big data

noun

: an accumulation of data that is too large and complex for processing by traditional database management tools

Did you know?

Big data is a new addition to our language, but exactly how new is not an easy matter to determine. A 1980 paper by Charles Tilly provides an early documented use of big data, but Tilly wasn't using the word in the exact same way we use it today; rather, he used the phrase "big-data people" to refer to historians engaged in data-rich fields such as cliometrics. Today, big data can refer to large data sets or to systems and solutions developed to manage such large accumulations of data, as well as for the branch of computing devoted to this development. Francis X. Diebold, a University of Pennsylvania economist, who has written a paper exploring the origin of big data as a term, a phenomenon, and a field of study, believes the term "probably originated in lunch-table conversations at Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) in the mid 1990s…."

Examples of big data in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Key courses cover computer systems and architecture, big data analytics and more. — Carole Carlson, Chicago Tribune, 20 June 2026

Changes in the way Nielsen measures ratings (including integrating out of home viewing and big data) that tend to give live sports a bump have helped too. — Rick Porter, HollywoodReporter, 18 June 2026

Top football teams increasingly rely on big data and predictive algorithms to gain an advantage. — Eric Zillmer, The Conversation, 18 June 2026

Human rights advocates, though, say Israel has deployed new weapons and technology during the war in Gaza, including in AI, big data and targeting. — ABC News, 20 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1996, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for big data

• advaita
• peseta
• punctata
• beta
• theta
• zeta
• oligochaeta
• polychaeta
• radiata

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