Friday, July 30, 2010

Etymology

The word data (pronounced /ˈdeɪtə/ DAY-tə, /ˈdætə/ DA-tə, or /ˈdɑːtə/ DAH-tə) is the Latin plural of datum, neuter past participle of dare, "to give", hence "something given". In discussions of problems in geometry, mathematics, engineering, and so on, the terms givens and data are used interchangeably. Also, data is a representation of a fact, figure, and idea. Such usage is the origin ofdata as a concept in computer science: data are numbers, words, images, etc., accepted as they stand.

No comments:

Post a Comment