amanuensis
Americannoun
-
amanuenses
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of amanuensis
1610–20; < Latin ( servus ) āmanuēnsis, equivalent to ā- a- 4 + manu-, stem of manus hand + -ēnsis -ensis
Explanation
An amanuensis is someone who is good at taking notes when someone else is talking, like a stenographer or an administrative assistant. In Latin, the word amanuensis literally means "a servant from the hand." The word generally refers to a person who is skilled at taking dictation. In a courtroom, you might see a stenographer quickly typing up what everyone in the room is saying. A stenographer is an amanuensis. Anyone who can copy or write down what someone else is saying is considered an amanuensis. So if you've ever taken good notes in class, then you're an amanuensis!
Vocabulary lists containing amanuensis
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Song of Solomon
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In “The Fellow,” a talking dog’s insights are lost when his human amanuensis is swept away in a flood.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
She became not only Wiggins’ full-time caregiver but her amanuensis and archivist.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2022
When it comes to John Watson, Holmes’s best friend, amanuensis and sometimes roommate, Holmes criticizes him, deceives him, disappears for years and lets Watson believe him dead.
From New York Times ● Jul. 6, 2022
Dazzled by Kubrick, Vitali largely lost interest in acting and instead became Kubrick’s amanuensis, performing unsung tasks on The Shining, Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 27, 2018
“The sextet of Robert Frobisher. He was an amanuensis for my father, when my father was too old, too blind, too weak to hold a pen.”
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
Further complications ensue when the maestro and the diva fall in love with their amanuenses.
From New York Times ● Jul. 20, 2014
Most of the money he received for the work went to pay his six amanuenses.
From McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader by William Holmes McGuffey
The amanuenses or penmen of the Holy Ghost for the Scriptures were not contemptible or ordinary, but incomparable and extraordinary persons.
From Museum of Antiquity A Description of Ancient Life by T. L. (Thomas Louis) Haines
Mr. Murray's profits would have been greater, though "authors," amanuenses, photographers, paper-makers, West-End booksellers, and other parasitic artisans might have suffered slightly.
From Books and Persons Being Comments on a Past Epoch 1908-1911 by Arnold Bennett
He was nearly blind, and had to teach himself Spanish and look up authorities through the help of others and to write with a noctograph or by amanuenses.
From Brief History of English and American Literature by Henry A. (Henry Augustin) Beers
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
