nota Italian · revision 39208

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=13th century, Frate Ubertino|origins=la nota}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈnɔ.ta/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nota''' ''f'' (plural note)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian also has ''nuota''.^(GDLI|11, 565)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|nota|t=mark, sign; character; musical note]], a learned word.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) Italian took over with it the derivatives [[notabile]], [[notaio]] (from [[la|notārius|t=stenographer, secretary]]), [[notare]] and [[notazione]].^(DELI 1999) Only in the Alpine dialects does the word live on as a popular term for the mark cut on sheep and goats to show their owner: [[lmo|noda]] in Ticino and Bergamo, recorded since 1300.^(DEI|2602)^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907) The learned word is shared with [[fr|note]] and [[es|nota]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The origin of Latin “nota” is uncertain.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) It was traditionally referred to [[la|nōscō|t=to get to know]], as “a means of recognition”;^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012) Nocentini accepts this, explaining the short vowel of “nŏta” against long “nōtus” by the short vowel of [[la|cognitus]], and compares [[de|Kunde|t=news]].^(Nocentini 2010) Schrijver, followed by de Vaan, showed that “nota” cannot come from the root [[ine-pro|*ǵneh₃-|t=to know]]; his tentative alternative, a “*snot-ā” from the root of [[la|sentiō|t=to perceive]], is not convincing either, and de Vaan leaves the word unexplained.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Devoto too found no clear connections.^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is Frate Ubertino in the 13th century, with the sense of a written note or memorandum; in the passage the GDLI quotes, he says one cannot judge “without an open understanding of the glossed notes” (''de le chiosate note'').^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|11, 565) GRADIT dates sense 1b, the brief written note, to the 13th century.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Before 1306 Iacopone da Todi uses ''nota'' for a sign standing for a musical sound or a melody.^(DELI 1999) In the 16th century the word acquired the senses of a list or bill (before 1566, Annibale Caro) and of a distinguishing mark or characteristic (before 1565, Benedetto Varchi); Filippo Sassetti writes of the ''note'' by which the ancients recognized cinnamon.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The explanatory note added to a text is recorded before 1698, in Francesco Redi.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ In 1790 the ''Notizie del mondo'' uses ''nota'' for an official communication;^(DELI 1999) Ugolini in 1848 called this sense of a dispatch generally accepted in the ministries, though without good literary examples.^(DELI 1999) The scholastic formula ''nota bene'', with ''nota'' as the imperative of the Latin verb, is attested in English (before 1721) and French (1755) before Italian.^(DELI 1999) Figurative uses include ''una nota stonata'', a false note, ''le dolenti note'', the unpleasant part of a matter, and ''a chiare note'', plainly.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 13th century – Frate Ubertino uses ''nota'' for a written note.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses the word for a musical note.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1300 – The pastoral sense “mark on a sheep” is documented in the Alpine dialects.^(DEI|2602)

+ * Before 1565 – Benedetto Varchi uses ''nota'' for a distinguishing sign.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1566 – Annibale Caro uses it for a list or bill.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1698 – Francesco Redi uses it for an explanatory note on a text.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1790 – The ''Notizie del mondo'' uses it for an official communication.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A sign or [[m|en|mark]] made to distinguish or remember something; a distinctive [[m|en|feature]]: ''La pazienza è la nota dominante del suo carattere.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # A short written [[m|en|note]] or memorandum, ''prendere nota'' means to write down or take note of: ''Ho preso nota del suo indirizzo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # An explanatory note or [[m|en|annotation]] added to a text, at the foot of the page or at the end: ''Il libro ha molte note a piè di pagina.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(journalism)'' A short article giving a position on a topic.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # An official communication or memorandum: ''una nota diplomatica''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A [[m|en|bill]] or account; a list: ''la nota del ristorante''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(music)'' A sign for a musical sound, or the sound itself: ''le sette note''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A touch or element that stands out against its surroundings: ''Il suo arrivo portò una nota di allegria.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(education)'' A written remark entered in a pupil's school record, usually for bad behaviour.^(Wikizionario)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[notabile]]

+ * [[notaio]]

+ * [[notare]]

+ * [[notazione]]

+ * [[notevole]]

+ * [[annotare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[noto]]

+ * [[conoscere]]

+ * [[la|nota]]

+ * [[la|nōscō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Nota'' is also a form of the verb [[notare]] (“he notes”, “note!”), and the feminine of the adjective [[noto]] “known”, which comes from Latin ''nōtus''.^(Wikizionario)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Fixed phrases include ''degno di nota'' “noteworthy”, ''prendere nota'' and ''tenere nota'' “to keep a record”, ''le dolenti note'' and ''a chiare note''.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}