Nota bene

This article is about the Latin phrase. For the suite of applications for scholars, see Nota Bene (word processor).

"N.b." redirects here. For other uses, see NB (disambiguation).

Verses on the futility of unread books, presented as a nota bene (handwriting Hs. I 300, City Library of Mainz)

An 1801 newspaper ad for a wife warns that only those who "can come well recommended" need apply.

Nota bene (/ˈnoʊtə ˈbɛneɪ/, /ˈnoʊtə ˈbɛni/ or /ˈnoʊtə ˈbiːni/; plural: notate bene) is the Latin phrase meaning note well. In manuscripts, nota bene is abbreviated in upper-case as NB and in lower-case as n.b., and the editorial usage first appeared in the style of writing around the year 1711. In Modern English, the editorial usage of n.b. is common to legalese, legal writing intelligible only to attorneys at law, and draws the reader's attention to a thematically relevant aspect of the litigated subject, whereas in academic writing, the editorial abbreviation NB is a substitute for note.

The editorial markings used to draw the reader's attention in medieval manuscripts are also called nota bene marks, however, the common medieval editorial markings do not include the abbreviation NB. The usual medieval equivalents to the n.b. mark are anagrams from the four letters in the word nota, the abbreviation DM from dignum memoria ("worth remembering"), a manicule (little hand) index symbol (☞) indicating the beginning of the relevant text.

See also

• Annotation
• Footnote
• List of Latin abbreviations
• List of Latin phrases
• List of legal Latin terms
• Obiter dictum
• Postscript
• Quod vide