notary

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English notarie, also notarye,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman notarie, also notaire, and Middle French notaire (“scribe, secretary”), and directly borrowed from Latin notārius (“shorthand writer, clerk, secretary”).^[5][2][3] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from about 1170,^[5] and the Anglo-Norman Dictionary finds it in the later 12th century meaning an observer or witness, a personal clerk and a notary.^[6] The Latin noun is formed from nota (“mark, shorthand character”), the source of note, with the suffix -ārius;^[5][7][8][9] Etymonline and Weekley derive it through the verb notō (“to note”).^[2][10] In post-classical Latin it also meant a public clerk, from the 9th century, and an ecclesiastical, papal or royal clerk.^[5] The OED compares Spanish notario and Italian notaio (both early 13th century) and Portuguese notário (1254).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A secretary: about 1303, as notarye, in Robert Mannyng's Handlyng Synne, according to Barnhart;^[3] Etymonline dates notarie, a clerk or personal secretary, to about 1300.^[2] The OED's first quotation, from the Ayenbite of Inwyt of 1340, already has the legal sense.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The legal sense, a person authorized to draw up and certify contracts and deeds, is recorded from the mid-14th century,^[2][5] and the fuller notary public from before 1475;^[5] Etymonline notes that the phrase keeps the French order of noun and adjective,^[2] and the OED compares notarius publicus, from the early 12th century.^[5] The older sense of a personal secretary or clerk lasted from the Wycliffite Bible (before 1382) to 1609,^[5][9] with a figurative use in Shakespeare's Lucrece (1594).^[5] From 1589, in Nashe, a notary could also be any observer or recorder, a sense obsolete after 1685.^[5][11] Johnson (1755) defined it as an officer who takes notes of anything that concerns the public.^[12] Chaucer has the word once.^[13] The verb notarize is recorded from 1935.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1303 – a secretary, in Mannyng's Handlyng Synne.^[3] Etymonline dates the word to about 1300.^[2]
• 1340 – an official who draws up and certifies legal documents.^[5]
• before 1382 – a personal secretary or clerk (obsolete by 1609).^[5]
• before 1475 – notary public.^[5][2]
• 1589 – an observer or recorder (obsolete by 1685).^[5]
• 1651 – a notebook (obsolete, rare).^[5]
• 1935 – the verb notarize.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A notary public: an officer authorized to certify documents, witness signatures, take affidavits and administer oaths.^[14][11][5]
2. (formerly) A clerk licensed to prepare legal documents.^[14][5]
3. (obsolete, 1382–1609) A clerk or secretary.^{[5][9][11][14]}
4. (obsolete, 1589–1685) An observer or recorder.^[5][11]

Word family

• notaryship
• notarization
• notarize
• notarial

Related words

• note
• notation
• notorious
• notary public

Usage notes

The OED also records an obsolete adjective notary, well-known or notorious (about 1400–1530), probably partly from Anglo-Norman notoire, which turns up as notaire by confusion with the noun.^[5] The Anglo-Norman adjective is recorded from 1280–1307.^[6]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
14. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins