note

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /nəʊt/
• (General American) enPR: nōt, IPA^(key): /noʊt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊt

From Middle English note, from Old English not, nōt (“note, mark, sign”) and Old French note (“letter, note”), both from Latin nota (“mark, sign, remark, note”).

note (countable and uncountable, plural notes)

1. A symbol or annotation.
   1. A mark or token by which a thing may be known; a visible sign; a character; a distinctive mark or feature; a characteristic quality.
      • 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, London: William Stansbye, published 1622, book III, page 89:

        As therefore they that are of the Myſticall Body of Chriſt, haue thoſe inward Graces and Vertues, whereby they differ from all others which are not of the ſame Body ; againe, whoſoeuer appertaine to the Viſible Body of the Church, they haue alſo the notes of externall Profeſſion, whereby the World knoweth what they are.

      • 1841, John Henry Newman, A Letter to the Right Reverend Father in God, Richard, Lord Bishop of Oxford, on Occasion of No. 90, in the Series Called The Tracts for the Times, Oxford: John Henry Parker, page 39:

        She [the Anglican church] has the Note of possession, the Note of freedom from party-titles ; the Note of life, a tough life and a vigorous ; she has ancient descent, unbroken continuance, agreement in doctrine with the ancient Church.

      • 1888, Mary Augusta Ward, Robert Elsmere, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., page 217:

        What a note of youth, of imagination, of impulsive eagerness, there was through it all !

      • 1962 October, Brian Haresnape, “Focus on B.R. passenger stations”, in Modern Railways, page 251:

        For the first ten years of nationalisation a further note of overall gloom was added by the depressing policy of unimaginative Regional colour schemes, indifferently applied.

      • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 20, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

        The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen. No one queried it. It was in the classic pattern of human weakness, mean and embarrassing and sad.

   2. A mark, or sign, made to call attention, to point out something to notice, or the like; a sign, or token, proving or giving evidence.
   3. A brief remark; a marginal comment or explanation; hence, an annotation on a text or author; a comment; a critical, explanatory, or illustrative observation.
2. A written or printed communication or commitment.
   1. A brief piece of writing intended to assist the memory; a memorandum; a minute.

      I left him a note to remind him to take out the trash.

   2. A short informal letter; a billet.
      • 2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Ark Hyperion:

        Garson: Drop me a note sometime. I'd love to hear how we're doing.

   3. (academic) An academic treatise (often without regard to length); a treatment; a discussion paper; (loosely) any contribution to an academic discourse.
   4. A diplomatic missive or written communication.
   5. (finance) A written or printed paper acknowledging a debt, and promising payment

      a promissory note

      a note of hand

      a negotiable note

   6. (obsolete) A list of items or of charges; an account.
      • c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

        Heere is now the Smithes note, for Shooing, / And Plough-Irons.

   7. A piece of paper money; a banknote.

      I didn't have any coins to pay with, so I used a note.

      Synonym: bill

   8. (extension) A small size of paper used for writing letters or notes.
3. (music) A sound.
   1. A character, variously formed, to indicate the length of a tone, and variously placed upon the staff to indicate its pitch.
   2. A musical sound; a tone; an utterance; a tune.
      • 1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 37–40:

        Then feed on thoughts, that voluntarie move / Harmonious numbers ; as the wakeful Bird / Sings darkling, and in ſhadieſt Covert hid / Tunes her nocturnal Note.

      • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 47:

        Judge Short had gone to town, and Farrar was off for a three days' cruise up the lake. I was bitterly regretting I had not gone with him when the distant notes of a coach horn reached my ear, and I descried a four-in-hand winding its way up the inn road from the direction of Mohair.

      • 1922, Michael Arlen, “Ep./4/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:

        As they turned into Hertford Street they startled a robin from the poet's head on a barren fountain, and he fled away with a cameo note.

   3. (by extension) A key of the piano or organ.
   4. (by extension) A call or song of a bird.
      • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 85:

        We heard the peculiar note of the woodcock, which resembles the repeated croaking of the frog, followed by a sharp hissing sound, somewhat like the noisy chirping of the wagtail[.]

   5. (rhythm games) An indication which players have to click, type, hit, tap or do other actions if it appears
4. (uncountable) Observation; notice; heed.
   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

     Go in Nerriſſa, / Giue order to my ſeruants, that they take / No note at all of our being abſent hence, / Nor you Lorenzo, Ieſſica nor you.

   • 1625, Francis Bacon, “Of ceremonies and reſpects”, in The Works of Francis Bacon, volume III, London: J. and J. Knapton et al., published 1730, page 373:

     So it is true, that ſmall matters win great commendation, becauſe they are continually in uſe, and in note ; whereas the occaſion of any great virtue cometh but on feſtivals.

5. (uncountable) Reputation; distinction.

   a poet of note

6. A critical comment.

   Your performance was fantastic! I have just one note: you were a little flat in bars 35 and 36.

7. (obsolete) Notification; information; intelligence.
8. (obsolete) Mark of disgrace.
   • 1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto), London: […] Richard Field, for Iohn Harrison, […], →OCLC:

     That my poſteritie ſham’d with the note / Shall curſe my bones, and hold it for no ſinne, / To wiſh that I their father had not beene.

   • 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 23, column 2:

     Once more, the more to aggrauate the note,
     With a foule Traitors name ſtuffe I thy throte,
     And wiſh (ſo pleaſe my Soueraigne) ere I moue,
     What my tong ſpeaks, my right drawn ſword may proue

• (mark of disgrace): blemish, blot, brand, reproach, stain, stigma, taint
• (observation, notice, heed): attention, mark; see also Thesaurus:attention

note (third-person singular simple present notes, present participle noting, simple past and past participle noted)

1. (transitive) To notice with care; to observe; to remark; to heed.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii:

     Note the preſumption of this Scythian ſlaue:
     I tel thee villaine, thoſe that lead my horſe
     Haue to their names tytles of dignitie,
     And dar’ſt thou bluntly cal me Baiazeth?

   If you look to the left, you can note the old cathedral.

2. (transitive) To record in writing; to make a memorandum of.

   We noted his speech.

3. (transitive) To denote; to designate.

   The modular multiplicative inverse of x may be noted x^-1.

4. (transitive) To annotate.
5. (transitive) To set down in musical characters.
6. (transitive, law) To record on the back of (a bill, draft, etc.) a refusal of acceptance, as the ground of a protest, which is done officially by a notary.
   • 2020 October 28, Kimberly Budd for the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, case SJC-12769:

     By noting the protest, notaries could date certificates when they were received, making it easier to comply with time restrictions associated with protesting.

• note down

• notable
• noteless
• benote

From Middle English note (“use, usefulness, profit”), from Old English notu (“use, enjoyment, advantage, profit, utility”), from Proto-West Germanic *notu, from Proto-Germanic *nutō (“enjoyment, utilisation”), from Proto-Indo-European *newd- (“to acquire, make use of”). Cognate with West Frisian not (“yield, produce, crop”), Dutch genot (“enjoyment, pleasure”), Dutch nut (“usefulness, utility, behoof”), German Nutzen (“benefit, usefulness, utility”), Icelandic not (“use”, noun). Related also to Old English notian (“to enjoy, make use of, employ”), Old English nēotan (“to use, enjoy”), Old High German niozan (“to use, enjoy”) (Modern German genießen (“to enjoy”)), Modern German benutzen (“to use”). Related to nait.

• noit, noyt (Northern England)
• not (Shetland)

note (usually uncountable, plural notes)

1. (uncountable, UK dialectal, Northern England, Ireland, Scotland) That which is needed or necessary; business; duty; work.
   • 1838, William Marriott, “The Deluge”, in A Collection of English Miracle-Plays or Mysteries, Basel: Schweighauser & Co, page 11:

     And have thou that for thy note !

   • 1897 May 27, Halifax Courier, quoted in 1903, Joseph Wright, English Dialect Dictionary, volume IV, London: Henry Frowde, page 302:

     Tha'll keep me at this noit all day... Om always at this noit.

   • 1962, Arthur C. Cawley, Everyman, and Medieval Miracle Plays, page 125:

     Thou canst do thy note; that have I espied.

2. (UK dialectal, Northern England, Ireland, Scotland) The giving of milk by a cow or sow; the period following calving or farrowing during which a cow or sow is at her most useful (i.e. gives milk); the milk given by a cow or sow during such a period.
   • 1843, The Farmer's Magazine, page 384:

     The supply of horned cattle at this fair was great, but the business done was confined to fleshy barreners of feeding qualities and superior new-calved heifers, and those at early note, with appearance of being useful; [...]

   • 1875, Paper, Belfast:

     For sale, a Kerry cow, five years old, at her note in May.

   • 1888, S. O. Addy Gloss, Words Sheffield, page 160:

     A cow is said to be in note when she is in milk.

   • 1922, P. MacGill, Lanty Hanlon, page 11:

     A man who drank spring water when his one cow was near note.

   • 1996, C. I. Macafee Conc., Ulster Dict. at Note:

     Be at her note, be near note, come forward to her note, of a cow or sow, be near the time for calving or farrowing.

• noteful

• “note”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “note”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
• note, A Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, Volume 2, Halliwell, 1860.

• ETNO, Eton, Teno, Tone, ento-, teno-, tone

note

1. plural of noot

From English note, from Italian nota, from Latin nota.

note c (singular definite noten, plural indefinite noter)

1. note

   Synonyms: notat, notits

See the noun not (“groove”)

note

1. (mechanics) to supply a board to a groove (clarification of this definition is needed)

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

{{da-conj-base|noter|notede|not|notende|notet|notes|notedes|notendes|notets}}

Borrowed from Latin nota.

• IPA^(key): /nɔt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔt

note f (plural notes)

1. note (written or spoken)
2. mark (UK), grade (US)
3. bill (UK, US), check (US)
4. (music) note
5. touch, hint, note

• → Turkish: not
• → Romanian: notă

note

1. inflection of noter:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

• “note”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

note

1. inflection of notar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

• IPA^(key): /ˈnɔ.te/
• Rhymes: -ɔte
• Hyphenation: nò‧te

note

1. feminine plural of noto

note f

1. plural of nota

• Neto, ento-, etno-, onte

nōte

1. vocative masculine singular of nōtus

From Old Dutch *nutu.

nōte f

1. nut (fruit)

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

• Dutch: noot
• Limburgish: noeat (with unexpected oea)

• “note (II)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “note (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I

From Old French note (noun) and the verb noter.

note

1. note
   • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Reues Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC, folio xvii, recto:

     The myller gothe agayne, no worde he ſaide / But doth his note, & wͪ theſe clerkes playde / Tyl yͭ her corne was fayre & wel ygrounde

     The miller goes back, no words he said / But does his business, & with these clerks did ply / Until their grain was refined and well-ground

2. note: That which is needed or necessary; business; duty; work.
   • 1303, Roberd of Brunnè, “The Seventh Commandment”, in Frederick James Furnivall, editor, Handlyng Synne, London: J. B. Nichols and Sons, published 1862, page 67, lines 2073–6:

     But þefte serueþ of wykkede note, / Hyt hangeþ hys mayster by þe þrote, / Or doþe hym lese hys godë fame, / Or bryngeþ hym oute of þe towne for shame.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

note

1. Alternative form of not

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

note f (plural notes)

1. (Jersey) tune

From Latin nota.

note m (definite singular noten, indefinite plural noter, definite plural notene)

1. (music) a note
2. a note in a book or text
3. a note (communication between governments)
4. a banknote

• fotnote

• “note” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

• -onet, toen, tone

From Latin nota.

note m (definite singular noten, indefinite plural notar, definite plural notane)

1. (music) a note
2. a note in a book or text
3. a note (communication between governments)
4. a banknote

• fotnote

note

1. past participle of nyta

• “note” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

note m (plural notes)

1. (Brazil, computing, colloquial) Clipping of notebook (“notebook computer”).

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• Hyphenation: no‧te

note

1. inflection of notar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

• IPA^(key): [ˈnote]

note f pl

1. plural of notă

• not, noit, noyt

From Middle English not, note, noote, from Old English notu (“use; utility; benefit”). More at note.

note (uncountable)

1. use; benefit
2. necessity; occasion
3. business; employment
4. task; duty
5. purpose; function; office

From Middle English noten, notien, from Old English notian (“to make use of; employ; enjoy”), from Proto-Germanic *nutōną (“to make use of; enjoy”).

note (third-person singular simple present notes, present participle notin, simple past nott, past participle nott or notten)

1. To use; employ; make use of
2. To need

note

1. inflection of notar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

• not

From Latin noctem, accusative of nox (compare Italian notte).

note f (plural noti)

1. night

From Middle English noot; equivalent to *ne (“not”) +‎ 'ote (“know”).

• IPA^(key): /nɔːt/
• Homophone: noucht

note

1. I do not know.
   • 1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY:

     Note vidy; Ich note; Note will wee dra aaght to-die?

     I do not know where; I ne wot; I don't know will we draw any to-day?

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 59