Word.ws English Dictionary

rescript

/ˈɹiːskɹɪpt/

rescript noun: a copy, or act of rewriting something; a rewrite.

Noun

rescript (plural rescripts)

  1. (obsolete) A copy, or act of rewriting something; a rewrite.
  2. An epistle from the pope responding to some specific question of canon law or morality; a papal decision on a question of doctrine.
    • [R]escripts […] apply only to special circumstances or individuals, and constitute no general precedent. But this nomenclature is not strictly observed.1878, "Decretals" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. VII, p. 22
  3. (Ancient-Rome) A statement issued by an emperor which sets out legal guidance on some matter, especially in response to a formal request from a magistrate or similar.
    • "'In order that the people may know of my decision, I request you to prepare at once an imperial rescript that I may broadcast to the nation.'"1985, Ronald H. Spector, Eagle Against the Sun
  4. Any official edict or announcement.
    • MacCann began to speak with fluent energy of the Tsar’s rescript, of Stead, of general disarmament, arbitration in cases of international disputes, of the signs of the times, of the new humanity and the new gospel of life […].1916, James Joyce, chapter V, in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, New York, N.Y.: B[enjamin] W. Huebsch, →OCLC
  5. (obsolete, rare) A duplicate of, or counterpart to, a legal document.

Verb

rescript (third-person singular simple present rescripts, present participle rescripting, simple past and past participle rescripted)

  1. (transitive) To script again or anew.
    • We're rescripting some popular British TV shows for an American audience.

Forms of rescript

Noun
pluralrescripts
Verb
third-person singular presentrescripts
present participlerescripting
past participlerescripted
pastrescripted

Origin of rescript

From Latin rescriptum (“written reply”).

Words formed from rescript

Questions about rescript

What does rescript mean?
Rescript means a copy, or act of rewriting something; a rewrite.
What part of speech is rescript?
Rescript can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce rescript?
Rescript is pronounced /ˈɹiːskɹɪpt/.
What is the plural of rescript?
The plural of rescript is rescripts.

Words near rescript in the dictionary

  1. rescribe
  2. rescribed
  3. rescribendaries
  4. rescribendary
  5. rescribing
  6. rescript
  7. rescripted
  8. rescripting
  9. rescription
  10. rescriptions
  11. rescriptive

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: rescript (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-rescript.wav, En-us-rescript.oga.

Cite this entry: “rescript.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/rescript. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.