Lexic.us

Definition of Datum

1. Noun. An item of factual information derived from measurement or research.

Definition of Datum

1. n. Something given or admitted; a fact or principle granted; that upon which an inference or an argument is based; -- used chiefly in the plural.

Definition of Datum

1. Noun. (''plural:'' '''data''') A measurement of something on a scale understood by both the recorder (a person or device) and the reader (another person or device). The scale is arbitrarily defined, such as from 1 to 10 by ones, 1 to 100 by 0.1, or simply ''true'' or ''false'', ''on'' or ''off'', ''yes'', ''no'', or ''maybe'', etc. ¹

2. Noun. (''plural:'' '''data''') (philosophy) A fact known from direct observation. ¹

3. Noun. (''plural:'' '''data''') (philosophy) A premise from which conclusions are drawn. ¹

4. Noun. (''plural:'' '''datums''') (cartography engineering) A fixed reference point. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Datum

1. something used as a basis for calculating [n -TA or -TUMS]

Medical Definition of Datum

1. A base elevation used as a reference from which to reckon heights and depths. It is called a tidal datum when defined by a certain plane of the tide. (09 Oct 1997)

Datum Pictures

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Lexicographical Neighbors of Datum

Literary usage of Datum

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Report of the Annual Meeting (1887)
"This datum has not a precise scientific meaning, but, at ports where there ... At some of the Indian ports this datum has been found by taking the mean of ..."

2. Scientific Papers by George Howard Darwin, Francis Darwin, Ernest William Brown (1907)
"datum LEVELS. IN the course of the Indian tidal operations a discussion has arisen as to the determination of a datum level for tide-tables. ..."

3. The Principles and Practice of Surveying by Charles Blaney Breed, George Leonard Hosmer (1908)
"THE datum PLANE. — One of the first tasks of the surveyor in laying out a town site is to establish a datum plane to which all elevations may be referred. ..."

4. On Intelligence by Hippolyte Adolphe Taine, T. D. Haye (1889)
"The first may be thus expressed: if, in an object, there be a certain datum present, that datum is present.—The second may be formulated thus: if, ..."

5. Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology: Including Many of the Principal by James Mark Baldwin (1901)
"But can we not push our analysis further so as to extract from the total experience the immediate element, the pure datum, and exhibit it in isolation 1 The ..."

6. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage by Inc. Merriam-Webster (1994)
"“datum” appears to be almost exclusively used for a primary level in ... Hence “data” as the plural of “datum” is a syntactical plural while “data” in the ..."

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