Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SCRIBE, n. [Fr. from L. scriba, from scribo, to write; formed probably on the root of grave, scrape, scrub; D. schryven; G. schreiben; Sw. skrifva; Dan. skriver; W. ysgrivaw, ysgrivenu, whence scrivener; It. scrivere; Sp. escribir; Port. escrever; Fr. ecrire, ecrivant; Arm. scriva, scrifan; Gr. γραφω; Ir. grafadh, to write, and sgriobam, sgrabam, to scrape, engrave or write; Russ. skrebu, sgrebayu, to scrape, scrub, rake. Class Rb. The first writing was probably engraving on wood or stone.]

1. In a general sense, a writer. Hence,
2. A notary; a public writer.
3. In ecclesiastical meetings and associations in America, a secretary or clerk; one who records the transactions of an ecclesiastical body.
4. In Scripture and the Jewish history, a clerk or secretary to the king. Seraiah was scribe to King David. – 2 Sam. viii.
5. An officer who enrolled or kept the rolls of the army, and called over the names and reviewed them. – 2 Ch. xxvi. 2 Kings xxv.
6. A writer and a doctor of the law; a man of learning, one skilled in the law; one who read and explained the law to the people. – Ezra vii.