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notice

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈnəʊ.tɪs/, US /ˈnoʊ.t̬ɪs/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English notyce,[2] borrowed from Middle French notice (“acquaintance, knowledge”),[3][2] from Latin nōtitia (“a being known, fame, knowledge”),[4][3] from nōtus (“known”), past participle of nōscere (“to come to know”),[4][3] from Proto-Indo-European *gno- (“to know”),[4] the root of know.[3][5] The verb is from the noun.[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Information, knowledge, intelligence: the early 15th century.[4] Barnhart finds notise, “acquaintance”, about 1412, and notice, “knowledge”, in 1415, both in Hoccleve.[3] The OED's first example is from 1483.[6]

Semantic evolution

A formal statement of information or warning is from the 1590s,[4] and the phrase take notice, “give attention”, is first found in Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis (1592).[3] The notice given to end an agreement is from 1765,[6] and at short notice from 1784.[6] A sign or placard giving information is from 1805,[4][6] and written remarks, especially a review of a book or play, by 1835.[4] The verb first meant “to notify” (early 15th century), a sense obsolete since the 17th century,[4] then “to mention, remark on” (1611).[6] The sense “to observe, perceive” is from 1757,[6][3] and was long condemned by purists in England as an Americanism;[4] Benjamin Franklin listed it among words that had become popular in America while he was in France.[4] Noticeable is from 1796.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1412 – acquaintance; knowledge.[3]
  • c. 1450 – verb, to notify.[6]
  • 1592 – take notice.[3]
  • 1594 – a formal warning.[6]
  • 1611 – verb, to mention, remark on.[6]
  • 1757 – verb, to observe, perceive.[6][3]
  • 1765 – notice to end an agreement.[6]
  • 1796 – noticeable.[3]
  • 1805 – a sign or placard.[6]
  • 1835 – a review.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Attention or observation: it escaped my notice.
  2. A written or printed announcement.
  3. A formal warning, especially of the intention to end an agreement or leave a job: two weeks' notice.
  4. A short critical review of a book, play or performance.

Verb

  1. To become aware of; to observe or perceive.
  2. To comment on; to mention.
  3. To treat with courteous attention.

Word family

  • noticer
  • D-notice
  • unnoticed
  • unnoticing
  • notice board
  • reading notice
  • know
  • notion
  • notify
  • notorious
  • note
  • cognition

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press