document
Americannoun
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a written or printed paper furnishing information or evidence, as a passport, deed, bill of sale, or bill of lading; a legal or official paper.
You'll need documents from your employers and your bank to prepare your income tax return.
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any written item, as a book, article, or letter, especially of a factual or informative nature.
The leaked document proves that the management team knew about the safety issues before the product launch.
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Digital Technology. a computer data file, especially one with formatted text.
Luckily, I saved my document right before the power went out.
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Archaic. evidence; proof.
verb (used with object)
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to furnish with documents.
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to furnish with references, citations, etc., in support of statements made.
a carefully documented biography.
- Synonyms:
- validate, substantiate, verify, corroborate
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to support by documentary evidence.
to document a case.
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Nautical. to provide (a vessel) with a certificate giving particulars concerning nationality, ownership, tonnage, dimensions, etc.
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Obsolete. to instruct.
noun
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a piece of paper, booklet, etc, providing information, esp of an official or legal nature
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a piece of text or text and graphics stored in a computer as a file for manipulation by document processing software
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archaic evidence; proof
verb
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to record or report in detail, as in the press, on television, etc
the trial was well documented by the media
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to support (statements in a book) with citations, references, etc
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to support (a claim, etc) with evidence or proof
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to furnish (a vessel) with official documents specifying its ownership, registration, weight, dimensions, and function
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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documenternoun
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redocumentverb (used with object)
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documentableadjective
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nondocumentedadjective
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well-documentedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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documentsimple
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documentssimple
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have documentedperfect
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has documentedperfect
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am documentingprogressive
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are documentingprogressive
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is documentingprogressive
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have been documentingperfect progressive
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has been documentingperfect progressive
Past
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documentedsimple
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had documentedperfect
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was documentingprogressive
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were documentingprogressive
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had been documentingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of document
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin documentum “example (as precedent, warning, etc.),” from doc(ēre) “to teach” + -u- (variant of -i- -i- before labials) + -mentum -ment
Explanation
A document is a piece of paper that contains official information. Don't you wish you had a document saying that the bank owed you $5 million? Document comes from the Latin verb meaning "to teach," so a document instructs you with the information it contains. Legal documents such as contracts contain instructions on how the people signing it will act. Passports, driver’s licenses and birth certificates are all official documents. As a verb, document means "to record in detail," or "offer supporting evidence for." If you call a company to complain about something, make sure to document your phone calls by noting the date you called, who you spoke to and what was said.
Vocabulary lists containing document
PARCC: Language of the Test (Grade 11)
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Word Generation Social Studies - Complex Questions Related to American Democracy
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Lesson 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Not my circus, not my monkeys anymore,” he wrote to a colleague who shared that it was approved, according to a document.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
In Illinois, you need to file a formal document — a Renunciation of Nominated Executor or Renunciation of Right to Act — with the county probate court.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
The document emphasizes marriage as a requirement for sex, and gives a nod to the “success sequence” of completing school, finding gainful employment, getting married, and then having children.
From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026
But the surge of interest and drive to document these quirky, characterful creatures can often result in pleas from local officials to respect their privacy and safety.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
He pivoted to the desk and touched the document called “The Snow White Project.”
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
There are also examples of advisers pushing for mortgages for friends and romantic partners who lack the proper down payment, income or other criteria needed, the people said and documents show.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
The one-page documents, generated by a software program, took the place of the thoroughly researched files that federal immigration agents had traditionally prepared.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
By helping her gather these documents, you’ll be providing a bit of relief and preventing bad surprises when she’s grieving.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
"In 2023 alone, 45 unreleased songs belonging to Ms Grande were hacked, stolen, and leaked," the documents said.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
But they could not risk leaving a trail of papers and documents and paychecks.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
Metr, a nonprofit that measures the capabilities of AIs, has documented 44 incidents of AI agents acting against user intent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
OpenAI itself documented one early example in 2016 when training AIs to play a boat-race game.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
After reviewing more than 20 years of stranding records and preserved tissue samples, researchers at Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute and collaborating institutions identified three Helicobacter genotypes that had never been documented before.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
The best documented, however, are that of an American airline pilot who died hours after eating a hamburger in 2024, and Jeremy's.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Combined with her online profile, it basically documented her entire life.
From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
Also signing the letter with Beutner were leaders of the group Parents Supporting Teachers, which had helped gather data documenting the funding shifts — data that L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
The means they deployed were not violent resistance, but warning, watching, accompanying, documenting, delaying, material support, and refusing isolation.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
Investors need to know companies are not only adopting AI in significant ways, but also documenting it in financial statements, earnings calls, investments and workforce reduction.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
A new research paper documenting all known cases of the mutation, identified between 1966 and 2025, is set to be published by Prof Laron, who is based at Tel Aviv University, later in July.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
For a while now she had been examining the archives documenting the lives of French slave masters and their commerce in West Africa.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
