Metadata

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈmɛt.əˌdeɪ.tə/

Definitions

1. Information about the characteristics, origin, or structure of other information or resources
2. Data that provides context, description, or details regarding other data or resources
3. Information that characterizes, categorizes, or explains the nature and origin of various datasets or resources

Etymology: The word "metadata" is a plain compound: "meta-" joined to "data." The prefix comes from Ancient Greek "metá," meaning "with," "after," or "beyond," and English took it in the sense of a thing about or describing another thing. "Data" is the Latin plural of "datum," meaning "something given," from "dare," "to give," so a datum was originally a given fact or starting point. Put together, "metadata" means data about data: the descriptions that tell you what a body of information is, where it came from, when it was made, and how it is organised. A photograph's timestamp, camera model and location are all metadata, while the image itself is the data. The formation is recent and deliberate, built from classical parts to name a concept that only became common once information was stored and sorted electronically.

Synonyms: data, information, attributes, details