annotation

noun an·no·ta·tion \ ˌa-nə-ˈtā-shən \

|Updated on: 16 Jul 2018

Examples: annotation in a Sentence

Definition of annotation

1 : a note added by way of comment or explanation

The bibliography was provided with helpful annotations.

2 : the act of annotating something

See annotation defined for English-language learners

See annotation defined for kids

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 of annotation from the Web

But Eden still gets to play a major role in the finale, thanks to something June finds in her belongings: a copy of the Bible, covered in Eden’s own notes and annotations.

— emma dibdin, Harper's BAZAAR, "The Handmaid's Tale Season 2 Finale Offers a Light in the Darkness," 11 July 2018
Right now, self-driving software depends heavily on human-developed models and even explicit human annotation of road scenes to understand which objects in a particular scene are cars, pedestrians, bicycles, trees, buildings, and so forth.

— timothy b. lee, Ars Technica, "Google researchers created an amazing scene-rendering AI," 29 June 2018
This is good thing since most of Kaufman and Hart’s topical humor needs extensive annotation.

— jack helbig, Chicago Reader, "Oak Park Festival Theatre uncovers hidden depths in You Can’t Take It With You," 21 June 2018
His annotations crackled with apocalypticism, offering readers a precise understanding of when the world would end and what would happen beforehand.

— liya rechtman, BostonGlobe.com, "When the apocalypse is a feature, not a bug," 12 May 2018
The remaining images were used as a test to see if the algorithm could identify hand washing without the annotations.

— lisa ward, WSJ, "Do Doctors and Nurses Skip Hand Washing? Cue the Video," 28 May 2018
Hosted by MIT Press, the site also has a community annotation function so students and teachers can add their own comments.

— kat eschner, Smithsonian, "What Frankenstein Can Still Teach Us 200 Years Later," 14 Mar. 2018
Older aviators will appreciate Sis' extensive annotations on Saint-Exupéry's life, the history of flight, airmail, and World War 2.

— randall de s, Redbook, "The Perfect Book for All The Little Prince Fans in Your Life," 11 June 2014
The annotations on an 1838 copy of The Farmer’s Almanack remind us that a publication which has long been an exercise in rusticated nostalgia was once of real importance to daily life.

— mark feeney, BostonGlobe.com, "Celebrating Massachusetts’ other cape," 17 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'annotation.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of annotation

see annotate

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

Other Publishing Terms

annotate, dreadful, emend, expurgate, factoid, jump, lobster shift, redaction, referee

ANNOTATION Defined for English Language Learners

annotation

noun

Definition of annotation for English Language Learners

: a note added to a text, book, drawing, etc., as a comment or explanation
: the act of adding notes or comments to something : the act of annotating something