diff --git a/utils/zerovec/src/map/kv.rs b/utils/zerovec/src/map/kv.rs
index 06816bf161e..415dbe671e7 100644
--- a/utils/zerovec/src/map/kv.rs
+++ b/utils/zerovec/src/map/kv.rs
@@ -8,18 +8,38 @@ use crate::VarZeroVec;
 use crate::ZeroVec;
 use std::cmp::Ordering;
 
+/// Trait marking types which are allowed to be keys or values in [`ZeroMap`].
+///
+/// Users should not be calling methods of this trait directly, however if you are
+/// implementing your own [`AsULE`] or [`AsVarULE`] type you may wish to implement
+/// this trait.
 // this lifetime should be a GAT on Container once that is possible
 pub trait ZeroMapKV<'a>: Sized {
+    /// The container that can be used with this type: [`ZeroVec`] or [`VarZeroVec`].
     type Container: ZeroVecLike<'a, Self, NeedleType = Self::NeedleType, GetType = Self::GetType>
         + Sized;
+    /// The type to use with `Container::binary_search()`
+    ///
+    /// This type will be predetermined by the choice of `Self::Container`
     type NeedleType: ?Sized;
+    /// The type produces by `Container::get()`
+    ///
+    /// This type will be predetermined by the choice of `Self::Container`
     type GetType: ?Sized;
+    /// The type to use whilst serializing. This may not necessarily be `Self`, however it
+    /// must serialize to the exact same thing as `Self`
     type SerializeType: ?Sized;
+    /// Convert to a needle for searching
     fn as_needle(&self) -> &Self::NeedleType;
+    /// Compare this type with a `Self::GetType`. This must produce the same result as
+    /// if `g` were converted to `Self`
     fn cmp_get(&self, g: &Self::GetType) -> Ordering;
+    /// Compare two `Self::GetType`s, as if they were both converted to `Self`
     fn cmp_two_gets(g1: &Self::GetType, g2: &Self::GetType) -> Ordering;
-    // This uses a callback because it's not possible to return owned-or-borrowed
-    // types without GATs
+    /// Obtain a version of this type suitable for serialization
+    ///
+    /// This uses a callback because it's not possible to return owned-or-borrowed
+    /// types without GATs
     fn get_as_ser<R>(g: &Self::GetType, f: impl FnOnce(&Self::SerializeType) -> R) -> R;
 }
 
diff --git a/utils/zerovec/src/map/mod.rs b/utils/zerovec/src/map/mod.rs
index 93106827afa..47138c05abe 100644
--- a/utils/zerovec/src/map/mod.rs
+++ b/utils/zerovec/src/map/mod.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 // called LICENSE at the top level of the ICU4X source tree
 // (online at: https://github.com/unicode-org/icu4x/blob/main/LICENSE ).
 
+//! See [`ZeroMap`] for details.
+
 use std::cmp::Ordering;
 
 mod kv;
@@ -12,6 +14,12 @@ mod vecs;
 pub use kv::ZeroMapKV;
 pub use vecs::ZeroVecLike;
 
+/// A zero-copy map datastructure, built on sorted binary-searchable [`ZeroVec`](crate::ZeroVec)
+/// and [`VarZeroVec`](crate::VarZeroVec).
+///
+/// This type, like [`ZeroVec`](crate::ZeroVec) and [`VarZeroVec`](crate::VarZeroVec), is able to zero-copy
+/// deserialize from appropriately formatted byte buffers. It is internally copy-on-write, so it can be mutated
+/// afterwards as necessary.
 pub struct ZeroMap<'a, K, V>
 where
     K: ZeroMapKV<'a>,
diff --git a/utils/zerovec/src/map/vecs.rs b/utils/zerovec/src/map/vecs.rs
index 38accbe013c..1071dadb0c3 100644
--- a/utils/zerovec/src/map/vecs.rs
+++ b/utils/zerovec/src/map/vecs.rs
@@ -7,19 +7,36 @@ use crate::VarZeroVec;
 use crate::ZeroVec;
 use std::mem;
 
+/// Trait abstracting over [`ZeroVec`] and [`VarZeroVec`], for use in [`ZeroMap`]. You
+/// should not be implementing or calling this trait directly.
 pub trait ZeroVecLike<'a, T> {
+    /// The type received by `Self::binary_search()`
     type NeedleType: ?Sized;
+    /// The type returned by `Self::get()`
     type GetType: ?Sized;
+    /// Search for a key in a sorted vector, returns `Ok(index)` if found,
+    /// returns `Err(insert_index)` if not found, where `insert_index` is the
+    /// index where it should be inserted to maintain sort order.
     fn binary_search(&self, k: &Self::NeedleType) -> Result<usize, usize>;
+    /// Get element at `index`
     fn get(&self, index: usize) -> Option<&Self::GetType>;
+    /// Insert an element at `index`
     fn insert(&mut self, index: usize, value: T);
+    /// Remove the element at `index` (panicking if nonexistant)
     fn remove(&mut self, index: usize) -> T;
+    /// Replace the element at `index` with another one, returning the old element
     fn replace(&mut self, index: usize, value: T) -> T;
+    /// Push an element to the end of this vector
     fn push(&mut self, value: T);
+    /// The length of this vector
     fn len(&self) -> usize;
+    /// Create a new, empty vector
     fn new() -> Self;
+    /// Create a new, empty vector, with given capacity
     fn with_capacity(cap: usize) -> Self;
+    /// Remove all elements from the vector
     fn clear(&mut self);
+    /// Reserve space for `addl` additional elements
     fn reserve(&mut self, addl: usize);
 }