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Datum vs Database - What's the difference?

datum | database |

As nouns the difference between datum and database

is that datum is date (point of time at which a transaction or event takes place) while database is (computing) a collection of (usually) organized information in a regular structure, usually but not necessarily in a machine-readable format accessible by a computer.

As a verb database is

to enter data into a database.

datum

English

Noun

(en-noun)
  • (plural:'' data ) A measurement of something on a scale understood by both the recorder (a person or device) and the reader (another person or device). The scale is arbitrarily defined, such as from 1 to 10 by ones, 1 to 100 by 0.1, or simply ''true'' or ''false'', ''on'' or ''off'', ''yes'', ''no'', or ''maybe , etc.
  • (plural: data ) (philosophy) A fact known from direct observation.
  • (plural: data ) (philosophy) A premise from which conclusions are drawn.
  • (plural: datums ) (cartography, engineering) A fixed reference point.
  • * 2007 , Roger F Tomlinson, Thinking about GIS: geographic information system planning for managers
  • Datums are another important map aspect related to projection. A datum provides a base reference for measuring locations on Earth's surface.

    Derived terms

    * datum circle * datum line * datum plane * datum point * datum surface

    References

    * AskOxford.com: Is 'data' singular or plural? * (The American Heritage Dictionary's usage note on 'data') * John Quiggin: Data is not the plural of datum * johnaugust.com: ‘Data’ is singular English nouns with irregular plurals English words affected by prescriptivism ----

    database

    Alternative forms

    * (older) data base, data-base

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (computing) A collection of (usually) organized information in a regular structure, usually but not necessarily in a machine-readable format accessible by a computer.
  • (computing) A set of tables in a database(1).
  • (computing) A software program for storing, retrieving and manipulating a database(1).
  • (computing) A combination of (1) and (2).
  • Synonyms

    * (collection of organized information) databank * (computer software) database management system

    Verb

    (databas)
  • To enter data into a database
  • ----