Editing Document (section)

{{Short description|Written material conveying information}}
{{Other uses}}
{{technical reasons|prefix=yes|Document #|other uses|Document 5{{!}}Document #5|and|Document 7{{!}}Document #7|and|Document 8{{!}}Document #8|and|Document 12{{!}}Document #12}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=April 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2022}}
{{multiple image
| perrow = 2
| total_width = 350
| image1 = LibreOffice Writer 6.3.png
| image2 = Bundesverfassung Schweiz, auf blauen Untergrund.jpg
| image3 = Vinyl record close up.jpg
| image4 = GigaMesh Screenshot 20190514 Salmanasssar III Tablet Fragment.png
| footer = '''Documents across mediums'''. '''Top-left''': a word processor document using [[LibreOffice Writer|LibreOffice]]. '''Top-right''': a copy of the [[Swiss Federal Constitution|Swiss Constitution]] in [[Swiss German|German]].''' Bottom-left''': a vinyl record holding a set of songs. '''Bottom-right''': a computer program interpreting a fragment of a clay tablet with [[Cuneiform|cuneiform script]] about king Shalmaneser III
}}
{{LibraryandInformation-TopicSidebar}}

A '''document''' is a [[writing|written]], [[drawing|drawn]], presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of [[nonfiction|non-fictional]], as well as [[fiction]]al, content.  The word originates from the Latin ''{{Lang|la|Documentum}}'', which denotes a "teaching" or "lesson": the verb ''{{Lang|la|doceō}}'' denotes "to teach". In the past, the word was usually used to denote written proof useful as [[evidence]] of a truth or fact. In the [[computer age|Computer Age]], "document" usually denotes a primarily textual [[computer file]], including its structure and format, e.g. fonts, colors, and [[Computer-generated imagery|images]]. Contemporarily, "document" is not defined by its [[transmission medium]], e.g., paper, given the existence of [[electronic document]]s. "Documentation" is distinct because it has more denotations than "document". Documents are also distinguished from "[[Realia (library science)|realia]]", which are three-dimensional objects that would otherwise satisfy the definition of "document" because they memorialize or represent thought; documents are considered more as two-dimensional representations. While documents can have large varieties of customization, all documents can be shared freely and have the right to do so, creativity can be represented by documents, also. History, events, examples, opinions, stories etc. all can be expressed in documents.