Nota bene

[1] In manuscripts, nota bene is abbreviated in upper-case as NB and N.B., and in lower-case as n.b.

[2][3][4] In Modern English, since the 14th century, the editorial usage of NB is common to the legal style of writing of documents to direct the reader's attention to a thematically relevant aspect of the subject that qualifies the matter being litigated,[5] whereas in academic writing, the editorial abbreviation n.b.

In medieval manuscripts, the editorial marks used to draw the reader's attention to a supporting text also are called nota bene marks; however, the catalogue of medieval editorial marks does not include the NB abbreviation.

The medieval equivalents to the n.b.-mark are anagrams derived from the four letters of the Latin word nota, thus the abbreviation DM for dignum memoria ("worth remembering") and the typographic index symbol of the manicule (☞), the little hand that indicates the start of the relevant supporting text.

This article related to Latin words and phrases is a stub.

Nota bene editorial remarks: The monographic “Verses on the Futility of Unread Books” is a NB presented to the reader for deeper discussion of the subject. (Handwriting Hs. I 300, City Library of Mainz.)
Nota bene editorial usage: In 1801, the author of the “Wife-Wanted” newspaper advert used the uppercase N.B. editorial abbreviation to stipulate that only moral women need apply to marry him.