notify

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verb no·ti·fy \ˈnō-tə-ˌfī\

Definition of notify

notified

;

notifying

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

notifier

play \ˈnō-tə-ˌfī(-ə)r\ noun

See notify defined for English-language learners

See notify defined for kids

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 of notify from the Web

The families of both Basham and Gray have been notified, Edelen said.

— darcy costello, The Courier-Journal, "Coroner identifies the two teenage victims of Sunday morning fatal crash," 19 July 2017
Mitchell said the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has been notified and is monitoring the monkeys.

— tamara lush, The Seattle Times, "Wild primates in Florida park: Monkey shenanigans on rise," 12 July 2017
While Tillman was in prison in November 1988, the SSA notified her of an overpayment of benefits.

— kent faulk, AL.com, "Morris woman pleads guilty to theft of $168k in SSA widow benefits of husband she killed," 12 July 2017
Hojnacki first notified the school's five teachers before crafting a letter to the 50 families of the 60 students who were signed up for classes in the fall.

— suzanne baker, Naperville Sun, "Montessori school in Naperville closing after 36 years," 11 July 2017
Unfortunately, Meeks is also married and raising children with a woman named Melissa, who was notified of the photos — how else — by a stranger via Instagram DM.

— gabriella paiella, The Cut, "The ‘Hot Felon’ May Soon Be Single," 10 July 2017
Detectives notified the woman's grandmother of her death, and learned that the grandmother's gun was missing.

— carol robinson, AL.com, "Woman kills herself in Fairfield park, streams suicide on Facebook Live," 6 July 2017
After the first positive case was confirmed, the government immediately notified the WHO, which activated their emergency protocols.

— ed yong, The Atlantic, "How the Democratic Republic of the Congo Beat Ebola In 42 Days," 3 July 2017
The Pentagon did not notify any of the island's claimants before that operation.

— thomas gibbons-neff and simon denyer, chicagotribune.com, "China accuses U.S. of 'serious provocation' as Navy destroyer sails near disputed island," 2 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'notify.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of notify

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

Synonym Discussion of 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

NOTIFY Defined for English Language Learners

notify

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verb

Definition of notify for English Language Learners

: to tell (someone) officially about something

NOTIFY Defined for Kids

notify

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verb no·ti·fy \ˈnō-tə-ˌfī\

Definition of notify for Students

notified

;

notifying

: to give notice to : inform Please notify the school of your new address.

Medical Dictionary

notify

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transitive verb no·ti·fy \ˈnōt-ə-ˌfī\

Medical Definition of notify

notified

;

notifying

1British : 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 consultant—Practitioner
2: to give formal notice to the Broward County Public Health Unit…was notified of three children…hospitalized with encephalitis attributed to cat scratch disease—Journal of the American Medical Association