Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A fact or proposition used to draw a conclusion or make a decision. See Usage Note at data.
- n. A point, line, or surface used as a reference, as in surveying, mapping, or geology.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A fact given; originally, one of the quantities stated, or one of the geometrical figures supposed constructed, in a mathematical problem, and from which the required magnitude or figure is to be determined. But Euclid uses the corresponding Greek term (
δεδόμενον ) in a second sense, as meaning any magnitude or figure which we know how to determine. - n. A fact either indubitably known or treated as such for the purposes of a particular discussion; a premise.
- n. A position of reference, by which other positions are defined.
Wiktionary
- n. A measurement of something on a scale understood by both the recorder (a person or device) and the reader (another person or device). The scale is arbitrarily defined, such as from 1 to 10 by ones, 1 to 100 by 0.1, or simply true or false, on or off, yes, no, or maybe, etc.
- n. (philosophy) A fact known from direct observation.
- n. (philosophy) A premise from which conclusions are drawn.
- n. (cartography, engineering) A fixed reference point.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Something given or admitted; a fact or principle granted; that upon which an inference or an argument is based; -- used chiefly in the plural.
- n. a single piece of information; a fact; especially a piece of information obtained by observation or experiment; -- used mostly in the plural.
- n. (Math.) The quantities or relations which are assumed to be given in any problem.
- n. (Surveying) a point, line, or level surface used as a reference in measuring elevations.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an item of factual information derived from measurement or research
Etymologies
- From Latin datum. (Wiktionary)
- Latin, something given, from neuter past participle of dare, to give; see dō- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Mr. Smith's method of proving that every circle is 3-1/8 diameters is to assume that it is so, -- "if you dislike the term datum, then, by hypothesis, let 8 circumferences be exactly equal to 25 diameters," -- and then to show that every other supposition is thereby made absurd.”
“Because, according to our assumptions, the average value of a single datum is greater than the marginal value of that datum (remember, aggregation adds value), a consumer will always be willing to sell data at a price a merchant is willing to pay.”
“Unfortunately, if the marginal value175 to the consumer of a given datum is small, then the value of not disclosing that datum will in most cases be lower than either the cost of negotiating a confidentiality clause (if that option even exists), or the cost of forgoing the entire transaction.”
“Your name will be just a datum until that datum is lost, at which point you will be nothing.”
“The key datum is marked by the arrow - the concrete rendering of the closed-up opening - which we can see in another picture.”
“The “Greek” word data is the plural of the Latin word datum – a given….”
“Gee, I wonder which datum is a more relevant measure of the insurance companies’ position on the bill.”
“The biggest stone ball, according to the UDG, is right in this area at 13 Q 598163 2284135 (if they were using WGS84 as a datum, which is not mentioned).”
“Arthur, the orbital elements transmitted by the GPS satellites -- broadcast ephemeris -- are in a realization of the WGS84 datum, which is connected to the solid Earth, i.e, it's an ECEF Earth Centered, Earth Fixed coordinate frame.”
““John A” #214: You call the datum change “implausible”.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘datum’.
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BUDG - general terms
Budgetese - not a sexy topic but a very comprehensive list of words and collocations used in EU circles. Budgeting experts please comment and expand.
heading, across-the-board ..., emergency reserve, frontload, mopping-up, performance reserve, positive margin, negative margin, public finances, structural operat..., administrative ex..., management of EU ... and 657 more...
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CONT - general terms
additionality, audit trail, accounting standards, auditing standards, general audit obj..., a posteriori audit, a priori audit, above board, acceptable error ..., access rights, accountability, accountable entities and 1283 more...
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IMCO - EU nomenclature
includes words of the "Prodcom list"
abaca, abdominal, abrasive, absorbent, absorber, accelerator, accessory, account book, accumulator, acebutolol, acetaldehyde, acetamide and 4515 more...
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SCIE - statistics
a priori probability, Abbe-Helmert crit..., absolute error, absolutely unbias..., accuracy, ACF, affinity, AIC, algorithm, allometry, alphabet, anomic and 4171 more...
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TECH - department store terms
lift, flask, datum, cater, absorbable, access road, account book, acoustic, adding machine, adhesive, advisory service, aeration and 231 more...
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EU Buzz - Lisbon Treaty
All words of the Lisbon Treaty
(Persons' names, foreign and grammatical words have been eliminated, MWEs have been split up into individual words. Capitalization has been retained if r...health, follow, condition, meeting, minister, beginning, chapter, information, language, remain, covered, respect and 2614 more...
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SCIE - publications
The vocabulary of scientific paper submission
italicise, reference, ISBN, square bracket, running head, printing process, peer review, ASL, retrievable, lexical, publishable, et alia and 188 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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Uncommon and Interesting words
That come in handy, but might make you look like a douchebag.
prurient, lithe, superannuated, wanderlust, sanguine, florid, slugabed, candor, eldritch, superbowl syndrome, indolent, perforce and 37 more...
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slumry's Words
cattywampus, ingratiate, lackadaisical, exactitude, exfoliate, fulminate, circumnavigation, circuitous, debride, sidle, sequester, chicory and 1002 more...
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parody's Words
defenestrate, behemoth, floss, macchiato, glom, emu, alpaca, crocheted, ampersand, charade, conflate, salacious and 193 more...
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words found to be generally pleasing
alabaster, mahogany, camphor, coalesce, spire, portmanteau, gadabout, palaver, dolor, dour, dun, luminesce and 610 more...
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vinyl's Words
deliverator, finna, metric fuckton, fag, hyphy, ginormous, sacrilicious, fantabulous, macaca, n-word, pterodactyl, genious and 560 more...
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TheLastGoodNameLeft
The Last Good Words Left
ephemera, gammon, errata, ellipses, octopi, heteronormative, polyp, intersectionality, theses, california, halfback, fullback and 555 more...
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Permutations
There are 17576 different sequences of three letters (26 x 26 x 26). How many of them occur in words? General rules of engagement: mononyms only, lower case preferred to upper case, short preferred...
aaargh, niqaabi, Isaac, raad, baaed, haaf, laager, aah, kamaaina, Naajaat, aak, aalii and 637 more...
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to avoid "information"
data, datum, results, feedback, knowledge, lore, understanding, sense, thought, belief, advice, propaganda and 34 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for datum.
toner A datum (plural datums) is a reference from which measurements are made. Jan 4, 2007
uselessness "Data" is definitely singular. For the plural, try "dati." Or "datas." Or if you're really feeling edgy, "datulumsicles." Jan 2, 2007
chelt The singular form of "data" is "piece of data." Jan 2, 2007