nota bene

\nɔ.ta be.ne\

/\nɔ.ta be.ne\/ intj

The verdict

“nota bene” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an interjection. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Remarquez bien, notez bien.

Key facts for nota bene
PropertyValue
Headwordnota bene
LanguageFrench
Part of speechInterjection
IPA\nɔ.ta be.ne\
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “nota bene” sits in French frequency

nota bene falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

nota bene is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as aninterjection, transcribed \nɔ.ta be.ne\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Remarquez bien, notez bien.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for nota bene, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is nota bene, spelled N-O-T-A- -B-E-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Remarquez bien, notez bien.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "nota bene"?
"nota bene" is spelled N-O-T-A- -B-E-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is \nɔ.ta be.ne\.
What does "nota bene" mean?
As an interjection, "nota bene" means: Remarquez bien, notez bien.
How do you pronounce "nota bene"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "nota bene" is \nɔ.ta be.ne\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "nota bene" come from?
"nota bene" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “nota bene”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is N-O-T-A- -B-E-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \nɔ.ta be.ne\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list