Definition of 'information'
2. uncountable noun
Information consists of the facts and figures that are stored and used by a computer program.
[computing]
3. uncountable noun
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
British English pronunciation
American English pronunciation
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Word Frequency
information in British English
noun
1.
knowledge acquired through experience or study
3.
the act of informing or the condition of being informed
5.
a.
6. computing
a.
the meaning given to data by the way in which it is interpreted
b. another word for data (sense 2)
7. See too much information
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
informational (ˌinforˈmational) adjective
Word Frequency
information in American English
noun
SYNONYMY NOTE: information applies to data that are gathered in any way, as by reading, observation, hearsay,
etc. and does not necessarily connote validity [inaccurate information]; knowledge applies to any body of facts gathered by study, observation, etc. and to the ideas
inferred from these facts, and connotes an understanding of what is known [man's knowledge of the universe]; learning is knowledge acquired by study, especially in languages, literature, philosophy,
etc.; erudition implies profound or abstruse learning beyond the comprehension of most people; wisdom implies superior judgment and understanding based on broad knowledge1.
an informing or being informed; esp., a telling or being told of something
2.
something told; news; intelligence; word
4.
a person or agency answering questions as a service to others
5.
6.
any data that can be stored in and retrieved from a computer
7. Law
an accusation, under oath, of a criminal offense, not by indictment of a grand jury, but by a public officer, such as a prosecutor
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Derived forms
informational (ˌinforˈmational)
adjective
Word origin
ME informacioun < OFr information < L informatio, a representation, outline, sketch
Word Frequency
information in American English
(ˌɪnfərˈmeiʃən)
noun
SYNONYMS 1. data, facts, intelligence, advice. 2. information, knowledge, wisdom are terms for human acquirements through reading, study, and practical experience.
information applies to facts told, read, or communicated that may be unorganized and even unrelated:
to pick up useful information. knowledge is an organized body of information, or the comprehension and understanding consequent
on having acquired and organized a body of facts: a knowledge of chemistry. wisdom is a knowledge of people, life, and conduct, with the facts so thoroughly assimilated
as to have produced sagacity, judgment, and insight: to use wisdom in handling people. 1.
knowledge communicated or received concerning a particular fact or circumstance; news
information concerning a crime
2.
His wealth of general information is amazing
3.
the act or fact of informing
4.
an office, station, service, or employee whose function is to provide information to the public
The ticket seller said to ask information for a timetable
5. See Directory Assistance
6. Law
a.
an official criminal charge presented, usually by the prosecuting officers of the state, without the interposition of a grand jury
b.
a criminal charge, made by a public official under oath before a magistrate, of an offense punishable summarily
7. (in information theory)
an indication of the number of possible choices of messages, expressible as the value of some monotonic function of the number of choices, usually the logarithm to the base 2
8. Computing
a.
important or useful facts obtained as output from a computer by means of processing input data with a program
Using the input data, we have come up with some significant new information
b.
data at any stage of processing (input, output, storage, transmission, etc.)
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
informational adjective
Examples of 'information' in a sentence
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In other languages
information
British English: information
/ˌɪnfəˈmeɪʃən/ NOUN
If you have information about a particular thing, you know something about it.
We look at every piece of information we receive.
- American English: information /ɪnfərˈmeɪʃən/
- Arabic: مَعْلُومَاتٌ
- Brazilian Portuguese: informação
- Chinese: 信息
- Croatian: informacija
- Czech: informace
- Danish: information
- Dutch: informatie
- European Spanish: información
- Finnish: tieto
- French: information
- German: Information
- Greek: πληροφορία
- Italian: informazioni
- Japanese: 知識
- Korean: 정보
- Norwegian: informasjon
- Polish: informacja
- European Portuguese: informação
- Romanian: informație
- Russian: информация
- Latin American Spanish: información
- Swedish: information
- Thai: ข้อมูล
- Turkish: bilgi
- Ukrainian: інформація
- Vietnamese: thông tin
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