notorious

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   known widely and usually unfavorably

   a notorious gangster

2. 2
   adj

   Senses with an unfavourable connotation.

   Such Men theſe had, to Miſchiefe vvholly bent, / In Villanie, notorious for their skill, / Diſhoneſt, deſp'rate, mercileſſe, and rude, / That dar'd into Damnation to intrude.

3. 3
   adj

   Senses with a favourable or neutral connotation.

   Lett him [God] notorious make, / That in good part he did thy offrings take.

4. 4
   adv

   Synonym of notoriously.

Etymology

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 (…