An official written reply or response, especially from a ruler or authority to a petition or inquiry. A formal written decree or edict issued in response to a request.
From Latin rescriptum, past participle of rescribere, combining re- (back, again) + scribere (to write). Originally meant 'to write back' in response to correspondence. The term entered English in the 16th century through legal and administrative contexts, maintaining its sense of official written replies.
A 'rescript' is literally 'written back' - the original reply letter! Roman emperors would write rescripts in response to legal questions, creating a back-and-forth of scribere. This word shows how writing has always been conversational, even in official contexts, connecting to 'postscript' (written after) in the family of responsive writing.
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