English

Noun

scriptorium ‎(plural scriptoria or scriptoriums)

1. (countable) A room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts and records, especially such a room in a monastery.
   • 1907, G. Roger Huddleston, "Scriptorium" in The Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13

     The rules of the scriptorium varied in different monasteries, but artificial light was forbidden for fear of injury to the manuscripts, and silence was always enforced.

   • 2008, James Ronald Royse, Scribal Habits in Early Greek New Testament Papyri, chapter 7, page 499

     Nevertheless, Aland criticized Martin's suggestion that the codex was the product of the scriptorium attached to a monastery,⁵³⁶ on the grounds that there is no evidence for the existence of monasteries in the year 200, or for the existence of scriptoria at all connected with the Church at that early date.

   • 2009, Fred S. Kleiner, Gardner's Art Through the Ages: The Western Perspective, 13th edition, volume 1, page 289

     Among the earliest Hiberno-Saxon illuminated manuscripts is the Book of Durrow, a Gospel book that may have been written and decorated in the monastic scriptorium at Iona, although its provenance is not documented.

Related terms

• scribe
• script

Translations

French

Etymology

See English scriptorium.

Noun

scriptorium m ‎(plural scriptoria)

1. a scriptorium

Latin

Adjective

scriptōrium

1. nominative neuter singular of scriptōrius
2. accusative masculine singular of scriptōrius
3. accusative neuter singular of scriptōrius
4. vocative neuter singular of scriptōrius

References

• SCRIPTORIUM in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)