Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A professional copyist; a scribe: "Gutenberg's invention of movable type . . . took words out of the sole possession of monastic scriveners and placed them before the wider public” ( Irvin Molotsky).
- n. A notary.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A writer: especially, a public writer; a notary; specifically, one whose occupation is the drawing of contracts or other writings.
- n. One whose business it is to receive money and place it out at interest, and supply those who want to raise money on security; a money-broker; a financial agent.
Wiktionary
- n. A professional writer; one whose occupation is to draw contracts or prepare writings.
- n. obsolete One whose business is to place money at interest; a broker.
- n. A writing master.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A professional writer; one whose occupation is to draw contracts or prepare writings.
- n. obsolete One whose business is to place money at interest; a broker.
- n. Prov. Eng. A writing master.
WordNet 3.0
- n. someone employed to make written copies of documents and manuscripts
Etymologies
- Middle English scriveiner, from scrivein, from Old French escrivein, from Vulgar Latin *scrība, scrībān-, from Latin scrība, scribe; see scribe. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Yesterday's term was scrivener, which is defined as:”
“A scrivener is a public copyist, but that noun has fallen into disuse except among notaries public; a scribe, once “a copyist of biblical texts,” is now used jocularly to mean “journalist,” and a scribbler is a put-down of a writer.”
“John Milton was the son of a London scrivener, that is, a kind of lawyer.”
“He was by business what was then called a scrivener, a term which has received judicial interpretation, and imported a person who arranged loans on mortgage, receiving a commission for so doing.”
“A scrivener was a kind of cross between an attorney and a law stationer, whose principal business was the preparation of deeds, “to be well and truly done after my learning, skill, and science,” and with due regard to the interests of more exalted personages.”
“A scrivener was a kind of cross between an attorney and a law stationer, whose principal business was the preparation of deeds, "to be well and truly done after my learning, skill, and science," and with due regard to the interests of more exalted personages.”
“What I saw that morning persuaded me that the scrivener was the victim of innate and incurable disorder.”
“I saw that morning persuaded me that the scrivener was the victim of innate and incurable disorder.”
“a scrivener, that is, as something like a modern solicitor, and prospered so much that by 1632 he was able to retire and live in the country.”
“Originally the word scribe meant "scrivener"; but rapidly it was accepted as a matter of course that the scribe who copies the Law knows the Law best, and is its most qualified expounder: accordingly the word came to mean more than it implies etymologically.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘scrivener’.
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250 Cherry-Picked Words
Juicy words for the intermediate and advanced speller
consomme, miniaceous, nankeen, smaragdine, stramineous, vitellary, allemande, beguine, bransle, charabanc, margaritaceous, chaconne and 238 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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Resonant words
conflagration, cascando, fianchetto, incarnadine, oubliette, colophon, hegemony, omertà, cavalier, scrivener, armistice, pastiche
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Trusty Assistants
right-hand man, amanuensis, moonshee, man Friday, PDA, famulus, aide, lieutenant, deputy, Man Friday, girl Friday, reading-boy and 25 more...
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Metawords
Talking about talking, writing about writing, etc.
epizeuxis, tautological, aptote, bibliophagist, parataxis, scriptorium, aposiopesis, variorum, chantefable, boustrophedon, psellism, adoxography and 51 more...
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career advisor
interesting -ologies, vocations, etc.
Please cite your chosen career if it doesn't have a weirdnet entry.vexillology, eschatology, pomology, phrenology, astacology, balneology, dactology, mycology, selenology, rhinology, hippology, somnology and 43 more...
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words found to be generally pleasing
alabaster, mahogany, camphor, coalesce, spire, portmanteau, gadabout, palaver, dolor, dour, dun, luminesce and 610 more...
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Sound or sequence
dulcimer, borborygmi, ecchymosis, scrivener, fustilugs, zarf, bawdyhouse, googleable, archfiend, gymkhana, cuckoopint, pilpul and 104 more...
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tomax's Words
legerdemain, yayo, extravasation, wont, faze, coxswain, concomitant, enclave, unguent, rhabdomyolysis, effluent, puerile and 432 more...
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Writer, Writer!
columnist, contributor, novelist, poet, wordsmith, stringer, freelancer, ghostwriter, journalist, correspondent, essayist, speechwriter and 99 more...
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noble mythical words
halcyon, yore, chevalier, geas, dour, clarion, codex, selkie, mythic, rime, hoarfrost, eldritch and 112 more...
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The Collection
A somewhat discriminatory list of words and phrases collected for their euphonic or arcane appeal, interesting etymology, or concise definition of an otherwise unnamed phenomenon or concept.
ziggurat, neophilia, sucker punch, soporific, epoch, tundra, fiat, idiotproof, miscellany, metaphysics, cryptozoology, dysphoria and 850 more...
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the omnibus
preponderance, idioglossia, acumen, heteronym, flux, anacoluthon, metonymy, impetus, constellation, exegesis, revelatory, cloistered and 877 more...
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stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
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Defunct professions
Economists like to cite "buggy whip maker" as an example of a profession whose career prospects were dimmed, and ultimately quenched, by the inexorable march of technological progress. This is a li...
buggy whip maker, guillemot egg col..., bog iron hunter, nettle string maker, fuller, purple maker, tanner, gut girl, reddleman, wont catcher, navvy, ratcatcher and 239 more...
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✖ LOCUTIONS
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lambda, coital, HUGO, fuggedaboutit, altrap, Hieroglyphics, Synergy, incarceration, Ethos, Devadasi, distraught, Patrician and 254 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for scrivener.
Ido Berger http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerical_error Jun 26, 2010
reesetee I would prefer not to. May 24, 2010
milosrdenstvi When I grow up I want to work in the dead letter office. May 24, 2010
milosrdenstvi Bartleby!! May 24, 2010
madmouth "...
But in our amours amorists discern
Such fluctuations that their scrivening
Is breathless to attend each quirky turn
..."
-Wallace Stevens, fr. Monocle de Mon Oncle May 24, 2010
reesetee Haha! Good one, c_b!
Actually, we're referring to Bartleby the Scrivener's favorite response to being asked to do work: "I would prefer not to." You can read the story here. :-) Apr 15, 2008
sionnach Hint: Half a wine cooler. Apr 14, 2008
chained_bear Scrivener? I barely know her!
Is that the sentence you're referring to? Otherwise, I'm lost. Apr 14, 2008
sionnach The updated version I found most useful was to fix my boss with a piercing, slightly incredulous, stare and then ask: "Do you really think that would be the best use of my skillset?". Over the years, I estimated about a 90% success rate; though I was careful not to overuse it. Apr 14, 2008
reesetee A useful sentence; wouldn't you agree? Apr 14, 2008
sionnach Damn! reesetee beat me to it. Apr 14, 2008
reesetee I prefer not. Feb 24, 2007