notorious

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ǵneh₃-“to know; to recognize”
2. Latin · derived fromnōtus“known, recognized; familiar, widely known; famous, well-known; infamous”
3. Medieval Latin · derived fromnōtōrius“evident, known; famous, well-known; infamous”
4. Middle English · inherited fromnotoryous
5. English todaynotorious

From Late Middle English notoryous, from Medieval Latin nōtōrius (“evident, known; famous, well-known; infamous”), from Latin nōtus (“known, recognized; familiar, widely known; famous, well-known; infamous”) + -tōrius (suffix forming adjectives). Nōtus is the perfect passive participle of nōscō (“to become acquainted with or learn about (something); (rare) to be familiar with, recognize”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to know; to recognize”). cognates * Catalan notori (“well-known”) * Middle French notoire (Anglo-Norman notoire, notoir, notore, notorie, modern French notoire (“notorious; well-known”)) * Italian notorio (“notorious; well-known”) * Portuguese notorjo (obsolete), notório (“illustrious; open, public; notorious”) * Spanish notorio (“apparent, clear, obvious; well-known”)

Words from the same roots