information

[in-fer-mey-shuhn]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR information ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

knowledge communicated or received concerning a particular fact or circumstance; news: information concerning a crime.

knowledge gained through study, communication, research, instruction, etc.; factual data: His wealth of general information is amazing.

the act or fact of informing.

an office, station, service, or employee whose function is to provide information to the public: The ticket seller said to ask information for a timetable.

Directory Assistance.

Law.

an official criminal charge presented, usually by the prosecuting officers of the state, without the interposition of a grand jury.
a criminal charge, made by a public official under oath before a magistrate, of an offense punishable summarily.
the document containing the depositions of witnesses against one accused of a crime.

(in information theory) an indication of the number of possible choices of messages, expressible as the value of some monotonic function of the number of choices, usually the logarithm to the base 2.

Computers.

important or useful facts obtained as output from a computer by means of processing input data with a program: Using the input data, we have come up with some significant new information.
data at any stage of processing (input, output, storage, transmission, etc.).

Origin of information

1350–1400; Middle English: instruction, teaching, a forming of the mind < Medieval Latin, Latin: idea, conception. See inform¹, -ation

Related formsin·for·ma·tion·al, adjectivenon·in·for·ma·tion·al, adjective

Synonyms for information

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR information ON THESAURUS.COM

1. data, facts, intelligence, advice. 2. Information, knowledge, wisdom are terms for human acquirements through reading, study, and practical experience. Information applies to facts told, read, or communicated that may be unorganized and even unrelated: to pick up useful information. Knowledge is an organized body of information, or the comprehension and understanding consequent on having acquired and organized a body of facts: a knowledge of chemistry. Wisdom is a knowledge of people, life, and conduct, with the facts so thoroughly assimilated as to have produced sagacity, judgment, and insight: to use wisdom in handling people.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for informational

instructional, gossipy, descriptive, enlightening, instructive, explanatory, illuminating, chatty, revealing, informational, useful, helpful, academic, cultural, scholarly, advisory, communicative, forthcoming, newsy, significant

Examples from the Web for informational

Contemporary Examples of informational

The senior AIPAC official said the conversation with the White House was informational.
AIPAC in Full Court Press on Syria
Eli Lake
September 3, 2013
For those who trust the government, these informational lacunas are an excuse for inaction.
Is Prism Really a Scandal?
Alan M. Dershowitz
June 9, 2013
But at this point the association should be regarded as informational rather than indicative of its source.
Ricin Scare at the White House: An Eerie Post-9/11 Echo
John Avlon
April 17, 2013
Career fairs, résumé workshops, and informational interviews are all well and good.
Study Shows Close Facebook Friends Are Effective in Finding New Jobs
Nina Strochlic
March 14, 2013
The edge at most hedge funds is getting an informational edge, or using holdings to push for changes in management.
Bridgewater May Be the Hottest Hedge Fund for Harvard Grads, but It’s Also the Weirdest
Daniel Gross
March 7, 2013

Historical Examples of informational

Most of the informational parts of the original story have been cut out.
Here and Now Story Book
Lucy Sprague Mitchell
Footnotes indexed with arabic numbers (as , ) are informational.
The Works of Lord Byron
Lord Byron
Next to this, that of hearing appears to be the most informational.
In Beaver World
Enos Abijah Mills
It would be easy, he decided, to keep the informational quarantine.
The Ties That Bind
Walter Miller
Informational literature and post cards can be obtained at the information desk.
Fort Sumter National Monument, South Carolina
Frank Barnes

British Dictionary definitions for informational

information

noun

knowledge acquired through experience or study

knowledge of specific and timely events or situations; news

the act of informing or the condition of being informed

an office, agency, etc, providing information
(as modifier)information service

a charge or complaint made before justices of the peace, usually on oath, to institute summary criminal proceedings
a complaint filed on behalf of the Crown, usually by the attorney general

computing

the meaning given to data by the way in which it is interpreted
another word for data (def. 2)

too much information informal I don't want to hear any more

Derived Formsinformational, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for informational

information

late 14c., "act of informing," from Old French informacion, enformacion "information, advice, instruction," from Latin informationem (nominative informatio) "outline, concept, idea," noun of action from past participle stem of informare (see inform). Meaning "knowledge communicated" is from mid-15c. Information technology attested from 1958. Information revolution from 1969.

Idioms and Phrases with informational

information

see under gold mine.