annotation
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
a short note added to a book or document to explain a difficult part or add an opinion.
a critical or explanatory commentary added to a text. Countable in the sense of a single note; uncountable when referring to the practice.
Simple“The student's copy of the play was full of helpful annotations in the margins.”
In context“The scholar provided a detailed annotation for each archaic term, ensuring the medieval manuscript remained accessible to modern researchers.”
- 02 C1 Advanced
extra information or labels added to data or computer code to help a machine or person understand it.
metadata or labels added to a document, program, or dataset to provide context or facilitate machine learning.
Simple“The programmer added an annotation to the code to explain why the function was necessary.”
In context“Accurate image annotation is a critical step in training the neural network to recognize different types of vehicles in urban environments.”
- 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
the process of adding notes or labels to something.
the act or process of furnishing a text or dataset with explanatory notes or metadata.
Simple“Annotation takes a long time but it makes the research much easier to follow.”
In context“The systematic annotation of the genome required years of collaborative effort from laboratories across the globe.”
Synonymslabelingcommentating
“In the fast-growing field of data annotation, workers in a small city in south India train A.I.”
“Each page features around 25 lines of Homeric text surrounded by extensive annotations.”
From Latin annotātiōnem, accusative singular of annotātiō (“remark, annotation”), from annotātus, perfect passive participle of annotō (“note down, remark”). Equivalent to annotate + -ion.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.