Dictionary

scriptorium en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /skɹɪpˈtɔɹ.i.əm/ (General-American)
• /skɹɪpˈtɔː.ɹɪəm/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (US) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-? Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreybʰ- Proto-Indo-European *(s)kréybʰeti Proto-Italic *skreiβō Latin scrībō Proto-Indo-European *-tōr Proto-Italic *-tōr Latin -tor Latin scrīptor Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -iusnom. Latin -ium ▲ Latin scrībō ▲ Latin -tor ▲ Latin -ius Latin -tōrius Latin -tōrium Medieval Latin scrīptōriumbor. English scriptorium Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin scrīptōrium, from Latin scrīptōrius (“pertaining to writing”). Doublet of escritoire.

Meanings

1. (countable) A room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts and records, especially such a room in a monastery.
   • Among the earliest Hiberno-Saxon illuminated manuscripts is the Book of Durrow, a Gospel book that may have been written and decorated in the monastic scriptorium at Iona, although its provenance is not documented. 2009, Fred S. Kleiner, Gardner's Art Through the Ages: The Western Perspective, 13th edition, volume 1, page 289:
   • The rules of the scriptorium varied in different monasteries, but artificial light was forbidden for fear of injury to the manuscripts, and silence was always enforced. 1912, G[ilbert] Roger Hudleston, “Scriptorium”, in Charles G[eorge] Herbermann, Edward A[loysius] Pace, Condé B[enoist] Pallen, Thomas J[oseph] Shahan, John J[oseph] Wynne, editors, The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church, volume XIII (Revelation–Simon Stock), New York, N.Y.: Robert Appleton Company, →OCLC, page 635, column 1:
   • Nevertheless, Aland criticized Martin's suggestion that the codex was the product of the scriptorium attached to a monastery,⁵³⁶ on the grounds that there is no evidence for the existence of monasteries in the year 200, or for the existence of scriptoria at all connected with the Church at that early date. 2008, James Ronald Royse, chapter 7, in Scribal Habits in Early Greek New Testament Papyri, page 499:
   • Very soon, however, I hesitated. It was labour-intensive work, scriptorium-slow. 1999, Seamus Heaney, “Introduction”, in Beowulf, London: Faber and Faber, page xxii:

Forms

Relateds

scribe · script

Translations (31)

sv scriptorium (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · fi scriptorium (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · sl skriptorij (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · es scriptorium (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · ru скрипторий (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · be скрыпторый (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · pl skryptorium (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · fi kirjoitushuone (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · nl schrijfzaal (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · sh skrìptōrīj (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · cmn 撰經閣 /撰经阁 (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · ca escriptori (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · lt skriptoriumas (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · cmn 寫字間 /写字间 (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · cy sgriptoriwm (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · ka სკრიპტორიუმი (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · ro scriptorie (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · mk скрипториум (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · de Skriptorium (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · cs skriptorium (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · sh скрѝпто̄рӣј (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · nl scriptorium (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · mk писарница (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · th โรงเขียนหนังสือ (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · id skriptorium (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · sv skriptorium (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · ja 写字室 (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · fy skriptoarium (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · uk скрипто́рій (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · fr scriptorium (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts) · sk skriptórium (room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts)