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script

script

noun

the letters or characters used in writing by hand; handwriting, especially cursive writing.
Script.

Script.

abbreviation

Scriptural.

¹ American

[skript] / skrɪpt /

noun

scripts
plural

the letters or characters used in writing by hand; handwriting, especially cursive writing.
a manuscript or document.
the text of a manuscript or document.
the manuscript or one of various copies of the written text of a play, motion picture, or radio or television broadcast.
any system of writing.
Printing. a type imitating handwriting.
Digital Technology. an executable section of code that automates a task.

You will have to run the script to install the program on your computer.

verb (used with object)

scripts,
present (3rd person singular)
scripted,
past participle, past
scripting
present participle

to write a script for.

The movie was scripted by a famous author.
to plan or devise; make arrangements for.

The week-long festivities were scripted by a team of experts.
Digital Technology. to write an executable section of code for (a program) in order to automate a task.

You can script a program that will scan your files.

verb (used without object)

scripts,
present (3rd person singular)
scripted,
past participle, past
scripting
present participle

Digital Technology. to write an executable section of code that automates a task.

Most programmers script in more than one programming language.

Script. ² American

abbreviation

Scriptural.
Scripture.

script British

/ skrɪpt /

noun

handwriting as distinguished from print, esp cursive writing
the letters, characters, or figures used in writing by hand
any system or style of writing
written copy for the use of performers in films and plays
law
1. an original or principal document
2. (esp in England) a will or codicil or the draft for one
any of various typefaces that imitate handwriting
computing a series of instructions that is executed by a computer program
an answer paper in an examination
another word for scrip 3

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

(tr) to write a script for

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

scripts

plural

Conjugated Forms

Etymology

Origin of script

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English (noun), from Latin scriptum, noun use of neuter past participle of scrībere “to write”; replacing Middle English scrit, from Old French escrit, from Latin, as above; (verb) first recorded in 1930–35; from the noun.

Explanation

A script is a written version of a play or movie. If you're auditioning for a movie, you'll get the script to practice a scene or two. Script comes from the Latin scrībĕre, meaning "to write," and all its meanings have to do with something written. Your handwriting is your script. The written version of what you're supposed to say, whether for a wedding toast or a play, is a script. And if you were feeling old-fashioned you could call the grocery list you just wrote a script. It's also a verb. You can script a play.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing script

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

script Script. scripts scripted scripting

The UFO script has varied little in the decades since: lights in the sky, claims of a coverup and a recurring lack of evidence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

The executive overseeing production, John Calley, never even read the script, Mr. Boorman believes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

He’s interested in a script he was recently sent that’s set in Africa and is “about how we’re punishing the planet.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

The recently unearthed archive included a script for that proposed third and final film, Wrath of the Gods, as well as details of how their father had come up with the idea.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

The school crest: gold, crossed swords, and the script Non Nobis Solum are on the jacket back.

From "Black Brother, Black Brother" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

It is included in Pelzel and Dobrowsky, Script. rer.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 4 "Coquelin" to "Costume" by Various

The latter has been reprinted in the Script. rer.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 1 "Gichtel, Johann" to "Glory" by Various

As such he is also mentioned in Script. rer.

From Teutonic Mythology, Vol. 1 of 3 Gods and Goddesses of the Northland by Ph.D.

Script., published in 1548, during Barclay's life time, adorns him with the epithets "Scotus, rhetor ac poeta insignis."

From The Ship of Fools, Volume 1 by Alexander Barclay

"I still think in my muscle memory I'm gearing up for filming again and just waiting for the scripts," she says.

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026

Earnings-call word choice is rarely accidental—whether it’s Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan quietly sliding obscure SAT words into scripts or retail leaders sending signals to anyone who’s listening.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

Chandler’s the type of actor who still appreciates being sent physical copies of scripts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

The man inside the bin is the comedian Jon Harvey, an Oxford graduate who has specialised in satire, writing scripts for BBC comedy shows The Thick of It and Have I Got News For You.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

Patrice, Amy, and Hena finalized scripts, and we’ve been interviewing students every day at lunch.

From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh

But Ossoff, who’s running for reelection in a swing state that Trump won twice, is a deliberate and relentlessly on-message communicator—sometimes to the point of looking and sounding a little scripted.

From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026

They recently released a documentary about Girl Scouts and they have a scripted series in the works set in the exclusive world of polo teams, to be produced by the makers of Gossip Girl.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

Multicam sitcoms are produced differently than other scripted TV shows.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

Much of the current humanoid hype reflects scripted demos, human-controlled teleoperation, or task-specific automation, rather than real general-purpose autonomy, they note.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

The throng of reporters, mostly Japanese, wanted a neatly scripted version of the calamity, replete with villains and heroes.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers were a few weeks into scripting their upcoming awards show when it hit them: They’d forgotten about the Coldplay kiss-cam couple.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026

"As a result of customer feedback, we recently removed this particular scripting."

From Barron's ● Feb. 27, 2026

Today, people use it for literally everything — from planning their trips around the globe and debugging code to creating dinner recipes, scripting social media posts and customizing cover letters.

From Salon ● Jan. 26, 2025

“If you’re an engineer, here’s the scripting that I did on GitHub,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 17, 2024

Although the conference was supposed to focus on Perl, a scripting language created by Unix hacker Larry Wall, O'Reilly assured Raymond that the conference would address other free software technologies.

From Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software by Sam Williams

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023