commentary

[kom-uhn-ter-ee]

noun

plural

commentaries 

1. a series of comments, explanations, or annotations.

   a commentary on the Bible; news followed by a commentary.

2. an explanatory essay or treatise.

   a commentary on a play; Blackstone's commentaries on law.

3. anything serving to illustrate a point, prompt a realization, or exemplify, especially in the case of something unfortunate.

   The dropout rate is a sad commentary on our school system.

4. Usually commentaries. records of facts or events.

   Commentaries written by Roman lawyers give us information on how their courts functioned.

commentary

/ ˌkɒmənˈtɛərɪəl, -trɪ, ˈkɒməntərɪ /

noun

1. an explanatory series of notes or comments

2. a spoken accompaniment to a broadcast, film, etc, esp of a sporting event

3. an explanatory essay or treatise on a text

4. (usually plural) a personal record of events or facts

   the commentaries of Caesar

Other Word Forms

• commentarial adjective
• supercommentary noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of commentary¹

1375–1425; late Middle English commentaries (plural) < Latin commentārium notebook, noun use of neuter of commentārius, equivalent to comment ( um ) comment + -ārius -ary

Example Sentences

“Investor relations is a function of managing expectations,” he said in emailed commentary.

Read more on MarketWatch

Gilligan also steers clear of political commentary in his other work.

Read more on Salon

Guest commentaries like these ones are written by authors outside the Barron’s newsroom.

Read more on Barron's

As good as Teller is as a husband in crisis, the Oscar-winning Randolph is her own commanding source of light, enough to sell this movie’s feel-good abstracts and wry commentaries on her own.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Market expectations for the Federal Reserve’s next monetary policy move are shifting following U.S. employment data, resulting in a “sense of indecision”, writes Julian Pineda, market analyst at Forex.com by StoneX, in commentary.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• comment 
• criticism 
• critique 
• description 
• explanation 
• narration 
• observation 
• remark 
• review 
• treatise