“Latin scriptum meant something written — from scribere, to write. The word that now names a computer program once named a manuscript's handwriting style.”
Latin scribere meant to write, scratch, or inscribe. Its past participle scriptum gave English script, scripture, describe, inscribe, subscribe, and transcribe. In the medieval period, 'script' described a style of handwriting: the scribe's script identified his workshop and time. Script also named the text of a play — the written instructions for what actors would say and do.
When computers arrived, programmers distinguished between programs compiled into machine code and shorter programs that were interpreted line-by-line. The latter were called scripts — borrowing the theatrical sense: written instructions executed in sequence, not compiled in advance. A script, like a play's dialogue, runs as it is read.
Shell scripts for Unix emerged in the 1970s. Perl, Python, JavaScript, and Ruby were later called scripting languages. The distinction between 'program' and 'script' blurred as scripting languages became more powerful, but the theatrical metaphor stuck: a script tells the computer what to say, in what order, under what conditions.
Today 'script' also names a social pattern — to follow a cultural script, to behave as expected. The computing sense and the social sense share the theatrical origin: both describe pre-written instructions for performance. When we say someone is 'following a script,' we mean they are doing what they were written to do.
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Today
The theatrical script and the computer script share the same essential nature: pre-written instructions for a performer to execute in sequence. The actor follows the script; the interpreter executes it.
Scribere — to scratch marks — gave Latin its word for writing. Every program, every scripture, every prescription follows from that scratching. The computer merely scratches faster.
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