c.1400, "piece of writing at the end of a document," from Middle French subscription, from Latin subscriptionem (nominative subscriptio) "anything written underneath, a signature," noun of action from past participle stem of subscribere (see subscribe for etymology and sense development).
subscription sub·scrip·tion (səb-skrĭp'shən)
n.
The part of a prescription giving the directions to the pharmacist.