From Middle English rubriche, rubrike, from Old French rubrique, from Latin rūbrīca (“red ochre”), the substance used to make red letters, from ruber (“red”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ-.
Meanings
Coloured or marked with red; placed in rubrics.
VVhat tho' my Name ſtood rubric on the vvalls? / Or plaiſter'd poſts, vvith Claps in capitals? 1735 January 13 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1734), [Alexander] Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot, London: […] J[ohn] Wright for Lawton Gilliver […], →OCLC, page 11, lines 210–211:
Of or relating to the rubric or rubrics; rubrical.
From Middle English rubriche, rubrike, from Old French rubrique, from Latin rūbrīca (“red ochre”), the substance used to make red letters, from ruber (“red”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ-.
Meanings
A heading in a book highlighted in red.
A title of a category or a class.
That would fall under the rubric of things we can ignore for now.
And in one swoop, the Attorney General conceded to the president nearly unlimited power, just as long as he finds a lawyer willing to stuff his actions into the boundless rubric of “defending the country.” 2008, Chris Dodd, Senator Dodd Speaks in Opposition to FISA Bill on Floor of U.S. Senate:
The directions for a religious service, formerly printed in red letters.
All the clergy in England solemnly pledge themselves to observe the rubrics. 1842, Walter Hook, Church Dictionary:
An established rule or custom; a guideline.
Through processes such as “reinforcement learning with human feedback,” which enlists people to grade AI outputs against a rubric, models are guided toward responses that exemplify desired traits. 2026 March 17, Jasmine Sun, “The Human Skill That Eludes AI”, in Jeffrey Goldberg, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC:
Let Comus rise Archbishop of the land;
Let him your rubric and your feasts prescribe 1782, William Cowper, “Progress of Error”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC:
1847-1848, Thomas De Quincey, "Protestantism", in Tait's Edinburgh Magazine
Nay, as a duty, it had no place or rubric in human conceptions before Christianity.
Whilst this rubric is not written into law, it should always be followed.
A statement of intent.
“It is diabolical for banks and asset managers to invest billions in major fossil fuel companies under the rubric of ‘green investing’ when we need to accelerate investments in non- and low-carbon energy, in carbon efficiency, and in carbon removal technologies,” said Richard Heede at the Climate Accountability Institute. 2025 May 18, Damian Carrington, Giorgio Michalopoulos, Stefano Valentino, “Revealed: European ‘green’ investments hold billions in fossil fuel majors”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC:
The Government's rubric of "caring for communities" is ridiculous.
A set of explanatory notes or rules at the beginning of an exam paper, usually typographically distinct from the rest of the paper.
In the first prospectus the rubric on this paper began 'Historical sources and materials and how the historian uses them[…]' 1985, Asa Briggs, Serious Pursuits: Communications and Education (The Collected Essays of Asa Briggs), volume 3, Harvester Press, page 364:
Do not award marks to candidates who have made rubric errors.
A set of scoring criteria for evaluating student work and for giving feedback.
We refer to the rubric when marking oral examinations.
ro rubrică (heading in a book highlighted in red) · pt rubrica (printed set of scoring criteria) · de Rubrik (heading in a book highlighted in red) · fr rubrique (category or classification) · es rúbrica (no DRAE) (printed set of scoring criteria) · ga ceannscríbhinn (heading in a book highlighted in red) · fi ohjeistus (established rule or custom, a guideline) · fi arviointikriteeri (printed set of scoring criteria) · ru катего́рия (category or classification) · id rubrik (established rule or custom, a guideline) · ru ру́брика (heading in a book highlighted in red) · af rubriek (category or classification) · es rúbrica (heading in a book highlighted in red) · fi kategoria (category or classification) · sv rubrik (heading in a book highlighted in red) · it scheda di valutazione (printed set of scoring criteria) · ga ceannteideal (heading in a book highlighted in red) · fi arviointiskeema (printed set of scoring criteria) · af rubriek (established rule or custom, a guideline) · id rubrik (printed set of scoring criteria) · hu rubrika (category or classification) · cs rubrika (category or classification) · ga rúibric (heading in a book highlighted in red) · de Rubrik (category or classification) · fi arviointipohja (printed set of scoring criteria) · es matriz de evaluación (printed set of scoring criteria) · id rubrik (heading in a book highlighted in red) · lv rubrika (heading in a book highlighted in red) · af rubriek (printed set of scoring criteria) · lt rubrica (established rule or custom, a guideline) · yue 標題 /标题 (heading in a book highlighted in red) · ru кра́сная строка́ (heading in a book highlighted in red) · bg рубрика (category or classification) · eo rubriko (category or classification) · fi ohje (established rule or custom, a guideline) · mi pūraranga (established rule or custom, a guideline) · fi kriteeristö (printed set of scoring criteria) · lv rubrika (category or classification) · nl rubriek (category or classification) · es pauta de evaluación (printed set of scoring criteria) · pt rúbrica (category or classification) · de Benotungsschema (printed set of scoring criteria) · fi otsikko (heading in a book highlighted in red) · ru ру́брика (category or classification) · la rubrica (heading in a book highlighted in red) · es rúbrica (established rule or custom, a guideline) · pt rubrica (category or classification) · fi rubriikki (heading in a book highlighted in red)
From Middle English rubriche, rubrike, from Old French rubrique, from Latin rūbrīca (“red ochre”), the substance used to make red letters, from ruber (“red”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ-.
Meanings
(transitive) To adorn with red; to redden.
That Cavalier who Rubricks his Executions with the Bloud he hath drawn by the instrument of Extortion from the Poor. 1681, Paul Rycaut, The Critick, translation of original by Lorenzo Gracián:
(transitive) To organize or classify into rubrics.