diff -r 4e9680570be8 Doc/glossary.rst
--- a/Doc/glossary.rst	Thu May 10 18:11:30 2012 -0700
+++ b/Doc/glossary.rst	Fri May 11 14:47:45 2012 -0700
@@ -225,6 +225,20 @@
       be passed zero or more arguments which may be used in the execution of
       the body. See also :term:`argument` and :term:`method`.
 
+   function annotation
+      An arbitrary metadata value associated with a function parameter or return
+      value. Its syntax is explained in section :ref:`function`.  Annotations
+      may be accessed via the :attr:`__annotations__` special attribute of a
+      function object.
+
+      Python itself does not assign any particular meaning to function
+      annotations. They are intended to be interpreted by third-party libraries
+      or tools.  See :pep:`3107`, which describes some of their potential uses.
+
+      Some other languages (such as Java) also have a concept of "annotations",
+      but it is distinct from the Python concept.  In Python, the purpose of
+      such "annotations" is served by :term:`decorators <decorator>` instead.
+
    __future__
       A pseudo-module which programmers can use to enable new language features
       which are not compatible with the current interpreter.