notify

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

According to the Lyft website, drivers will be notified within 45 seconds if there is a match.

— lisa beebe, Los Angeles Magazine, "LAX Just Made It Easier to Catch a Lyft/Uber from the Airport," 30 Aug. 2017
The girl reported the incident to an adult, who notified authorities, police said.

— Washington Post, "Boy and man are shot in Northeast D.C.," 30 Aug. 2017
Those who left the tent did so around 8.30 p.m. and were able to notify emergency dispatchers of DeForest’s condition by 10:45 p.m.

— tess koman, Cosmopolitan, "20-Year-Old Gets Suddenly Sick, Dies While Hiking With Her Friends," 24 Aug. 2017
Shoop and her group notify gardeners of upcoming classes and The Tarrant Area Food Bank has a Learning Garden at Ridglea Christian Church in Fort Worth with a variety of free classes and workshops.

— patsy miller, star-telegram, "A purposeful garden," 23 Aug. 2017
Prenatal testing is optional in Iceland, but the government mandates that doctors notify women of that option.

— alexandra desanctis, National Review, "Iceland Eliminates People with Down Syndrome," 16 Aug. 2017
Those students will be notified via postcard regarding their bus routes, according to the release.

— david anderson, The Aegis, "Harford school bus schedules for 2017-18 available online," 10 Aug. 2017
But if a musician moved, died, or disappeared, and no one notified the company, the checks got returned.

— Longreads, "The Brief Career and Self-Imposed Exile of Jutta Hipp, Jazz Pianist," 4 Aug. 2017
A few days later, Smith notified El-Remessy that the allegations into her research warranted a formal inquiry.

— victoria stern, Science | AAAS, "Why would a university pay a scientist found guilty of misconduct to leave?," 31 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

verb

Definition of notify for English Language Learners

: to tell (someone) officially about something

NOTIFY Defined for Kids

notify

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

transitive verb no·ti·fy \ ˈnōt-ə-ˌfī \

medical Definition of notify

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 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