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

By clicking the annotation, the user will be navigated to the search page with the results for this annotation. —Zak Doffman, Forbes, 26 Nov. 2024

Data types declared without such an annotation are implicitly made precise. —Adrian Sampson, IEEE Spectrum, 26 Sep. 2013

Roth in 1968 came out with a German translation of the book, featuring his own poetic annotations. —News Desk, Artforum, 27 Nov. 2024

Key development points are prompt engineering, data annotation, ethics and the responsible deployment of AI. —Oleksandr Sheremeta, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

see annotate

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

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