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subscription

1. The act of subscribing.

2. That which is subscribed. Specifically: A paper to which a signature is attached.

The signature attached to a paper.

Consent or attestation by underwriting the name.

sum subscribed; amount of sums subscribed; as, an individual subscription to a fund.

3., formal assent to the Thirty-nine articles and the book of Common Prayer, required before ordination.

4. Submission; obedience. You owe me no subscription. (Shak)

5. (Science: pharmacology) That part of a prescription which contains the direction to the apothecary. 6.

A method of purchasing items produced periodically in a series, as newspapers or magazines, in which a certain number of the items are delivered as produced, without need for ordering each item individually; also, the purchase thus executed.

The right to attend a series of public performances of ballet, opera, or music are also often sold by subscription. The payment for a subscription may be made prior to delivery of any items (common with magazines and performances), or after a certain number of the items have been delivered (common with newspapers or works of art produced in a series). 7. An application to purchase a certain number of securities to be delivered when they are newly issued.

Origin: L. Subscriptio: cf. F. Souscription.