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Origin and history of data

data(n.)

1640s, "a fact given or granted," classical plural of datum, from Latin datum "(thing) given," neuter past participle of dare "to give" (from PIE root *do- "to give"). In classical use originally "a fact given as the basis for calculation in mathematical problems." From 1897 as "numerical facts collected for future reference."

The meaning "transmittable and storable information by which computer operations are performed" is recorded by 1946. Data-processing is from 1954; data-base (also database) "structured collection of data in a computer" is by 1962; data-entry is by 1969.

data

also from 1640s

Entries linking to data

datum(n.)

proper Latin singular of data (q.v.).

*do-

*dō-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to give."

It might form all or part of: anecdote; antidote; betray; condone; dacha; dado; data; date (n.1) "time;" dative; deodand; die (n.); donation; donative; donor; Dorian; Dorothy; dose; dowager; dower; dowry; edition; endow; Eudora; fedora; Isidore; mandate; Pandora; pardon; perdition; Polydorus; render; rent (n.1) "payment for use of property;" sacerdotal; samizdat; surrender; Theodore; Theodosia; vend.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit dadati "gives," danam "offering, present;" Old Persian dadatuv "let him give;" Greek didomi, didonai, "to give, offer," dōron "gift;" Latin dare "to give, grant, offer," donum "gift;" Armenian tam "to give;" Old Church Slavonic dati "give," dani "tribute;" Lithuanian duoti "to give," duonis "gift;" Old Irish dan "gift, endowment, talent," Welsh dawn "gift."

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    information
    late 14c., informacion, "act of informing, communication of news," from Old French informacion, enformacion "advice, instruction," from Latin informationem (nominative informatio) "outline, concept, idea," noun of action from past participle stem of informare "to train, instruct,
    date
    "date, day; time," from Medieval Latin data, noun use of fem. singular of Latin datus "given," past participle of dare "to...article of correspondence by writing "given" and the day and month — meaning perhaps "given to messenger" — which led to data...
    statistics
    1770, "science dealing with data about the condition of a state or community" [Barnhart], from German Statistik, popularized...The broader meaning "numerical data of any sort collected and classified systematically" is from 1829; hence the study of...
    digital
    Meaning "using numerical digits" is from 1938, especially of computers which run on data in the form of digits (opposed to...
    copy
    Of computer data, by 1953....
    Occam's razor
    when two competing hypotheses explain the data equally well, choose the simpler....
    tape
    recorder "device for recording sound on magnetic tape" first attested 1932; from earlier meaning "device for recording data...
    Reading
    county town of Berkshire, Old English Readingum (c. 900), "(Settlement of) the family or followers of a man called *Read."...Middle English reding, from Old English ræding, "a reading, the act or process of reading" either silent or aloud, also "that which is read, a passage or l
    aggregation
    early 15c., aggregacioun, originally in medicine (Chauliac), "formation of a pustule," from Medieval Latin aggregationem (nominative aggregatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin aggregare "collect, bring together," from ad "to" (see ad-) + gregare "to collect in
    accumulation
    late 15c., "that which is heaped up, an accumulated mass," from Latin accumulationem (nominative accumulatio) "a heaping up," noun of action from past-participle stem of accumulare "to heap up, amass," from ad "to," here perhaps emphatic (see ad-), + cumulare "heap up," from cumu

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