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commentary

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 12:58. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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

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