commentary

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkɒm.ən.t(ə.)ɹi/ (UK); /ˈkɑ.mənˌtɛ.ɹi/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin commentarius (“notebook, annotation; diary, memoir”), also commentarium,^[2][3][4] a noun use of the adjective, perhaps short for volumen commentarium,^[2][5] from commentārī (“to meditate upon”), a frequentative of comminīscī (“to devise, contrive”) (see comment).^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A series or collection of comments: the early 15th century in Etymonline, late Middle English in SOED;^[2][5] a collection of notes or a notebook, 1531 in the OED.^[6]

Semantic evolution

An explanation of difficult passages in a book is from the 1530s, and a series of annotations from 1538.^[2][6] A memoir or historical record, as in Caesar's Commentaries, is from 1538 to about 1600.^[6][2] A spoken description of a public event as it happens, on radio and later television, is from 1927.^[2][6] An obsolete verb, to comment, is from 1624.^[6]

Timeline

• early 15th century – a series of comments.^[2]
• 1531 – a notebook.^[6]
• 1538 – a systematic annotation; a memoir.^[6]
• 1927 – a broadcast description.^[2][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A spoken description of an event, such as a sports match, broadcast as it happens.
2. A set of explanatory notes on a text; a written interpretation.
3. A series of comments or opinions.
4. Something that illustrates or reflects a situation: a sad commentary on our times.

Word family

• commentarial
• supercommentary

Related words

• comment
• commentator
• mental
• mind

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press