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Data vs Source - What's the difference?

data | source |

As nouns the difference between data and source

is that data is (time) date while source is the person, place or thing from which something (information, goods, etc) comes or is acquired.

As a verb source is

(chiefly|us) to obtain or procure:.

data

English

Alternative forms

* (electronics)

Noun

(wikipedia data) (-) or plural noun
  • English plurals: Pieces of information.
  • (uncountable, collectively) Information, especially in a scientific or computational context.
  • *
  • With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=76, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Snakes and ladders , passage=Risk is everywhere.
  • (computing) A representation of facts or ideas in a formalized manner capable of being communicated or manipulated by some process.
  • Usage notes

    * This word is more often used as an uncountable noun with a singular verb than as a plural noun with singular datum. * The definition of data'' in the computing context is from an international standard vocabulary] and is meant to distinguish ''data'' from ''information . However, this distinction is largely ignored by the computing profession.[http://eprints.utas.edu.au/1957/1/Cm1My.pdf

    Derived terms

    * big data * databank * database * datasheet * data acquisition * data analysis * data domain * data element * data entry * data farming * data hiding * data integrity * data maintenance * data management * data mining * data modeling * data path, datapath * data processing * data recovery * data set * data sink * data source * data warehouse * metadata * primary data * raw data

    References

    * (The American Heritage Dictionary's usage note on 'data') * Calpundit: YOU SAY DAY-TA, I SAY DAA-TA * John Quiggin: Data is not the plural of datum * johnaugust.com: ‘Data’ is singular

    source

    English

    (wikipedia source)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The person, place or thing from which something (information, goods, etc.) comes or is acquired.
  • * {{quote-book, year=2006, author=(Edwin Black)
  • , title=Internal Combustion, chapter=2 citation , passage=More than a mere source of Promethean sustenance to thwart the cold and cook one's meat, wood was quite simply mankind's first industrial and manufacturing fuel.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-06, volume=408, issue=8843, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= The rise of smart beta , passage=Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.}}
  • Spring; fountainhead; wellhead; any collection of water on or under the surface of the ground in which a stream originates.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-16, author= John Vidal
  • , volume=189, issue=10, page=8, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Dams endanger ecology of Himalayas , passage=Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources . Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest valleys.}}
  • A reporter's informant.
  • (computing) Source code.
  • (electronics) The name of one terminal of a field effect transistor (FET).
  • Synonyms

    * (l)

    Derived terms

    * sourceless * source code * primary source * secondary source * tertiary source

    See also

    * target

    Verb

  • (chiefly, US) To obtain or procure:
  • To find information about (a quotation)'s source (from which it comes): to find a citation for.
  • Derived terms

    * (mainly US) sourcing * (mainly US) insourcing * (mainly US) outsourcing

    Anagrams

    * ----