document

[ noun dok-yuh-muhnt; verb dok-yuh-ment ]

noun

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. Digital Technology. a computer data file, especially one with formatted text:

   Luckily, I saved my document right before the power went out.

4. Archaic. evidence; proof.

verb (used with object)

1. to furnish with documents.
2. to furnish with references, citations, etc., in support of statements made:

   a carefully documented biography.

   Synonyms: validate, substantiate, verify, corroborate

3. to support by documentary evidence:

   to document a case.

4. Nautical. to provide (a vessel) with a certificate giving particulars concerning nationality, ownership, tonnage, dimensions, etc.
5. Obsolete. to instruct.

document

noun

1. a piece of paper, booklet, etc, providing information, esp of an official or legal nature
2. a piece of text or text and graphics stored in a computer as a file for manipulation by document processing software
3. archaic.
   evidence; proof

verb

1. to record or report in detail, as in the press, on television, etc

   the trial was well documented by the media

2. to support (statements in a book) with citations, references, etc
3. to support (a claim, etc) with evidence or proof
4. to furnish (a vessel) with official documents specifying its ownership, registration, weight, dimensions, and function

Other Words From

• doc·u·ment·a·ble [dok, -y, uh, -men-t, uh, -b, uh, l, dok-y, uh, -, men, -], adjective
• docu·menter noun
• non·docu·mented adjective noun
• re·docu·ment verb (used with object)
• well-docu·mented adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of document¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of document¹

C15: from Latin documentum a lesson, from docēre to teach

Example Sentences

According to CNN, the city released some 325 pages of documents on Monday, detailing the extent to which officials went to try and control the narrative around Prude’s death.

From Essence.com

In January of this year, a Harvard Berkman Klein Center review of 36 of the most prominent documents guiding national and company AI strategies found eight common themes—among them privacy, safety, fairness, and explainability.

From MIT Technology Review

The rates for the extra suites ranged from $142 to $283 per night, according to the documents.

From Washington Post

According to the department’s standard operating procedures document, the department had previously used the system to identify “work-related problematic behavioral patterns among members.”

From Vox

The proposal would guarantee free public access to judicial documents, ending the current practice of charging 10 cents per page for many documents—as well as search results.

From Ars Technica

A second document was titled: “Gambia Reborn: A Charter for Transition from Dictatorship to Democracy and Development.”

From The Daily Beast

I am not the first or last person to document the hip-hop scene in Cuba.

From The Daily Beast

Normal procedure is that any member country can request that a document be circulated, and the UN does it pro-forma.

From The Daily Beast

This is both an outstanding work of scholarship and a commanding visual document.

From The Daily Beast

The document said Wright was condescending and had “resorted to name-calling,” though no examples were offered.

From The Daily Beast

The Empress had shewn herself too entirely prejudiced, to have been affected by any document he could have presented.

From Project Gutenberg

“Lecompton” constitution of Kansas was a pro-slavery document which Buchanan favoured.

From Project Gutenberg

The Assistant Commissioner, hand pressed to brow, began to study a document which lay before him.

From Project Gutenberg

Decollat,” says a contemporary document, with a grim succinctness, “in castrum Londin: vulgo turris appellatur.

From Project Gutenberg

One of them snarls quietly out of a long document about the Statement of Claim.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• chronicle
• cite
• detail