DictionaryAI

document

SayDOK-yuu-muhntUS/ˈdɑkjʊmənt/UK/ˈdɒkjʊmənt/
As a verbDOK-yuu-ment

Pluraldocuments

Verbdocuments, documenting, documented

7 meanings of document

Practice

  1. 1
    official papernouncountable
    An original or official paper that serves as the basis, proof, or support for something, or any writing conveying such information.

    The lawyer filed every document needed to prove ownership of the land.

    Border officers asked each traveler to present a valid identity document.

    UsageSeveral papers together are documents; for supporting papers as a mass, use documentation: travel documents, supporting documentation.

    Similarpaper, record

    Note

    In the paper-as-evidence meaning, its force is proof. William Paley in 1794 pairs documents with testimonies as the sources Luke judged authentic. That weight is why the word suits official papers: a document is something offered so that a claim can be checked and relied on.

  2. 2
    put on recordverbtransitive
    To make a record of something, in writing, photographs, video, or another form.

    Researchers carefully document each change in the patient's condition.

    The journalist documented the abuses in a detailed report.

    UsageOften as a past participle: a well-documented case, widely documented abuses; researchers document changes in a report.

    Similarrecord, log, chronicle, register, note

  3. 3
    computer filenouncountable
    A computer file that contains text.

    She emailed the document as an attachment to her colleague.

    The software automatically saves each document every few minutes.

    UsageClose to file: document stresses what you read and write, file the stored unit; you open, save or edit a document.

    Similarfile

    Note

    Computing borrowed the office word for a file that holds text a person reads and writes. On the web the term stretches. An HTML page is a document even when its images are not inside it at all, because they are only pulled in by reference when the page is displayed.

  4. 4
    any recordnouncountable
    Any object that records or conveys information, whatever it is made of and however it carries it, such as an inscribed stone, a photograph or a sound recording.

    To historians, any inscribed surface can serve as a document.

    To the archaeologist, the carved stone was as valuable a document of the period as any letter written on paper.

Less common meanings

  1. 5
    verbtransitive
    To provide a person, claim or thing with the papers or written proof needed to establish facts about it, such as identity papers or cited sources, rather than to make a record of events.

    The historians documented their findings with letters and official records.

    Always document your conclusions with reliable evidence.

    UsageUsually document something with evidence, letters or records.

    Similarsupport, substantiate, back, corroborate

    Note

    Here the object is the thing that needs papers, not the fact being written down. A ship is documented when it is given the papers the law requires, and a conclusion is documented when evidence is supplied for it. Compare the plain "record" verb, where you document a process by writing it up. There the object is what gets recorded; here it is what gets supported.

    Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • A ship can be documented by being supplied with legally required papers. en.wiktionary.org
  2. 6
    nounobsolete
    Something taught or authoritatively set forth, such as a precept, instruction, or article of dogma.
    And particularly they should take care that the memory of the learner be not too much crowded with a tumultuous heap or overbearing multitude of documents or ideas at one time.
    1741, Isaac Watts, The Improvement of the Mind
    Note

    Here a document is the lesson itself, not the paper that holds it. Isaac Watts in 1741 warns against crowding a learner's memory with too many "documents or ideas" at once, where a modern reader would picture papers piled on a desk. The sense is obsolete. In older prose, read it as precept or instruction, and do not revive it in current writing.

    Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • The historical noun sense denotes a lesson, precept, or instruction. en.wiktionary.org
    • Isaac Watts warns against overloading a learner's memory and uses the exact words “documents or ideas.” en.wiktionary.org
    • The Improvement of the Mind, which contains the passage, was first published in 1741. en.wikipedia.org
  3. 7
    nounobsolete
    An example held up for instruction or as a warning.
    They were forthwith stoned to death, as a document to others.
    1614, Sir Walter Raleigh, The Historie of the World

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of document apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French "document", which comes from Latin "documentum".

Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

  • English document was borrowed from Middle French document, which derives from Latin documentum. en.wiktionary.org