Scriven

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic term for a person who copied out or drew up legal papers, contracts and other documents by hand
2. A historical word for a clerk who professionally wrote, copied or witnessed formal documents for others
3. Refers to an old-fashioned copyist or notary whose trade was producing written records and legal instruments

Etymology: The word "scriven" is best known as a surname, and it has two possible origins, both English. The first is occupational: it comes from Middle English "scrivein", meaning "scribe", which was itself borrowed from Old French "escrivain", a clerk who wrote and copied documents. Surnames of this kind were given to people whose job was writing, so a bearer's ancestor was likely a copyist or clerk. The second origin is a place. Scriven is also a village in North Yorkshire, and families who lived there could take the village name as their surname. That name comes from Old English "scræfen", meaning a hollow place with caves or pits. So the same surname could trace back either to a pen-wielding ancestor or to someone who came from a hollow in the Yorkshire landscape.

Synonyms: scrivener, copyist