Product Code Database
A rubric is a word or section of text that is traditionally written or printed in red ink for emphasis. The word derives from the Latin rubrica, meaning red ochre or red chalk,OED meaning 1a. and originates in medieval illuminated manuscripts from the 13th century or earlier. In these, red letters were used to highlight initial capitals (particularly of psalms), section headings and names of religious significance, a practice known as rubrication, which was a separate stage in the production of a manuscript.
Rubric can also mean the red ink or paint used to make rubrics, or the pigment used to make it.OED meaning 1b Although red was most often used, other colours came into use from the late Middle Ages onwards, and the word rubric was used for these also. Medievalists can use patterns of rubrication to help identify textual traditions.
Various figurative senses of the word have been extended from its original meaning. Usually these senses are used within the set phrase "under whatever rubric", for example, "under this rubric, X", or "X under the rubric of Y". Such senses include: "an authoritative rule"; "the title of a statute"; Categorization; "an explanatory or introductory commentary"; "an established rule, tradition, or custom"; or "a guide listing specific criteria for grading or scoring academic assignments".
In modern liturgical practice, rubrics provide for the active participation of the congregation as well as the actions of the minister.Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, paragraph 31, published on 4 December 1963, accessed on 12 June 2025 In liturgical books such as the Catholic Roman Missal, lengthy general rubrics, probably printed in black, pertain to such matters and preface the actual order of liturgies, which contain shorter, specific rubrics that still are usually rubricated. Red is also often used to distinguish words spoken by the celebrant and those by the congregation, or by other specific persons involved in the liturgy, e.g., those marrying.
William Morris's medievally inspired typography for the Kelmscott Press at the end of the 19th century included chapter titles and other accents in red, or rarely blue, ink, and was influential on small press art typography associated with the Arts and Crafts movement in both England and the United States, particularly the work of the Ashendene Press, Doves Press, and Roycroft Presses.Parry, Linda (1995). William Morris. New York: Harry Abrams. .Naylor, Gillian (2003). "The Things That Might Be: British Design after Morris". In Diane Waggoner, ed. The Beauty of Life: William Morris & the Art of Design. New York: Thames and Hudson. . pp. 122–124.
Around 1900, rubrication was incorporated into a red letter edition of the King James Version of the Bible to distinguish the Dominical words, i.e., those spoken by Jesus Christ during his corporeal life on Earth, because that translation lacked quotation marks. Other versions of the Bible have since adopted the popular practice.
|
|
