Scripture

The term scripture – derived from "scriptura" (Latin) – meant "writings [manuscripts] in general" prior to the medieval era, then became "reserved to denote the texts of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible". It refers to a text "having [religious] authority and often collected into an accepted canon or canonical". The term "canon" is derived from the Greek word "kανών", "a cane used as a measuring instrument".