information
/ˌɪn.fəˈmeɪ.ʃn̩/
information means something that provides a definitive characterization or description of the nature and attributes of a specified entity.
information is pronounced /ˌɪn.fəˈmeɪ.ʃn̩/.
Why “information” is a great word
Knowledge or facts communicated or received concerning a particular matter or event. From Middle English informacioun, from Anglo-Norman informacioun, from Old French information, from Latin īnfōrmātiō ("formation, conception; education"), from īnformāre ("to shape, train, instruct"), from in- ("into") + fōrmāre ("to form"). Unlike data—the raw, unorganized ore awaiting refinement—or knowledge—the deep, internalized comprehension gained from experience, information is the processed and structured message, the shaped clay. It is the weather report deciphered from satellite numbers, the headline distilled from a chaotic event, the diagnosis parsed from a list of symptoms—the provisional shape we give to the world before it hardens into understanding or dissolves back into noise.
Etymology
From Middle English enformacioun, informacioun, borrowed from Anglo-Norman informacioun, enformation, Old French information, from Latin īnfōrmātiō (“formation, conception; education”), from the participle stem of īnformāre (“to inform”). Equivalent to inform + -ation.
noun
- Something that provides a definitive characterization or description of the nature and attributes of a specified entity.
- Things that are or can be known about a given topic; communicable knowledge of something.e.g.“I need some more information about this issue.”
- The act of informing or imparting knowledge; notification.e.g.“For your information, I did this because I wanted to.”
- 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.e.g.“But there was no information, and so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon” — 1927 August, T[homas] S[tearns] Eliot, “[Ariel Poems.] Journey of the Magi.”, in Collected Poems 1909–1935, London: Faber & Faber […], published September 1954, →OCLC, page 108:
- A service provided by telephone which provides listed telephone numbers of a subscriber.
- Any unambiguous abstract data, the smallest possible unit being the bit.
- The output resulting from the systematic collection, manipulation and organization of raw data into a structured, interpretable format.
- Any ordered sequence of symbols (or signals) (that could contain a message).
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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