notorious [LME] When it appeared in the late 15th century notorious first meant just ‘commonly or generally known, famous’, as, for example, in the 1588 quotation ‘Manie of you…are men verie notorious for their learning and preaching’. However, the negative meaning had already emerged by the time the Book of Common Prayer was published in 1549: ‘Suche persones as were notorious synners.’ The word comes from Latin notus ‘known’, which is also the root of the English words note [ME], notice [LME], notify [LME], and notion [LME].