inscribe

To inscribe means to write in a permanent way for example by carving. When someone tells you that they’re going to inscribe your name somewhere, be sure they get the spelling right because it’s going to be there a long time.

You can play with the grammar of inscribe a little to emphasize what you like. For instance, you can inscribe a stone with words or, to rephrase, you can inscribe words onto the stone. When an author autographs a book — and possibly writes a personal message there too — he or she inscribes it. In geometry, you inscribe a triangle within a circle when the triangle fits neatly inside the circle with its three points just touching the perimeter.