'inscriptional' originates from Latin, specifically from 'inscriptio' (from the verb 'inscribere'), where the prefix 'in-' meant 'on' and 'scribere' meant 'to write'.

'inscriptio' in Latin passed into Old French as 'inscription' and into Middle English as 'inscription'; the adjective form 'inscriptional' was later formed in English from this noun base.

Initially it meant 'written on' or 'the act of writing on'; over time the sense broadened to denote things 'relating to inscriptions' in general, giving the modern adjectival meaning.