big data
noun
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
Geoffrey Alphonso, Forbes.com, 7 May 2025
The use of machine learning in security started gaining popularity in the 2010s, thanks to advancements in cloud computing and big data.
—Melkon Hovhannisyan, Forbes.com, 29 Apr. 2025
All while navigating the real life issues associated with the real world impacts of AI, big data, and the accelerating tech revolution.
—Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 9 Apr. 2025
The company, which builds software for big data analytics companies, earlier this month reported revenue of $828 million for the fourth quarter — a 36% jump year over year.
—Josh Fellman, Quartz, 12 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for big data
Cite this Entry
“Big data.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/big%20data. Accessed 20 May. 2025.
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