Talk:Amanuensis

Classical Greece and Rome Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Classical Greece and Rome, a group of contributors interested in Wikipedia's articles on classics. If you would like to join the WikiProject or learn how to contribute, please see our project page. If you need assistance from a classicist, please see our talk page.Classical Greece and RomeWikipedia:WikiProject Classical Greece and RomeTemplate:WikiProject Classical Greece and RomeClassical Greece and Rome articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Writing Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Writing, a WikiProject interested in improving Wikipedia's coverage of content related to the fields of rhetoric, composition, technical communication, literacy, and language studies.WritingWikipedia:WikiProject WritingTemplate:WikiProject WritingWriting articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Latin Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Latin, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Latin on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.LatinWikipedia:WikiProject LatinTemplate:WikiProject LatinLatin articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the importance scale.

Not a Dictionary

This seems to me to violate Wikipedia:Wikipedia is not a dictionary, as it's merely an extended dictionary definition including etymology. It's about the word, rather than about the subject, as there is probably little to say about the subjects which isn't already covered in Scribe or Secretary. Should perhaps be redirected elsewhere. --Xyzzyplugh 15:35, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I agree —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.185.151.205 (talk) 02:24, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. This doesn't belong here. --Bejnar (talk) 21:48, 4 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

On the contrary, I was edified by reading this, and I think it should stay. More to the point, this page has developed sufficiently that it differs from a dictionary entry both in content and treatment. Pigkeeper (talk) 08:35, 21 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]

This does make a good encyclopedia article. But I have a problem with the mention of the word "evangelista", in the picture caption "A Mexican evangelista, or letter-writer". Wiktionary defines this word to mean evangelist or preacher, but not scribe or copyist. Could this Spanish word be the wrong one used here? RickRiffel2020 (talk) 07:36, 16 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

wikt:evangelista seems to be incomplete, the Spanish entry links to https://dle.rae.es/evangelista, which lists letter writer as a meaning in Mexican Spanish. TSventon (talk) 08:34, 2 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Not a monk?

I don't know in english but in italian the word "Amanuense" is strongly related with who copied the books inside the monasteries (see Scriptorium). In the English page this relationship is not mentioned. Does it have a more general meaning in English than in Italian? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.42.236.84 (talk) 16:10, 25 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I think you're right that when "amanuensis" is used in English to refer to a modern secretary or someone who takes dictation, it often comes across as quasi-comical, a bit highfalutin and ironic. I've seen it in English mostly to refer to a scribal role in an ancient Roman or medieval setting, as you say in a monastery. Cynwolfe (talk) 12:24, 10 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]