notaio

Forms

notaio m (plural notai)^[1] The literary and older form is notaro, and old and regional texts also have nodaro.^[2][3] The feminine is notaia, though the masculine is also used of a woman.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin notārius (“shorthand writer, secretary”).^[6][7][8][1] In Latin the word named one who took down notes during a speech, a stenographer, and in Late Latin a scribe in the service of private persons or of the administration, often acting as a secretary.^[2][9][5] It is formed from nota (“mark, sign, note”) with the suffix -ārius,^[9][1][7] while GRADIT, Zingarelli and Sabatini–Coletti derive it from the verb notō (“to mark, note down”).^[8][5][4]

Dialect outcomes include Old Lombard noer, Romagnol noder and Friulian nodar.^[10] Nocentini notes that French notaire and Spanish notario came down by learned transmission.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the second Lira of Siena of 1231–1232, cited by A. Castellani among the early Tuscan texts, where the word names the public official who draws up and authenticates deeds.^[6][8]

Semantic evolution

The notary in something like the modern sense took shape in the late Middle Ages and gained public standing after the 11th century, as the deeds he drew up were legally recognised, the notarial art was taught at the universities from the 13th century, and notaries served the medieval communes.^[2] The Sicilian poet Giacomo da Lentini was known simply as il Notaro, and Dante names him so in Purgatorio XXIV.^[2] Boccaccio's Ciappelletto is a notary who is ashamed when one of his deeds turns out to be anything but false.^[2]

Courts had their own notaries: the notaio di banco at a civil court and the notaio del malefizio or notaio criminale at a criminal court.^[11][12] The word also named the official who drafted, authenticated and kept the letters and acts of sovereigns, lordships and communes.^[8] Derivatives followed: protonotario (15th century, from Medieval Latin protonotarius, from Byzantine Greek), notariato (16th century, from Medieval Latin notariatus), notaresco (17th century) and notarile (18th century).^[7]

Timeline

• 1231–1232 – Notaio is recorded in the second Lira of Siena.^[6][8]
• Before 1250 – Zingarelli's date for the word.^[5]
• 15th century – Protonotario is recorded.^[7]
• 16th century – Notariato is recorded.^[7]
• 17th century – Notaresco is recorded.^[7]
• 18th century – Notarile is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (law) A notary: a public official who receives deeds between living persons and wills, gives them legal force, keeps them and issues copies and certificates: Abbiamo firmato l’atto di vendita davanti al notaio.^{[8][13][4][1]}
2. (historical) A clerk or chancellor of a court: notaio di banco (civil court), notaio del malefizio or notaio criminale (criminal court).^[11][12][13]
3. (historical) An official who drafted, authenticated and kept the letters and acts of a sovereign, a lordship or a commune.^[8]

Word family

• notarile
• notariato
• notaresco
• protonotario
• notaia

Related words

• nota
• notare
• Latin notarius
• French notaire

Usage notes

The phrase testamento per atto di notaio names a will drawn up by a notary.^[8] In jest, Ghislanzoni called composers notai, as the writers of musical notes.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
3. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
4. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
13. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 11, 573