Notes

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /noʊts/

Definitions

1. Symbols representing musical tones played or sung ; brief jottings made to remember information ; remarks or explanations added to clarify text or objects
2. Signs or marks used to indicate pitches in music ; short written entries used as aids for memory ; comments added to a document to provide extra detail
3. Characters indicating musical sounds in compositions ; quick records made for recalling details ; explanatory notes or observations added for understanding

Etymology: The plural "notes" is simply "note" with an -s, so the story belongs to "note" itself, and it has two separate lines that happen to have landed in the same word. One comes from Latin "nota," meaning a mark or sign. It reached Old English as "not" and "nōt," meaning a note, mark or sign, and Old French added "note," meaning a letter or note. Everything written on a page, from a jotted reminder to a musical symbol, descends from that idea of a mark you make to be seen later. The other line is almost unrelated in meaning. Old English "notu" meant use, enjoyment, advantage or profit, a word rooted in the idea of making use of something. It is a cousin of German "Nutzen," meaning benefit or usefulness, and of Dutch "genot," meaning pleasure. Over time the two lines merged in English spelling and sense, so a note that is a line of text and a note that once meant profit now look identical.

Synonyms: records, annotations, memos