amanuensis
Americannoun
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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David Copperfield
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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
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
And though the two men are friends Lucas couldn’t have picked a better amanuensis than Abrams, who honors his heroes but doesn’t have it in him to drive a light sabre through their hearts.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 4, 2016
Her career was wobbly by then, but for much of the time before her death in 1975, Mr. Baker supported her, serving as manager, companion and amanuensis.
From New York Times ● Jan. 15, 2015
So Corinthians was almost on her way to becoming an amanuensis after all.
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
Further complications ensue when the maestro and the diva fall in love with their amanuenses.
From New York Times ● Jul. 20, 2014
God is made known to man especially by the Scriptures, whose writers were “sure and authentic amanuenses of the Holy Spirit.”
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 1 "Calhoun" to "Camoens" by Various
The garret, with its slanting roof, in which his amanuenses worked, and his own study are still to be been.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 312, December 24, 1881 by Various
Thirty amanuenses had been employed in copying MSS. and illuminating them by the finest art.
From Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 1 by Disraeli, Isaac
They were all in his own handwriting or in that of his amanuenses.
From A History of English Romanticism in the Eighteenth Century by Beers, Henry A. (Henry Augustin)
Definitions 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.
