Rubrication

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of adding red lettering or decoration to a manuscript or document to emphasize or beautify the text
2. Applying red ink to certain parts of a text, often for headings or important details, to make them stand out visually
3. The art of highlighting or decorating text by inserting red coloring, traditionally in handwritten or printed works

Etymology: Medieval scribes marked up manuscripts in red ink, and the practice gave English a word that is simply a red-ink word at heart. "Rubric" comes from Latin "rubrica", meaning red earth or red ochre, from "ruber", red. Red ochre was the pigment used to mark headings, initial letters and instructions in books, so a rubric came to mean a rubrical direction or heading, and the Latin root stayed behind in the colour. The noun "rubrication" is simply rubric with the suffix "-ation", which forms nouns of action from verbs and stems, here meaning the act of marking something in red. The colour sense of the word is still visible in the ink, which is the one thing the word has always been about.

Synonyms: illumination, decoration