note
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Mark or token; also, brief remark.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
nohtIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈnoʊt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
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 symbol or annotation.
A brief written record
A written or printed communication or commitment.
verb
Notice or perceive
“She noted that someone was following her.”
Observe with care or pay close attention to
“Take note of this chemical reaction.”
transitive
To notice with care; to observe; to remark; to heed.
transitive
To record in writing; to make a memorandum of.
transitive
To set down in musical characters.
transitive
To denote; to designate.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A mark or token by which a thing may be known; a visible sign; a character; a distinctive mark or feature; a characteristic quality.
Used this way, note is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Noticeverb
“She noted that someone was following her.”
Observeverb
“Take note of this chemical reaction.”
More ways to use note
- “She noted everything the teacher said that morning.”verb
- “There was a note of uncertainty in his voice.”noun
- “Take note of this chemical reaction.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The relative duration of a musical note.
Your right in a promissory note in which the maker promises to pay a certain amount of money at a certain time.
A note promising to pay a certain amount of money at a certain time.
A promise to pay a specified amount on demand or at a certain time.
An embellishing note usually written in smaller size.
A musical note having the time value of half a whole note.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: notice or perceive
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.