Relating to, serving the purpose of, or characterized by annotation; having the nature or function of adding explanatory notes.
From 'annotate' plus the adjective suffix '-ory' (Latin '-orius'), which means 'relating to' or 'tending toward.' This suffix is similar to '-ive' but emphasizes function or purpose, common in technical and formal registers.
The 'annotatory' tradition in Islamic scholarship (called 'hashiyah') created texts where the original became almost invisible under layers of explanatory notes—it's a different reading culture entirely, where depth of commentary matters more than the primary text itself.
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