[syn: information, selective information, entropy]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Information \In`for*ma"tion\, n. [F., fr. L. informatio
representation, conception. See Inform, v. t.]
1. The act of informing, or communicating knowledge or
intelligence.
[1913 Webster]
The active informations of the intellect. --South.
[1913 Webster]
2. 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.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
Larger opportunities of information. --Rogers.
[1913 Webster]
He should get some information in the subject he
intends to handle. --Swift.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Law) 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.
[1913 Webster]
4. (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.
[PJC]
5. (Computers) Useful facts, as contrasted with raw data; as,
among all this data, there must be some interesting
information.
[PJC]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
information
n 1: a message received and understood [syn: information,
info]
2: knowledge acquired through study or experience or instruction
3: formal accusation of a crime
4: a collection of facts from which conclusions may be drawn;
"statistical data" [syn: data, information]
5: (communication theory) a numerical measure of the uncertainty
of an outcome; "the signal contained thousands of bits of
information" [syn: information, selective information,
entropy]
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 January 2023):
information
The result of applying data
processing to data, giving it context and meaning.
Information can then be further processed to yeild
knowledge.
People or computers can find patterns in data to perceive
information, and information can be used to enhance
knowledge. Since knowledge is prerequisite to wisdom, we
always want more data and information. But, as modern
societies verge on information overload, we especially need
better ways to find patterns.
1234567.89 is data.
"Your bank balance has jumped 8087% to $1234567.89" is
information.
"Nobody owes me that much money" is knowledge.
"I'd better talk to the bank before I spend it, because of
what has happened to other people" is wisdom.
(2007-09-10)