Nota bene (/ˌnoʊtəˈbɛneɪ,ˈbɛni,ˈbiːni/NOH-təBEN-ay,BEN-ee,BEE-nee;[1][2] plural:notate bene) is theLatin phrase meaningnote well.[2]In manuscripts,nota bene is abbreviated in upper-case asNB andN.B., and in lower-case asn.b. andnb; the editorial usages ofnota bene andnotate bene first appeared in theEnglish style of writing around the year 1711.[3][4][5] InModern English, since the 14th century, the editorial usage ofNB is common to thelegal style of writing of documents to direct the reader's attention to a thematically relevant aspect of the subject that qualifies the matter being litigated,[6] whereas inacademic writing, the editorial abbreviationn.b. is a casual synonym forfootnote.
In medieval manuscripts, the editorial marks used to draw the reader's attention to a supporting text also are callednota bene marks; however, the catalogue of medieval editorial marks does not include the NB abbreviation. The medieval equivalents to the n.b.-mark are anagrams derived from the four letters of the Latin wordnota, thus the abbreviationDM fordignum memoria ("worth remembering") and thetypographic index symbol of themanicule (☞), the little hand that indicates the start of the relevant supporting text.[7]
