Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PRO-SCRIBE, v.t. [L. proscribο; pro and scribo, to write. The sense of this word originated in the Roman practice of writing the names of persons doomed to death, and posting the list in public.]

1. To doom to destruction; to put one out of the protection of law, and promise a reward for his head. Sylla and Marius proscribed each other's adherents.
2. To put out of the protection of the law. Robert Vere, Earl of Oxford, was banished the realm and proscribed. – Spenser.
3. To denounce and condemn as dangerous and not worthy of reception; to reject utterly. In the year 325, the Arian doctrines were proscribed and anathematized by the council of Nice. – Waterland.
4. To censure and condemn as utterly unworthy of reception. – South.
5. To interdict; as, to proscribe the use of ardent spirits.