| Front | amanuensis \uh-man-yoo-EN-sis\ |
|---|---|
| Back | noun One employed to write from dictation or to copy manuscript. [In Latin, the phrase "servus a manu" translates loosely as "slave with secretarial duties." (The noun "manu," meaning "hand," gave us words such as "manuscript," originally meaning a document written or typed by hand.) In the 17th century the second part of this phrase was borrowed into English to create "amanuensis," a word for a person who is employed (willingly) to do the important but sometimes menial work of transcribing the words of another. While other quaint words, such as "scribe" or "scrivener," might have similarly described the functions of such a person in the past, these days we're likely to call him or her a "secretary," or maybe an "administrative assistant." From Latin servus a manu (slave at hand[writing]), from manus (hand). Ultimately from the Indo-European root man- (hand), which also gave us manual, manage, maintain, manicure, maneuver, manufacture, manuscript, command, manque, legerdemain, manumit, and mortmain. Earliest documented use: 1619.] "Strange to say but many writers, Wordsworth and Tennyson included, are averse to the act of writing. Once they have heard the words in their heads, an amanuensis is needed to put them down on paper." - Frances Wilson; The Lady Vanishes; New Statesman (London, UK); Feb 6, 2014. |
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