proscribe
to forbid officially
Roots
- pro-: forward, forth, outward, or in favor of
- scrib / script: write, draw, or mark
Other words with the scrib / script root
- ascribe: to attribute something to a cause or source
- circumscribe: to limit or draw around
- describe: to say or write what something is like
- inscribe: to write or carve onto something
- inscription: words written or carved onto a surface
- manuscript: a handwritten or typed draft of a text
- prescribe: to officially recommend or order
Proscribe is official writing with force: a rule writes something out as forbidden.
The new code proscribed gifts from vendors.
Proscribe is easy to confuse with prescribe. Prescribe tells what should be done; proscribe forbids what must not be done. Both belong with writing and official instruction, but they point in opposite directions.