note

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A brief record, especially one written down to aid the memory: took notes in class.
2. n. A brief informal letter. See Synonyms at letter.
3. n. A formal written diplomatic or official communication.
4. n. A comment or an explanation, as on a passage in a text.
5. n. A piece of paper currency.
6. n. A certificate issued by a government or a bank and sometimes negotiable as money.
7. n. A promissory note.
8. n. Music A tone of definite pitch.
9. n. Music A symbol for such a tone, indicating pitch by its position on the staff and duration by its shape.
10. n. Music A key of an instrument, such as a piano.
11. n. The characteristic vocal sound made by a songbird or other animal: the clear note of a cardinal.
12. n. The sign of a particular quality or emotion: a note of despair; a note of gaiety in her manner. See Synonyms at sign.
13. n. Importance; consequence: Nothing of note happened.
14. n. Notice; observation: quietly took note of the scene.
15. n. Obsolete A song, melody, or tune.
16. v. To observe carefully; notice. See Synonyms at see¹.
17. v. To make a note of; write down: noted the time of each arrival.
18. v. To show; indicate: a reporter careful to note sources of information.
19. v. To make mention of; remark: noted the lateness of his arrival.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A mark or token by which a thing may be known; a sign; stamp; badge; symbol; in logic, a character or quality.
2. n. Significance; consequence; distinction; reputation.
3. n. Notice; observation; heed.
4. n. Notice; information; intelligence.
5. n. A mark on the margin of a book drawing attention to something in the text; hence, a statement subsidiary to the text of a book elucidating or adding something; an explanatory or critical comment; an annotation. In printing: An explanatory statement, or reference to authority quoted, appended to textual matter and set in smaller type than the text. Notes are of several kinds. A cut-in note is set in a space left in the text, near the outer margin, and as nearly as possible in line with the matter referred to. A center-note is placed between two columns, as in cross-references in some editions of the Bible. A side-note or marginal note is placed in the outer margin of the page, parallel with the lines of the text. A foot-note, or bottom note, follows the text at the foot of the page, but does not encroach on the margin, as side-notes do. A shoulder-note is one at the upper inner corner of a page. In some countries, as China and Japan, all notes are placed at the top of the page.
6. n. A minute or memorandum, intended to assist the memory, or for after use or reference: as, I made a note of the circumstance: generally in the plural: as, to take notes of a sermon or speech; to speak from notes.
7. n. plural A report (verbatim or more or less condensed) of a speech, discourse, statement, testimony, or the like.
8. n. A list of items; an inventory; a catalogue; a bill; an account; a reckoning.
9. n. A written or printed paper acknowledging a debt and promising payment: as, a promissory note; a bank-note; a note of hand (that is, a signed promise to pay a sum of money); a negotiable note.
10. n. A short letter; a billet.
11. n. A diplomatic or official communication in writing. A note is, in a strict sense, an official communication in writing from the Department of Foreign Affairs (or of State) to a foreign diplomatic representative, or vice versa; it is distinguished from an instruction, sent by the department to one of its own diplomatic or consular representatives abroad, and from a despatch, sent by the representative abroad to his own department at home.
12. n. A small size of paper used for writing letters or notes.
13. n. In music: In the staffnotation, a character or sign by which a tone is recorded and represented to the eye. A musical sound or tone, in general or particular: as, the note of a bird; the first note of a song, etc. A note consists of from one to three parts—the head, the stem or tail, and one or more pennants, flags, or hooks, or , which are often extended from one note to another in the form of bars, when two or more notes of the same denomination are grouped together, , The pitch of the tone is indicated by the position of the note on the staff relative to the clef and the key-signature, (See staff, clef, signature, key.) The relative duration of the tone is indicated by the shape of the note. The system of notes now in use includes the following: the breve, ; the semibreve or whole-note, ; the minim or half-note, ; the crotchet or quarter-note, ; the quaver or eighth-note, ; the semiquaver or sixteenth-note, ; the demisemiquaver or thirty-second-note, ; and the hemidemisemiquaver or sixty-fourth-note, . Each of these notes may be placed upon any staff-degree, and thus may signify a tone of any pitch whatever. Each of them, also, may have any time-value whatever, but when in a particular piece or passage a definite time-value is assumed for any one of them, a breve is then regarded equal in that piece or passage to two semibreves, a semibreve to two minims, a minim to two crotchets, etc. In other words, as a metrical notation, this system of notes is relative to an assumed value for one species, but absolute and definite after such an assumption. The pitch-value of a note may be modified by an accidental (which see), though the latter may also be regarded as changing the staff rather than the note. The time-value of a note may be modified by various marks, such as a dot after it (as or ), which lengthens the note by one half its original value; the tie ( or ), which binds two notes on the same pitch together and adds their respective values together; the pause, hold, or fermata ( or ), which lengthens the value of the note indefinitely according to the will of the performer; the staccato ( or ), which shortens the actual duration of the note and supplies the deficiency by a silence or rest. (See the various words.) This system is derived from the medieval systems, though with important changes. The Gregorian system of notes, which is still in use, is much nearer to the medieval system. It includes the following notes: the large, ; the long, ; the breve, ; and the semibreve, or . These in turn were derived from the early neumes. They were first used merely as indications of pitch, their time-value being indefinite, and dependent wholly upon the text sung to them; but they acquired a definite metrical significance under mensurable music. In modern usage they are generally treated as metrical. A special development of the ordinary system of notes is that of character-notes, which are varied in shape so as to indicate not only various time-values, but also the scale-values or characteristic qualities of the tones indicated. Thus, the tonic or do is always represented by one shape, the dominant or sol by another, the subdominant or fa by a third, etc. The system thus aims to secure at once the utility of the staff and of a reference to the abstract scale.
14. n. A digital or key of the keyboard: as, the white and black notes of the pianoforte.
15. n. Harmonious or melodious sound; air; tune; voice; tone.
16. n. A point marked; a degree.
17. n. A black digital on the keyboard.
18. n. A tone produced from an open string of a stringed instrument, or a note representing such a tone.
19. n. A white digital on the keyboard.
20. n. Synonyms Annotation, etc. See remark, n.
21. To distinguish with a mark; set a mark upon; mark.
22. To observe carefully; notice particularly.
23. To set down in writing; make a memorandum of.
24. To set down in musical characters; furnish with musical notes.
25. To furnish with marginal notes; annotate.
26. To denote; point out; indicate.
27. To put a mark upon; brand; stigmatize.
28. Synonyms To record, register, minute, jot down.
29. Note, Denote, Connote (see the definitions of these words), mark.
30. To sing.
31. Known; well-known.
32. n. A well-known or famous place or city.
33. n. Use; employment.
34. n. Utility; profit; advantage.
35. n. Affair; matter; business; concern; event; occasion.
36. n. Expedition; undertaking; enterprise; conflict; fray.
37. To use; make use of; enjoy.
38. To use for food; eat: as, he notes very little.
39. To need; have occasion for.
40. n. A dialectal variant of neat.
41. n. An obsolete or dialectal form of nut.
42. To butt; push with the horns; gore.

Wiktionary

1. v. transitive, Northern England, Scotland To use; make use of; employ.
2. v. transitive, Northern England, Scotland To use for food; eat.
3. n. uncountable, Northern England, Ireland, Scotland Use; employment.
4. n. uncountable Utility; profit; advantage; foredeal; benefit; pains.
5. n. countable Affair, matter, concern.
6. n. countable Business; undertaking; task, duty; purpose.
7. n. Northern England, Ireland, Scotland The giving of milk by a cow or sow; the period following calving or farrowing during which a cow or sow gives milk; the milk given by a cow or sow during such a period.
8. n. A mark or token by which a thing may be known; a visible sign; a character; a distinctive mark or feature; a characteristic quality.
9. n. 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.
10. n. A brief remark; a marginal comment or explanation; hence, an annotation on a text or author; a comment; a critical, explanatory, or illustrative observation.
11. n. A brief piece of writing intended to assist the memory; a memorandum; a minute.
12. n. A short informal letter; a billet.
13. n. A diplomatic missive or written communication.
14. n. finance A written or printed paper acknowledging a debt, and promising payment; as, a promissory note; a note of hand; a negotiable note.
15. n. A piece of paper money; a banknote.
16. n. A small size of paper used for writing letters or notes.
17. n. music A character, variously formed, to indicate the length of a tone, and variously placed upon the staff to indicate its pitch.
18. n. music A musical sound; a tone; an utterance; a tune.
19. n. music A key of the piano or organ.
20. n. uncountable Observation; notice; heed.
21. n. uncountable Reputation; distinction.
22. v. transitive To notice with care; to observe; to remark; to heed
23. v. transitive To record in writing; to make a memorandum of.
24. v. transitive To denote; to designate
25. v. transitive To annotate
26. v. transitive To set down in musical characters.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. Prov. Eng. To butt; to push with the horns.
2. obsolete Know not; knows not.
3. n. obsolete Nut.
4. n. obsolete Need; needful business.
5. n. A mark or token by which a thing may be known; a visible sign; a character; a distinctive mark or feature; a characteristic quality.
6. n. 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.
7. n. A brief remark; a marginal comment or explanation; hence, an annotation on a text or author; a comment; a critical, explanatory, or illustrative observation.
8. n. A brief writing intended to assist the memory; a memorandum; a minute.
9. n. Hence, a writing intended to be used in speaking; memoranda to assist a speaker, being either a synopsis, or the full text of what is to be said; ; also, a reporter's memoranda; the original report of a speech or of proceedings.
10. n. A short informal letter; a billet.
11. n. A diplomatic missive or written communication.
12. n. A written or printed paper acknowledging a debt, and promising payment
13. n. obsolete A list of items or of charges; an account.
14. n. A character, variously formed, to indicate the length of a tone, and variously placed upon the staff to indicate its pitch. Hence
15. n. A musical sound; a tone; an utterance; a tune.
16. n. A key of the piano or organ.
17. n. Observation; notice; heed.
18. n. obsolete Notification; information; intelligence.
19. n. obsolete State of being under observation.
20. n. Reputation; distinction.
21. n. obsolete Stigma; brand; reproach.
22. v. To notice with care; to observe; to remark; to heed; to attend to.
23. v. To record in writing; to make a memorandum of.
24. v. obsolete To charge, as with crime (with of or for before the thing charged); to brand.
25. v. To denote; to designate.
26. v. rare To annotate.
27. v. To set down in musical characters.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a promise to pay a specified amount on demand or at a certain time
2. v. observe with care or pay close attention to
3. n. a piece of paper money (especially one issued by a central bank)
4. v. notice or perceive
5. n. a notation representing the pitch and duration of a musical sound
6. n. a short personal letter
7. v. make a written note of
8. n. a characteristic emotional quality
9. v. make mention of
10. n. a tone of voice that shows what the speaker is feeling
11. n. high status importance owing to marked superiority
12. n. a comment or instruction (usually added)
13. n. a brief written record