-_rē, -ri noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin notarius stenographer, secretary, from notarius of shorthand, from nota mark, shorthand character + -arius -ary
1. obsolete
a. : clerk , secretary
b. : noter , observer
2.
a. or notary public plural notaries public or notary publics
[Middle English, from notary + public, adjective]
: a public officer appointed in the United States usually by the governors of the states and in England where he is still nominally an ecclesiastical official by the Archbishop of Canterbury to take acknowledgment of or otherwise attest or certify deeds and other writings or copies of them usually under official seal to make them authentic and to take affidavits, depositions, and protests of negotiable paper
b. : a French official who draws up and records documents and instruments of legal importance and certifies to copies of judgments and records and to protests of commercial paper, who is appointed by the president of the Republic, and who cannot serve as advocate or engage in any other business
c. : an official in Quebec who draws up and records instruments, examines titles, and does noncontentious legal business