Where does “scrivener” come from?
Scrivener comes from Middle English scryvener, from Middle English scryveyn, from Anglo-Norman scrivein, from Old French escrivain, from Vulgar Latin scribanem, from Latin scriba meaning scribe, ultimately from Latin scribo meaning to write.
scrivener (English): A professional writer; one whose occupation is to...
Definitions
- A professional writer; one whose occupation is to...
Ancestry of “scrivener”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | scryvener | — |
| 2 | Anglo-Norman | scrivein | professional penman, copyist |
| 3 | Old French | escrivain | writer |
| 4 | Vulgar Latin | scriba | — |
| 5 | Latin | scriba | writer, scribe, secretary, clerk |
| 6 | Latin | -a | suffixed to the roots of verbs, forms agent... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -ā | Forms masculine agent nouns from prefixed or compounded bases |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -éh₂ | — |