notorious

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin nōtōrius (“well known, commonly known”),^[2][3][4] with the English suffix -ous,^[4][3] from Latin nōtus (“known”), the past participle of nōscō (“to get to know”),^[2][5][6] from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to know”).^[5][2] Merriam-Webster explains the Medieval Latin adjective as an irregular formation from Late Latin nōtōrium (“information, indictment”).^[7] In post-classical Latin the adjective already meant "famous" and also "infamous" in British sources of the 12th and 13th centuries.^[4] Middle English had earlier taken notoire (“well known”) from French,^[5][8] and Scots had notour from the 15th century.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a fact: well known, generally known, a matter of common knowledge, about 1495.^[4][9] The OED's first date agrees with the Oxford Dictionary of English (late 15th century)^[10] and Merriam-Webster (15th century),^[7] while Barnhart dates the word to 1548–49, in the Book of Common Prayer,^[3] and Etymonline to the 1540s.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word first meant simply "well known",^[11][12] but it was very soon used with nouns of blame, as in a notorious liar.^[11] The Book of Common Prayer of 1549 already speaks of "notorious synners",^[12][4] and by the early 17th century the adjective had taken on a negative sense of its own: "known for something bad".^[11][5] The OED dates this sense to 1579 for actions and 1591 for people.^[4] The neutral sense lived on beside it: a writer of 1588 could call preachers "verie notorious for their learning".^[12] Johnson (1755) defined the word as "publickly known" and complained that people ignorant of its true meaning called an atrocious crime notorious whether it was public or secret.^[13] The neutral sense is now rare,^[14] though it survives in legal phrasing such as "open and notorious" possession.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1495 – of a fact, well known.^[4]
• 1549 – of a sinner or criminal, known as such (Book of Common Prayer).^[4][3]
• 1555 – of a person or place, widely known, famous.^[4]
• 1579 – of an action, known for something bad.^[4]
• 1591 – of a person, known for something bad.^[4]
• 1592 – notoriety.^[3]
• 1755 – Johnson defines it as "publickly known".^[13]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Widely known, especially for something bad, infamous: a notorious smuggler, a pass notorious for avalanches.
2. (rare) Generally known or acknowledged.

Word family

• notoriously
• notoriousness

Related words

• notoriety
• notice
• notion
• notify
• know
• noble

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b Onions, C. T., ed. (1966), The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
12. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins