document

American  

[dok-yuh-muhnt, dok-yuh-ment] / ˈdɒk yə mənt, ˈdɒk yəˌmɛnt /

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.

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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 British  

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

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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 Word Forms

• documentable adjective
• documenter noun
• nondocumented adjective
• redocument verb (used with object)
• well-documented adjective

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

Example Sentences

There is no suggestion that appearing in the millions of documents related to Epstein that have been released in the US implies any criminal wrongdoing.

From BBC

The allegations against the former government minister came after the US Department of Justice released a tranche of documents including emails to and from the US financier.

From BBC

The document didn’t break down their individual payments, though it’s likely that Gu, a three-time Olympic medalist, received a larger share of the funding.

From The Wall Street Journal

Harvard has slow-walked the release of some files and refused to provide some documents relating to applicant-level admissions decisions, according to the lawsuit filed Friday in a federal court in Massachusetts.

From The Wall Street Journal

Some tools can run teams of autonomous coding assistants, or quickly analyze millions of legal documents.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• archive
• certificate
• diary
• evidence
• form
• paper
• record
• report
• script
• testimony