documentation

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˌdɒk.jə.menˈteɪ.ʃən/, US /ˌdɑː.kjə.menˈteɪ.ʃən/^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from the verb document and -ation, or else from a Medieval Latin noun meaning “a reminding”,^[2] ultimately from Latin documentum (“example, proof, lesson”), in Medieval Latin an official written paper (see document).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Admonition, instruction, teaching, a sense now obsolete: 1754.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The furnishing of a ship with the papers it needs is from 1884,^[3] and the preparation or use of documentary evidence by 1888.^[3][2] The collecting, classifying and spreading of information is from 1905 in the OED, 1927 in Etymonline.^[3][2] In computing it is the written material supplied with a program.^[5]

Timeline

• 1754 – instruction (obsolete).^[3][2]
• 1884 – a ship's papers.^[3]
• 1888 – documentary evidence.^[3][2]
• 1905 – organizing information.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The act of supplying documents or supporting references.
2. The documents or references supplied.
3. The furnishing and use of documentary evidence, as in a court of law.
4. The organized collection and coding of printed material for reference.
5. (computing) The written comments, manuals and diagrams supplied with a program or system.

Word family

• documentational

Related words

• document
• documentary
• doctor
• doctrine

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins