commentary

English

Etymology

FromMiddle Frenchcommentaire,fromLatincommentārius,commentārium(“notebook”),compareFrenchcommentaire.Seecomment.

Pronunciation

• (UK)IPA^(key):/ˈkɒm.ən.tə.ɹi/,/ˈkɒm.ən.tɹi/

  • Audio(Southern England):

    (file)

• (US)IPA^(key):/ˈkɑ.mənˌtɛɹ.i/

Noun

commentary(countableanduncountable,pluralcommentaries)

1. A series of comments orannotations;especially, a book of explanations orexpositionson the whole or a part of some other work.
   • 1827,Henry Hallam,The Constitutional History of England from the Accession ofHenry VII.to the Death ofGeorge II.[…],volumes(please specify |volume=I or II),London:John Murray,[…],→OCLC:

     This letter[…]was published by him with a severecommentary.

2. (usually in theplural)A brief account oftransactionsor events written hastily, as if for amemorandum.

   Caesar'sCommentarieson the Gallic War

3. An oralrelationof an event, especiallybroadcastby television or radio, as it occurs.

   We listened to the footballcommentarywhile watching the match.

Synonyms

• (series of comments or annotations):scholia(ancient & medieval European works);secondary source

Derived terms

• anti-commentary
• audio commentary
• commentarial
• commentary box
• commentary track
• critical commentary
• DVD commentary
• metacommentary
• political commentary
• running commentary
• social commentary
• subcommentary
• supercommentary

Translations

A series of comments or annotations

• Armenian:մեկնաբանություն(hy)(meknabanutʻyun)
• Basque:iruzkin,azalpen,zeresan
• Bulgarian:коментар(bg)m(komentar)
• Catalan:comentari(ca)m
• Esperanto:komentaro
• Finnish:kommentaari(fi)
• Galician:comentario(gl)m
• German:Kommentar(de)m
• Greek:σχόλια(el)npl(schólia)

  Ancient:σχόλιαnpl(skhólia),παρεκβολήf(parekbolḗ),ὑπόμνημαn(hupómnēma)

• Hebrew:פירוש(he)f(perúsh)
• Hungarian:kommentár(hu)
• Indonesian:komentar(id),ulasan(id)
• Kazakh:түсініктеме(tüsınıkteme)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish:şirove(ku)f,ravek(ku)f,ravekirin(ku)f,îzah(ku)f,şerh(ku)f,tefsîr(ku)f,ronkirin(ku)f,komentar(ku)f

• Latin:comentāriumn,commentāriumn
• Polish:komentarz(pl)m
• Portuguese:comentário(pt)m
• Russian:коммента́рий(ru)m(kommentárij),аннота́ция(ru)f(annotácija)
• Scottish Gaelic:iomradhm
• Spanish:comentario(es)m
• Telugu:వ్యాఖ్యానము(te)(vyākhyānamu)

A brief account of transactions or events written hastily

• Bulgarian:репортаж(bg)m(reportaž)
• Catalan:comentari(ca)m
• Finnish:kommentaari(fi)
• Hebrew:הערותfpl(hearót)
• Scottish Gaelic:iomradhm

An oral description of an event, especially broadcast by television or radio, as it occurs

• Dutch:commentaar(nl)n,voice-over(nl)m
• Finnish:selostus(fi)
• Greek:σχολιασμός(el)m(scholiasmós)
• Hebrew:דיווחm(divúakh)
• Marathi:कॉमेंटरीf(kŏmeṇṭrī)
• Russian:репорта́ж(ru)m(reportáž)
• Spanish:comentarios(es)mpl
• Telugu:వ్యాఖ్యానము(te)(vyākhyānamu)

Further reading

• “commentary”,inWebster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary,Springfield, Mass.:G. & C. Merriam,1913,→OCLC.