[1] : WordNet (r) 2.0

metadata
     n : data about data; "a library catalog is metadata because it
         describes publications"

[2] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

metadata
     
         note: one unhyphenated word with initial capital;
        contrast meta data a word coined by jack e. myers to
        represent current and future lines of products implementing
        the concepts of his metamodel, and also to designate his
        company the metadata company that would develop and market
        those products.
     
        a data and publication search performed when myers coined the
        term, early in the summer of 1969, did not discover any use
        either of the word "metadata" or "meta data".  myers used the
        term in a 1973 product brochure and it is an incontestable
        registered u.s. trademark.
     
        1997-04-06
     
     
see also:
meta data metamodel the metadata company 

[3] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

meta-data
     
         /me't-day`t/, or combinations of /may'-/ or
        commonwealth /mee'-/; /-dah`t/ or "meta data" data about
        data.  in data processing, meta-data is definitional data
        that provides information about or documentation of other data
        managed within an application or environment.
     
        for example, meta-data would document data about data
        elements or attributes, name, size, data type, etc and
        data about records or data structures length, fields,
        columns, etc and data about data where it is located, how it
        is associated, ownership, etc..  meta-data may include
        descriptive information about the context, quality and
        condition, or characteristics of the data.
     
        not to be confused with metadata.
     
        1997-04-06
     
     
see also:
data data processing data elements attributes records data structures 
metadata 

Meta-Data >> M Words
Meta-Data, definition of term: Meta-Data
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