Annotation

a critical or explanatory note or body of notes added to a text.
the act of .
(def 1).
abbreviation: annot.
historical examples

sippi, agreeably to the early french annotation of the word, signifies a river.
summary narrative of an exploratory expedition to the sources of the mississippi river, in 1820 henry rowe schoolcraft

there are no notes; and praed is an author who is much in need of annotation.
essays in english literature, 1780-1860 george saintsbury

she fancied his hand shook a trifle as he made an annotation on the pad he carried.
the gray phantom herman landon

the annotation of books was not a common practice then, nor has it been since.
the mystery of francis bacon william t. smedley

for you may call to mind, that in the annotation upon the 39th.
experiments and considerations touching colours (1664) robert boyle

the annotation of these books possessed the same qualification.
the mystery of francis bacon william t. smedley

no book (it would seem in consequence) exemplifies the mania for annotation and “justification” more extensively.
a history of the french novel, vol. 2 george saintsbury

hence the crudity and incongruity of his text, his vacillating opinions, and the weakness and poverty of his annotation.
the galaxy, volume 23, no. 2, february, 1877 various

the work of annotation and introduction was not hard, and was decidedly interesting.
sir walter scott george saintsbury

such is the origin of the term chicago, which is a derivative, by elision and french annotation, from the word chi-kaug-ong.
summary narrative of an exploratory expedition to the sources of the mississippi river, in 1820 henry rowe schoolcraft

noun
the act of annotating
a note added in explanation, etc, esp of some literary work
n.

mid-15c., from latin annotationem (nominative annotatio), noun of action from past participle stem of annotare “to add notes to,” from ad- “to” (see ad-) + notare “to note, mark” (see note (v.)).

1. extra information -ssociated with a particular point in a doc-ment or program. annotations may be added either by a compiler or by the programmer. they are not usually essential to the correct function of the program but give hints to improve performance.
2. a new commentary node linked to an existing node. if readers, as well as authors, can annotate nodes, then they can immediately provide feedback if the information is misleading, out of date or plain wrong.
(1995-11-26)