DATA

data, information

(noun) a collection of facts from which conclusions may be drawn; “statistical data”

DATUM

datum, data point

(noun) an item of factual information derived from measurement or research

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

data

plural of datum

Noun

data (uncountable)

(collectively) Information, especially in a scientific or computational context, or with the implication that it is organized.

(collectively) Recorded observations that are usually presented in a structured format.

(computing) A representation of facts or ideas in a formalized manner capable of being communicated or manipulated by some process.

(mobile telephony) Digital information such as images or web pages transmitted using the cellular telephone network rather than wifi.

Usage notes

• This word is more often used as an uncountable noun with a singular verb than as a plural noun with singular datum. The latter is almost entirely restricted to formal contexts.

• In geodetic contexts, the word is used exclusively as an uncountable with the singular datum having the plural datums to replace it.

• The definition of data in the computing context is from an international standard vocabulary and is meant to distinguish data from information. However, this distinction is largely ignored by the computing profession.

Hyponyms

• big data

• metadata

• primary data

• raw data

Anagrams

• ADAT, TADA, a tad, adat, ta-da, tada

Source: Wiktionary

Da"ta, n. pl. Etym: [L. pl. of datum.]

Definition: See Datum.

DATUM

Da"tum, n.; pl. Data. Etym: [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.)

Definition: 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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition