subscribe
/səbˈskrʌɪb
/verb
1 [no object] Arrange to receive something, typically a publication, regularly by paying in advance: subscribe to the magazine for twelve months and receive a free limited-edition T-shirt...
- I became curious about More after I received an invitation to subscribe, but it took five trips to drug, grocery and book stores before I located a copy.
- Dr Jones says that it is important to subscribe, as the publications are a definitive source of information on all aspects of perioperative services from individuals with knowledge and experience.
- I added a subscription service, so that people can subscribe and receive new posts by email, instead of having to come to the site to check.
Synonyms
pay a subscription, buy regularly, take, take regularly, read, read regularly, contract to buy;
be a member of, support
1.1Arrange for access to an electronic mailing list or online service: some 40,000 users have subscribed to the service...
- Arguably, it should, but what we find is that whereas say in the United Kingdom and indeed most of the European Union states, there is an organization like ours to which most of the country's Internet service providers are subscribing.
- All interested employees are encouraged to subscribe to the list server; a link to subscribe is provided on the LCCEP Web site.
- So after you have subscribed online, make sure you pass along the word to others via word of mouth or a blog post.
1.2chiefly British Contribute or undertake to contribute a certain sum of money to a fund, project, or cause, typically on a regular basis: he is one of the millions who subscribe to the NSPCC [with object]: he subscribed £400 to the campaign...
- Irda has recommended a regulatory framework for setting up pension funds to enable individuals to subscribe on a defined contribution basis to obtain the benefit of pensions on their retirement.
- When Muslims find that government is providing financial assistance to these madrasahs, they will stop contributing or subscribing.
- They were able to convince a group of wealthy Canadians to subscribe or loan money to their company to produce the film, using the facilities of the OMPB at Trenton.
Synonyms
donate, make a donation, make a subscription, give, give money, make a contribution, pay, pledge;
contribute towards, sponsor, finance, back, subsidize, underwrite
informal chip into, pitch into
North American informal kick in
1.3 [with object] Apply to participate in: the course has been fully subscribed...
- Within weeks of forms going out, the event - run in association with the Yorkshire Professional Golfers' Association - was fully subscribed.
- Meanwhile applications for the Four Villages Half Marathon at Helsby near Chester on Sunday January 18 have closed as the race is fully subscribed.
- This new round has been fully subscribed and the organisers wish to sincerely thank all who have participated.
1.4Apply for or undertake to pay for an issue of shares: they subscribed to the July rights issue at 300p a share [with object]: the issue was fully subscribed...
- And remaining small shareholders are being offered the opportunity to subscribe for shares in the company again, at a discount of 20 per cent to the Davy valuation.
- About 89.3 per cent of existing Hutchison shareholders exercised their options to subscribe for HTIL preference shares.
- There are already investors, mainly Greek companies, willing to subscribe for shares of the new issue.
1.5 [with object] (Of a bookseller) agree before publication to take (a certain number of copies of a book): most of the first print run of 15,000 copies has been subscribed...
- The book was subscribed in NW England, Yorkshire, and London, five shillings to subscribers.
- Most of these began as fully subscribed publications, that is, they were published using the proceeds of prepaid subscriptions gathered to underwrite the substantial publishing costs.
- The issue is to be subscribed through the book building route.
2 [no object] (subscribe to) Express or feel agreement with (an idea or proposal): we prefer to subscribe to an alternative explanation...
- McGrath also subscribes to the idea that good International Rules players ideally consists of the same qualities as a good Gaelic footballer.
- Technorati subscribes to the idea that markets are conversations.
- I'm one of those people who subscribes to the idea that sex as a commodity influences people's attitudes towards each other in a very disappointing way.
Synonyms
agree with, be in agreement with, accede to, consent to, accept, believe in, endorse, back, support, advocate, champion
3 [with object] formal Sign (a will, contract, or other document): he subscribed the will as a witness...
- But the loss of the archives rules out further enquiries, and makes it impossible to estimate how representable was the high level of literacy shown by the laymen who subscribed the private charters in Salerno.
- If you will subscribe the oath then I will attest your signature.
- On the other hand, the charta, subscribed by witnesses, could guarantee the legal validity of its contents and its probatory value.
3.1Sign (one’s name) on a will, contract, or other document: he was ordered to subscribe his name...
- In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Codd, the 11th of November in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James of England, France and Ireland the eighteenth and of Scotland the fifty fourth.
- In sure confidence that God will defend the right we hereto subscribe our names.
3.2 [with complement] (subscribe oneself) archaic Sign oneself as: he ventured still to subscribe himself her most obedient servant
Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense 'sign at the bottom of a document'): from Latin subscribere, from sub- 'under' + scribere 'write'.
underwrite from Late Middle English:
This is first recorded in the literal sense ‘sign at the bottom of a document’, what an insurer would do at the bottom or end of an insurance document. Nowadays the important thing is that they are guaranteeing to pay a certain sum if something is damaged or lost. In business contexts like these, underwrite was probably a direct translation of Latin subscribere ‘to write underneath’, the source of subscribe (Late Middle English), which people originally used in the same way.