metadata

American

[met-uh-dey-tuh, ‐-dat-uh, ‐-dah-tuh] / ˈmɛt əˌdeɪ tə, ‐ˌdæt ə, ‐ˌdɑ tə /

noun

(usually used with a singular verb)

data that describes, annotates, or gives information about other data, including but not limited to tags in a programming code, information about a digital file's characteristics, or a library catalog showing the location and call number of books: In their surveillance operations, intelligence agencies were able to access such metadata as the phone numbers involved and duration of phone calls.

Search engine spiders use content and HTML metadata to index websites.
In their surveillance operations, intelligence agencies were able to access such metadata as the phone numbers involved and duration of phone calls.

metadata British

plural noun

computing information that is held as a description of stored data

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of metadata

First recorded in 1965–70; meta- (in the sense “analyzing material at a higher level”) + data ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“It remains very difficult to replicate or displace much of the knowledge, metadata and workflows incumbent systems have amassed,” analysts at Deutsche Bank wrote this week.

From The Wall Street Journal

A four-year-old photograph, stripped of metadata which could indicate when it was taken, was uploaded to support the submission.

From BBC

And if all of this metadata wasn’t spooky enough, here’s a quick reminder as to who contested the Super Bowl in 2015: The New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks.

From Barron's

For creative content made using AI, like games or animations, the label can be placed in less intrusive ways, such as in the metadata.

From The Wall Street Journal

AI can also assess metadata to detect potential fraud, including IP addresses, an applicant’s proximity to the college based on the IP, and if multiple applications are coming from the same computer.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023