INSCRIBE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does inscribe mean? 

• INSCRIBE (verb)
  The verb INSCRIBE has 7 senses:

1. carve, cut, or etch into a material or surface

2. register formally as a participant or member

3. draw within a figure so as to touch in as many places as possible

4. write, engrave, or print as a lasting record

5. mark with one's signature

6. convert ordinary language into code

7. address, (a work of literature) in a style less formal than a dedication

  Familiarity information: INSCRIBE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INSCRIBE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they inscribe    ... he / she / it inscribes   
Past simple: inscribed   
Past participle: inscribed   
-ing form: inscribing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Carve, cut, or etch into a material or surface

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

engrave; grave; inscribe; scratch

Context example:

the lovers scratched their names into the bark of the tree

Hypernyms (to "inscribe" is one way to...):

carve; chip at (engrave or cut by chipping away at a surface)

Verb group:

engrave; etch (carve or cut a design or letters into)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "inscribe"):

character (engrave or inscribe characters on)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Register formally as a participant or member

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

enrol; enroll; enter; inscribe; recruit

Context example:

The party recruited many new members

Hypernyms (to "inscribe" is one way to...):

register (record in writing; enter into a book of names or events or transactions)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "inscribe"):

draft; enlist; muster in (engage somebody to enter the army)

unionise; unionize (recruit for a union or organize into a union)

register (enroll to vote)

matriculate (enroll as a student)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Draw within a figure so as to touch in as many places as possible

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "inscribe" is one way to...):

delineate; describe; draw; line; trace (make a mark or lines on a surface)

Domain category:

geometry (the pure mathematics of points and lines and curves and surfaces)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 4

Meaning:

Write, engrave, or print as a lasting record

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "inscribe" is one way to...):

enter; put down; record (make a record of; set down in permanent form)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

inscription (the activity of inscribing (especially carving or engraving) letters or words)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Mark with one's signature

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

autograph; inscribe

Context example:

The author autographed his book

Hypernyms (to "inscribe" is one way to...):

sign (be engaged by a written agreement)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 6

Meaning:

Convert ordinary language into code

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

cipher; code; cypher; encipher; encrypt; inscribe; write in code

Context example:

We should encode the message for security reasons

Hypernyms (to "inscribe" is one way to...):

encode (convert information into code)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 7

Meaning:

Address, (a work of literature) in a style less formal than a dedication

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "inscribe" is one way to...):

dedicate (inscribe or address by way of compliment)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something to somebody

 Context examples 

I awoke with them, often, in the night; I remember to have even read them, in dreams, inscribed upon the walls of houses.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The very small inconvenience of being bitten, my young friend, cannot, I am sure, weigh with you as against the glorious privilege of having your name inscribed in the deathless roll of zoology.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Finally I heard a click, the broad green door swung open, and inside I had a glimpse of a number of paper packets, each tied, sealed, and inscribed.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Tell Inspector Patterson that the papers which he needs to convict the gang are in pigeonhole M., done up in a blue envelope and inscribed ‘Moriarty.’

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was at his own very earnest request that they inscribed He fought the good fight upon his tombstone, and though I cannot doubt that he had Black Bank and Crab Wilson in his mind when he asked it, yet none who knew him would grudge its spiritual meaning as a summing up of his clean and manly life.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Her grave is in Brocklebridge churchyard: for fifteen years after her death it was only covered by a grassy mound; but now a grey marble tablet marks the spot, inscribed with her name, and the word Resurgam.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I read to him the notes which I had made at the time, and which I inscribe here:—At Purfleet, on a by-road, I came across just such a place as seemed to be required, and where was displayed a dilapidated notice that the place was for sale.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The interview left Sherlock Holmes very thoughtful, and several times in the next few days I saw him take his slip of paper from his notebook and look long and earnestly at the curious figures inscribed upon it.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I cannot help thinking, said Mrs. Micawber, with an air of deep sagacity, that there are members of my family who have been apprehensive that Mr. Micawber would solicit them for their names.—I do not mean to be conferred in Baptism upon our children, but to be inscribed on Bills of Exchange, and negotiated in the Money Market.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

His idea was still with me, because it was not a vapour sunshine could disperse, nor a sand-traced effigy storms could wash away; it was a name graven on a tablet, fated to last as long as the marble it inscribed.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)