work was considered prestigious and honorable, a career as a scribe was also a way of evading the hardships of other forms of labor.
—Charlie Tyson, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scribe
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Verb
What makes Babylonian astronomy stand out as being especially scientific is the careful, organized way in which Babylonian scribes – their keepers of knowledge – observed, recorded and eventually mathematically predicted the ways that the Sun, Moon, stars and planets move in the skies.
—James Byrne, The Conversation, 17 Mar. 2025
The film is being created and produced by Peaky Blinders scribe Steven Knight and directed by Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace, who were responsible for LCD Soundsystem’s 2012 concert film Shut Up and Play the Hits.
—Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 13 Mar. 2025
Noun
The records in the Astronomical Diaries helped Babylonian scribes take another scientific step: predicting astronomical events.
—James Byrne, The Conversation, 17 Mar. 2025
The scribes of ancient Egypt were among the world’s first bureaucrats, and while scribal work was considered prestigious and honorable, a career as a scribe was also a way of evading the hardships of other forms of labor.
—Charlie Tyson, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scribe
Cite this Entry
“Scribe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scribe. Accessed 22 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
scribe
1 of 2 noun1
: a scholar of the Jewish law in New Testament times
2
a
: a public secretary or clerk
b
: a person who copies manuscripts
scribe
2 of 2 verb
scribed; scribing
: to mark or make by cutting or scratching with a pointed instrument
Etymology
Noun
Middle English scribe "one of a class of scholars and copiers of the Scriptures in ancient Israel," from Latin scriba "official writer," from scribere "to write" — related to circumscribe, description, scribble, scripture, shrove tuesday
Biographical Definition
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