documentation

noun

USdok-yuh-men-TAY-shuhn/ˌdɑkjəmɛnˈteɪʃən/Saydok-yuu-men-TAY-shuhnUK/ˌdɒkjʊmɛnˈteɪʃən/AUS/ˌdɔkjʊmenˈtæɪʃən/

Pluraldocumentations

5 meanings of documentation

Practice

1
nounrarecountable or uncountableplural
Written evidence and source materials that support a claim or account.
Researchers relied on extensive documentation to verify the disputed timeline.
The archive preserves documentation of every transaction from the trading post.
Similarevidence, records, documents, paperwork, proof
2
nounrarecountable or uncountableplural
Documents that explain how a particular machine or software program operates.
The software shipped with detailed documentation covering installation and troubleshooting.
Engineers consulted the machine's documentation to recalibrate the sensors.
Similarinstructions, manual, guide
Note
Engineers and programmers use the word for the whole body of written explanation that comes with a product: installation guides, reference pages, troubleshooting notes. It works as a mass noun (read the documentation) and also as a count noun with the plural documentations. It stands apart from the machine or program it describes, unlike comments written into the code.
3
nounrarecountable or uncountableplural
Comments within code that explain how individual functions, libraries, and blocks of code are used.
Clear documentation in the source files saved the new developers hours of guesswork.
He wrote documentation for every library function before merging his changes.
Similarcomments, annotation
Note
Programmers write it for one another, not for end users. Notes beside functions and blocks of code can even be extracted automatically to build reference pages. Keep it apart from the manuals that explain a program, which tell users how to operate the software. Treat it as a mass noun: the plural documentations is rare, so a team writes more documentation, not more documentations.
4
nouncountable
A film or television program presenting factual information about real events; a documentary.
The festival opened with a documentation about migrating birds.
He produced a documentation covering the war's final months.
Similardocumentary
Note
A borrowing that comes from German Dokumentation rather than from English document. It shows up in the English of non-native writers, as in Friedrich Vystrcil's 1999 line about watching "a documentation about the Dresden fire storm." Native usage has documentary here. Learners should use documentary, because to most readers "watched a documentation" sounds like a slip, not a choice.

Less common meaning

5
nounrarecountable or uncountableplural
A thought set down in writing; the written account of an idea.
The essay became her documentation of an idea she had carried for years.
Turning a fleeting insight into documentation forces you to make it clear.
Similarrecord, account

Use it in a sentence

Write your own sentence with documentation, and AI will tell you whether it fits and which meaning you used.

Origins

Meanings 1–3, 5

This word was formed from 'document' plus the suffix '-ation', or it comes from the Medieval Latin word 'documentatio'.

Meaning 4

This sense comes from the German word 'Dokumentation'.