annotate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
Usage
What does annotate mean? To annotate is to add notes or comments to a text or something similar to provide explanation or criticism about a particular part of it. Such notes or comments are called annotations. Annotation can also refer to the act of annotating. Annotations are often added to scholarly articles or to literary works that are being analyzed. But any text can be annotated. For example, a note that you scribble in the margin of your textbook is an annotation, as is an explanatory comment that you add to a list of tasks at work. Something that has had such notes added to it can be described with the adjective annotated, as in This is the annotated edition of the book. Example: I like to annotate the books I’m reading by writing my thoughts in the margins.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
annotatornoun
-
overannotateverb
-
reannotateverb
-
annotatableadjective
-
annotativeadjective
-
annotatoryadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
annotatesimple
-
annotatessimple
-
have annotatedperfect
-
has annotatedperfect
-
am annotatingprogressive
-
are annotatingprogressive
-
is annotatingprogressive
-
have been annotatingperfect progressive
-
has been annotatingperfect progressive
Past
-
annotatedsimple
-
had annotatedperfect
-
was annotatingprogressive
-
were annotatingprogressive
-
had been annotatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of annotate
First recorded in 1725–35; from Latin annotātus “marked down,” past participle of annotāre “to mark down,” from an- an- 2 + notāre “to mark” ( see note)
Explanation
When you annotate, you write critical explanations to add extra insight about something. These explanations can be necessary to understanding writings in which the language might be difficult to make sense of without clarification. The heart of the word annotate is the word note. The Latin annotātus means "noted down," making the word a breeze to remember. A writer will annotate parts that need extra explanation in technical works or classic writings in which the language or concepts might be difficult to grasp. In fact, some works, like James Joyce’s "Ulysses," have entire separate volumes of annotations, and readers must shift back and forth from the novel to the annotations. Now that's a dedicated reader!
Vocabulary lists containing annotate
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Poet X
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
myPerspectives 8.2
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Gilroy recently joined The Envelope via Zoom to annotate the four-minute oration.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2025
She would annotate each image with an arrow, directing my next move, and send it back.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2025
They must be able — with full certainty — to annotate and explain data they cite and how they reach conclusions.
From Seattle Times ● May 20, 2024
Researchers annotate viruses by matching viral sequences in a sample to previously annotated sequences available in public databases of viral genetic sequences.
From Salon ● May 17, 2024
He settled in with my dad to annotate maps with new information: construction sites, the burnt-out school...
From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline
Ever the eager pedagogue, as played with buoyant energy by Mr. Morse, Beckett annotates her performance: “Haydn based that movement of the symphony on a folk song. From Croatia.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
When users type a question into its subscription-based tool Assistant, the software pulls an answer from ChatGPT and automatically annotates the text with references to relevant scholarly articles, choosing from millions in its database.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 26, 2023
Rather than speak his lines, he emotionally annotates them, like a therapist with more sensitive ideas than life experience.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 2023
The artist Wendy Red Star annotates historical photos of Crow diplomats, restoring significance to feathers and hair bows that contemporaneous white Americans belittled and misunderstood.
From New York Times ● Aug. 3, 2022
The complacency with which Butler annotates his own childish letters to his mother is equalled only by the gravity with which Mr. Jones examines those very annotations.
From Aspects and Impressions by Gosse, Edmund
Alongside the guitar is a copy of the Declaration of Independence, annotated by John McKesson, secretary of New York’s Fourth Provincial Congress, in the days following July 4, 1776.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
The area surrounding Shalbatana Vallis contains many additional geological features, all labeled in the annotated image of the region.
From Science Daily ● May 15, 2026
The collection of Le Carré’s annotated typescripts, letters and photographs offers a window into his painstaking craft.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 26, 2026
Zelensky presented the plan during a two-hour briefing with journalists, reading from a highlighted and annotated version.
From Barron's ● Dec. 24, 2025
That first or second summer, at a camp in Patchogue, Long Island, he found a book of annotated chess games.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
The following year, Pulte even produced a slim volume annotating some of his grandfather’s sayings and quotations.
From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2026
It recently started annotating videos from more advanced humanoid robots, helping train them to sort and fold a mix of towels and clothes, folding them and placing them in different corners of the table.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2025
In biomedicine, segmentation involves annotating pixels from an important structure in a medical image, like an organ or cell.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 11, 2024
First, let’s explore one of the most daunting studying tasks: reading and annotating long papers.
From New York Times ● Jun. 30, 2023
Readers with strong feelings cannot resist annotating articles or chapters that express opinions in which they cannot concur.
From A Librarian's Open Shelf by Bostwick, Arthur E.
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.
