rubric

• rubrick (obsolete)

From Middle English rubriche, rubrike, from Old French rubrique, from Latin rūbrīca (“red ochre”), the substance used to make red letters, from ruber (“red”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ-.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹuːbɹɪk/

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rubric (plural rubrics)

1. A heading in a book highlighted in red.
2. A title of a category or a class.

   That would fall under the rubric of things we can ignore for now.

   • 2008, Chris Dodd, Senator Dodd Speaks in Opposition to FISA Bill on Floor of U.S. Senate:

     And in one swoop, the Attorney General conceded to the president nearly unlimited power, just as long as he finds a lawyer willing to stuff his actions into the boundless rubric of “defending the country.”

3. (Christianity) The directions for a religious service, formerly printed in red letters.
   • 1842, Walter Hook, Church Dictionary:

     All the clergy in England solemnly pledge themselves to observe the rubrics.

4. An established rule or custom; a guideline.

   Whilst this rubric is not written into law, it should always be followed.

   • 1847-1848, Thomas De Quincey, "Protestantism", in Tait's Edinburgh Magazine

     Nay, as a duty, it had no place or rubric in human conceptions before Christianity.

   • 1782, William Cowper, “Progress of Error”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC:

     Let Comus rise Archbishop of the land;
     Let him your rubric and your feasts prescribe

5. A statement of intent.

   The Government's rubric of "caring for communities" is ridiculous.

   • 2025 May 18, Damian Carrington, Giorgio Michalopoulos, Stefano Valentino, “Revealed: European ‘green’ investments hold billions in fossil fuel majors”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     “It is diabolical for banks and asset managers to invest billions in major fossil fuel companies under the rubric of ‘green investing’ when we need to accelerate investments in non- and low-carbon energy, in carbon efficiency, and in carbon removal technologies,” said Richard Heede at the Climate Accountability Institute.

     (Can we archive this URL?)

6. (education) A set of explanatory notes or rules at the beginning of an exam paper, usually typographically distinct from the rest of the paper.

   Do not award marks to candidates who have made rubric errors.

   • 1985, Asa Briggs, Serious Pursuits: Communications and Education (The Collected Essays of Asa Briggs), volume 3, Harvester Press, page 364:

     In the first prospectus the rubric on this paper began 'Historical sources and materials and how the historian uses them […] '

7. (education) A set of scoring criteria for evaluating student work and for giving feedback.

   We refer to the rubric when marking oral examinations.

8. A flourish after a signature.
9. Red ochre.

• (flourish after signature): paraph
• See also Thesaurus:class

• rubricism

• rubricate
• rubicund

rubric (comparative more rubric, superlative most rubric)

1. Coloured or marked with red; placed in .
   • 1735 January 13 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1734), [Alexander] Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot, London: […] J[ohn] Wright for Lawton Gilliver […], →OCLC, page 11, lines 210–211:

     VVhat tho' my Name ſtood rubric on the vvalls? / Or plaiſter'd poſts, vvith Claps in capitals?

2. Of or relating to the rubric or rubrics; rubrical.

rubric (third-person singular simple present rubrics, present participle rubricking, simple past and past participle rubricked)

1. (transitive) To adorn with red; to redden.
   • 1681, Paul Rycaut, The Critick, translation of original by Lorenzo Gracián:

     That Cavalier who Rubricks his Executions with the Bloud he hath drawn by the instrument of Extortion from the Poor.

2. (transitive) To organize or classify into rubrics.

• “rubric”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “rubric”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.