Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A private secretary or other close attendant.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A servant or assistant; especially, formerly, the private servant of a scholar; by extension, a private secretary or amanuensis.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun a close
attendant
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a close attendant (as to a scholar)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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This reminds me -- not unpleasantly -- of the "famulus" social-engineering familiars in Ian McDonald's brilliant novel Out on Blue Six.
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She was curious about the functions of a famulus, and he readily supplied her with a long list of the mostly unpleasant activities he was regularly required to perform.
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"Wizardry was not spoken of, " the famulus responded.
The Lives of Felix Gunderson Sugu Althomsons 2010
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"I didn't call for you, " Clothahump admonished the famulus.
The Lives of Felix Gunderson Sugu Althomsons 2010
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The rest of them assembled in Clothahump's central workshop, Viz sharing a perch and whispered conversation with the wizard's famulus, Mulwit.
The Lives of Felix Gunderson Sugu Althomsons 2010
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Selecting a long hanging limb, the famulus attached himself to it and tucked his wings cloaklike around his body.
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Clothahump turned from trying to refocus a finger on the jeering famulus and glanced angrily at the otter.
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Another bolt missed the famulus by a greater margin than the first, shattered a row of glass containers on a high shelf.
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It wasn't long before the famulus came speeding back.
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Clothahump's famulus Mulwit stood there, rustling his great wings as he spoke to Jon-Tom, who knelt on one knee to respond to the owl.
The Lives of Felix Gunderson Sugu Althomsons 2010
mollusque commented on the word famulus
For two days the painter led us through naves and cloisters hidden behind decorated façades like silver plates now blackened and worn. Wrinkled, limping famuli accompanied us.
--Umberto Eco, 1988, Foucault's Pendulum, p. 173
October 1, 2008
mtc commented on the word famulus
Wagner is Dr. Faust's famulus or laboratory assistant in Goethe's Faust.
April 25, 2013