[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. 24. 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. Maundev. (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. Ibid. (1671), Samson, 190. I learn … How counterfeit a coin they are who friends Bear in their Superscription.
1782. Abigail 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. Shaks., 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 singers 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.
