amanuensis

From Latin āmanuēnsis (“secretary”), from ab- (“from, off (of)”) +‎ manus (“hand”) +‎ -ensis (“of or from (a place)”), early 17th c.

• IPA^(key): /əˌmænjuˈɛnsɪs/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• enPR: ə-măn'yo͞o-ĕnʹsĭs

• Audio (US)

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• Hyphenation: a‧man‧u‧en‧sis

amanuensis (plural amanuenses)

1. One employed to take dictation, or copy manuscripts.
   • 1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], “(please specify the page)”, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 296-297:

     As pay was Lady Anne's object, and poor Georgiana was intended to be the amanuensis, should she be found capable of forming sentences out of disjointed hints, and of wrapping foul facts in clean composition.

2. A clerk, secretary or stenographer, or scribe.
   • 1827, John Colin Dunlop, History of Roman Literature from its Earliest Period to the Augustan Age‎, volume II:

     In consequence of this fashion of authors dictating their works, expedition came to be considered of the utmost importance; it was regarded as the chief accomplishment of an amanuensis; and he alone was considered as perfect in his art, whose pen could equal the rapidity of utterance: […]

   • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 12:

     “ […] We are engaged in a great work, a treatise on our river fortifications, perhaps? But since when did army officers afford the luxury of amanuenses in this simple republic? […]”

   • 1974, John Gardner, “The Warden”, in The King's Indian:

     I, his mere amanuensis, am left to do what little I can to keep the institution functioning.

• Gamble, Harry Y. “Amanuensis.” Anchor Bible Dictionary. Vol. 1. Ed. David Noel Freedman. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
• Longenecker, Richard N. “Ancient Amanuenses and the Pauline Epistles.” New Dimensions in New Testament Study. Eds. Richard N. Longenecker and Merrill C. Tenney. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1974. 281-97. idem, “On the Form, Function, and Authority of the New Testament Letters.” Scripture and Truth. Eds. D.A. Carson and John D. Woodbridge. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1983. 101-14.

• amanuensis on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “amanuensis”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “amanuensis”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

From Latin āmanuēnsis (“secretary”), from ab- (“from, off (of)”) +‎ manus (“hand”) +‎ -ensis (“of or from (a place)”).

• IPA^(key): [amanuˈɛnsis]

amanuensis c (singular definite amanuensen or amanuensissen, plural indefinite amanuenser)

1. A teacher at an institute of higher education with a time-limited position (usually three years).
2. An assistant with a scientific education, e.g. to a doctor in private practice.

• “amanuensis” in Den Danske Ordbog

From ab- +‎ manus (“hand”) +‎ -ēnsis.

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /aː.ma.nuˈen.sis/, [äːmänuˈẽːs̠ɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /a.ma.nuˈen.sis/, [ämänuˈɛnsis]

āmanuēnsis m (genitive āmanuēnsis); third declension

1. secretary, clerk

Originally used for a slave at his master's personal service 'within hand reach', performing any command. Later, it was specifically applied to intimately trusted servants (also many freedmen) acting as a personal secretary.

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

• Catalan: amanuense
• English: amanuensis
• Italian: amanuense
• Portuguese: amanuense
• Spanish: amanuense

• “amanuensis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “amanuensis”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “amanuensis”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin