RUBRIC

(Lat. ruber, red.) In the language of the old copies of manuscripts, and of modern printers, any writing or printing in red ink. The date and place on a title page being frequently in red ink, the word rubric has come to signify the false name of a place on a title page. Many books printed at Paris bear the rubric of (leno a, London, . But the most common use of the word is in ecclesiastical matters. In MS. Mi als, the directions prefixed to the several prayers and offices were written or printed in red ink; sind hence, the rubric familiarly signifies the order of the liturgy, in Roman Catholic countries as well as m England. [s. 1083]