notify

verb

no·​ti·​fy ˈnō-tə-ˌfī 

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

ˈnō-tə-ˌfī(-ə)r 

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

An employee at the home alerted the director, who notified police on June 25. — Robert McCoppin, Chicago Tribune, 1 Sep. 2026

Senate Bill 1119, also introduced by Padilla, would require companion chatbot operators to assess risks, notify parents in certain cases if their child threatened to harm themself and take other steps to protect child safety. — Queenie Wong, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2026

The school is also notifying its donors about the draw from the endowment, both in writing and through in-person conversations. — Bloomberg, Fortune, 31 Aug. 2026

His family was notified later in the day when his identity was confirmed, Holtz said. — Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 31 Aug. 2026

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

Phrases Containing notify

• pre-notify

Rhymes for notify

• abscissae
• adonai
• alibi
• alkali
• alumni
• amoebae
• amplify
• annuli
• beautify
• brachii
• butterfly
• calculi

Kids Definition

notify

verb

no·​ti·​fy ˈnōt-ə-ˌfī 

notified; notifying

: to give notice to : inform

notify the police

notifier

-ˌfī(-ə)r 

noun

Medical Definition

notify

transitive verb

no·​ti·​fy ˈnōt-ə-ˌfī 

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

—The Journal of the American Medical Association