proscribev.

Etymology: < classical Latin prōscrībere to announce publicly in writing, to record in writing, to offer for sale in writing, to ‘post’ a person as condemned to confiscation or outlawry (see below) < prō- pro- prefix¹ + scrībere to write (see script n.¹). Compare Middle French, French proscrire to take measures against (someone) in a time of civil disturbance, especially to banish (late 12th cent. in Old French), to put (someone) beyond the protection of the law without legal process (c1442–4), to condemn (someone) to death without legal process by publishing the person's name in a notice (1549), to ban (a word, a usage, etc.) (1680), Italian proscrivere (a1375). Compare prescribe v. and discussion at that entry. Compare earlier proscript adj.In ancient Rome proscription consisted in the publication of the names of citizens who were declared outlaws and their goods confiscated. Under the dictatorship of Sulla (82–80 b.c.) over 500 citizens were proscribed in this way (a further proscription was declared under the Triumvirate in 43 b.c.). Such people could then be killed with impunity and were in fact often hunted down and executed. In Older Scots (and also in archaic use in the 19th cent.) a parallel form proscrive is occasionally attested ( < Middle French proscriv- , stem of proscrire ; compare prescrive v.).