plural in form but singular or plural in construction
: data that provides information about other data
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How Metadata Was Formed
It's easy to find data on the source of "metadata": the word was formed by combining "data" with "meta-," which means "transcending" and is often used to describe a new but related discipline designed to deal critically with the original one. "Meta-" was first used in that way in "metaphysics" and has been extended to a number of other disciplines, giving us such words as "metapsychology" and "metamathematics." "Metadata" takes the "transcending" aspect a step further, applying it to the concept of pure information instead of a discipline. "Metadata" is a fairly new word (it appeared in the latter half of the 20th century), whereas "data" can be traced back to the middle of the 17th century.
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebInery captures the metadata of data, documents and files, which is distributed across several nodes instead of a centralized server. Manan Shah, Forbes, 18 Apr. 2022 By doing so, algorithms and search engines will likely pick up on your metadata quicker. Kelly Schwarze, Rolling Stone, 10 Aug. 2022 Because of that, some crucial metadata can get lost in translation between the platforms.Wired, 15 Aug. 2022 This is very straightforward, and the marketplaces, such as OpenSea, walk you through the process of creating and adding the necessary and optional metadata. Bernard Marr, Forbes, 11 July 2022 Its metadata show that the image was taken by a mobile phone on February 28 near the location of one of the Smerch attacks.CNN, 12 May 2022 The way computer networks have evolved and applications have developed over the years with different kinds of metadata and data stores has meant that just consolidating this data to get information is a gargantuan task by itself. Sunil Chathaveetil, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2022 Politico provided the draft opinion in PDF form, taking care to redact any metadata that might lead back to a source... Brian Stelter, CNN, 3 May 2022 In the case of NFTs, savvy, harmful actors have figured out ways to spoof the metadata behind NFTs. Denise (ajayi) Williams, Forbes, 3 June 2022 See More