scripture

See also: Scripture

English

Chinese colporter selling scriptures in Peking (1902)

Etymology

From Middle English scripture, from Latin scrīptūra (“a writing, scripture”), from scrīptum, the supine of scrībō (“I write”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈskɹɪpt͡ʃɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈskɹɪptʃə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: scrip‧ture

Noun

scripture (countable and uncountable, plural scriptures)

1. A sacred writing or holy book.

   The primary scripture in Zoroastrianism is the Avesta.

   • 1732, George Reynolds, A diſſertation: or, Inquiry Concerning the Canonical Autority of the Goſpel according to Mathew; […] ‎^[1], 2nd edition, page 4:

     In a word, they were made uſe of by the immediate ſucceſſors of the Apoſtles, and many of them read in the Public Aſſemblies of Chriſtians, as Canonical Scripture, without the leaſt mark of Diſtinction, in point of Autority […]

   • 2001, Leander Keck, Who is Jesus?, →ISBN, page 143:

     It would be quite unwise to deem the whole historical enterprise as wrong-headed and to think that one can revert to the gospels' way of reading scripture, […]

2. (by extension) An authoritative statement.

Hyponyms

• (religious texts) scripture, religious text; Bible,‎ Qur'an,‎ Tao Te Ching,‎ Torah,‎ Veda ^{(Category: en:Religion) [edit]}

Derived terms

• scripture cake

 

Related terms

• script

Translations

any sacred writing or book

• Bulgarian: свето писание (sveto pisanie)
• Catalan: escriptura (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 聖書 / 圣书 (zh) (shèngshū)

• Czech: posvátná kniha f
• Esperanto: skribo
• Estonian: pühakiri
• Finnish: pyhä kirjoitus, pyhä kirja
• French: écriture (fr) f
• German: Schrift (de) f, heilige Schrift (de) f
• Gothic: 𐌼𐌴𐌻 n (mēl)
• Greek: γραφή (el) f (grafí)
• Hebrew: כְּתוּבִים (he) m pl (ktuvím)
• Hindi: धर्मग्रंथ (hi) (dharmagranth)
• Hungarian: szentírás (hu)
• Icelandic: ritningin, ritningargrein
• Indonesian: kitab suci (id), kitab (id)
• Japanese: 聖句 (ja) (せいく, seiku)
• Maori: karaipiture
• Norman: êcrituthe f
• Old English: ǣ f
• Old Occitan: scriptura
• Portuguese: escritura (pt) f
• Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi: ਕਤੇਬ f pl (kateb)

  Shahmukhi: کَتیب f pl (kateb)

• Russian: писа́ние (ru) n (pisánije), свяще́нное писа́ние n (svjaščénnoje pisánije), свяще́нная кни́га f (svjaščénnaja kníga)
• Spanish: escritura (es) f
• Tagalog: kasulatan, banal na kasulatan
• Tocharian B: śāstär
• Turkish: yazı (tr)
• Welsh: ysgrythur f

an authoritative statement

Anagrams

• picturers

Latin

Participle

scrīptūre

1. vocative masculine singular of scrīptūrus