English Dictionary: data | by the DICT Development Group |
3 results for data | |
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
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From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
d8Datum \[d8]Da"tum\, n.; pl. {Data}. [L. See 2d {Date}.] 1. Something given or admitted; a fact or principle granted; that upon which an inference or an argument is based; -- used chiefly in the plural. Any writer, therefore, who . . . furnishes us with data sufficient to determine the time in which he wrote. --Priestley. 2. pl. (Math.) The quantities or relations which are assumed to be given in any problem. {Datum line} (Surv.), the horizontal or base line, from which the heights of points are reckoned or measured, as in the plan of a railway, etc. | |
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (15Feb98) [foldoc]: | |
data data processing, jargon> /day't*/ (Or "raw data") Numbers, {characters}, {images}, or other method of recording, in a form which can be assessed by a human or (especially) input into a {computer}, stored and {processed} there, or transmitted on some {digital channel}. Computers nearly always represent data in {binary}. Data on its own has no meaning, only when interpreted by some kind of {data processing system} does it take on meaning and become {information}. People or computers can find patterns in data to perceive information, and information can be used to enhance {knowledge}. Since knowledge is prerequisite to wisdom, we always want more data and information. But, as modern societies verge on {information overload}, we especially need better ways to find patterns. 1234567.89 is data. "Your bank balance has jumped 8087% to $1234567.89" is information. "Nobody owes me that much money" is knowledge. "I'd better talk to the bank before I spend it, because of what has happened to other people" is wisdom. (1999-04-30) |