annotation

noun

an·​no·​ta·​tion ˌa-nə-ˈtā-shən 

1

: a note added by way of comment or explanation

The bibliography was provided with helpful annotations.

2

: the act of annotating something

Examples of annotation in a Sentence

Without the annotations, the diagram would be hard to understand.

the author's annotation of the diagram

Recent Examples on the Web

These records passed through countless hands, accruing wear, annotations, and personal histories. —Emily Watlington, ARTnews.com, 1 May 2026

Venter rose to fame in the field for publishing the first bacterial genome ever decoded, along with a list of gene annotations, in 1995. —Claire Cameron, Scientific American, 30 Apr. 2026

In February, numerous workers from a company that Meta contracted to perform data annotation for Ray-Ban Meta reported viewing sensitive, embarrassing, and seemingly private footage recorded by the smart glasses. —Scharon Harding, ArsTechnica, 30 Apr. 2026

An integrated software stack supports data annotation, simulation, and distributed AI training. —Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 24 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

see annotate

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for annotation

• abdication
• aberration
• abjuration
• abnegation
• abrogation
• acceptation
• acclamation
• acclimation
• accusation
• activation
• actuation
• acylation

Kids Definition

annotation

noun

an·​no·​ta·​tion ˌan-ə-ˈtā-shən 

1

: the act of annotating

2

: a note added as a comment or explanation

Legal Definition

annotation

noun

an·​no·​ta·​tion ˌa-nə-ˈtā-shən 

1

: a note added (as to a statute) by way of comment or explanation often furnishing summaries of relevant court decisions

2

capitalized : an informational and descriptive note or essay (as about a case or legal issue) especially in American Law Reports