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Promissory Note
Source: Encyclopedia of Banking & Finance (9h Edition) by Charles J Woelfel
(We recommend this as work of authority.)

As defined by the Negotiable Instruments Law, an unconditional promise in writing made by one person to another, signed by the maker, engaging to pay on demand or at a fixed or determinable future time a sum certain in money, to order or to bearer.

The promissory note and the bill of exchange (draft and check) are the instruments encompassed by the Negotiable Instruments Law, Under the Uniform Commercial Code, by contrast, the broad term "commercial paper" encompasses drafts, checks, certificates of deposit, and notes.  


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