*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of note

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”).

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

A mark or token by which a thing may be known; a visible sign; a character; a distinctive mark or feature; a characteristic quality. · 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. · A brief remark; a marginal comment or explanation; hence, an annotation on a text or author; a comment; a critical, explanatory, or illustrative observation. · A brief piece of writing intended to assist the memory; a memorandum; a minute.

verb

To notice with care; to observe; to remark; to heed. · To record in writing; to make a memorandum of. · To denote; to designate. · To annotate.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

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”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionnotang
  • Derivation mentionnotefro
  • Derivation mentionnotala

This page abbreviates 20 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

That which is needed or necessary; business; duty; work. · Milk-giving by a cow or sow; (specifically) the period following calving or farrowing, during which a cow or sow is most productive and useful. · The milk given by a cow or sow during such period.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

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.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionnoteenm · use, usefulness, profit
  • Inherited-form mentionnotuang · use, enjoyment, advantage, profit, utility
  • Inherited-form mention*notugmw-pro
  • Inherited-form mention*nutōgem-pro · enjoyment, utilisation
  • Derivation mention*newd-ine-pro · to acquire, make use of
  • Cognate mentionnotfy
  • Cognate mentiongenotnl
  • Cognate mentionnutnl
  • Cognate mentionNutzende
  • Cognate mentionnotis
  • Cognate mentionnotianang
  • Cognate mentionnēotanang
  • Cognate mentionniozangoh
  • Cognate mentiongenießende
  • Cognate mentionbenutzende
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for note →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-bm90ZQ