[<
classical Latin not
(see
NOTA
int.) + bene well (see BENIGN
a.). Cf. earlier N.B.
int. (and n.).]
A. int. ‘Note well’,
‘observe carefully’, ‘take special notice’.
Freq. used in written text to draw attention to what
follows. Now more usually written in the abbreviated form N.B.: see
N.B. int. (and n.).
a1721
M. PRIOR
Daphne & Apollo in
Misc.
Wks. (1740) I. 11 Next,
Nota Bene, you shall never rove.
1749 J.
CLELAND Mem. Woman of Pleasure I. 18 A
lady..sitting in a corner of the room, dress'd in a velvet manteel (
nota bene, in the midst of summer).
1767 W.
MESTON Man & his Mare in
Poet.
Wks. 145 This backward blast and tempest, Nota Bene, wreck'd all the South-sea Flota.
1863 C.
READE Hard Cash I. i. 35 Like an animal
frequently mentioned in Scripture; but, nota bene, never once with approbation.
1897 B.
S
TOKER Dracula xxiii. 313
Nota bene, in
Madam's telegram he went south.
1985
D. H
ARVEY in D. Gregory & J. Urry
Social
Relations & Spatial Structures vii. 156 But,
nota bene, capitalism can open up considerable breathing-space
for its own survival.
2001
N.Y. Post (Nexis) 6 Nov. 30 A quasi-public entity that, nota bene, has the legal authority to condemn
and purchase property.
B. n. An instance of the written comment ‘nota bene’; an
indication that something is to be noted well; (also) something which should be noted well or observed carefully. Now rare.
1738 SWIFT Compl. Coll. Genteel
Conversat. p. xi, I..set down..certain Marks, Asterisks, or
Nota-bene's (in English, Markwell's) after most
Questions, and every Reply or Answer.
1782 F.
D
OUGLAS Birth-day
I. 16 Now, in the rear, he marks their motions, And minutes down their late
promotions; With Nota Benes, Hows and Whys.
1815 SCOTT Guy Mannering
I. vii. 109 The rubrick, with an emphatic
nota bene.
1873 Overland Monthly July 55/2
Making a
nota bene which I give for the public
good
never get into a jar, unless you intend to be pickled.
1945 S.
O'CASEY Drums under Windows in
Autobiogr. (1980) I. 631 The P.M.'s lady was horridly scribbling a
nota-bene.