Meanings
plural hatnotes
- wiki jargonA short note placed at the top of an article, normally to provide links to other similarly named articles or disambiguation pages.
A hatnote on this default page points readers to the disambiguation page if they're looking for articles using a different meaning of the term.
2008, Phoebe Ayers, Charles Matthews, Ben Yates, How Wikipedia Works: And How You Can Be a Part of It, page 2371 more example
If a reader searches for dioxin, she arrives at this article. The too-long hatnote on this page probably befuddled many readers looking for the Wikipedia article Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins.
2008, John Broughton, Wikipedia: The Missing Manual, page 320Synonyms: headnote
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA short note placed at the top of an article, normally to provide links to other similarly named articles or disambiguation pages.
Origin
From hat + note by analogy with footnote, endnote, etc.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
hatnote. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hatnote
“hatnote.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hatnote. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hatnote,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hatnote.
Source: hatnote on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.