notatus

Notatus is a Latin term meaning marked or noted. It derives from the verb notare, “to mark” or “to note,” with the participle form notatus translating to “having been marked” or “noted.” In scholarly and scientific usage, notatus appears as an adjective or as part of specific epithets in binomial nomenclature.

In taxonomy, notatus is a common specific epithet across plants and animals, used to signal a notable feature of the organism, such as a distinctive marking or pattern. The epithet must agree in gender with the genus name, so notatus is used with masculine genera, notata with feminine, and notatum with neuter genera. The choice of notatus is descriptive rather than taxonomically diagnostic in itself, and it reflects the author’s observation at the time of description.

In manuscript and textual studies, notatus has a broader function related to notes or annotations. It may appear in marginalia or scholarly apparatus to indicate a remark, clarification, or citation associated with a passage. Related Latin terms include nota and nota bene; notatus is part of the broader vocabulary of notations used in critical editing and philology.

Overall, notatus functions as a linguistic marker for noting a feature or observation, with its precise interpretation varying by discipline and grammatical form. It is most commonly encountered in historical scientific texts and Latin scholarly writings, where its use signals a noteworthy attribute or a referenced annotation.