Meaning:
Something has been properly acknowledged and taken into account.
Background:
The word `duly' is an adverb that is formed from the root word `due' and it
comes from the Old French word `deu', meaning `owed' or `fitting'. So, when
something is done duly, it's expected, and it's considered proper or right.
Something that is duly given can also be said to be owed.
When something is noted, it is acknowledged and taken into account. So, when
someone responds to something with the phrase `duly noted' they are saying
that they know you expect them to take into account what has been said, and
they are confirming to you that it has been done.
The phrase is often said with neutrality, however, it can also be used
sarcastically to imply that the speaker doesn't care about what has just been
said.
The precise origin of the term is yet to be identified, however I can confirm
that it has been in use since at least the early 1800s.
The phrase is still in use today, and most often appears in legal documents
and court proceedings, but you will also see it in books, and in TV and film
as well as in business meetings and everyday conversion.
- www.phrases.org.uk [edited]
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In Doc Martin (S5E2) where Ruth, Doc's ageing aunt, was visiting Port Wenn for
her sister's funeral and staying at Crab and Lobster, the village pub. The
barman noticed the scarlet blot on her napkin after she wiped her mouth and
asked if she was OK.
"It's nothing" she said.
"Couldn't hurt to pop up and see your nephew, get it checked out."
"Good advice, duly noted" she summarily consented and the pub keeper was
just as duly dismissed.
A psychiatrist, she did her research and self-diagnosed secondary systemic
lupus. Months passed since she had convinced herself that she was dying and had
accepted it. The least she needed now, she felt, was advice from some officious
layman doing her a favor by telling her what she ought to do.
