notify

verb

no·​ti·​fy ˈnō-tə-ˌfī How to pronounce notify (audio)
notified; notifying

transitive verb

1
: to give formal notice to
notify a family of the death of a relation
She notified the police about the accident.
2
: to give notice of or report the occurrence of
He notified his intention to sue.
She notified my arrival to the governor.
3
obsolete : to point out
notifier noun
Choose the Right Synonym for notify

inform, acquaint, apprise, notify mean to make one aware of something.

inform implies the imparting of knowledge especially of facts or occurrences.

informed us of the crisis

acquaint lays stress on introducing to or familiarizing with.

acquaint yourself with the keyboard

apprise implies communicating something of special interest or importance.

keep us apprised of the situation

notify implies sending notice of something requiring attention or demanding action.

notified the witness when to appear

Examples of notify in a Sentence

Customers were notified of the changes in the company. I was notified that I did not get the job.
Recent Examples on the Web First aid at Footprint Center In the event of an emergency, notify any Footprint Center representative or uniformed police officer to ensure that emergency personnel are notified. Ed Masley, The Arizona Republic, 15 Mar. 2024 The Cincinnati Health Department has been notified that there was a measles exposure at the venue during the 7 p.m. performance on Friday. Cheryl Vari, The Enquirer, 15 Mar. 2024 Police were then notified that 20-year-old Jayshawn Hammock of Little Rock was taken to a local hospital to be treated for an apparent gunshot wound. Remington Miller, arkansasonline.com, 13 Mar. 2024 The criminal case that led to Cadenhead’s imprisonment did not include charges for abusing the Oklahoma girl, and the girl’s mother said she was not notified of his arrest. Chris Dehghanpoor, Washington Post, 13 Mar. 2024 Ticket buyers of the final seven shows of the tour — in Cleveland, Nashville, Raleigh, Atlanta, Tampa, New Orleans, and Houston, a stretch of dates that ran from August 20 to August 31 — were notified of the cancelation recently, with no explanation as to why the shows were suddenly nixed. Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 13 Mar. 2024 After facing complaints for not notifying the community about the project as it was originally planned, UC Irvine has now launched a website with frequently asked questions and updates. Brooke Staggs, Orange County Register, 13 Mar. 2024 To improve the road’s safety measures without damaging the tree, the girls install a motion detector that sets off a flashing light to notify drivers when people are crossing the street. IEEE Spectrum, 12 Mar. 2024 According to a news release from the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department, first responders were notified of the unresponsive child at about 5:21 p.m. CPR was administered, and the girl was taken to a local hospital by the Pewaukee Fire Department. Drew Dawson, Journal Sentinel, 9 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'notify.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English notifien, from Anglo-French notifier to make known, from Late Latin notificare, from Latin notus known

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Time Traveler
The first known use of notify was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near notify

Cite this Entry

“Notify.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/notify. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

notify

verb
no·​ti·​fy ˈnōt-ə-ˌfī How to pronounce notify (audio)
notified; notifying
: to give notice to : inform
notify the police
notifier noun

Medical Definition

notify

transitive verb
no·​ti·​fy ˈnōt-ə-ˌfī How to pronounce notify (audio)
notified; notifying
1
British : to report the occurrence of (a case of communicable disease) or the occurrence of communicable disease in (an individual)
all cases of disease should be notified by the treating consultantPractitioner
2
: to give formal notice to
the Broward County Public Health Unit … was notified of three children … hospitalized with encephalitis attributed to cat scratch diseaseJournal of the American Medical Association
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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