databases
English meaning: Databases
Definition
(general) A collection of (usually) organized information in a regular structure, usually but not necessarily in a machine-readable format accessible by a computer.
Example
“I have a database of all my contacts in my personal organizer.”
Another example: “The library lets students search dozens of academic databases for free.”
Usage — When, Where & How
Plural of 'database'; the standard computing term for organised, machine-readable collections of data. Common in technology, research and business. Often paired with 'query', 'store' or 'relational'.
Etymology & Origin
English — Origin & History
A mid-20th-century compound of 'data' (Latin 'things given') and 'base', emerging in computing in the 1960s.
Synonyms
- data stores
- repositories
- data banks
- archives
- datasets
Related Words
Common Collocations
- relational databases
- online databases
- query databases
- store in databases
- search databases
- large databases
Word Forms
database (n); databases
Word Tools
Literary Heritage
“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”
/To thine own self be true/
“Be honest with yourself — and as naturally as night follows day, you will be unable to be false to others.”
“I'm nobody! Who are you? Are you nobody, too?”
/I'm nobody! Who are you?/
“I am nobody — and that quiet anonymity is more honest than the noise of public fame.”
Images
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Language information
- Language
- English
- English
- Script
- Latin
- Family
- Indo-European
- Speakers
- 1.5B