document

Noun

document (plural documents)

1. 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.
   • Saint Luke […] collected them from such documents and testimonies as he […] judged to be authentic.1794, William Paley, View of the Evidences of Christianity
2. Any material substance on which the information is represented by writing.
   • If a morsel of food fell off your plate, the advice of one contemporary document was to pick it up, make the sign of the cross over it, season it well - and then eat it.1999, Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger, The Year 1000: What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium, London: Abacus, published 2000, page 122
3. A file that contains text.
   • 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.2012, Julie A. Jacko, editor, Human Computer Interaction Handbook, 3rd edition, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 571
4. An object conveying information by whatever means, capable of being indexed alongside other similar objects.
   • 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...2022 July 15, Alex Urban, “Mementos from digital worlds: Video game photography as documentation”, in Journal of Documentation, →DOI, →ISSN, Abstract
5. (obsolete) That which is taught or authoritatively set forth; precept; instruction; dogma.
   • 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.1741, Isaac Watts, The Improvement of the Mind
6. (obsolete) An example for instruction or warning.
   • They were forthwith stoned to death, as a document to others.1614, Sir Walter Raleigh, The Historie of the World

Verb

UK/ˈdɒkjʊmɛnt/US/ˈdɑkjʊmɛnt/

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

1. (transitive) To record in documents.
   • He documented each step of the process as he did it, which was good when the investigation occurred.
   • The relationship between memory as lived and history as documented is always a complex dialogue — each informing, and disinforming, the other.2009 May 18, Henry Greenspan, “Of Memory and Israel”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 26 Nov 2022
2. (transitive) To furnish with documents or papers necessary to establish facts or give information.
   • A ship should be documented according to the directions of law.