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Definition of "scrivener" [scrive•ner]

  • 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). (noun)
  • A notary. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "scrivener" in a sentence
  • "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."