stenographer

Or ste·nog·ra·phist

[stuh-nog-ruh-fer]

noun

1. a person who specializes in taking dictation in shorthand.

stenographer

/ stəˈnɒɡrəfə /

noun

1. 1. Brit equivalent: shorthand typist. a person skilled in the use of shorthand and in typing

   2. a peson with these skills whose job it is to record verbatim everything that is said during a court case

Word History and Origins

Origin of stenographer¹

An Americanism dating back to 1790–1800; stenograph + -er ¹

Example Sentences

At best, the White House press corps acts as stenographers, taking down what the administration spits out and regurgitating it for an increasingly misinformed electorate.

Read more on Salon

“Then I started writing. I got my big stack of index cards and sorted through them, and there the characters were. There were their stories. I was basically a stenographer.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He would shake hands with the entire crew if the interview was on camera, and there would often be an embrace for the stenographers busily transcribing his thoughts.

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She spoke so quickly, at least six times during her testimony she was asked to slow down so a court stenographer could keep pace.

Read more on Seattle Times

Rather, it belonged to a woman from Illinois with a versatile résumé that included writing, acting, engineering and working as a stenographer: Lizzie Magie.

Read more on New York Times

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