scribe
[skɹaɪ̯b]noun, verb
scribe is spelled S-C-R-I-B-E: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 26,092nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, scribe means “Someone who writes; a draughtsperson; a writer for another; especially, an official or public writer; an amanuensis, secretary, notary, or copyist” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of scribe is scribes.
How many letters and syllables are in scribe?
| Letters | 6: S-C-R-I-B-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.2 times per million words; the 26,092nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is scribe?
Scribe appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 26,092nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce scribe?
- /skɹaɪb/
- UK [skɹaɪ̯b]
- US [skɹaɪ̯b]
Scribe has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-scribe.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of scribe
- scribes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- scribing participle, present
- scribed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does scribe mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Someone who writes; a draughtsperson; a writer for another; especially, an official or public writer; an amanuensis, secretary, notary, or copyist.
- 2
A person who writes books or documents by hand as a profession.
- 3
informalA journalist.
- 4
archaicA writer and doctor of the law; one skilled in the law and traditions; one who read and explained the law to the people.
- 5
A very sharp, steel drawing implement used in engraving and etching, a scriber.
verb
- 1
To write.
- 2
To write, engrave, or mark upon; to inscribe.
- 3
To record, as a scribe.
- 4
To write or draw with a scribe.
- 5
To cut (something) in order to fit it closely to an irregular surface, as a baseboard to a floor which is out of level, a board to the curves of a moulding, etc.
- 6
To score or mark with compasses or a scribing iron.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Scribe in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | scribe |
| German | Schreiber, Kopist , Schriftgelehrter , Reißnadel , schreiben |
| Portuguese | escriba, amanuense |
| Spanish | escriba, escribiente , punta de trazar , escribir , grabar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does scribe come from?
From Middle English scribe, from Old French scribe (“scribe”), from Late Latin usage of scrība (“secretary”) (used in the Vulgate Bible translation to render Ancient Greek γραμματεύς (grammateús, “scribe, secretary”), which had been used in its turn to render the Hebrew סופר (“writer, scholar”)) from scrībere (“to write, draw, draw up, draft (a paper), enlist, enroll, levy; orig. to scratch”), probably akin to scrobs (“a ditch, trench, grave”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).