notifico

Forms

nōtificō (present infinitive nōtificāre, perfect active nōtificāvī, supine nōtificātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin nōtus (“known”) + -ficō (“making”), “to make known”.^[2][3][4] Köbler traces it to nōscō (“to get to know”) and faciō (“to make, do”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest instance is a line of the tragic poet Pomponius Secundus, quoted by Nonius, where someone makes known a family's descent.^[6][3][7]

Semantic evolution

L&S think it was perhaps used only before and after the Classical period;^[7] besides Pomponius, Georges and L&S cite only a late poem with res est notificata satis, “the matter has been made known well enough”.^[3][7]

In Medieval Latin it was common: British sources use it of making known by announcement or description, of defining a term, of explaining, of revealing or discovering someone, and intransitively of giving a signal.^[8] In Ecclesiastical Latin it means “to notify, communicate”.^[9] Through Old French notefiier it gave English notify in the late 14th century.^[10]

Timeline

• end of 4th/beginning of 5th century AD – Nonius quotes it from Pomponius Secundus.^[3][6][5]
• 13th century – Old French has notefiier, from the Latin verb.^[10]
• late 14th century – English has notifien, “to make known”.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make known, notify.^[2][7][9]
2. (Medieval Latin) To define.^[8]
3. (Medieval Latin) To characterize, explain.^[8]
4. (Medieval Latin) To reveal, disclose, discover.^[8]
5. (Medieval Latin, intransitive) To give a signal.^[8]

Related words

• English notify

References

1. ^ a b c 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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e 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
9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
10. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com