data


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da·ta

 (dā′tə, dăt′ə, dä′tə)
pl.n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb)
1. Facts that can be analyzed or used in an effort to gain knowledge or make decisions; information.
2. Statistics or other information represented in a form suitable for processing by computer.
3. Plural of datum.

[Latin, pl. of datum; see datum.]
Usage Note: The word data is the plural of Latin datum, "something given." In English, most notably in scientific usage, this plural usage is still common, as in this example: "Eventually, his data suggest, a tumor's ... alterations give rise to mutant cells" (Janet Raloff). But data is also standard in denoting a singular mass entity (like information), especially in writing for a more general audience: "Before data is transmitted in bulk around the internet, it is routinely compressed to reduce redundancy" (Richard Dawkins)."Goodall ... wanted to get as much data as possible from her animals before she had to leave them" (Elizabeth Royte). · In our 2005 survey, 66 percent of the Usage Panel accepted the use of data with a singular verb and pronoun in the sentence Once the data is in, we can begin to analyze it. Fully 92 percent accepted the sentence We have very little data on the efficacy of such programs, the same percentage that accepted the use of data as a plural noun. (Note that the quantifier very little, like much in the last quotation given above, is not used with plural nouns such as facts or results.) The percentages in the 2005 survey represent significant increases over those of our 1988 survey, making it safe to say that singular data has become a standard usage.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

data

(ˈdeɪtə; ˈdɑːtə)
pl n
1. (Communications & Information) a series of observations, measurements, or facts; information
2. (Computer Science) computing Also called: information the information operated on by a computer program
[C17: from Latin, literally: (things) given, from dare to give]
Usage: Although now often used as a singular noun, data is properly a plural
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

da•ta

(ˈdeɪ tə, ˈdæt ə, ˈdɑ tə)

n.
1. a pl. of datum.
2. (used with a pl. v.) individual facts, statistics, or items of information.
3. (used with a sing. v.) a body or collection of facts or particulars; information.
usage: data is a plural of datum, orig. a Latin noun meaning “a thing given.” Today, data is used in English both as a plural noun meaning “facts or pieces of information” (These data are described fully on page 8) and as a singular mass noun meaning “information”: The data has been entered in the computer. It is almost always treated as a plural in scientific and academic writing, as a singular or plural elsewhere depending on the context. The singular datum meaning “a piece of information” occurs most frequently in academic or scientific writing.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

da·ta

(dā′tə, dăt′ə)
(Used with a singular or plural verb)
1. Information, especially when it is to be analyzed or used as the basis for a decision.
2. Information, usually in numerical form, suitable for processing by a computer.
Usage In scientific writing, data is usually treated as a singular in much the same way as the word information is. We say When the data comes in, we'll understand what happened. But because the word is historically the plural of the Latin noun datum, it is sometimes used as a plural, as in These data do not support your conclusions. The plural use is less frequent than the singular.
The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

data

Representation of facts, concepts, or instructions in a formalized manner suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing by humans or by automatic means. Any representations such as characters or analog quantities to which meaning is or might be assigned.
Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. US Department of Defense 2005.

data

Data is information, usually in the form of facts or statistics that can be analysed.

Such tasks require the worker to process a large amount of data.
This will make the data easier to collect.

Data is usually regarded as an uncountable noun and is used with a singular form of a verb.

2010 is the latest year for which data is available.
The latest data shows that lending fell by 10% in May.

People usually say this data, rather than 'these data'.

Processing this data only takes a moment.

In some formal and scientific writing, data is used with a plural form of a verb, and these data is used instead of 'this data'.

The economic data are inconclusive.
To cope with these data, hospitals bought large mainframe computers.

In other kinds of writing and in conversation, people usually use data as an uncountable noun.

Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012

data

Information for a computer to work on. Also, information and results from a computer.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.data - a collection of facts from which conclusions may be drawndata - a collection of facts from which conclusions may be drawn; "statistical data"
aggregation, collection, accumulation, assemblage - several things grouped together or considered as a whole
accounting data - all the data (ledgers and journals and spreadsheets) that support a financial statement; can be hard copy or machine readable
metadata - data about data; "a library catalog is metadata because it describes publications"
raw data - unanalyzed data; data not yet subjected to analysis
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

data

noun information, facts, figures, details, materials, documents, intelligence, statistics, input, gen (Brit. informal), dope (informal), info (informal) The survey was based on data from 2,100 patients.
Usage: From a historical point of view only, the word data is a plural. In fact, in many cases it is not clear from context if it is being used as a singular or plural, so there is no issue: when next needed the data can be accessed very quickly. When it is necessary to specify, the preferred usage nowadays in general language is to treat it as singular, as in: this data is useful to the government in the planning of housing services. There are rather more examples in the Bank of English of these data than this data, with a marked preference for the plural in academic and scientific writing. As regards data is versus data are, the preference for the plural form overall is even more marked in that kind of writing. When speaking, however, it is best to opt for treating the word as singular, except in precise scientific contexts. The singular form datum is comparatively rare in the sense of a single item of data.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

data

noun
That which is known about a specific subject or situation:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
data
بياناتبَيَانَاتمُعْطَيات، بَيانات
datainformaceúdaje
datamateriale
datumo
datatiedottieto
נתונים
podacipodatakpodatci
adat
data
staîreyndir, upplÿsingar, gögn
データ事実情報資料
데이터
duomenysduomenų apdorojimasduomenų bankas
datifaktsinformācija
pokynyúdaje
podatekpodatki
податак
data
สถิติ
дані
dữ liệusố liệu

data

[ˈdeɪtə]
A. NPL (with sing or pl vb) → datos mpl
B. CPD data bank Nbanco m de datos
data capture Ngrabación f de datos
data collection Nrecogida f de datos, recopilación f de datos
data dictionary, data directory Nguía f de datos
data entry Nentrada f de datos
data file Narchivo m de datos
data link Nmedio m de transmisión de datos
data management Ngestión f de datos
data preparation Npreparación f de datos
data processing N (= action) → procesamiento m de datos, proceso m de datos; (= science) → informática f
data processor Nprocesador m de datos
data protection Nprotección f de datos
data transmission Ntransmisión f de datos, telemática f
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

data

[ˈdɑːtə ˈdeɪtə] npldonnées fpldata bank nbanque f de données
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

data

pl of datum usu with sing vbDaten pl; the actual data is quite surprisingdie eigentlichen Daten sind recht erstaunlich; a piece of dataeine Angabe; (Math) → ein (Zahlen)wert m; we have a significant amount of data on …wir haben einen beträchtlichen Datenbestand über … (+acc)

data

:
data analysis
nDatenanalyse f
data bank
nDatenbank f
database
nDatenbank f; we have a large data of …wir haben große Datenbestände an … (dat); to set up a dataeine Datenbank aufbauen; data managerDatenbankmanager(in) m(f)
data bit
nDatenbit nt
data block
nDatenblock m
data buffer
nDatenpuffer m
data capture
data carrier
nDatenträger m
data collection
data communication
n, data communications
pl (Comput) → Datenkommunikation for -übermittlung f
data file
nDatei f
data-handling system
nDatenerfassungssystem nt
data input
nDateneingabe f
data medium
n (Comput) → Datenträger m
data network
nDatennetz nt
data pen
n (Comput) → Lichtgriffel or -stift m
data processing
data protection
nDatenschutz m
data protection act
data rate
nDatenrate f
data retrieval
nDatenabruf m
data switch
nDatenschalter m
data switching
nDatenvermittlung f
data transfer
nDatentransfer m
data transmission
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

data

[ˈdeɪtə] nsg or pldati mpl
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

data

(ˈdeitə) , (daːtə) noun plural
or noun singular facts or information (especially the information given to a computer). All the data has/have been fed into the computer.
ˈdatabase noun
(also ˈdata-bank) a large amount of information which is stored in a computer.
ˌdata-ˈprocessing noun
the handling and processing of information by computer.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

data

بَيَانَات data data Daten δεδομένα datos tiedot données podaci dati データ 데이터 gegevens data dane dados данные data สถิติ veri số liệu 数据
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009

da·ta

n., pl. datos, datos de información.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

data

n o npl datos, información f
English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in classic literature ?
One of these, the way of sensation and external perception, is supposed to furnish data for our knowledge of matter, the other, called "introspection," is supposed to furnish data for knowledge of our mental processes.
I examine the data, as an expert, and pronounce a specialist's opinion.
I have not heard whence the knowledge of your movements came to her, nor have I been able to learn any data whereon to found an opinion.
"We have not the requisite data," chimed in the professor, and he went back to his argument.
Meanwhile one country takes its opinion of another from the apercus of a few brilliant but often irresponsible or prejudiced writers,--and really it is rather in what those writers leave out than in what they put in that one must seek the more reliable data of national character.
Though it is easy to assert, in general terms, the possibility of forming a rational judgment of a due provision against probable dangers, yet we may safely challenge those who make the assertion to bring forward their data, and may affirm that they would be found as vague and uncertain as any that could be produced to establish the probable duration of the world.
I was a lord of thought, the master of my vocabulary and of the totality of my experience, unerringly capable of selecting my data and building my exposition.
This language also enabled him more intimately to follow their mental processes, and thereby to gather much data for a projected chapter in some future book which he planned to entitle Synthesis of Working-Class Psychology.
"You will have your data soon," I remarked, pointing with my finger; "this is the Brixton Road, and that is the house, if I am not very much mistaken."
1760, another Frenchman, Imbert by name, and, in 1810, an Englishman, Robert Adams, had seen this curious place; but Rene Caillie was to be the first European who could bring back any authentic data concerning it.
The writing of it was the culminating act of a long mental process, the drawing together of scattered threads of thought and the final generalizing upon all the data with which his mind was burdened.
"This ruse will be discovered later," he cheerfully explained, "when they check up my weights, measurements, and other personal identification data, but it will be several months before this is done and our mission should be accomplished or have failed long before that time."