The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Datum \Da"tum\, n.; pl. Data. [L. See 2d Date.]
1. Something given or admitted; a fact or principle granted;
that upon which an inference or an argument is based; --
used chiefly in the plural.
[1913 Webster]
Any writer, therefore, who . . . furnishes us with
data sufficient to determine the time in which he
wrote. --Priestley.
[1913 Webster]
2. a single piece of information; a fact; especially a piece
of information obtained by observation or experiment; --
used mostly in the plural.
[PJC]
3. pl. (Math.) The quantities or relations which are assumed
to be given in any problem.
[1913 Webster]
4. (Surveying) a point, line, or level surface used as a
reference in measuring elevations. --RHUD
[PJC]
Datum line (Surv.), the horizontal or base line, from which
the heights of points are reckoned or measured, as in the
plan of a railway, etc.
[1913 Webster]