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scrivener

SKRIV-uh-ner · noun

LatinVulgar LatinOld FrenchAnglo-NormanMiddle EnglishEnglish

Origin

Scrivener comes from Middle English scryvener, an alteration of scryveyn, itself from Anglo-Norman scrivein, meaning a professional penman or copyist. That traces back through Old French escrivain to Vulgar Latin *scriba/*scribanem, and ultimately to Latin scriba, from scrībō, meaning "to write."

Journey

The word entered English already meaning a professional writer or copyist, and that core sense of someone paid to write things down has stayed remarkably stable through its shift from Anglo-Norman into Middle English.

Related words

It shares its Latin root scrībō with any word built on the idea of writing, since scriba ("writer") sits at the base of this whole word family.

More words

From Vulgar Latin

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