superscription
(s(j)uːpəˈskrɪpʃən)
[a. OF. superscription or ad. late L. superscriptio, -ōnem, n. of action f. superscrībĕre to superscribe]
I. That which is superscribed.
1. A piece of writing or an inscription upon or above something. arch. (after Matt. xxii. 20, Luke xx. 24).
| 1388 Wyclif Luke xx. 20 Shewe ȝe to me a peny; whos ymage and superscripcioun [1382 writynge aboue] hath it? Ibid. xxiii. 38 And the superscripcioun [1382 wrytinge aboue] was writun ouer hym with Greke lettris, and of Latyn, and of Ebreu, This is the kyng of Jewis. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xxi. 231 The Superscripcioun aboute his litylle Seel is this, Dei Fortitudo omnium hominum. c 1480 Henryson Test. Cress. 604 (Skeat) Sum said he maid ane tomb of merbell gray, And wrait hir name and superscriptioun. 1535 Coverdale John xix. 19 Pilate wrote a superscripcion, and set vpon the crosse. 1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 292 In the Church of this Castle are interred the bodies of M. Luther, and P. Melancthon, under two faire Marble stones, with superscriptions of copper upon them. a 1711 Ken Hymnotheo Poet. Wks. 1721 III. 55 John shew'd on each the Superscription grav'd, Which Solomon experienc'd,..Vanity and Vexation there he read. 1860 Mansel Proleg. Log. (ed. 2) 16, I see lying on the table before me a number of shillings of the same coinage. Examined severally, the image and superscription of each is undistinguishable from that of its fellow. |
b. fig. and allusively. arch.
| 1612 T. Taylor Comm. Titus iii. 7. (1619) 677 God forbid that I should for this or that sinnefull pleasure,..or whatsoeuer coine hauing Satans superscription vpon it, sell mine inheritance. 1642 Milton Apol. Smect. 21 Finding him thus in disguise without his superscription or Phylactery either of holy or Prelat. 1671 ― Samson 190, I learn..How counterfeit a coin they are who friends Bear in their Superscription. 1782 A. Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 409 Your daughter, your image, your superscription, desires to be affectionately remembered to you. |
2. spec. A piece of writing at the head or beginning of a document; a heading.
| a 1390 Wyclif Ps. Prol. iii, Alle the salmys of Dauid..of whiche alle..nyne made Dauid himself, two and thretti han not superscripcioun. 1542–3 [see subscription 1]. 1790 Paley Horæ Paul. xv, The superscription proves that Timothy was already with St. Paul when he wrote to the Corinthians from Macedonia. 1901 Dorland Med. Dict. (ed. 2), Superscription, the sign ℞ before a prescription. |
3. The address or direction on a letter. Obs. or arch.
| 1518 H. Watson Hist. Oliver of Castile (Roxb.) E 1, He apperceyued the lettre, and he sawe euydently that the super scrypcyon was of his felowes hande wrytynge. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iv. i. 53 No more but plaine and bluntly? (To the King.) Hath he forgot he is his Soueraigne? Or doth this churlish Superscription Pretend some alteration in good will? 1622 Peacham Compl. Gent. i. 15 Scarce will he open a note..if Don be not in the superscription. 1738 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. i. 513, I was extremely pleased to receive your handwriting in the Superscription of a Letter. 1798 S. & Ht. Lee Canterb. T., Yng. Lady's T. II. 369 When her eye glanced on the superscription, hardly could her trembling fingers break the seal. 1806 J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life xii. (ed. 3) I. 293 Eagerly breaking open a letter, which, from the superscription, you conclude to be from a dear..friend. 1840 Thackeray Shabby-genteel Story ii, When the family beheld the name of Lord Viscount Cinqbars upon the superscription. |
4. A name signed; a signature. ? Obs. rare.
| c 1681 in Verney Mem. (1904) II. 397 To each clerk that took the poll, being foure, a guinea, to the men that got superscriptions for them, the like. 1856 Lever Martins of Cro' M. lxv, ‘Is that in your handwriting, Sir?’.. ‘Yes, every word of it, except the superscription of the witnesses.’ |
II. 5. ‘The act of superscribing’ (J.). rare—0.
| Hence in mod. Dicts. |