English Reference

Word

big data

Definition

n. the business or technology field that works with these huge amounts of information.

n. the technological and commercial sector focused on the development and application of tools for large-scale data analysis.

Examples

“Companies use big data to predict what customers will buy.”

“Retailers analyze big data from millions of transactions to determine which products should be stocked in specific regions.”

“The integration of big data into urban planning allows for real-time traffic management and more efficient allocation of public resources based on historical movement patterns.”

Examples

simple

“Companies use big data to predict what customers will buy.”

contextual

“Retailers analyze big data from millions of transactions to determine which products should be stocked in specific regions.”

complex

“The integration of big data into urban planning allows for real-time traffic management and more efficient allocation of public resources based on historical movement patterns.”

Usage

Often functions as a compound noun or an attributive noun modifying another word, like 'big data analytics'.

Etymology

A compound formed from the English adjectives big and data. While the individual components are ancient, the pairing emerged in the mid-1990s and is frequently attributed to the computer scientists John Mashey or Roger Magoulas.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Synonyms

data scienceanalytics industry

Domain

Databases

This entry

Level
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Updated
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Academic, Technical

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English Reference