# documentation

/ˌdɑkjəmɛnˈteɪʃən/ (US) · /dˌɒkjuːməntˈeɪʃən/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/documentation
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. official records or evidence

noun · CEFR B2

official papers or digital records that prove something is true or provide information about a person or event.

For teachers: the provision or use of documentary evidence to support a claim or record a process.

- You must provide the correct documentation, such as a passport, to apply for the visa.
- The legal team spent weeks gathering the necessary documentation to substantiate their claims regarding the property's ownership history.

Usage: Usually uncountable when referring to the general collection of evidence.

### 2. software or hardware manuals

noun · CEFR B2

the written instructions or help files that explain how to use a computer program or a machine.

For teachers: the set of documents, including manuals and help files, that describe the design, operation, and maintenance of software or hardware.

- The software is powerful, but the documentation is very difficult for beginners to understand.
- The developers were praised for their comprehensive documentation, which included detailed API references and clear installation tutorials.

Usage: Often uncountable in a collective sense; can be modified by 'technical' or 'user'.

### 3. code comments

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

notes written inside a computer program to explain how the code works to other programmers.

For teachers: internal comments and annotations within source code that explain the logic and function of specific code blocks.

- Good documentation in your code makes it much easier for your teammates to fix bugs later.
- The project lead insisted on rigorous documentation within the source files to ensure long-term maintainability of the legacy system.

### 4. a documentary film

noun · CEFR C2 · Archaic

a film or television programme that tells a true story about real people or events.

For teachers: a non-fictional motion picture intended to document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education, or maintaining a historical record.

- The museum showed an old documentation about the lives of coal miners in the 1920s.
- The archive contains several early examples of documentation that captured the rapid industrialisation of the region through a series of short films.

Teaching tip: This sense is very rare in modern English; students should use the word 'documentary' instead.

## Examples

- The software is great, but the documentation is hard to read.
- The lead developer spent the entire week updating the technical documentation to reflect the recent changes in the API.
- Comprehensive documentation serves as a vital knowledge repository, ensuring that institutional memory is preserved even after the original engineers have departed from the organization.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.