Documentations

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A set of documents providing detailed information or evidence for a particular subject or process
2. a collection of written or digital records that serves to support or clarify an idea or procedure
3. written or printed materials that present facts or instructions on a specific topic or system

Etymology: "Documentations" is the plural of "documentation," so it refers to multiple documentation sets rather than a new sense. The base noun "documentation" comes from "document" plus the suffix "-ation," which turns a verb or noun into an abstract noun for an action or its result. Its ultimate roots lie in the Latin "documentum," meaning a lesson or proof, which itself comes from "docere," to teach. The noun also has a parallel route through Medieval Latin "documentatio," and English users may have picked it up from German "Dokumentation," which was borrowed into the sense of organized records and reference material. That German sense, used for systematic collections of information, is close to the modern meaning of written or printed material explaining a topic or system.

Synonyms: records, reports, files, papers, manifests