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

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

Videos shot on mobiles carry metadata, which includes the digital record of the time, date and place where they were shot.

From BBC

But suspicions of conspiracy were only turbocharged by the release of the tape, which Wired first reported had three minutes cut from the original footage, according to metadata of the file.

From Los Angeles Times