notary

notary
    n 1: someone legally empowered to witness signatures and certify
         a document's validity and to take depositions [syn:
         {notary}, {notary public}]
    

Notary \No"ta*ry\, n.; pl. {Notaries}. [F. notaire, L. notarius
   notary (in sense 1), fr. nota mark. See 5th {Note}.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. One who records in shorthand what is said or done; as, the
      notary of an ecclesiastical body.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Eng. & Am. Law) A public officer who attests or certifies
      deeds and other writings, or copies of them, usually under
      his official seal, to make them authentic, especially in
      foreign countries. His duties chiefly relate to
      instruments used in commercial transactions, such as
      protests of negotiable paper, ship's papers in cases of
      loss, damage, etc. He is generally called a {notary
      public}.
      [1913 Webster]
    

NOTARY or NOTARY PUBLIC. An officer appointed by the executive, or other  
appointing power, under the laws of different states. 
     2. Their duties are generally prescribed by such laws. The most usual 
of which are, l. To attest deeds, agreements and other instruments, in order 
to give them authenticity. 2. To protest notes, bills of exchange, and the 
like. 3. To certify copies of agreements and other instruments. 
     3. By act of congress, Sept. 16, 1850, Minot's Statutes at Large. U. S. 
458, it is enacted, That, in all cases in which, under the laws of the 
United States, oaths, or affirmations, or acknowledgments may now be taken 
or made before any justice or justices of the peace of any state or 
territory, such oaths, affirmations, or acknowledgments may be hereafter 
also taken or made by or before any notary public duly appointed in any 
state or territory, and, when certified under, the hand and official seal of 
such notary, shall have the name force and effect as if taken or made by or 
before such justice or justices of the peace. And all laws and parts of laws 
for punishing perjury, or subornation of perjury, committed in any such 
oaths or affirmations, when taken or made before any such justice of the 
peace, shall apply to any such offence committed in any oaths or 
affirmations which may be taken under this act before a notary public, or 
commissioner, as hereinafter named: Provided always, That on any trial for 
either of these offences, the seal and signature of the notary shall not be 
deemed sufficient in themselves to establish the official character of such 
notary, but the same shall be shown by other and proper evidence. 
     4. Notaries, are of very ancient origin they were well known among the 
Romans, and exist in every state of Europe, and particularly on the 
continent. 
     5. Their acts have long been respected by the custom of merchants and 
by the courts of all nations. 6 Toull. n. 211, note. Vide, generally, Chit. 
Bills, Index, h.t.; Chit. Pr. Index,, h.t.; Burn's Eccl. Law, h.t.; Bro. 
Off. of a Not. passim; 2 Har. & John. 396; 7 Vern. 22; 8 Wheat. 326; 6 S. & 
R. 484; 1 Mis. R. 434. 
    

39 Moby Thesaurus words for "notary":
      accountant, amanuensis, approver, archivist, bookkeeper, certifier,
      clerk, confirmer, cosignatory, cosigner, documentalist, endorser,
      engraver, filing clerk, guarantor, insurer, librarian, marker,
      notary public, party, prothonotary, ratifier, record clerk,
      recorder, recordist, register, registrar, scorekeeper, scorer,
      scribe, scrivener, secretary, signatory, stenographer, stonecutter,
      subscriber, timekeeper, underwriter, upholder