4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Data  \Da"ta\,  n.  pl  [L.  pl  of  datum.] 
  See  {Datum}. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Datum  \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  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  data 
  n  :  a  collection  of  facts  from  which  conclusions  may  be  drawn; 
  "statistical  data"  [syn:  {information}] 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [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) 
 
 

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