document

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French document, from Latin documentum.

Pronunciation

• (noun)
  • (Received Pronunciation) enPR: dŏ'kyo͝omənt, IPA^(key): /ˈdɒkjʊmənt/
  • (US) enPR: dä'kyo͝omənt, IPA^(key): /ˈdɑkjʊmənt/

    • Audio (US):

      (file)

• (verb)
  • (Received Pronunciation) enPR: dŏ'kyo͝omĕnt, IPA^(key): /ˈdɒkjʊmɛnt/

    • Audio (Southern England):

      (file)

  • (US) enPR: dä'kyo͝omĕnt, IPA^(key): /ˈdɑkjʊmɛnt/

Noun

document (plural documents)

2. An original or official paper used as the basis, proof, or support of anything else, including any writing, book, or other instrument conveying information pertinent to such proof or support.
   • 1794, William Paley, View of the Evidences of Christianity:

     Saint Luke […] collected them from such documents and testimonies as he […] judged to be authentic.

4. Any material substance on which the information is represented by writing.
6. (computing) A file that contains text.
   • 2012, Julie A. Jacko, editor, Human Computer Interaction Handbook, 3rd edition, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 571:

     That exception is the HTML <IMG> tag–which transcludes an image into the context of the document. The image itself is neither embedded within the document nor copied—it is transcluded.

8. (information science) An object conveying information by whatever means, capable of being indexed alongside other similar objects.
   • 2022 July 15, Alex Urban, “Mementos from digital worlds: Video game photography as documentation”, in Journal of Documentation, →DOI, →ISSN, Abstract:

     This study examines video game photography as a documentary practice. […] The three themes from this study's findings – that video game photographs act as (1) vehicles for storytelling, (2) creative trophies, and (3) aesthetic tokens – reveal how personally meaningful documents emerge from this medium.

10. (obsolete) That which is taught or authoritatively set forth; precept; instruction; dogma.
    • 1741, Isaac Watts, The Improvement of the Mind:

      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.

12. (obsolete) An example for instruction or warning.
    • 1614, Sir Walter Raleigh, The Historie of the World:

      They were forthwith stoned to death, as a document to others.

Hyponyms

• here document
• Web document

Derived terms

• ancient document
• doculect
• documental
• documentality
• documentarian
• documentary
• document camera
• document management system
• documentology
• document-oriented
• document retrieval
• document structuring
• document-style
• e-document
• here-document
• hyperdocument
• identity document
• interdocument
• intradocument
• liquid document
• metadocument
• microdocument
• multidocument
• multidocuments
• source document
• subdocument
• travel document

 

Related terms

• docent
• docile
• doctor
• doctorate
• doctrinaire
• doctrinal
• doctrine
• indoctrinate

 

Translations

original or official paper

• Albanian: dokument (sq) m
• Arabic: وَثِيقَة f (waṯīqa), مُسْتَنَد m (mustanad), حُجَّة f (ḥujja)
• Armenian: փաստաթուղթ (hy) (pʻastatʻuġtʻ), դոկումենտ (hy) (dokument)
• Assamese: please add this translation if you can
• Asturian: documentu m
• Azerbaijani: sənəd (az), kağız (az), dokument
• Basque: dokumentu
• Belarusian: дакуме́нт m (dakumjént), дакумэ́нт m (dakumént)
• Bengali: দলিল (bn) (dolil), দস্তাবেজ (bn) (dostabej)
• Bulgarian: докуме́нт (bg) m (dokumént)
• Burmese: စာရွက်စာတမ်း (my) (carwakcatam:)
• Catalan: document (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 文件 (zh) (wénjiàn), 公文 (zh) (gōngwén), 文書 / 文书 (zh) (wénshū), 文獻 / 文献 (zh) (wénxiàn)

• Czech: dokument (cs)
• Danish: dokument (da) n
• Dutch: document (nl) n
• Esperanto: dokumento, akto
• Estonian: dokument
• Faroese: skjal n
• Finnish: asiakirja (fi), dokumentti (fi)
• French: document (fr) m, écrit (fr) m
• Galician: documento (gl) m
• Georgian: დოკუმენტი (doḳumenṭi), საბუთი (sabuti)
• German: Unterlagen (de) pl, Dokument (de) n, Aktenstück (de) n, Schriftstück (de) n
• Greek: έγγραφο (el) n (éngrafo), τεκμήριο (el) n (tekmírio)

  Ancient: δέλτος f (déltos)

• Guaraní: kuatia
• Gujarati: please add this translation if you can
• Haitian Creole: dokiman
• Hawaiian: palapala
• Hebrew: תְּעוּדָה (he) f (te'udá), מִסְמָךְ (he) m (mismách)
• Hindi: दस्तावेज़ f (dastāvez), सनद (hi) f (sanad), काग़ज़ m (kāġaz), पत्र (hi) m (patra)
• Hungarian: okirat (hu), okmány (hu), dokumentum (hu)
• Icelandic: skjal (is) n
• Indonesian: dokumen (id)
• Ingrian: assiapaperi
• Irish: cáipéis f, doiciméad m
• Italian: documento (it) m, carta (it) f
• Japanese: 書類 (ja) (しょるい, shorui), 文書 (ja) (ぶんしょ, bunsho), ドキュメント (ja) (dokyumento)
• Kazakh: құжат (qūjat), ыспаттама (yspattama)
• Khmer: ឯកសារ (km) (ʼaekaʼsaa)
• Korean: 서류(書類) (ko) (seoryu), 문서(文書) (ko) (munseo), 도큐먼트 (dokyumeonteu)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: belge (ku), dokument (ku)

• Kyrgyz: документ (ky) (dokument)
• Lao: ເອກະສານ (lo) (ʼē ka sān)
• Latin: scriptum (la) n, documentum n (Medieval Latin)
• Latvian: dokuments m
• Lithuanian: dokumentas (lt) m
• Macedonian: докуме́нт m (dokumént)
• Malay: surat (ms), dokumen (ms)
• Maltese: dokument m
• Maori: tuhinga
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: баримт бичиг (mn) (barimt bičig)

• Norman: dotchûment m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: dokument (no) n

• Occitan: document (oc) m
• Ojibwe: mazina'igan
• Pashto: دستاوېز (ps) m (dastāwez), سند (ps) m (sanad), مدرک m (madrak), وثيقه f (wasiqa)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: سَنَد (sanad), مَدْرَک (madrak), حُجَّت (hojjat)

• Polish: dokument (pl) m
• Portuguese: documento (pt) m
• Romanian: document (ro) n
• Russian: докуме́нт (ru) m (dokumént)
• Scottish Gaelic: sgrìobhainn f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: доку̀мент m

  Roman: dokùment (sh) m

• Sicilian: carta (scn) f, ducumentu (scn) m, pricu m
• Sinhalese: ඔප්පුව (oppuwa)
• Skolt Sami: dokumentt
• Slovak: dokument (sk) m
• Slovene: dokument (sl) m
• Spanish: documento (es) m, pliego (es)
• Swahili: waraka (sw)
• Swedish: dokument (sv) n
• Tagalog: dokumento, papeles
• Tajik: ҳуҷҷат (tg) (hujjat), санад (sanad), документ (tg) (dokument), мадрак (madrak)
• Tamil: பத்திரம் (ta) (pattiram)
• Thai: เอกสาร (th) (èek-gà-sǎan)
• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: belge (tr), doküman (tr)
• Turkmen: dokument
• Ukrainian: докуме́нт (uk) m (dokumént)
• Urdu: دَسْتاویز f (dastāvez), سَنَد f (sanad), کاغَذ m (kāġaz), نَوِشْت f (naviśt), تَحْرِیر (ur) f (tahrīr), وَثِیقَہ (ur) m (vasīqa)
• Uyghur: ھۆججەت (höjjet), دوكۇمېنت (dokumënt)
• Uzbek: hujjat (uz), dokument (uz), sanad (uz) (dated)
• Vietnamese: tài liệu (vi), văn kiện (vi)
• Volapük: doküm (vo)
• West Frisian: akte, dokumint
• Yiddish: דאָקומענט m (dokument), שריפֿט m (shrift), געשריפֿט n (geshrift), כּתבֿ m or n (ksav), שטר m (shtar)
• Zazaki: medrek

(computing) a file that contains text

• Afrikaans: dokument (af)
• Arabic: مُسْتَنَد m (mustanad)
• Polish: dokument (pl) m

Verb

document (third-person singular simple present documents, present participle documenting, simple past and past participle documented)

1. To record in documents.

   He documented each step of the process as he did it, which was good when the investigation occurred.

   • 2009 May 25, “Of Memory and Israel”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     The relationship between memory as lived and history as documented is always a complex dialogue — each informing, and disinforming, the other.

   • 2015, Louise J. Wilkinson, Women in Thirteenth-Century Lincolnshire, page 92:

     Significantly, on documenting Thomas's subsequent outlawry and Margery's waivery, the court clerk recorded that it was not known whether they had any chattels because they were strangers.

2. To furnish with documents or papers necessary to establish facts or give information.

   A ship should be documented according to the directions of law.

Derived terms

• documentability
• documentable
• documentation
• documentor
• misdocument
• nondocumented
• overdocument
• overdocumented
• photodocument
• redocument
• underdocumented
• undocument
• undocumented

 

Translations

to record in documents

• Afrikaans: dokumenteer
• Arabic: وَثَّق (ar) (waṯṯaq)
• Belarusian: дакументава́ць impf or pf (dakumjentavácʹ)
• Bulgarian: документирам (bg) (dokumentiram)
• Catalan: documentar (ca)
• Czech: dokumentovat
• Dutch: documenteren (nl)
• Esperanto: dokumenti
• Finnish: kirjata (fi), dokumentoida (fi)
• French: documenter (fr)
• Georgian: დოკუმენტირება (doḳumenṭireba)
• German: dokumentieren (de)
• Greek: τεκμηριώνω (el) (tekmirióno)
• Hebrew: תיעד \ תִּעֵד (ti'éd)
• Hindi: उल्लेखन (hi) m (ullekhan)
• Icelandic: skjala
• Ido: dokumentizar (io)
• Maori: tuhi
• Norman: dotchûmenter
• Persian: بنچیدن
• Polish: dokumentować (pl) impf, udokumentować pf
• Portuguese: documentar (pt)
• Romanian: documenta (ro)
• Russian: документи́ровать (ru) impf or pf (dokumentírovatʹ)
• Sicilian: riggistrari, annutari, appuntari, scrìviri (scn)
• Spanish: anotar (es) m, registrar (es) m, documentar (es)
• Swedish: dokumentera (sv)
• Turkish: belgelemek (tr)
• Ukrainian: документува́ти impf or pf (dokumentuváty), задокументо́вувати impf (zadokumentóvuvaty), задокументува́ти pf (zadokumentuváty)
• Yiddish: דאָקומענטירן (dokumentirn)

to furnish with documents or papers necessary to establish facts or give information

• Polish: dokumentować (pl) impf, udokumentować pf

Further reading

• document on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “document”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Democunt

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin documentum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [du.kuˈmen]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [do.kuˈment]

Noun

document m (plural documents)

1. document

Related terms

• documentar

Further reading

• “document” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “document”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “document” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “document” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French document, from Latin documentum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌdoː.kyˈmɛnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: do‧cu‧ment
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

Noun

document n (plural documenten, diminutive documentje n)

1. document

   Synonym: bewijsstuk

Descendants

• Afrikaans: dokument
• → Indonesian: dokumen

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin documentum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɔ.ky.mɑ̃/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑ̃
• Homophone: documents

Noun

document m (plural documents)

1. document
2. (computing) file

Derived terms

• documenter

Descendants

• → Romanian: document
• → Turkish: doküman

Further reading

• “document”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Friulian

Noun

document m

1. document

Related terms

• documentâ

Further reading

• https://arlef.it/grant-dizionari-bilenghe-talian-furlan/?word=documento&trad=ttf

Lombard

Pronunciation

• (Milanese) IPA^(key): /dokyˈmẽːt/

Noun

document m

1. document

Related terms

• documentà

Occitan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin documentum. Attested from the 13th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /duˈkymen/

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

Noun

document m (plural documents)

1. document

Related terms

• documentar

Piedmontese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin documentum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dukyˈmɛŋt/

Noun

document m

1. document

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French document, Italian documento, Latin documentum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /do.kuˈment/

Noun

document n (plural documente)

1. document

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	document	documentul		documente	documentele
genitive-dative	document	documentului		documente	documentelor
vocative	documentule			documentelor

Further reading

• document in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)