Word of the Day

: April 18, 2008

rescript

noun REE-skript

What It Means

1 : a written answer of a Roman emperor or of a pope to a legal inquiry or petition

2 : an official or authoritative order, decree, edict, or announcement

3 : an act or instance of rewriting

rescript in Context

The committee agreed on a rescript of the rules.

Did You Know?

"Rescript" was first used in the 15th century for the written reply of a sovereign or pope to a question about some matter of law or state, and then for any type of authoritative declaration. These days, however, people are more likely to use it as a synonym of "rewrite," a use that began in the 19th century. Charlotte Brontë, for one, used it in her novel Villette. "I wrote [the letter] three times . . . subduing the phrases at every rescript," her narrator confesses.