The word information in english

Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random and any observable pattern in any medium can be said to convey some amount of information. Whereas digital signals and other data use discrete signs to convey information, other phenomena and artefacts such as analogue signals, poems, pictures, music or other sounds, and currents convey information in a more continuous form.[1] Information is not knowledge itself, but the meaning that may be derived from a representation through interpretation.[2]

Information is often processed iteratively: Data available at one step are processed into information to be interpreted and processed at the next step. For example, in written text each symbol or letter conveys information relevant to the word it is part of, each word conveys information relevant to the phrase it is part of, each phrase conveys information relevant to the sentence it is part of, and so on until at the final step information is interpreted and becomes knowledge in a given domain. In a digital signal, bits may be interpreted into the symbols, letters, numbers, or structures that convey the information available at the next level up. The key characteristic of information is that it is subject to interpretation and processing.

The concept of information is relevant in various contexts,[3] including those of constraint, communication, control, data, form, education, knowledge, meaning, understanding, mental stimuli, pattern, perception, proposition, representation, and entropy.

The derivation of information from a signal or message may be thought of as the resolution of ambiguity or uncertainty that arises during the interpretation of patterns within the signal or message.[4]

Information may be structured as data. Redundant data can be compressed up to an optimal size, which is the theoretical limit of compression.

The information available through a collection of data may be derived by analysis. For example, data may be collected from a single customer’s order at a restaurant. The information available from many orders may be analyzed, and then becomes knowledge that is put to use when the business subsequently is able to identify the most popular or least popular dish.[5]

Information can be transmitted in time, via data storage, and space, via communication and telecommunication.[6] Information is expressed either as the content of a message or through direct or indirect observation. That which is perceived can be construed as a message in its own right, and in that sense, all information is always conveyed as the content of a message.

Information can be encoded into various forms for transmission and interpretation (for example, information may be encoded into a sequence of signs, or transmitted via a signal). It can also be encrypted for safe storage and communication.

The uncertainty of an event is measured by its probability of occurrence. Uncertainty is inversely proportional to the probability of occurrence. Information theory takes advantage of this by concluding that more uncertain events require more information to resolve their uncertainty. The bit is a typical unit of information. It is ‘that which reduces uncertainty by half’.[7] Other units such as the nat may be used. For example, the information encoded in one «fair» coin flip is log2(2/1) = 1 bit, and in two fair coin flips is log2(4/1) = 2 bits. A 2011 Science article estimates that 97% of technologically stored information was already in digital bits in 2007 and that the year 2002 was the beginning of the digital age for information storage (with digital storage capacity bypassing analogue for the first time).[8]

Etymology[edit]

The English word «information» comes from Middle French enformacion/informacion/information ‘a criminal investigation’ and its etymon, Latin informatiō(n) ‘conception, teaching, creation’.[9]

In English, «information» is an uncountable mass noun.

Information theory[edit]

Information theory is the scientific study of the quantification, storage, and communication of information. The field was fundamentally established by the works of Harry Nyquist and Ralph Hartley in the 1920s, and Claude Shannon in the 1940s. The field is at the intersection of probability theory, statistics, computer science, statistical mechanics, information engineering, and electrical engineering.

A key measure in information theory is entropy. Entropy quantifies the amount of uncertainty involved in the value of a random variable or the outcome of a random process. For example, identifying the outcome of a fair coin flip (with two equally likely outcomes) provides less information (lower entropy) than specifying the outcome from a roll of a die (with six equally likely outcomes). Some other important measures in information theory are mutual information, channel capacity, error exponents, and relative entropy. Important sub-fields of information theory include source coding, algorithmic complexity theory, algorithmic information theory, and information-theoretic security.

There is another opinion regarding the universal definition of information. It lies in the fact that the concept itself has changed along with the change of various historical epochs, and in order to find such a definition, it is necessary to find common features and patterns of this transformation. For example, researchers in the field of information Petrichenko E. A. and Semenova V. G., based on a retrospective analysis of changes in the concept of information, give the following universal definition: «Information is a form of transmission of human experience (knowledge).» In their opinion, the change in the essence of the concept of information occurs after various breakthrough technologies for the transfer of experience (knowledge), i.e. the appearance of writing, the printing press, the first encyclopedias, the telegraph, the development of cybernetics, the creation of a microprocessor, the Internet, smartphones, etc. Each new form of experience transfer is a synthesis of the previous ones. That is why we see such a variety of definitions of information, because, according to the law of dialectics «negation-negation», all previous ideas about information are contained in a «filmed» form and in its modern representation.[10]

Applications of fundamental topics of information theory include source coding/data compression (e.g. for ZIP files), and channel coding/error detection and correction (e.g. for DSL). Its impact has been crucial to the success of the Voyager missions to deep space, the invention of the compact disc, the feasibility of mobile phones and the development of the Internet. The theory has also found applications in other areas, including statistical inference,[11] cryptography, neurobiology,[12] perception,[13] linguistics, the evolution[14] and function[15] of molecular codes (bioinformatics), thermal physics,[16] quantum computing, black holes, information retrieval, intelligence gathering, plagiarism detection,[17] pattern recognition, anomaly detection[18] and even art creation.

As sensory input[edit]

Often information can be viewed as a type of input to an organism or system. Inputs are of two kinds; some inputs are important to the function of the organism (for example, food) or system (energy) by themselves. In his book Sensory Ecology[19] biophysicist David B. Dusenbery called these causal inputs. Other inputs (information) are important only because they are associated with causal inputs and can be used to predict the occurrence of a causal input at a later time (and perhaps another place). Some information is important because of association with other information but eventually there must be a connection to a causal input.

In practice, information is usually carried by weak stimuli that must be detected by specialized sensory systems and amplified by energy inputs before they can be functional to the organism or system. For example, light is mainly (but not only, e.g. plants can grow in the direction of the lightsource) a causal input to plants but for animals it only provides information. The colored light reflected from a flower is too weak for photosynthesis but the visual system of the bee detects it and the bee’s nervous system uses the information to guide the bee to the flower, where the bee often finds nectar or pollen, which are causal inputs, serving a nutritional function.

As representation and complexity[edit]

The cognitive scientist and applied mathematician Ronaldo Vigo argues that information is a concept that requires at least two related entities to make quantitative sense. These are, any dimensionally defined category of objects S, and any of its subsets R. R, in essence, is a representation of S, or, in other words, conveys representational (and hence, conceptual) information about S. Vigo then defines the amount of information that R conveys about S as the rate of change in the complexity of S whenever the objects in R are removed from S. Under «Vigo information», pattern, invariance, complexity, representation, and information—five fundamental constructs of universal science—are unified under a novel mathematical framework.[20][21][22] Among other things, the framework aims to overcome the limitations of Shannon-Weaver information when attempting to characterize and measure subjective information.

As a substitute for task wasted time, energy, and material[edit]

Michael Grieves has proposed that the focus on information should be what it does as opposed to defining what it is. Grieves has proposed [23] that information can be substituted for wasted physical resources, time, energy, and material, for goal oriented tasks. Goal oriented tasks can be divided into two components: the most cost efficient use of physical resources: time, energy and material, and the additional use of physical resources used by the task.This second category is by definition wasted physical resources. Information does not substitute or replace the most cost efficient use of physical resources, but can be used to replace the wasted physical resources. The condition that this occurs under is that the cost of information is less than the cost of the wasted physical resources. Since information is a non-rival good, this can be especially beneficial for repeatable tasks. In manufacturing, the task category of the most cost efficient use of physical resources is called lean manufacturing.

As an influence that leads to transformation[edit]

Information is any type of pattern that influences the formation or transformation of other patterns.[24][25] In this sense, there is no need for a conscious mind to perceive, much less appreciate, the pattern. Consider, for example, DNA. The sequence of nucleotides is a pattern that influences the formation and development of an organism without any need for a conscious mind. One might argue though that for a human to consciously define a pattern, for example a nucleotide, naturally involves conscious information processing.

Systems theory at times seems to refer to information in this sense, assuming information does not necessarily involve any conscious mind, and patterns circulating (due to feedback) in the system can be called information. In other words, it can be said that information in this sense is something potentially perceived as representation, though not created or presented for that purpose. For example, Gregory Bateson defines «information» as a «difference that makes a difference».[26]

If, however, the premise of «influence» implies that information has been perceived by a conscious mind and also interpreted by it, the specific context associated with this interpretation may cause the transformation of the information into knowledge. Complex definitions of both «information» and «knowledge» make such semantic and logical analysis difficult, but the condition of «transformation» is an important point in the study of information as it relates to knowledge, especially in the business discipline of knowledge management. In this practice, tools and processes are used to assist a knowledge worker in performing research and making decisions, including steps such as:

  • Review information to effectively derive value and meaning
  • Reference metadata if available
  • Establish relevant context, often from many possible contexts
  • Derive new knowledge from the information
  • Make decisions or recommendations from the resulting knowledge

Stewart (2001) argues that transformation of information into knowledge is critical, lying at the core of value creation and competitive advantage for the modern enterprise.

The Danish Dictionary of Information Terms[27] argues that information only provides an answer to a posed question. Whether the answer provides knowledge depends on the informed person. So a generalized definition of the concept should be: «Information» = An answer to a specific question».

When Marshall McLuhan speaks of media and their effects on human cultures, he refers to the structure of artifacts that in turn shape our behaviors and mindsets. Also, pheromones are often said to be «information» in this sense.

Technologically mediated information[edit]

These sections are using measurements of data rather than information, as information cannot be directly measured.

As of 2007[edit]

It is estimated that the world’s technological capacity to store information grew from 2.6 (optimally compressed) exabytes in 1986 – which is the informational equivalent to less than one 730-MB CD-ROM per person (539 MB per person) – to 295 (optimally compressed) exabytes in 2007.[8] This is the informational equivalent of almost 61 CD-ROM per person in 2007.[6]

The world’s combined technological capacity to receive information through one-way broadcast networks was the informational equivalent of 174 newspapers per person per day in 2007.[8]

The world’s combined effective capacity to exchange information through two-way telecommunication networks was the informational equivalent of 6 newspapers per person per day in 2007.[6]

As of 2007, an estimated 90% of all new information is digital, mostly stored on hard drives.[28]

As of 2020[edit]

The total amount of data created, captured, copied, and consumed globally is forecast to increase rapidly, reaching 64.2 zettabytes in 2020. Over the next five years up to 2025, global data creation is projected to grow to more than 180 zettabytes.[29]

As records[edit]

Records are specialized forms of information. Essentially, records are information produced consciously or as by-products of business activities or transactions and retained because of their value. Primarily, their value is as evidence of the activities of the organization but they may also be retained for their informational value. Sound records management[30] ensures that the integrity of records is preserved for as long as they are required.

The international standard on records management, ISO 15489, defines records as «information created, received, and maintained as evidence and information by an organization or person, in pursuance of legal obligations or in the transaction of business».[31] The International Committee on Archives (ICA) Committee on electronic records defined a record as, «recorded information produced or received in the initiation, conduct or completion of an institutional or individual activity and that comprises content, context and structure sufficient to provide evidence of the activity».[32]

Records may be maintained to retain corporate memory of the organization or to meet legal, fiscal or accountability requirements imposed on the organization. Willis expressed the view that sound management of business records and information delivered «…six key requirements for good corporate governance…transparency; accountability; due process; compliance; meeting statutory and common law requirements; and security of personal and corporate information.»[33]

Semiotics[edit]

Michael Buckland has classified «information» in terms of its uses: «information as process», «information as knowledge», and «information as thing».[34]

Beynon-Davies[35][36] explains the multi-faceted concept of information in terms of signs and signal-sign systems. Signs themselves can be considered in terms of four inter-dependent levels, layers or branches of semiotics: pragmatics, semantics, syntax, and empirics. These four layers serve to connect the social world on the one hand with the physical or technical world on the other.

Pragmatics is concerned with the purpose of communication. Pragmatics links the issue of signs with the context within which signs are used. The focus of pragmatics is on the intentions of living agents underlying communicative behaviour. In other words, pragmatics link language to action.

Semantics is concerned with the meaning of a message conveyed in a communicative act. Semantics considers the content of communication. Semantics is the study of the meaning of signs — the association between signs and behaviour. Semantics can be considered as the study of the link between symbols and their referents or concepts – particularly the way that signs relate to human behavior.

Syntax is concerned with the formalism used to represent a message. Syntax as an area studies the form of communication in terms of the logic and grammar of sign systems. Syntax is devoted to the study of the form rather than the content of signs and sign-systems.

Nielsen (2008) discusses the relationship between semiotics and information in relation to dictionaries. He introduces the concept of lexicographic information costs and refers to the effort a user of a dictionary must make to first find, and then understand data so that they can generate information.

Communication normally exists within the context of some social situation. The social situation sets the context for the intentions conveyed (pragmatics) and the form of communication. In a communicative situation intentions are expressed through messages that comprise collections of inter-related signs taken from a language mutually understood by the agents involved in the communication. Mutual understanding implies that agents involved understand the chosen language in terms of its agreed syntax (syntactics) and semantics. The sender codes the message in the language and sends the message as signals along some communication channel (empirics). The chosen communication channel has inherent properties that determine outcomes such as the speed at which communication can take place, and over what distance.

The application of information study[edit]

The information cycle (addressed as a whole or in its distinct components) is of great concern to information technology, information systems, as well as information science. These fields deal with those processes and techniques pertaining to information capture (through sensors) and generation (through computation, formulation or composition), processing (including encoding, encryption, compression, packaging), transmission (including all telecommunication methods), presentation (including visualization / display methods), storage (such as magnetic or optical, including holographic methods), etc.

Information visualization (shortened as InfoVis) depends on the computation and digital representation of data, and assists users in pattern recognition and anomaly detection.

  • Partial map of the Internet, with nodes representing IP addresses

    Partial map of the Internet, with nodes representing IP addresses

  • Galactic (including dark) matter distribution in a cubic section of the Universe

    Galactic (including dark) matter distribution in a cubic section of the Universe

  • Information embedded in an abstract mathematical object with symmetry breaking nucleus

    Information embedded in an abstract mathematical object with symmetry breaking nucleus

  • Visual representation of a strange attractor, with converted data of its fractal structure

    Visual representation of a strange attractor, with converted data of its fractal structure

Information security (shortened as InfoSec) is the ongoing process of exercising due diligence to protect information, and information systems, from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, destruction, modification, disruption or distribution, through algorithms and procedures focused on monitoring and detection, as well as incident response and repair.

Information analysis is the process of inspecting, transforming, and modelling information, by converting raw data into actionable knowledge, in support of the decision-making process.

Information quality (shortened as InfoQ) is the potential of a dataset to achieve a specific (scientific or practical) goal using a given empirical analysis method.

Information communication represents the convergence of informatics, telecommunication and audio-visual media & content.

See also[edit]

  • Abstraction
  • Accuracy and precision
  • Classified information
  • Complex adaptive system
  • Complex system
  • Cybernetics
  • Data storage device#Recording media
  • Engram
  • Exformation
  • Free Information Infrastructure
  • Freedom of information
  • Informatics
  • Information and communication technologies
  • Information architecture
  • Information broker
  • Information continuum
  • Information ecology
  • Information engineering
  • Information geometry
  • Information inequity
  • Information infrastructure
  • Information management
  • Information metabolism
  • Information overload
  • Information quality (InfoQ)
  • Information science
  • Information sensitivity
  • Information superhighway
  • Information technology
  • Information theory
  • Information warfare
  • Infosphere
  • Internet forum
  • Lexicographic information cost
  • Library science
  • Meme
  • Philosophy of information
  • Propaganda model
  • Quantum information
  • Receiver operating characteristic
  • Satisficing

References[edit]

  1. ^ John B. Anderson; Rolf Johnnesson (1996). Understanding Information Transmission. Ieee Press. ISBN 9780471711209.
  2. ^ Hubert P. Yockey (2005). Information Theory, Evolution, and the Origin of Life. Cambridge University Press. p. 7. ISBN 9780511546433.
  3. ^ Luciano Floridi (2010). Information — A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-160954-1.
  4. ^ Webler, Forrest (25 February 2022). «Measurement in the Age of Information». Information. 13 (3): 111. doi:10.3390/info13030111.
  5. ^ «What Is The Difference Between Data And Information?». BYJUS. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  6. ^ a b c «World_info_capacity_animation». YouTube. 11 June 2011. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  7. ^ «DT&SC 4-5: Information Theory Primer, Online Course». youtube.com. University of California. 2015.
  8. ^ a b c Hilbert, Martin; López, Priscila (2011). «The World’s Technological Capacity to Store, Communicate, and Compute Information». Science. 332 (6025): 60–65. Bibcode:2011Sci…332…60H. doi:10.1126/science.1200970. PMID 21310967. S2CID 206531385. Free access to the article at martinhilbert.net/WorldInfoCapacity.html
  9. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, Third Edition, 2009, full text
  10. ^ Semenova, Veronika; Petrichenko, Evgeny (2022). «Information: The History of Notion, Its Present and Future». Izvestiya University. The North Caucasus Region. Series: Social Sciences. 1 (213): 16–26. doi:10.18522/2687-0770-2022-1-16-26. ISSN 2687-0770. S2CID 249796993.
  11. ^ Burnham, K. P. and Anderson D. R. (2002) Model Selection and Multimodel Inference: A Practical Information-Theoretic Approach, Second Edition (Springer Science, New York) ISBN 978-0-387-95364-9.
  12. ^ F. Rieke; D. Warland; R Ruyter van Steveninck; W Bialek (1997). Spikes: Exploring the Neural Code. The MIT press. ISBN 978-0262681087.
  13. ^ Delgado-Bonal, Alfonso; Martín-Torres, Javier (3 November 2016). «Human vision is determined based on information theory». Scientific Reports. 6 (1): 36038. Bibcode:2016NatSR…636038D. doi:10.1038/srep36038. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 5093619. PMID 27808236.
  14. ^ cf; Huelsenbeck, J. P.; Ronquist, F.; Nielsen, R.; Bollback, J. P. (2001). «Bayesian inference of phylogeny and its impact on evolutionary biology». Science. 294 (5550): 2310–2314. Bibcode:2001Sci…294.2310H. doi:10.1126/science.1065889. PMID 11743192. S2CID 2138288.
  15. ^ Allikmets, Rando; Wasserman, Wyeth W.; Hutchinson, Amy; Smallwood, Philip; Nathans, Jeremy; Rogan, Peter K. (1998). «Thomas D. Schneider], Michael Dean (1998) Organization of the ABCR gene: analysis of promoter and splice junction sequences». Gene. 215 (1): 111–122. doi:10.1016/s0378-1119(98)00269-8. PMID 9666097.
  16. ^ Jaynes, E. T. (1957). «Information Theory and Statistical Mechanics». Phys. Rev. 106 (4): 620. Bibcode:1957PhRv..106..620J. doi:10.1103/physrev.106.620.
  17. ^ Bennett, Charles H.; Li, Ming; Ma, Bin (2003). «Chain Letters and Evolutionary Histories». Scientific American. 288 (6): 76–81. Bibcode:2003SciAm.288f..76B. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0603-76. PMID 12764940. Archived from the original on 7 October 2007. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
  18. ^ David R. Anderson (1 November 2003). «Some background on why people in the empirical sciences may want to better understand the information-theoretic methods» (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
  19. ^ Dusenbery, David B. (1992). Sensory Ecology. New York: W.H. Freeman. ISBN 978-0-7167-2333-2.
  20. ^ Vigo, R. (2011). «Representational information: a new general notion and measure of information» (PDF). Information Sciences. 181 (21): 4847–59. doi:10.1016/j.ins.2011.05.020.
  21. ^ Vigo, R. (2013). «Complexity over Uncertainty in Generalized Representational Information Theory (GRIT): A Structure-Sensitive General Theory of Information». Information. 4 (1): 1–30. doi:10.3390/info4010001.
  22. ^ Vigo, R. (2014). Mathematical Principles of Human Conceptual Behavior: The Structural Nature of Conceptual Representation and Processing. New York and London: Scientific Psychology Series, Routledge. ISBN 978-0415714365.
  23. ^ Grieves, Michael (2006). Product Lifecycle Management: Driving the Next Generation of Lean Thinking. New York: McGraw Hill. pp. 6–12. ISBN 0-07-145230-3.
  24. ^ Shannon, Claude E. (1949). The Mathematical Theory of Communication.
  25. ^ Casagrande, David (1999). «Information as verb: Re-conceptualizing information for cognitive and ecological models» (PDF). Journal of Ecological Anthropology. 3 (1): 4–13. doi:10.5038/2162-4593.3.1.1.
  26. ^ Bateson, Gregory (1972). Form, Substance, and Difference, in Steps to an Ecology of Mind. University of Chicago Press. pp. 448–66.
  27. ^ Simonsen, Bo Krantz. «Informationsordbogen — vis begreb». Informationsordbogen.dk. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  28. ^ Failure Trends in a Large Disk Drive Population. Eduardo Pinheiro, Wolf-Dietrich Weber and Luiz Andre Barroso
  29. ^ «Total data volume worldwide 2010-2025». Statista. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  30. ^ «What is records management?». Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  31. ^ ISO 15489
  32. ^ Committee on Electronic Records (February 1997). «Guide For Managing Electronic Records From An Archival Perspective» (PDF). www.ica.org. International Committee on Archives. p. 22. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  33. ^ Willis, Anthony (1 August 2005). «Corporate governance and management of information and records». Records Management Journal. 15 (2): 86–97. doi:10.1108/09565690510614238.
  34. ^ Buckland, Michael K. (June 1991). «Information as thing». Journal of the American Society for Information Science. 42 (5): 351–360. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-4571(199106)42:5<351::AID-ASI5>3.0.CO;2-3.
  35. ^ Beynon-Davies, P. (2002). Information Systems: an introduction to informatics in Organisations. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave. ISBN 978-0-333-96390-6.
  36. ^ Beynon-Davies, P. (2009). Business Information Systems. Basingstoke: Palgrave. ISBN 978-0-230-20368-6.

Further reading[edit]

  • Liu, Alan (2004). The Laws of Cool: Knowledge Work and the Culture of Information. University of Chicago Press.
  • Bekenstein, Jacob D. (August 2003). «Information in the holographic universe». Scientific American. 289 (2): 58–65. Bibcode:2003SciAm.289b..58B. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0803-58. PMID 12884539.
  • Gleick, James (2011). The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood. New York, NY: Pantheon.
  • Lin, Shu-Kun (2008). «Gibbs Paradox and the Concepts of Information, Symmetry, Similarity and Their Relationship». Entropy. 10 (1): 1–5. arXiv:0803.2571. Bibcode:2008Entrp..10….1L. doi:10.3390/entropy-e10010001. S2CID 41159530.
  • Floridi, Luciano (2005). «Is Information Meaningful Data?» (PDF). Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. 70 (2): 351–70. doi:10.1111/j.1933-1592.2005.tb00531.x. hdl:2299/1825. S2CID 5593220.
  • Floridi, Luciano (2005). «Semantic Conceptions of Information». In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2005 ed.). Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University.
  • Floridi, Luciano (2010). Information: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Logan, Robert K. What is Information? — Propagating Organization in the Biosphere, the Symbolosphere, the Technosphere and the Econosphere. Toronto: DEMO Publishing.
  • Machlup, F. and U. Mansfield, The Study of information : interdisciplinary messages. 1983, New York: Wiley. xxii, 743 p. ISBN 9780471887171
  • Nielsen, Sandro (2008). «The Effect of Lexicographical Information Costs on Dictionary Making and Use». Lexikos. 18: 170–89.
  • Stewart, Thomas (2001). Wealth of Knowledge. New York, NY: Doubleday.
  • Young, Paul (1987). The Nature of Information. Westport, Ct: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-275-92698-4.
  • Kenett, Ron S.; Shmueli, Galit (2016). Information Quality: The Potential of Data and Analytics to Generate Knowledge. Chichester, United Kingdom: John Wiley and Sons. doi:10.1002/9781118890622. ISBN 978-1-118-87444-8.

External links[edit]

Look up information in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

  • Semantic Conceptions of Information Review by Luciano Floridi for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  • Principia Cybernetica entry on negentropy
  • Fisher Information, a New Paradigm for Science: Introduction, Uncertainty principles, Wave equations, Ideas of Escher, Kant, Plato and Wheeler. This essay is continually revised in the light of ongoing research.
  • How Much Information? 2003 an attempt to estimate how much new information is created each year (study was produced by faculty and students at the School of Information Management and Systems at the University of California at Berkeley)
  • (in Danish) Informationsordbogen.dk The Danish Dictionary of Information Terms / Informationsordbogen

информация, данные, справки, сообщение, знания, осведомленность, донесение, жалоба

существительное

- информация; сведения; данные; факты; подробности

- оповещение; сообщение; передача сведений; информирование

for information only — исключительно в целях ознакомления
consumer information — информация для потребителей; информирование потребителей

- осведомлённость; знания; познания

a man of vast information — человек больших знаний /обширных познаний/
His mind is well stored with information. — У него большие знания.
He is a mine of information. — Он ходячая энциклопедия.

- жалоба (поданная в суд); донос

bill of information — иск от имени короны или правительства
to lay an information against smb. with the police — донести на кого-л. в полицию
to lay a criminal information against smb. — возбудить уголовное дело против кого-л.

- юр. заявление об обвинении; обвинительный акт; обвинительное заключение
- радиоданные, переданные на несущей частоте (звук, изображение и т. п.)
- метеор. оповещение (о шторме и т. п.)
- разведывательные данные
- амер. справочное бюро; справочная; окошко информатора (на вокзале, в аэропорту и т.п.)

to call information — позвонить в справочную (амер.)
The ticket seller said to ask information for a timetable. — Продавец билетов сказал, чтобы я спросил по поводу расписания в справочной.

прилагательное

Мои примеры

Словосочетания

the application of new information — использование новой информации  
a memory module for storing information — модуль памяти для хранения информации  
an information desk at an airport — информационное бюро в аэропорту  
cataracts of information — поток информации  
closet information — конфиденциальная информация  
collected information — накопленная информация  
conduit of information — информационный канал  
to convey false information — сообщить ложную информацию  
deceptive product information — обманная информация о товаре  
to disperse information — распространять информацию  
to divulge information — разглашать информацию  
for your information — чтобы вы знали; к вашему сведению  

Примеры с переводом

I need more information.

Мне нужно знать больше.

He gave me valuable information.

Он сообщил мне ценные сведения.

She was a well of information.

Она была кладезем информации.

He is a mine of information.

Он ходячая энциклопедия.

Information was sluicing in.

Информация тем не менее просачивалась.

How did you come at the information?

Как вы это узнали?

They’re working to collect information about the early settlers in the region.

Они работают над сбором сведений о первых поселенцах в этом регионе.

ещё 23 примера свернуть

Примеры, ожидающие перевода

There was a lot of information to assimilate at school.

The information contained in the memo got lost in the shuffle once it reached headquarters.

…when she was told her information was wrong, she apologized for the flub and immediately corrected it…

Для того чтобы добавить вариант перевода, кликните по иконке , напротив примера.

Возможные однокоренные слова

deform  — деформировать, деформироваться, искажать, уродовать, исковеркать, коробить
form  — форма, вид, бланк, класс, формат, образ, анкета, образовывать, формировать
inform  — сообщать, сообщить, информировать, уведомлять, известить, извещать, доносить
informed  — осведомленный, знающий, образованный
misinformation  — дезинформация
disinformation  — дезинформация
informational  — информационный

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If people really don’t want ads, they can go find their information however it is they want. It’s a free world on that matter.

Carol Bartz

section

PRONUNCIATION OF INFORMATION

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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF INFORMATION

Information is a noun.

A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES INFORMATION MEAN IN ENGLISH?

information

Information

Information is that which informs, i.e. that from which data can be derived. Information is conveyed either as the content of a message or through direct or indirect observation of some thing. That which is perceived can be construed as a message in its own right, and in that sense, information is always conveyed as the content of a message. Information can be encoded into various forms for transmission and interpretation. For example, information may be encoded into signs, and transmitted via signals. In Thermodynamics, information is any kind of event that affects the state of a dynamic system that can interpret the information. Information resolves uncertainty. The uncertainty of an event is measured by its probability of occurrence and is inversely proportional to that. The more uncertain an event, the more information is required to resolve uncertainty of that event. The bit is a typical unit of information, but other units such as the nat may be used. Example: information in one «fair» coin flip: log2 = 1 bit, and in two fair coin flips is log2 = 2 bits. The concept that information is the message has different meanings in different contexts.


Definition of information in the English dictionary

The first definition of information in the dictionary is knowledge acquired through experience or study. Other definition of information is knowledge of specific and timely events or situations; news. Information is also the act of informing or the condition of being informed.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH INFORMATION

Synonyms and antonyms of information in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS OF «INFORMATION»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «information» and belong to the same grammatical category.

Translation of «information» into 25 languages

online translator

TRANSLATION OF INFORMATION

Find out the translation of information to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of information from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «information» in English.

Translator English — Chinese


信息

1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English — Spanish


información

570 millions of speakers

Translator English — Hindi


जानकारी

380 millions of speakers

Translator English — Arabic


مَعْلُومَاتٌ

280 millions of speakers

Translator English — Russian


информация

278 millions of speakers

Translator English — Portuguese


informação

270 millions of speakers

Translator English — Bengali


তথ্য

260 millions of speakers

Translator English — French


information

220 millions of speakers

Translator English — Malay


Maklumat

190 millions of speakers

Translator English — German


Information

180 millions of speakers

Translator English — Japanese


知識

130 millions of speakers

Translator English — Korean


정보

85 millions of speakers

Translator English — Javanese


Informasi

85 millions of speakers

Translator English — Vietnamese


thông tin

80 millions of speakers

Translator English — Tamil


தகவல்

75 millions of speakers

Translator English — Marathi


माहिती

75 millions of speakers

Translator English — Turkish


bilgi

70 millions of speakers

Translator English — Italian


informazioni

65 millions of speakers

Translator English — Polish


informacja

50 millions of speakers

Translator English — Ukrainian


інформація

40 millions of speakers

Translator English — Romanian


informație

30 millions of speakers

Translator English — Greek


πληροφορία

15 millions of speakers

Translator English — Afrikaans


inligting

14 millions of speakers

Translator English — Swedish


information

10 millions of speakers

Translator English — Norwegian


informasjon

5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of information

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «INFORMATION»

The term «information» is very widely used and occupies the 305 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.

Trends

FREQUENCY

Very widely used

The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «information» in the different countries.

Principal search tendencies and common uses of information

List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «information».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «INFORMATION» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «information» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «information» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about information

10 QUOTES WITH «INFORMATION»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word information.

Information of fundamental importance to the general problem of atomic structure has resulted from systematic studies of the cosmic radiation carried out by the Wilson cloud-chamber method.

Apple already had everyone’s billing information from iTunes… you could buy things just by typing in your password… That, for the first time, brought very, very easy payment to the modern software world. That, more than anything, is why there is a business for paid apps.

There is no better source of real-time news than Twitter. With the constant sharing of news and information, if you’re an active Twitter user, there’s nothing happening, big or small, that you won’t know right away.

The Patriot Act allows and provides a basis for an exchange of information.

I never realized it until I watched an interview, but sometimes my brain stutters between thoughts, and for some reason it comes out as an ‘ummmm.’ I’m hoping it’s because I’m so smart, and there’s just too much information to process, but it’s more than likely just because it’s a small processor.

If people really don’t want ads, they can go find their information however it is they want. It’s a free world on that matter.

Like any good spy novel, the Cox Report alleges that Chinese spies penetrated four U.S. weapons research labs and stole important information on seven nuclear warhead designs.

Considering the amount of information we’re bombarded by, it’s amazing if a song can transcend time.

There is some information that an actor doesn’t need, and that’s okay. I can’t control everything. I don’t want to control everything. Sometimes, you want to control everything, and you want to know the size of the lens and stuff like that. I am so relaxed as an actor because I don’t want to control everything. I just want to control my part.

My understanding is that what was provided was general order of battle information, not operational intelligence. I certainly have no knowledge of US participation in preparing battle and strike packages and doubt strongly that that occurred.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «INFORMATION»

Discover the use of information in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to information and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

1

The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood

Winner of the Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books 2012, the world’s leading prize for popular science writing.

2

Information Feudalism: Who Owns the Knowledge Economy?

Based on extensive interviews with key players, this text shows how the «knowledge economy» is making serfs of everyone bar a few multinational companies.

Peter Drahos, John Braithwaite, 2002

3

Quantum Computation and Quantum Information: 10th …

One of the most cited books in physics of all time, Quantum Computation and Quantum Information remains the best textbook in this exciting field of science.

Michael A. Nielsen, Isaac L. Chuang, 2010

4

Health Information Systems: Architectures and Strategies

Illustrating the importance of hospital information management in delivering high quality health care at the lowest possible cost, this book provides the essential resources needed by the medical informatics specialist to understand and …

Alfred Winter, Reinhold Haux, Elske Ammenwerth, 2011

5

Readings in Information Visualization: Using Vision to Think

This groundbreaking book defines the emerging field of information visualization and offers the first-ever collection of the classic papers of the discipline, with introductions and analytical discussions of each topic and paper.

Stuart K. Card, Jock D. Mackinlay, Ben Shneiderman, 1999

6

Designing Management Information Systems

These are managerial decisions for which MIS are particularly useful, and which managers face on a daily basis. This is the first book offering practical guidance on how systems should be designed to support these decisions.

Johannes Govardus Maria van der Heijden, 2009

7

Information: The New Language of Science

And equally copious to this is the realm of physical information, that which mediates between reality and our understanding of it.

Hans Christian Von Baeyer, 2004

8

Information Technology and Educational Management in the …

The papers presented in this volume are the result of an international call for papers addressing the challenges faced by the information technology and education management (ITEM) field in a society where knowledge management is becoming a …

Arthur Tatnall, Javier Osorio, Adrie Visscher, 2005

9

Management Information Systems

Updated to include the latest information technologies, practices, and trends, this book uses more real-world examples and case studies than ever before, providing skills and knowledge that are easily transferable to the business world.

10

An Introduction to Information Theory: Symbols, Signals & Noise

This is the theory that has permeated the rapid development of all sorts of communication, from color television to the clear transmission of photographs from the vicinity of Jupiter.

John Robinson Pierce, 1980

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «INFORMATION»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term information is used in the context of the following news items.

Freedom of Information Act review ‘may curb access to government …

Ministers have launched a cross-party review of the Freedom of Information Act that is likely to be viewed as an attempt to curb public access to … «The Guardian, Jul 15»

Missouri had no right to withhold death penalty drug information

He ordered the state to release key details about its supply of deadly chemicals, pending a further hearing on what information should be … «The Guardian, Jul 15»

Martin Rowson on the Freedom of Information Act review – cartoon …

Martin Rowson on the Freedom of Information Act review – cartoon … and that most of us lack the basic information necessary to even ask the … «The Guardian, Jul 15»

4.5 million people’s personal information at risk in UCLA Health data …

In the latest major cyber attack compromising personal information, UCLA Health announced that data on as many as 4.5 million people may … «89.3 KPCC, Jul 15»

Fraudsters using CRA scam to access banking information | CTV …

Police say information is provided to send payments by wiring money or sending pre-paid debit or credit cards, and that people are told to pay … «CTV News, Jul 15»

New information released, reward increased in Markel case

The Tallahassee Police Department this morning released new information in the unsolved killing of FSU law professor Dan Markel. «Tallahassee.com, Jul 15»

Reward offered for information about Cory Barron’s death | fox8.com

Reward offered for information about Cory Barron’s death. Posted 6:29 pm, July 17, 2015, by Peggy Gallek, Updated at 06:43pm, July 17, 2015. Facebook … «fox8.com, Jul 15»

RCMP kill masked man outside BC Hydro public information session …

The Independent Investigations Office said Dawson Creek RCMP responded at 6:30 p.m. Thursday to a BC Hydro public information session … «CTV News, Jul 15»

Two companies fighting over use of confidential information settle …

Two companies embroiled earlier this week in a legal spat over the use of confidential information in a takeover bid have settled out of court. «The Globe and Mail, Jul 15»

Information Governance: How can brands rise to the challenge …

This, coupled with emerging types of data, means Information Governance strategies are becoming a significant challenge for businesses. «ITProPortal, Jul 15»

REFERENCE

« EDUCALINGO. Information [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/information>. Apr 2023 ».

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Discover all that is hidden in the words on educalingo

WRONG
The informations that you sent us in your last email are out of date.

RIGHT
The information that you sent us in your last email is out of date.

In English the word “information” is an uncountable noun. You can never, ever, for any reason whatsoever, say “an information” or “informations”. [Actually, this is not quite true. See the comments below – ed.] Instead, if you need to use the word in the singular, you can say “a piece / an item of information”. But usually we simply use “information” for both singular and plural.

This mistake arises because in some languages the word has both singular and plural forms. In English it has only one form.

Related mistakes

WRONG
The Contractor undertakes that during the Term of this Agreement and for two years thereafter, he shall maintain the confidentiality of the Confidential Information and shall not disclose them to any third party unless if necessary for the proper performance of this Agreement.

RIGHT
The Contractor undertakes that during the Term of this Agreement and for two years thereafter, he shall maintain the confidentiality of the Confidential Information and shall not disclose it to any third party unless if necessary for the proper performance of this Agreement.

WRONG
Moreover, many information concerning the Company should be easily available in the public domain.

RIGHT
Moreover, a lot of information concerning the Company should be easily available in the public domain.

The word “many” can only be used with countable nouns.

WRONG
We need to receive those information in order to adjust the Schedule to Polish law.

RIGHT
We need to receive that information in order to adjust the Schedule to Polish law.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Countable and uncountable nouns. Bookmark the permalink.

  • Afrikaans: inligting (af), informasie (af)
  • Albanian: informacion (sq) m, informatë (sq) f
  • Amharic: ጥቆማ (ṭəḳoma), መረጃ (märäǧa)
  • Apache:
    Western Apache: beʼígózíni yíka ntaahí
  • Arabic: مَعْلُومَات (ar) f pl (maʕlūmāt), مَعْلُومَة‎ f (maʕlūma)
    Egyptian Arabic: معلومة‎ f (maʿluma)
    Moroccan Arabic: معلومة‎ f (maʿloma)
  • Armenian: տեղեկատվություն (hy) (tełekatvutʿyun), տեղեկություն (hy) (tełekutʿyun)
  • Asturian: información f
  • Azerbaijani: məlumat (az), informasiya
  • Bashkir: мәғлүмәт (mäğlümät)
  • Basque: informazio
  • Belarusian: інфарма́цыя f (infarmácyja)
  • Bengali: তথ্য (bn) (tottho)
  • Breton: ditour m, keloù (br) m
  • Bulgarian: информа́ция (bg) f (informácija)
  • Burmese: ပြန်ကြားရေး (my) (prankra:re:)
  • Buryat: мэдээсэл (medeesel)
  • Catalan: informació (ca) f
  • Chamorro: infotmasion
  • Chechen: хаам (xaam)
  • Chinese:
    Mandarin: 信息 (zh) (xìnxī), 資訊资讯 (zh) (zīxùn), 情報情报 (zh) (qíngbào)
  • Czech: informace (cs) f
  • Danish: information (da) c, informationer pl
  • Dutch: informatie (nl) f
  • Esperanto: informo
  • Estonian: informatsioon (et), teave
  • Finnish: tieto (fi), informaatio (fi)
  • French: renseignement (fr) m, informations (fr) f pl, information (fr) f
  • Galician: información (gl) f
  • Georgian: ცნობება (cnobeba), შეტყობინება (šeṭq̇obineba), ინფორმაცია (inpormacia), ცნობა (cnoba), ინფო (inpo) (slang)
  • German: Information (de) f, Auskunft (de) f
  • Greek: πληροφορία (el) f (pliroforía)
    Ancient: μήνυμα n (mḗnuma)
  • Haitian Creole: enfòmasyon
  • Hebrew: מֵידָע (he) m (meidá)
  • Hindi: जानकारी (hi) f (jānkārī), तथ्य (hi) m (tathya), सूचना (hi) m (sūcnā), आगाही (hi) f (āgāhī), विवरण (hi) m (vivraṇ), ख़बर f (xabar), खबर (hi) f (khabar)
  • Hungarian: információ (hu), értesülés (hu), tájékoztatás (hu), tudnivaló, felvilágosítás (hu), hír (hu)
  • Icelandic: upplýsingar
  • Ido: informo (io)
  • Ilocano: pakaammo
  • Indonesian: informasi (id), maklumat (id)
  • Irish: eolas m, fios m
  • Italian: informazione (it) f
  • Japanese: 情報 (ja) (じょうほう, jōhō), 案内 (ja) (あんない, annai)
  • Kannada: ಮಾಹಿತಿ (kn) (māhiti)
  • Kapampangan: impormasiun, impormasyun, kabaluan, kebaluan, pamibalu, kapabaluan, kepabaluan
  • Kazakh: ақпарат (aqparat), мағлұмат (mağlūmat)
  • Khmer: ដំណឹង (km) (dɑmnəng), ព័ត៌មាន (km) (pɔədɑɑmiən)
  • Korean: 안내(案內) (ko) (annae), 정보(情報) (ko) (jeongbo)
  • Kurdish:
    Northern Kurdish: agahî (ku) f
  • Kyrgyz: информация (ky) (informatsiya), маалымат (ky) (maalımat), билме (bilme)
  • Lao: ຂ່າວ (lo) (khāo), ຂໍ້ມູນ (lo) (khǭ mūn)
  • Latgalian: zine f, zinis f or pl, jaunums m, jaunumi m or pl, informaceja f
  • Latin: nūntius (la) m, scientia (la) f, doctrina f, indicium n, nuntii m pl
  • Latvian: informācija f
  • Lithuanian: informacija (lt) f (Aukštaitian)
    Samogitian: infuormacėjė f
  • Low German:
    Dutch Low Saxon: informaty
    German Low German: informatioon
  • Macedonian: информација f (informacija)
  • Malay: informasi, maklumat
  • Malayalam: അറിവ് (ml) (aṟivŭ), വിവരം (ml) (vivaraṃ)
  • Maltese: informazzjoni (mt) f
  • Maori: mōhiohio, pārongo
  • Marathi: माहिती (mr) f (māhitī)
  • Mongolian:
    Cyrillic: мэдээлэл (mn) (medeelel), өгөгдөл (mn) (ögögdöl)
  • Nahuatl: tlanonotzaliztli
  • Nepali: जानकारी (ne) (jānkārī), सुचना (sucanā)
  • Norwegian:
    Bokmål: informasjon (no) m
  • Old English: ġefrǣġe n, āscung f
  • Pashto: معلومات‎ m pl (ma’lumãt), اطلاع (ps) f (etlã’)
  • Persian: اطلاع (fa) (etelâ’), آگاهی (fa) (âgâhi), اخبار (fa) (axbâr), استحضار (fa) (estehzâr), معلومات (fa) (ma’lumât), اطلاعات (fa) (ettelâ’ât)
  • Polish: informacja (pl) f, wiadomość (pl) f
  • Portuguese: informação (pt) f
  • Romanian: informație (ro) f
  • Romansch: infurmaziun f
  • Russian: информа́ция (ru) f (informácija), инфа́ (ru) f (infá) (colloquial), (always plural) све́дение (ru) (svédenije), (always plural) да́нные (ru) (dánnyje)
  • Rusyn: інформа́ція f (informácija)
  • Serbo-Croatian:
    Cyrillic: информа́ција f
    Roman: informácija (sh) f
  • Slovak: informácia f
  • Slovene: informacija f, informacije pl
  • Sorbian:
    Lower Sorbian: informacija f
  • Southern Altai: јетирӱ (ǰetirü)
  • Spanish: información (es) f
  • Swahili: habari (sw), taarifa (sw) class n
  • Swedish: information (sv) c
  • Tagalog: impormasyon (tl), pabatid, kabatiran
  • Tajik: маълумот (tg) (maʾlumot), ахборот (axborot), иттилоот (tg) (ittiloot)
  • Tamil: தகவல் (ta) (takaval)
  • Tatar: мәгълүмат (tt) (mäğlümat)
  • Telugu: సమాచారము (te) (samācāramu)
  • Thai: ข่าว (th) (kàao), ข้อมูล (th) (kɔ̂ɔ-muun)
  • Tibetan: གནས་ཚུལ (gnas tshul)
  • Tigrinya: ሓበሬታ (ḥabäreta)
  • Turkish: bilgi (tr), malumat (tr)
  • Turkmen: informasiýa, maglumat
  • Udmurt: ивортодэт (ivortodet)
  • Ukrainian: інформа́ція (uk) f (informácija)
  • Urdu: جانکاری‎ f (jānkārī), اطلاعات‎ pl (ittilā’āt), معلومات‎ f pl (ma’lūmāt)
  • Uyghur: ئۇچۇر(uchur), مەلۇمات(melumat), خەۋەر(xewer), ئاخبارات(axbarat)
  • Uzbek: maʻlumot (uz), axborot (uz), informatsiya (uz)
  • Vietnamese: thông tin (vi)
  • Welsh: gwybodaeth (cy) f, hysbysrwydd m
  • West Frisian: ynformaasje
  • Yiddish: אינפֿאָרמאַציע‎ f (informatsye)

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