metadata

American  

[met-uh-dey-tuh, ‐-dat-uh, ‐-dah-tuh] / ˈmɛt əˌdeɪ tə, ‐ˌdæt ə, ‐ˌdɑ tə /

noun

(usually used with a singular verb)

1. data that describes, annotates, or gives information about other data, including but not limited to tags in a programming code, information about a digital file's characteristics, or a library catalog showing the location and call number of books: In their surveillance operations, intelligence agencies were able to access such metadata as the phone numbers involved and duration of phone calls.

   Search engine spiders use content and HTML metadata to index websites.

   In their surveillance operations, intelligence agencies were able to access such metadata as the phone numbers involved and duration of phone calls.

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metadata British  

plural noun

1. computing information that is held as a description of stored data

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Etymology

Origin of metadata

First recorded in 1965–70; meta- (in the sense “analyzing material at a higher level”) + data ( def. )

Example Sentences

For creative content made using AI, like games or animations, the label can be placed in less intrusive ways, such as in the metadata.

From The Wall Street Journal

AI can also assess metadata to detect potential fraud, including IP addresses, an applicant’s proximity to the college based on the IP, and if multiple applications are coming from the same computer.

From Los Angeles Times

The European Union’s AI Act — widely regarded as the most comprehensive framework — requires all AI-generated content, including deepfakes, to be clearly labeled with watermarks or metadata.

From Salon

This information will be included in the metadata of a track and displayed on its app.

From BBC

Previously, researchers could only search for descriptive metadata and then had to download the full datasets to access raw sequences.

From Science Daily