adnoto

Forms

adnotō (present infinitive adnotāre, perfect active adnotāvī, supine adnotātum); first conjugation^[1] Manuscripts often assimilate the prefix and write annotō.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ad- (“to”) + notō (“to mark, note”).^[3][2][1] notō is from nota (“mark, sign”), whose origin de Vaan leaves open: he follows Schrijver in rejecting a derivation from the root of nōscō (“to get to know”).^[4] A grammar ascribed to Fronto distinguishes them: one who marks a place, person or offence uses notō, one who adds something to a mark uses this verb.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in Seneca the Elder, of points noted down in declamations, and absent from the poets except Juvenal.^[2] Its earliest example in the OLD, from Valerius Maximus, notes the generosity of Q. Considius.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It is a prose word for putting something on record in writing, and also for observing or noticing a fact, as when Seneca the Elder remarks that repetition is less noticed in speeches.^[3][2] Columella uses it of marking vines and of noting what was given out, when and to whom;^[3][2] Pliny the Younger describes a reader who lay in the sun while a book was read, marking passages and making extracts.^[3] In imperial law it is to register or designate a person for some action, as Pliny the Younger designates people to be sent to Rome, and Ulpian of the emperor assigning islands to the deported.^[3][1] Church Latin glosses it to note in writing.^[5]

Timeline

• 1st century AD – Columella of marking vines and keeping a written record.^[3][2][6]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of what the annals record.^[3][6]
• before 223 AD – Ulpian of persons designated for deportation.^[3][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To note in writing, put on record, state; to annotate.^[3][2][1]
2. To observe, notice, become aware of.^[3][1]
3. To make a mark on; to add in writing; to mark passages of a book with signs of approval or disapproval.^[3][1]
4. (law) To register or designate a person for some action or punishment.^[3][1]

Word family

• adnotamentum
• adnotatio
• adnotator
• adnotātus
• annotāmentum
• annotātiō
• annotātor
• annotātus

Related words

• adnotātiuncula
• annotātiuncula

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de