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data

[ dey-tuh, dat-uh ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

(usually used with a singular verb) Digital Technology. information in digital format, as encoded text or numbers, or multimedia images, audio, or video:
The data was corrupted and can’t be retrieved.
Data is entered for immediate processing by the computer.
(used with a singular verb) a body of facts; information:
Additional data is available from the president of the firm.
(used with a plural verb) individual facts, statistics, or items of information:
These data represent the results of our analyses.
a plural of datum.

data

/ ˈdeɪtə; ˈdɑːtə /

plural noun

a series of observations, measurements, or facts; information
Also calledinformation computing the information operated on by a computer program

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Usage Note

Data is a plural of datum, which is originally a Latin noun meaning “something given.” Today, data is used in English both as a plural noun meaning “facts or pieces of information” ( These data are described more fully elsewhere ) and as a singular mass noun meaning “information” ( Not much data is available on flood control in Brazil ). It is usually treated as a plural in scientific and academic writing. In the digital or computer sense it is almost always treated as a mass noun and used with a singular verb. In other types of writing it is either singular or plural. The Latinate singular datum meaning “a piece of information” is now rare in all types of writing. In surveying and civil engineering, where datum has specialized senses, the plural form is datums.

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Usage

Although now often used as a singular noun, data is properly a plural

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Other Word Forms

��·�岹·�ٲ� noun

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Word History and Origins

Origin of data¹

First recorded in 1640–50; from Latin, plural of datum ( def )

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Word History and Origins

Origin of data¹

C17: from Latin, literally: (things) given, from dare to give

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

From the original and enhanced subsidies, Covered California enrollees currently get $563 a month on average, lowering the average monthly out-of-pocket premium from $698 to $135, according to data from Covered California.

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The film shows how these academics used data and mathematical models to poke holes in this thinking.

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The Justice Department has asked that Google be forced to sell its Chrome browser and share some of the data it collects to create its search results.

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Even as traditional appointment TV viewing fades, “60 Minutes” remains the most watched news program, approaching 10 million viewers in some weeks, according to Nielsen data.

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Paddle UK has also developed an incident reporting system to centrally collect data on incidents and near misses.

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Related Words

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