document
Pluraldocuments
Verbdocuments, documenting, documented
Pluraldocuments
Formsdocuments, documenting, documented
- 1A piece of writing or printed paper that gives proof or official information about something.
Like a receipt that acts as proof that something is true.
You need an official document to prove who you are.
She kept the important document in a safe place at home.
UsageMany papers are documents; the papers as a whole can be called documentation.
Note
- 2To make a record of something, using words, pictures, or recordings.
Like keeping a diary: writing things down so you remember them.
Please document what happened so we can review it later.
Scientists document their results in a notebook.
UsageOften said as well documented: a well-documented problem.
- 3A computer file that holds text you can read or change.
Like a digital page where you can write and store your words.
Save your document before you close the program.
I opened the document and started typing my report.
UsageLike file, but document is about the words inside; you open and save a document.
Similarfile
Note
- 4Anything that holds information and can be kept and studied, such as a carved stone, a photo or a recording.
Like a chalkboard that holds words: any surface that carries writing.
A clay tablet can be a document if it has writing on it.
Even a stone with carved words counts as a document.
Less common meanings
- 5To supply a person or thing with official papers, or support a claim with written evidence.
Like adding receipts to a claim so people believe it.
You should document your report with facts and sources.
He documented his application with all the needed papers.
UsageSay document something with facts or papers.
Similarsupport, substantiate, back, corroborate
Note
- 6A teaching or instruction, or a rule or belief stated with authority.
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 MindHere, documents means lessons or things taught, like rules and teachings.Note
- 7An example used to teach a lesson or give a warning.
They were forthwith stoned to death, as a document to others.
1614, Sir Walter Raleigh, The Historie of the WorldHere, document means an example meant as a warning to others.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
It comes from Latin "documentum", which came into English through Middle French "document".
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- English document ultimately comes from Latin documentum. en.wiktionary.org
- English borrowed the word through Middle French document. en.wiktionary.org