metadata

[ met-uh-dey-tuh, ‐dat-uh, ‐dah-tuh ]

/ ˈmɛt əˌdeɪ tə, ‐ˌdæt ə, ‐ˌdɑ tə /

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noun (usually used with a singular verb)Digital Technology.

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: 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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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of metadata

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

Words nearby metadata

metacognition, metacognitive, Metacomet, metacomputer, metacryst, metadata, meta-dichlorobenzene, metaethics, metafemale, metafiction, metagalaxy

How to use metadata in a sentence

We downloaded all 6,366 of the contracts on the site, along with associated metadata, such as the contract’s start and end date, county and municipality, and the parties involved.
How We Found Pricey Provisions in New Jersey Police Contracts|by Agnes Chang, Jeff Kao and Agnel Philip, ProPublica, and Andrew Ford, Asbury Park Press|February 8, 2021|ProPublica
The process starts when a publisher uploads owned video content with metadata — titles, descriptions and keywords.
How machine learning technology boosts contextual targeting for advertisers|Dailymotion|December 15, 2020|Digiday
This technology can also streamline workflows through AI-based auto-tagging, structured metadata and advanced search for real-time collaboration and on-the-fly content changes.
Be a digital marketing winner with these 3 powerful video storytelling strategies|Sponsored Content: Cloudinary|November 30, 2020|Search Engine Land
When getting fewer views than expected, marketers often think that they didn’t use the right keywords or metadata.
Five YouTube promotion mistakes that even experienced professionals make|Connie Benton|October 5, 2020|Search Engine Watch

In order to figure out which ads to evaluate, publishers rely on metadata from the ad delivered by demand sources, and the ads are sometimes incorrectly labeled.
‘Total whack a mole’: Rogue political ads create mounting brand safety problems for publishers|Max Willens|September 25, 2020|Digiday
That was a failure of intelligence, and they had all the metadata in the world.
Laura Poitras on Snowden's Unrevealed Secrets|Marlow Stern|December 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When asked, “Is metadata retained after video files are destroyed?”
Your Arrest Video Is Going Online. Who Will See It?|Jacob Siegel|September 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The bit rates were poor, metadata inconsistent or nonexistent.
15 Years After Napster: How the Music Service Changed the Industry|Alex Suskind|June 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
First, the NSA will no longer itself hold the vast store of telephone metadata.
Understanding Obama’s NSA Proposals|Geoffrey R. Stone|March 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Once the NSA has the metadata in its system, it retains it for five years, before destroying it on a rolling basis.
Understanding Obama’s NSA Proposals|Geoffrey R. Stone|March 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST

British Dictionary definitions for metadata

metadata

pl n

computing information that is held as a description of stored data

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