Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
rubric - 7 dictionary results

ru⋅bric

  [roo-brik]
Use rubric in a Sentence
–noun
1. a title, heading, direction, or the like, in a manuscript, book, statute, etc., written or printed in red or otherwise distinguished from the rest of the text.
2. a direction for the conduct of divine service or the administration of the sacraments, inserted in liturgical books.
3. any established mode of conduct or procedure; protocol.
4. an explanatory comment; gloss.
5. a class or category
6. Archaic. red ocher.
–adjective
7. written, inscribed in, or marked with or as with red; rubrical.
8. Archaic. red; ruddy.
Origin:
1325–75; < L rūbrīca red ocher (deriv. of ruber red ); r. ME rubriche, rubrike (n.) < OF
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To rubric
ru·bric   (rōō'brĭk)   
n.  
    1. A class or category: "This mission is sometimes discussed under the rubric of 'horizontal escalation' . . . from conventional to nuclear war" (Jack Beatty).
    2. A title; a name.
  2. A part of a manuscript or book, such as a title, heading, or initial letter, that appears in decorative red lettering or is otherwise distinguished from the rest of the text.
  3. A title or heading of a statute or chapter in a code of law.
  4. Ecclesiastical A direction in a missal, hymnal, or other liturgical book.
  5. An authoritative rule or direction.
  6. A short commentary or explanation covering a broad subject.
  7. Red ocher.
adj.  
  1. Red or reddish.
  2. Written in red.

[Middle English rubrike, heading, title, from Old French rubrique, from Latin rubrīca, red chalk , from ruber, rubr-, red; see reudh- in Indo-European roots.]
ru'bri·cal adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Rubric

Ru"bric\, n. [OE. rubriche, OF. rubriche, F. rubrique ( cf. it. rubrica), fr. L. rubrica red earth for coloring, red chalk, the title of a law (because written in red), fr. ruber red. See red.] That part of any work in the early manuscripts and typography which was colored red, to distinguish it from other portions. Hence, specifically: (a) A titlepage, or part of it, especially that giving the date and place of printing; also, the initial letters, etc., when printed in red. (b) (Law books) The title of a statute; -- so called as being anciently written in red letters. --Bell. (c) (Liturgies) The directions and rules for the conduct of service, formerly written or printed in red; hence, also, an ecclesiastical or episcopal injunction; -- usually in the plural.

All the clergy in England solemnly pledge themselves to observe the rubrics. --Hook. (d) Hence, that which is established or settled, as by authority; a thing definitely settled or fixed. --Cowper.

Nay, as a duty, it had no place or rubric in human conceptions before Christianity. --De Quincey.

Rubric

Ru"bric\, v. t. To adorn ith red; to redden; to rubricate. [R.] --Johnson.

Rubric

Ru"bric\, Rubrical \Ru"bric*al\, a. 1. Colored in, or marked with, red; placed in rubrics.

What though my name stood rubric on the walls Or plaistered posts, with claps, in capitals? --Pope.

2. Of or pertaining to the rubric or rubrics. "Rubrical eccentricities." --C. Kingsley.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source

rubric 
c.1375, "directions in religious services" (often in red writing), from O.Fr. rubrique, from L. rubrica "red ochre, red coloring matter," from ruber, from PIE base *rudhro- (see red).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source

Main Entry: ru·bric
Pronunciation: 'rü-brik
Function: noun
: an established rule, tradition, or custom
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see rubric on Thesaurus | Reference