annotate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
Usage
What does annotate mean? To annotate is to add notes or comments to a text or something similar to provide explanation or criticism about a particular part of it. Such notes or comments are called annotations. Annotation can also refer to the act of annotating. Annotations are often added to scholarly articles or to literary works that are being analyzed. But any text can be annotated. For example, a note that you scribble in the margin of your textbook is an annotation, as is an explanatory comment that you add to a list of tasks at work. Something that has had such notes added to it can be described with the adjective annotated, as in This is the annotated edition of the book. Example: I like to annotate the books I’m reading by writing my thoughts in the margins.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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annotatornoun
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overannotateverb
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reannotateverb
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annotatableadjective
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annotativeadjective
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annotatoryadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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annotatesimple
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annotatessimple
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have annotatedperfect
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has annotatedperfect
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am annotatingprogressive
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are annotatingprogressive
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is annotatingprogressive
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have been annotatingperfect progressive
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has been annotatingperfect progressive
Past
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annotatedsimple
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had annotatedperfect
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was annotatingprogressive
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were annotatingprogressive
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had been annotatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of annotate
First recorded in 1725–35; from Latin annotātus “marked down,” past participle of annotāre “to mark down,” from an- an- 2 + notāre “to mark” ( see note)
Explanation
When you annotate, you write critical explanations to add extra insight about something. These explanations can be necessary to understanding writings in which the language might be difficult to make sense of without clarification. The heart of the word annotate is the word note. The Latin annotātus means "noted down," making the word a breeze to remember. A writer will annotate parts that need extra explanation in technical works or classic writings in which the language or concepts might be difficult to grasp. In fact, some works, like James Joyce’s "Ulysses," have entire separate volumes of annotations, and readers must shift back and forth from the novel to the annotations. Now that's a dedicated reader!
Vocabulary lists containing annotate
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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The Poet X
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myPerspectives 8.2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In AP literature and composition class — I bought sticky tabs and used a pen as a bookmark so I could annotate as I was reading.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 10, 2026
She would annotate each image with an arrow, directing my next move, and send it back.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2025
They must be able — with full certainty — to annotate and explain data they cite and how they reach conclusions.
From Seattle Times ● May 20, 2024
However, scientists are identifying viral sequences in DNA collected from the environment at a rate that far outpaces our ability to annotate those genes.
From Salon ● May 17, 2024
“Oh, I can’t wait to analyze and annotate them,” said Millard, rubbing his hands together.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
Ever the eager pedagogue, as played with buoyant energy by Mr. Morse, Beckett annotates her performance: “Haydn based that movement of the symphony on a folk song. From Croatia.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
“Stax ‘68: A Memphis Story” compiles and annotates the singles released by the iconic soul label in 1968, one of its most fertile years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2025
Fast-forward a few years and Ding himself annotates in the book his famous sacrificial masterpiece against GM Jinshi Bai, played in a round of the Chinese Chess League in 2017.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 12, 2023
When users type a question into its subscription-based tool Assistant, the software pulls an answer from ChatGPT and automatically annotates the text with references to relevant scholarly articles, choosing from millions in its database.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 26, 2023
At home the whole framework of society may be going to pieces; Nicholas sits still and fondly annotates state papers, a very Narcissus of the inkpot.
From The Scrap Book, Volume 1, No. 3 May 1906 by Various
The expedition used the remotely operated vehicle Hercules, which recorded extensive video footage that was later archived for public access and annotated by researchers at UH Mānoa.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 8, 2026
Strawberries and white wine were on the menu, and - as has now become customary - one of the empty bottles was annotated and encased in a glass table to commemorate Sinner's latest success.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
Alongside the guitar is a copy of the Declaration of Independence, annotated by John McKesson, secretary of New York’s Fourth Provincial Congress, in the days following July 4, 1776.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
Now the Library of America has produced “George Templeton Strong: Civil War Diaries,” a much-expanded record of the years when Strong’s life was anything but quiet, expertly edited and annotated by Geoff Wisner.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
That first or second summer, at a camp in Patchogue, Long Island, he found a book of annotated chess games.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
The following year, Pulte even produced a slim volume annotating some of his grandfather’s sayings and quotations.
From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2026
It recently started annotating videos from more advanced humanoid robots, helping train them to sort and fold a mix of towels and clothes, folding them and placing them in different corners of the table.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2025
In biomedicine, segmentation involves annotating pixels from an important structure in a medical image, like an organ or cell.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 11, 2024
Higher Order Theories suggest consciousness involves a process of representing and annotating basic inputs received from the senses.
From Science Magazine ● Aug. 22, 2023
And in those same hospitals men are working night and day; the bacteriologists studying "smears" under microscopes, while the surgeons are classifying, operating, "dressing," marking temperature-charts, and annotating case-sheets.
From Leaves from a Field Note-Book by Morgan, John Hartman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
