Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Notation \No*ta"tion\, n. [L. notatio a marking, observing,
   etymology, fr. notare to mark, nota a mark: cf. F. notation.
   See 5th {Note}.]
   1. The act or practice of recording anything by marks,
      figures, or characters.

   2. Any particular system of characters, symbols, or
      abbreviated expressions used in art or science, to express
      briefly technical facts, quantities, etc. Esp., the system
      of figures, letters, and signs used in arithmetic and
      algebra to express number, quantity, or operations.

   3. Literal or etymological signification. [Obs.]

            ``Conscience'' is a Latin word, and, according to
            the very notation of it, imports a double or joint
            knowledge.                            --South.

Source : WordNet®

notation
     n 1: a technical system of symbols used to represent special
          things [syn: {notational system}]
     2: a comment or instruction (usually added); "his notes were
        appended at the end of the article"; "he added a short
        notation to the address on the envelope" [syn: {note}, {annotation}]
     3: the activity of representing something by a special system
        of marks or characters