What does the word information means

noun. knowledge communicated or received concerning a particular fact or circumstance; news: information concerning a crime. knowledge gained through study, communication, research, instruction, etc.; factual data: His wealth of general information is amazing. the act or fact of informing.

What is the full definition of information?

The definition of information is news or knowledge received or given. An example of information is what’s given to someone who asks for background about something. noun.

What type of word is information?

Information is an uncountable noun meaning ‘facts about someone or something’.We do not use information in the plural form and we do not use it with a/an.

What are the different forms of information?

Types of information.

• Conceptual information.
• Empirical information.
• Procedural information.
• Stimulatory information.
• Stimulatory information.
• Policy information.
• Directive information.

What is the purpose of the information?

The purpose of “information” in general is to de-contextualize and abstract knowledge in order to make it more easily representable, communicable, re-usable, and storable.

Why is information important?

Information helps in avoiding the duplication of research. Information stimulates the thought process of the users, particularly the scholars. Information helps the scientists, engineers, scholars, etc. to get well informed with the current advancements in their subjects, and to keep them up-to-date.

How do you describe information?

91 Words To Describe Information

Account	Advice
Hearsay	Hypothesis
Idea	Ideology
Impression	Input
Intelligence	Judgement

Can we say the information?

Information is an uncountable noun, so we don’t say “an information”, “one information”, “two informations”, etc. We say “some information” or “a piece of information”, “two pieces of information”, etc. There is no plural form for information. It’s always singular.

How do you use the word information?

Examples of information in a Sentence
He gave the police false information about his background. The conference will give us an opportunity to exchange information with other researchers. We can’t make a decision until we have more information. The tests have not yet uncovered any new information.

What are the 4 types of information?

There are four types of information:

• Factual. Factual information is information that solely deals with facts.
• Analytical. Analytical information is the interpretation of factual information.
• Subjective. Subjective information is information from only one point of view.
• Objective.

Is information a thing?

Varieties of “information-as-thing” include data, text, documents, objects, and events. On this view “information” includes but extends beyond communication. Whatever information storage and retrieval systems store and retrieve is necessarily “information-as-thing.”

What are the 6 types of information?

6 Types of Information Systems

• Transaction Processing Systems.
• Office Automation Systems.
• Knowledge Management Systems.
• Management Information Systems.
• Decision Support Systems.
• Executive Support System.

What are the five sources of information?

In this section you will learn about the following types of information sources:

• Books.
• Encyclopedias.
• Magazines.
• Databases.
• Newspapers.
• Library Catalog.
• Internet.

What are the two purpose of information?

Common intended purposes for information sources are: To inform and/or educate. To entertain, inspire or stir up emotion.

How do you use information in your everyday life?

People use information to seek meaning in a variety of situations. Sometimes they use information instrumentally, to do something tangible (e.g., to acquire a skill or reach a goal). Other times, information is used cognitively (e.g., to generate ideas).

What is the role of information in human life?

information becomes one of the basic values of modern society. Knowledge and information become the main factor of the economic well-being of society, and, consequently, a factor of stability and sustainable development of society.

Why is information vital?

Information plays a vital role in just about everything we do in modern society.Decisions are impossible without information and users are constantly seeking more and better information to support decision making. It also can reduce the sense of doubt and a sense of uncertainty about the information.

What is a word for a lot of information?

They include copious, abundant, lavish, rich, extensive, ample, overflowing, bountiful and profuse. The text, article or blog post is said to be informative. +1… Informative is a succinct way of saying that the writing contains useful or quality information.

Is data another word for information?

Data is a plural of datum, which is originally a Latin noun meaning “something given.” Today, data is used in English both as a plural noun meaning “facts or pieces of information” (These data are described more fully elsewhere) and as a singular mass noun meaning “information” (Not much data is available on flood

What do you call a person that never gives up?

Tenacious, persevering, persistent, pertinacious, determined, dogged, single-minded, strong-willed, tireless, indefatigable, resolute, patient, purposeful, diligent, assiduous, sedulous, unflagging, staunch, steadfast, stubborn, untiring, unwavering, unswerving, unshakeable, unyielding, uncompromising, insistent,

What is the difference between information and information?

On the other hand, information is data put into context.
Difference Between Data and Information.

Data	Information
Data is an individual unit that contains raw materials which do not carry any specific meaning.	Information is a group of data that collectively carries a logical meaning.
Data doesn’t depend on information.	Information depends on data.

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

• 

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

• 

  Information embedded in an abstract mathematical object with symmetry breaking nucleus

• 

  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]

References[edit]

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]

• 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

What do we mean by information?

Knowledge or facts learned, especially about a certain subject or event. synonym: knowledge. noun

The act of informing or the condition of being informed; communication of knowledge. noun

Processed, stored, or transmitted data. noun

A numerical measure of the uncertainty of an experimental outcome. noun

A formal accusation of a crime made by a public officer rather than by grand jury indictment in instances in which the offense, if a federal crime, is not a felony or in which the offense, if a state crime, is allowed prosecution in that manner rather than by indictment. noun

Communication of form or element; infusion, as of an animating or actuating principle. noun

Knowledge communicated or received; particular intelligence or report; news; notice: as, to get information of a shipwreck. noun

Knowledge inculcated or derived; known facts or principles, however communicated or acquired, as from reading, instruction, or observation: as, a man of various information; the information gathered from extended travel. noun

In law: noun

An official criminal charge presented, usually by the prosecuting officers of the state, without the interposition of a grand jury. Wharton. noun

A criminal charge made under oath, before a justice of the peace, of an offense punishable summarily. noun

A complaint, in a qui tam action in a court of common-law jurisdiction, to recover a penalty prescribed by statute or ordinance. noun

In English law, a complaint in the name of the crown, in a civil action, to obtain satisfaction of some obligation to, or for some injury to the property or property rights of, the crown. noun

In Scots law, a written argument in court. noun

In metaphysics, the imparting of form to matter. noun

The act of informing, or communicating knowledge or intelligence. noun

Any fact or set of facts, knowledge, news, or advice, whether communicated by others or obtained by personal study and investigation; any datum that reduces uncertainty about the state of any part of the world; intelligence; knowledge derived from reading, observation, or instruction. noun

A proceeding in the nature of a prosecution for some offense against the government, instituted and prosecuted, really or nominally, by some authorized public officer on behalf of the government. It differs from an indictment in criminal cases chiefly in not being based on the finding of a grand jury. See Indictment. noun

A measure of the number of possible choices of messages contained in a symbol, signal, transmitted message, or other information-bearing object; it is usually quantified as the negative logarithm of the number of allowed symbols that could be contained in the message; for logarithms to the base 2, the measure corresponds to the unit of information, the hartley, which is log210, or 3.323 bits; called also information content. The smallest unit of information that can be contained or transmitted is the bit, corresponding to a yes-or-no decision. noun

Useful facts, as contrasted with raw data. noun

That which resolves uncertainty; anything that answers the question of «what a given entity is».

Things that are or can be known about a given topic; communicable knowledge of something.

The act of informing or imparting knowledge; notification.

A statement of criminal activity brought before a judge or magistrate; in the UK, used to inform a magistrate of an offence and request a warrant; in the US, an accusation brought before a judge without a grand jury indictment.

The act of informing against someone, passing on incriminating knowledge; accusation.

The systematic imparting of knowledge; education, training.

The creation of form; the imparting of a given quality or characteristic; forming, animation.

[…] the meaning that a human assigns to data by means of the known conventions used in its representation.

Divine inspiration.

A service provided by telephone which provides listed telephone numbers of a subscriber.

Any unambiguous abstract data, the smallest possible unit being the bit.

As contrasted with data, information is processed to extract relevant data.

(information technology) Any ordered sequence of symbols (or signals) (that could contain a message).

A new term thats spreading across the US like wildfire.
Information means marijuana, and to be informed means to be high. Urban Dictionary

Something that an average American needs more of. Urban Dictionary

To dispense information, as coined by Harvard Professor Shoshana Zuboff. Urban Dictionary

A person whom the government pay to snitch on people. Sometimes they work as double agents informing drug houses of a comming raid. Urban Dictionary

An undercover agent. Usually in alliance with the cops. Informs about illegal activities. Urban Dictionary

To inform or give information to a person or group. Urban Dictionary

Information is data that is available to humans though the normal means of perception like sight, hearing, touch and maybe others. Urban Dictionary

A more proper way to say ‘slang’. Urban Dictionary

Information is facts that give people knowledge. Urban Dictionary

A great fucking song Urban Dictionary

Princeton’s WordNetRate this definition:3.8 / 10 votes

1. information, infonoun

   a message received and understood

2. informationnoun

   knowledge acquired through study or experience or instruction

3. informationnoun

   formal accusation of a crime

4. data, informationnoun

   a collection of facts from which conclusions may be drawn

   «statistical data»

5. information, selective information, entropynoun

   (communication theory) a numerical measure of the uncertainty of an outcome

   «the signal contained thousands of bits of information»

GCIDERate this definition:4.7 / 9 votes

1. Informationnoun

   (Information Theory) A measure of the number of possible choices of messages contained in a symbol, signal, transmitted message, or other information-bearing object; it is usually quantified as the negative logarithm of the number of allowed symbols that could be contained in the message; for logarithms to the base 2, the measure corresponds to the unit of information, the hartley, which is log210, or 3.323 bits; called also information content. The smallest unit of information that can be contained or transmitted is the bit, corresponding to a yes-or-no decision.

2. Informationnoun

   (Computers) Useful facts, as contrasted with raw data; as, among all this data, there must be some interesting information.

3. Informationnoun

   Any fact or set of facts, knowledge, news, or advice, whether communicated by others or obtained by personal study and investigation; any datum that reduces uncertainty about the state of any part of the world; intelligence; knowledge derived from reading, observation, or instruction.

WiktionaryRate this definition:3.9 / 11 votes

1. informationnoun

   Things that are or can be known about a given topic; communicable knowledge of something.

   I need some more information about this issue.

2. informationnoun

   The act of informing or imparting knowledge; notification.

   For your information, I did this because I wanted to.

3. informationnoun

   A statement of criminal activity brought before a judge or magistrate; in the UK, used to inform a magistrate of an offence and request a warrant; in the US, an accusation brought before a judge without a grand jury indictment.

4. informationnoun

   The act of informing against someone, passing on incriminating knowledge; accusation.

5. informationnoun

   The systematic imparting of knowledge; education, training.

6. informationnoun

   The creation of form; the imparting of a given quality or characteristic; forming, animation.

7. informationnoun

   Divine inspiration.

8. informationnoun

   Any unambiguous abstract data, the smallest possible unit being the bit.

9. informationnoun

   A service provided by telephone which provides listed telephone numbers of a subscriber.

10. informationnoun

    As contrasted with data, knowledge which is gathered as a result of processing data.

    And as you can see in this slide, we then take the raw data and convert it into information.

11. Etymology: From informacioun, enformation et al., informacion, enformacion et al. (French: information), and their source, informatio, from the participle stem of informare.

Samuel Johnson’s DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Informationnoun

   Etymology: informatio, Lat. from inform.

   1. Intelligence given; instruction.

   But reason with the fellow,
   Lest you should chance to whip your information,
   And beat the messenger who bids beware
   Of what is to be dreaded.
   William Shakespeare, Coriolanus.

   The active informations of the intellect filling the passive reception of the will, like form closing with matter, grew actuate into a third and distinct perfection of practice.
   South.

   They gave those complex ideas names, that the things they were continually to give and receive information about, might be the easier and quicker understood.
   John Locke.

   He should regard the propriety of his words, and get some information in the subject he intends to handle.
   Jonathan Swift.

   These men have had longer opportunities of information, and are equally concerned with ourselves.
   John Rogers.

   2. Charge or accusation exhibited.3. The act of informing or actuating.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Information

   Information can be thought of as the resolution of uncertainty; it is that which answers the question of «what an entity is» and thus defines both its essence and nature of its characteristics. The concept of information has different meanings in different contexts. Thus the concept becomes related to notions of constraint, communication, control, data, form, education, knowledge, meaning, understanding, mental stimuli, pattern, perception, representation, and entropy.
   Information is associated with data, as data represents values attributed to parameters, and information is data in context and with meaning attached. Information also relates to knowledge, as knowledge signifies understanding of an abstract or concrete concept.In terms of communication, 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, 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 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. 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.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:3.7 / 3 votes

1. Informationverb

   the act of informing, or communicating knowledge or intelligence

2. Informationverb

   news, advice, or knowledge, communicated by others or obtained by personal study and investigation; intelligence; knowledge derived from reading, observation, or instruction

3. Informationverb

   a proceeding in the nature of a prosecution for some offens against the government, instituted and prosecuted, really or nominally, by some authorized public officer on behalt of the government. It differs from an indictment in criminal cases chiefly in not being based on the finding of a grand juri. See Indictment

4. Etymology: [F., fr. L. informatio representation, conception. See Inform, v. t.]

FreebaseRate this definition:3.4 / 8 votes

1. Information

   Information, in its general sense, is «Knowledge communicated or received concerning a particular fact or circumstance». Information cannot be predicted and 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 is more information is required to resolve uncertainty of that event. The amount of information is measured in bits.
   Example: information in one «fair» coin flip: log2 = 1 bit, and in two fair coin flips is log2 = 2 bits.
   Information, in its most restricted technical sense, is a sequence of symbols that can be interpreted as a message. Information can be recorded as signs, or transmitted as signals. Information is any kind of event that affects the state of a dynamic system. Conceptually, information is the message being conveyed. The meaning of this concept varies in different contexts. Moreover, the concept of information is closely related to notions of constraint, communication, control, data, form, instruction, knowledge, meaning, understanding, mental stimuli, pattern, perception, representation, and entropy.

Dictionary of Military and Associated TermsRate this definition:2.0 / 2 votes

1. information

   1. Facts, data, or instructions in any medium or form. 2. The meaning that a human assigns to data by means of the known conventions used in their representation.

Dictionary of Nautical TermsRate this definition:4.0 / 1 vote

1. information

   In admiralty courts, implies a clause introduced into a
   citation, intimating that in the event of a party cited not appearing,
   the court will proceed in his absence.

Editors ContributionRate this definition:3.0 / 1 vote

1. information

   Communication or knowledge.

   The new information is easy to understand and contributes to the efficient achievement of the sustainable development goals.

   Submitted by MaryC on March 5, 2020  

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:3.0 / 3 votes

1. information

   The information symbol — In this Symbols.com article you will learn about the meaning of the information symbol and its characteristic.

Matched Categories

1. • Accusation
   • Cognition
   • Communication Theory
   • Information Measure

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word ‘information’ in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #211

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word ‘information’ in Written Corpus Frequency: #449

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word ‘information’ in Nouns Frequency: #46

How to pronounce information?

How to say information in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of information in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of information in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of information in a Sentence

1. Jackson Lee:

   I’m very grateful to the leadership of the Department of Defense who answered my call immediately and provided important and valuable information, i’m grateful to say thank you to my government.

2. Kristin Beneski:

   This problem, the lack of information, is of the defendant’s own making, the facts are shifting under our feet on a daily basis. … There’s been little clarity by the Postal Service itself.

3. Wanda Cinema:

   The company is actively coordinating and preparing a reply and will provide supplementary information to perfect the proposal.

4. Siemens CFO Ralf Thomas:

   Much of this information was not relevant to a wide audience for evaluating the company.

5. Chase Gallagher:

   Following your inquiry and subsequent information received by staff, an investigation occurred to gather all the facts and full understanding of the events that took place, that investigation found in fact there was a deliberate decision by one of the employees involved in the session to remove an individual from the event. The information provided by that employee led to the response that was relayed to you, which we know now was not accurate.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

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Translations for information

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

• informasie, inligtingAfrikaans
• معلومات, معلومةArabic
• məlumat, informasiyaAzerbaijani
• інфарма́цыяBelarusian
• информа́цияBulgarian
• তথ্যBengali
• ditour, keloùBreton
• informacióCatalan, Valencian
• infotmasionChamorro
• informaceCzech
• gwybodaethWelsh
• informationer, informationDanish
• Auskunft, Information, InformationenGerman
• πληροφορία, πληροφορίεςGreek
• informoEsperanto
• informaciónSpanish
• teave, informatsioonEstonian
• informazioBasque
• اخبار, آگاهی, استحضار, اطلاعاتPersian
• informaatioFinnish
• information, informations, renseignementFrench
• eolasIrish
• informaciónGalician
• מֵידָעHebrew
• जानकारीHindi
• enfòmasyonHaitian Creole
• tájékoztatás, információ, felvilágosításHungarian
• տեղեկատվություն, տեղեկությունArmenian
• informasiIndonesian
• informoIdo
• upplýsingarIcelandic
• informazioneItalian
• מידעHebrew
• 情報Japanese
• ინფორმაცია, შეტყობინება, ცნობებაGeorgian
• мағлұмат, ақпаратKazakh
• ព័ត៌មាន, ដំណឹងKhmer
• ಮಾಹಿತಿKannada
• 안내, 정보, 情報Korean
• agahîKurdish
• информация, маалыматKyrgyz
• scientia, nūntius, doctrina, indicium, Lorem ipsumLatin
• ຂ່າວLao
• informacijaLithuanian
• informācijaLatvian
• информа́цијаMacedonian
• വിവരം, അറിവ്Malayalam
• өгөгдөлMongolian
• माहितीMarathi
• informasi, maklumatMalay
• informazzjoniMaltese
• ပြန်ကြားရေးBurmese
• informatieDutch
• informasjonNorwegian
• informacjaPolish
• informaçãoPortuguese
• infurmaziunRomansh
• informațieRomanian
• и́нфа, информа́цияRussian
• informacija, информацијаSerbo-Croatian
• informáciaSlovak
• informacije, informacijaSlovene
• informatë, informacionAlbanian
• informationSwedish
• habariSwahili
• தகவல்Tamil
• సమాచారంTelugu
• ахборот, маълумотTajik
• ข้อมูล, ข่าวThai
• informasiýaTurkmen
• impormasyonTagalog
• bilgi, malumatTurkish
• інформа́ціяUkrainian
• اطلاعات, جانکاریUrdu
• maʻlumot, axborotUzbek
• thông tin, tin báoVietnamese
• אינפֿאָרמאַציעYiddish
• 信息Chinese

Get even more translations for information »

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What is information?

Information is stimuli that has meaning in some context for its receiver. When information is entered into and stored in a computer, it is generally referred to as data. After processing — such as formatting and printing — output data can again be perceived as information. When information is compiled or used to better understand something or to do something, it becomes knowledge.

The data-information-knowledge-wisdom model illustrates this hierarchy. Structured as a pyramid, the model was created to show that data can be captured in different formats, analyzed and converted into different forms. Each level of the pyramid represents a different perspective or level of abstraction as follows:

• The discrete, raw facts about a given situation with no analysis or interpretation applied.
• Applying description and meaning to data to make it useful.
• Information that has insight, context and a frame of reference applied so it can be interpreted.
• Knowledge is converted into wisdom by applying judgment and action to the information.

What is data?

Data refers to the raw information. In the context of information technology (IT) and computing, it is information that a software application collects and records. Data is typically stored in a database and includes the fields, records and other information that make up the database. It can be accessed and manipulated digitally, and it is quick and easy to transfer among computers.

Data is collected from a variety of sources, such as computers, sensors and devices. It is typically used in business, science and engineering. Data is often presented in the form of numbers, but it can also come as text, visuals, graphics and sounds. Data can also be analyzed and used to create information that could not be obtained by just looking at the original data.

The most common types of data in data science are the following:

• Quantitative data is numerical data, or data that can be expressed mathematically. Discreet and continuous data are types of quantitative data.
• Qualitative data is data that cannot be measured, counted or easily expressed with numbers. It is data that comes from text, audio or images. It can be shared using data visualization tools, such as timelines, infographics and word clouds.
• Nominal data is the simplest form of data in statistics. It is data that is used to name or label a variable; it isn’t used to measure things or put them in any order. Examples of nominal data include ethnicity, gender, eye color.
• Ordinal data is data that takes on values within a known range and follows a natural order. A common example of ordinal data is income levels where incomes are ranked in specific ranges, such as $0-$50K, $50K-$75K, $75K-$100K, etc. The purpose of ordinal data is to rank items in order of priority or value. The numbers are not used for calculations.
• Discrete data, also called categorical data, is data that is divided into discrete categories, or groups, that are distinctly different from each other. With discrete data, only a specific number of values are possible, and those values cannot be subdivided. For example, the number of people a company employs is a discrete data point.
• Continuous data is a term used to describe data that is measurable and observable in real time. It can be measured on a scale or a continuum and subdivided into finer values. Continuous data is often recorded at set intervals and then analyzed using statistical software. The amount of time it takes to complete a task is an example of continuous data.

What is the data processing cycle?

The data processing cycle is the framework that data center managers use to make data accessible and useful to users. It is a portion of the data lifecycle. Data enters the data center where it is processed, and then it is sent to the user who makes use of it in a business application.

The part of the data lifecycle referred to as the data processing cycle is divided into the following three stages:

1. This is the stage where data is collected from multiple sources — point-of-sale locations, call centers and sensors, for example.
2. The data is sorted, organized, cleansed and entered into a database or system. It is then transformed into a format that users can understand and make use of.
3. The newly processed and transformed data is sent to users or stored in a way that they will have access to it when needed.

Converting data to information

Data and information are not the same. Data refers to numerical and qualitative observations. Information is created when data is presented in a way that has meaning to the recipient. To turn data into information, it must be processed and organized. Presenting data in a way that has meaning and value is called information design, and it is an important field in both Information architecture and human-computer interaction.

Five characteristics of data quality and high-quality information in a database include the following:

• Information must come from a reliable source of information.
• Information cannot be partial or have details missing.
• Mechanisms must be in place to ensure that new data doesn’t contradict existing data.
• Information must be distinctive and add value to a database.
• Information in a database must be timely and up to date.

Converting information to knowledge and wisdom

Knowledge is information that has been processed, analyzed and interpreted, and can be used to make decisions. The concept of knowledge involves not just the information, but the ability to access it, as well. For example, most applications, including models and simulations, include a form of stored knowledge.

Wisdom is the synthesis of information, knowledge and experience in a way that applies knowledge to real-life situations. The concept of wisdom enables the understanding of patterns and their driving factors. It ultimately enables the prediction of future events.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has enabled computers to learn, problem-solve and perform tasks that usually require human intelligence. These technologies enable computers to take actions based on what the data provided indicates is the best course of action. AI is used in expert systems to diagnose disease, buy and sell stock and play chess better than a human. However, IT has not yet attained a level of human wisdom.

Learn how AI technology is evolving to combine symbolic reasoning and deep learning to capitalize on the power of  neural networks.

This was last updated in May 2021

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