copyist

[ kop-ee-ist ]

noun

1. a person who transcribes copies, especially of documents.
2. an imitator.

copyist

/ ˈkɒpɪɪst /

noun

1. a person who makes written copies; transcriber
2. a person who imitates or copies

Word History and Origins

Origin of copyist¹

First recorded in 1690–1700; copy + -ist

Example Sentences

To support himself in New York, he served as an assistant and copyist for the composer and critic Virgil Thomson, who paid the young man $20 a week and gave him lessons in orchestration.

From Washington Post

It could be a student, imitator, copyist, colleague or competitor.

From Washington Post

Having no resources within himself, he was compelled to be the copyist of many, and being such, he was forever the victim of inconsistency; and of consequence he was an object of contempt, and was held as such even by his slaves.

From Literature

As Elizabeth Hawes, a sketcher turned journalist turned designer who went to Paris in the 1920s as a “copyist” — a patternmaker hired to copy French designs to be sold in the American market — wrote in her classic memoir-treatise, “Fashion Is Spinach,” one of the greatest achievements of the French was to convince the world that their clothing design was the only real clothing design, their savoir-faire intrinsic to the essence of chic.

From New York Times

Either way, I thought it was a work of beauty and genius, especially after getting to study the music up close as I proofread parts of the score for the show’s copyist.

From New York Times

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