What is the Latin word for commentary?

The usual Latin words for “commentary” are commentārius, commentāriolum, interpretātiō; also scrībō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“commentary” in Latin

commentāriusmemorandum, notebook; diary, journal; a brief commentāriolumbrief commentary, short treatise; notebook interpretātiōexplanation, exposition, interpretation; a translation, version; signification, meaning scrībōto write

The English word commentary itself goes back to Latin comminīscor, through commentārius.

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

commentary

commentarius or commentarium, diminutive, commentariolum (Plural, commentarii; very seldom commentaria. But obs. commentarium = liber, scriptum: not a “series of explanatory notes”: it was, however, used in this sense in Gell.’s time, who speaks of a grammarian’s commentaria in Vergilium, though the nature of that work is unknown): interpretatio: enotatio. To write a commentary on Verg., commentarium in Vergilium componere (Gell.).

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for commentary?: The usual Latin words for “commentary” are commentārius, commentāriolum, interpretātiō; also scrībō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.