/day"teuhm, dat"euhm, dah"teuhm/ , n. , pl. data /day"teuh, dat"euh, dah"teuh/ for 1-3, datums for 4, 5.
1. a single piece of information, as a fact, statistic, or code; an item of data.
2. Philos.
a. any fact assumed to be a matter of direct observation.
b. any proposition assumed or given, from which conclusions may be drawn.
3. Also called sense datum . Epistemology. the object of knowledge as presented to the mind. Cf. ideatum .
4. Survey. , Civ. Eng. any level surface, line, or point used as a reference in measuring elevations.
5. Survey. a basis for horizontal control surveys, consisting of the longitude and latitude of a certain point, the azimuth of a certain line from this point, and two constants used in defining the terrestrial spheroid.
[ 1640-50; dare to give ]
Usage . See data .