superscription

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)Something written (or engraved) on the surface, outside, or above something else; specifically, an address on a letter, envelope, etc.

   “Hovv counterfeit a coin they are vvho friends / Bear in their Superſcription (of the moſt / I vvould be underſtood) in proſperous days / They ſvvarm, but in adverſe vvithdravv their head / Not to be found, though ſought.”

   “"Dear me, Mr. Holmes. Dear me!" said this singular epistle. There was neither superscription nor signature. I laughed at the quaint message; but Holmes showed unwonted seriousness.”

   “Its superscription was my name, and the name of the sender, my mother.”

   “Schwartz glanced at the printed superscription on the envelope and grumbled as he put the envelope away in his overcoat pocket, to read at leisure.”

2. (countable, uncountable)An editorial addition at the beginning, often indicating the authorship of a piece.

   “1911, Encyclopædia Britannica By a pure error, or perhaps through a confusion in the traditions, Achish the Philistine (of Gath, 1 Sam. xxi., xxvii.), to whom David fled, is called Abimelech in the superscription to Psalm 34.”

3. (countable, uncountable)The act of superscribing.