notarius

Forms

notārius m (genitive notāriī or notārī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin nota (“mark, shorthand sign”) + -ārius.^[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler finds it first in Quintilian,^[4] where it means a shorthand writer.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Pliny the Younger and Martial use it of the shorthand writer,^[5][6] and Pliny also of a secretary who takes down what he has composed: notarium voco et quae formaverim dicto (“I call my secretary and dictate what I have composed”).^[5] Georges cites it for a teacher of shorthand.^[6] Ammianus Marcellinus uses it of a secretary,^[5] and in Late Latin it named the clerks of the imperial offices.^[3]

In Medieval Latin a notārius was a clerk of the papal or royal chancery, the summus notārius being the chancellor, or of a count's court, a bishopric or a monastery;^[3] in Lombard Italy the notārius rēgis became an independent public official who drew up deeds, and the notārius pūblicus was the notary.^[3] British writers from Aldhelm on use it of a scribe or amanuensis,^[7] and the adjective appears in ars notāria, shorthand or cipher.^[7] English took the word as notary around 1300.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of a shorthand writer.^[5][4]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of a shorthand writer.^[5][4]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus uses it of a secretary.^[5][4]
• 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it of scribes taking dictation.^[7][4]
• c. 1300 – English borrows it as notary, a clerk or secretary.^[8]
• mid-14th century – English notary takes the sense of an official who authenticates legal documents.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A stenographer, shorthand writer.^[2][5]
2. A secretary, clerk, amanuensis.^[5][3]
3. (Late Latin) A clerk in the imperial offices.^[3]
4. (Medieval Latin) A clerk of a chancery, a court, a bishopric or a monastery;^[3] summus notārius, a chancellor.^[3]
5. (Medieval Latin) A public notary (notārius pūblicus).^[3][9]

Adjective

1. (Medieval Latin) Of a secretary;^[7][5] ars notāria, shorthand or cipher.^[7][5]

Word family

• notaria

Related words

• nota
• English notary

Usage notes

Lewis & Short give āctuārius as a synonym.^[5] The feminine notāria meant the art of writing in Fulgentius.^[5][6] In medieval texts ars notāria was often confused with ars notōria, a book of magic.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d e f Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson