datum

[dey-tuhm, dat-uhm, dah-tuhm]

noun

plural

data, datums 

1. a single piece of information, as a fact, statistic, or code; an item of data.

2. Philosophy.

   1. any fact assumed to be a matter of direct observation.

   2. any proposition assumed or given, from which conclusions may be drawn.

3. Also called sense datum. Epistemology.,  the object of knowledge as presented to the mind.

4. Surveying, Civil Engineering.,  any level surface, line, or point used as a reference in measuring elevations.

5. Surveying.,  a basis for horizontal control surveys, consisting of the longitude and latitude of a certain point, the azimuth of a certain line from this point, and two constants used in defining the terrestrial spheroid.

datum

/ ˈdeɪtəm, ˈdɑːtəm /

noun

1. a single piece of information; fact

2. a proposition taken for granted, often in order to construct some theoretical framework upon it; a given See also sense datum

Usage

See data.

Word History and Origins

Origin of datum¹

First recorded in 1640–50; from Latin: “a thing given,” neuter past participle of dare “to give”

Word History and Origins

Origin of datum¹

C17: from Latin: something given; see _data

Example Sentences

The data revealed 18 new locations in the UK for violet coral, a species recognised for its vibrant violet branching structure.

From BBC

Veo, Google's AI video generator, is trained on a subset of YouTube videos - though it is not known how many, and whether MrBeast's videos are included in the training data.

From BBC

It subcontracts to hotels to provide accommodation for about half of those and also, according to the latest official data, uses more hotels than the other contractors.

From BBC

Last year saw the first increase in milk consumption since 2009, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture.

From BBC

And as an alternative for those who don't want to pay, users can download their Memories, which for some span tens of gigabytes of data, to their device.

From BBC

Related Words

• accomplishment 
• action 
• case 
• circumstance 
• data 
• evidence 
• experience 
• factor 
• incident 
• information 
• performance 
• phenomenon 
• statistic