notar

Forms

notar (first-person singular present noto, first-person singular preterite notei, past participle notado)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin notō (“to mark; to note down; to observe”), recorded as Old Galician-Portuguese notar from 1260.^[2][3][1] The Latin verb is formed from nota (“mark, sign”).^[4][1]

The same Latin verb is the source of Galician notar, Spanish notar, French noter, Italian notare and Romanian nota.^[1]

De Vaan considers the origin of the Latin noun uncertain: he reports that it cannot be derived from the root of “to know” (Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-), and that Schrijver hesitantly proposes *snot-ā (“mark”), from the root of sentiō.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Galician charter of 1260 ends with the notary's formula: García, sworn notary of Castroverde, a notou per mandado do juyz “wrote it down by order of the judge”; a charter of 1262 has noteyo “I wrote it down”.^[3] In a cantiga a Moor log' a carta notou “at once wrote the letter”.^[6] So the first sense is “to write down, draw up a document”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Cardoso (1569) renders the verb by Latin annoto “to note down”.^[7] For Bluteau (1712–1728) it means “to observe”, and notar alguem de a fault means to blame someone for it.^[8] Folqman (1755) also has notar huma carta “to dictate a letter”.^[8][9] Morais (1789) gives “to observe, reflect” and “to censure, reprove”.^[10]

Today the commonest sense is “to notice”, beside the older senses “to write down” and “to mark”.^[1][2] In parts of Portugal notar still means “to dictate” or “to compose”, as in notar cantigas.^[11]

Timeline

• 1260 – a notou in a Galician notarial charter.^[3]
• 1262 – noteyo “I wrote it down”.^[3]
• 14th century – Houaiss's first date.^[2]
• c. 1433 – notar in a Portuguese Vita Christi (witness 1401–1500).^[12]
• 1569 – Cardoso renders it by Latin annoto.^[7]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau gives “to observe” and “to blame”.^[8]
• 1755 – Folqman records notar huma carta “to dictate a letter”.^[9]
• 1789 – Morais gives “to observe” and “to censure”.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To put a mark or sign on.^[2][13]
2. To write down, take note of: Notou o número de telefone num guardanapo.^[2][13][1]
3. Of a notary (notário): to enter a deed in the register.^[2][13]
4. To represent by symbols or conventional signs.^[2][13]
5. To notice, observe: Ninguém notou que ele tinha saído.^[2][13][1]
6. To remark, comment.^[2][13]
7. To censure, criticize, or (with de) accuse someone of something.^[13][14]
8. (Portugal, regional) To dictate; to compose.^[11]

Related words

• nota
• notável
• anotar
• notação
• Latin notō
• Galician notar

Usage notes

The imperative is used to draw attention to what follows or to stress a statement.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. notar
3. ^ a b c d e Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. notar
4. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. notō
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. nota
6. ^ Universo Cantigas: Glosario da poesía medieval profana galego-portuguesa, A Coruña: Instituto da Lingua e Literatura (ILLA), Universidade da Coruña, https://www.universocantigas.gal, p. s.v. notar
7. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. notar
8. ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. notar
9. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. notar
10. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 119
11. ^ a b Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. notar
12. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. notar
13. ^ a b c d e f g Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. notar
14. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. notar
15. ^ Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. notar