What Does ‘Duly’ in Duly Noted Mean?

Vocabulary / By

The word ‘duly’ in duly noted means ‘at the correct time and proper way’. When someone tells you that they have ‘duly noted’ something, it means they have documented it in the proper form.

Read on to learn more about the history of the phrase and other times in which it could be used properly.

Word History

The word ‘duly’ comes from the old French word ‘deu’, or ‘to owe’. Merriam-Webster dictionary classifies the word duly as an adverb with synonyms of

  • Appropriately
  • Befittingly
  • Fitly
  • Fittingly
  • Suitably

The first usage of the word ‘duly’ was recorded in the late 14th, early 15th centuries.

Word Usage

The phrase ‘duly noted’ can usually be found inside a courtroom or other official businesses. When a judge instructs someone to record something, the phrase ‘duly noted’ is usually given as an affirmative.

Outside of the phrase “duly noted”, the word ‘duly’ can be found in many different uses. Sentences that use the word ‘duly’ include

I expect to be duly paid for my overtime hours.
He was duly given a raise.
A complete set was duly produced.

Facetious Usage

In modern English usage, the phrase “duly noted” can be used as a form of sarcasm, especially when used facetiously.

Sarcasm is defined as “the use of irony to convey or mock contempt”. Therefore, one could say “duly noted” when given a set of instructions that the recipient finds disdainful. Conveyed with sarcasm, it simply means “I heard you and I don’t care”.

Synonyms of “Duly Noted”

A synonym is a phrase or word that means the same thing with different words. For example “shut” is a synonym for “ close”. While there are synonyms of “duly”, there are also various synonyms of the entire phrase “duly noted”.

The synonyms for the entire phrase are

  • Point taken
  • Properly reflected
  • Note taken
  • Got it

Common Misspellings

The phrase “duly noted” is a common phrase in the English language and one of the commonly misspelled ones as well. “Dully noted”, “dually noted”, and “duelly noted” are all common misspellings of the phrase.

Spelling the word as “dully” instead of “duly” turns the word meaning into dull, boring, or sluggish. “Dually” is another common misspelling that turns the word meaning into something different. Dually means double, or two.

The word “duelly” sometimes is confused as the plural version of the word ‘duel’. Unfortunately, however, ‘duelly’ is not a grammatically correct word. In order to have a plural ‘duel’, you would make no changes to the word as it functions as a plural on its own. The correct spelling of the phrase is “Duly Noted”.

Conor
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