database

American  

[dey-tuh-beys] / ˈdeɪ təˌbeɪs /

Or data-base,

noun

• databases
  plural

1. a comprehensive collection of related data organized for convenient access, generally in a computer.

2. data bank.

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database British  

/ ˈdeɪtəˌbeɪs /

noun

1. a systematized collection of data that can be accessed immediately and manipulated by a data-processing system for a specific purpose

2. informal any large store of information

   a database of knowledge

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database Scientific  

/ dā′tə-bās′,dăt′ə- /

1. A collection of data arranged for ease and speed of search and retrieval by a computer.

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database Cultural  

1. A set of data grouped together in one location in (or accessible by) a computer. A computerized database has been likened to an electronic filing cabinet of information arranged for easy access or for a specific purpose.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• databases
  plural

Etymology

Origin of database

First recorded in 1965–70; data + base ¹

Explanation

A database is an organized body of information. Libraries have lots of databases to help you find books, articles, or information. Looking for some information? You might need to check a database, probably at the library or online. A database collects a bunch of information and resources, usually on a common subject. Some databases feature newspapers; others are related to legal issues. The police use databases to track criminals, and the government uses databases to track terrorists. Anywhere there's information being collected and accessed, there's probably a database keeping track of it all.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

database databases

The order also restored LAHSA’s other core functions — operating the homeless database and the housing matching system and conducting the annual homeless count.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

Both newly discovered species have now been registered in a global database, but Toler-Scott says the Salish Sea likely contains additional species that have yet to be documented.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 25, 2026

The database at the heart of this case is known as SAVE, Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, and it’s been in use since 1986.

From Slate ● Sep. 25, 2026

Dallas Fed researchers made their measures with a database of jobs and their associated tasks, and records of the tasks that Anthropic’s Claude can perform.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026

All these origins of complex societies give us a rich database for understanding their development.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

For the analysis, the researchers drew on large publicly available genetic databases.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026

So her personal information, spread over multiple government databases, is messy, incomplete, often contradictory and may even have been inadvertently combined with others who share her name.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

Contact details, vehicle registrations and postcodes were stolen in the breach that appears to have accessed databases containing wi-fi log in and car parking details.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

District Attorney Nathan Hochman launched an investigation using law-enforcement databases with records of virtually everyone the county had prosecuted since the 1960s, including juveniles whose files had been scrubbed from the probation department.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

These databases are then used by police and prosecutors, as well as by employers and housing officials—an electronic record that will haunt many for life.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander