Origins
The English adjective "notorious" traces its origins to the Medieval Latin term nōtōrius, which meant "well-known," "evident," or "publicly known." This Latin formation itself derives from the past participle nōtus of the verb nōscere or gnōscere, meaning "to come to know" or "to learn." The root verb is inherited from Classical Latin and ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵneh₃-, which broadly signifies "to know." This root is the source of a wide array of cognates across Indo-European languages related to knowledge and recognition.
The Latin noun nōtus, meaning "known," functions as the past participle of nōscere/gnōscere and forms the semantic core of nōtōrius. The suffix -tōrius in Latin typically denotes agency or a relation to a function or characteristic, so nōtōrius can be understood as "that which makes known" or "pertaining to what is known." In Medieval Latin usage, the term retained a largely neutral sense, referring simply to something or someone that was publicly or generally known, without any inherent moral judgment.
The word entered English in the 16th century, directly borrowed from Latin or possibly via French, retaining this neutral meaning. Early English usage of "notorious" often described facts or persons that were widely recognized or well known, without necessarily implying any negative connotation. For example, a "notorious fact" was simply a fact that was commonly known or accepted.
Latin Roots
However, over the course of the 17th and 18th centuries, "notorious" underwent a semantic shift toward a pejorative sense. This change reflected a broader cultural tendency to associate public fame or widespread recognition with scandal or disrepute. By the 18th century, the negative connotation of "notorious"—famous for some bad quality or deed—had become dominant in English usage. This pejorative development parallels that of the word "infamous," which derives from the Latin in-fāma, literally "not without fame," but carrying the sense of "bad reputation." Both terms illustrate how notions of public knowledge and fame became intertwined with moral judgment in early modern English.
The etymological lineage of "notorious" is closely connected to a family of English words that share the same Latin root nōscere and the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵneh₃-. These include "note," "notify," "notion," and "narrate," all of which revolve around concepts of knowledge, recognition, or communication. Unlike "notorious," however, these words have not undergone a comparable pejorative semantic shift and generally retain neutral or positive connotations related to information and awareness.
It is important to distinguish the inherited Latin root from later borrowings or semantic developments. The root *ǵneh₃- is a well-established Proto-Indo-European verbal root meaning "to know," which passed into Latin as nōscere/gnōscere and from there into various Romance and Germanic languages. The formation of nōtōrius with the suffix -tōrius is a specifically Latin morphological process, not a direct inheritance from Proto-Indo-European but rather a Latin innovation built upon inherited roots.
Proto-Indo-European Roots
"notorious" entered English from Medieval Latin nōtōrius, itself derived from Latin nōtus, the past participle of nōscere/gnōscere, rooted in the Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-. Initially morally neutral and denoting something publicly known, "notorious" gradually acquired a negative sense by the 18th century, reflecting cultural associations of fame with scandal. This semantic trajectory is mirrored in related words such as "infamous," while the root itself underpins a broad semantic field of knowledge-related vocabulary in English and other Indo-European languages.