English
notary
Notary comes from Old French notarie ‘secretary’, and goes back to Latin nota ‘mark, sign, note’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnota‘mark, sign, note’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnotārius‘a clerk, secretary’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400notarie‘secretary’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1904notary
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnota‘mark, sign, note’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnotārius‘a clerk, secretary’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400notarie‘secretary’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1904notary
Earliest quotation: 1904, The Bulletin of the Commercial Law Leagu: “The giving of legal advice by notaries and others…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- ‘to recognise’
can, could, know, normal, recognition, con, ignore, ken, narrative, keen, glory, ignorant, norm, cunning, prognosis, narration, canny, connoisseur, uncouth, canna, kith, recognizance, gnosis, cun, 83 more
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₃sḱéti ‘to recognise’
diagnostic, gnome, agnostic, 39 more
through Latin gnōscō
recognize, cognitive, quaint, incognito, precognition, noblesse, ignoble, 29 more
through Latin nōscō ‘to become acquainted with something, learn…’
notice, noble, notion, notorious, cognition, nobility, notoriety, denote, acquaint, annotation, cognizance, 22 more
through Latin nota ‘mark, sign, note’
Today it means
noun A lawyer of noncontentious private civil law who drafts, takes, and records legal instruments for private parties, and provides legal advice, but does not appear in court on his or her clients' behalf.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin nota / notary