Meaning & use
metadata
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Meanings
noununcountablecomputing
Information that describes other data, such as who made a file, when it was made and what it contains.
Grammar: Usually singular: the metadata shows the author; not many metadatas.
Patterns
- metadata about something
- metadata for something
The metadata in the photo shows the date, time and camera model.
Libraries add metadata to each book record so readers can search for it.
You can remove the metadata before sharing the document.
noununcountable
Records of details about communications or activity, such as who contacted whom and when, as distinct from the content itself.
Grammar: Used in news about surveillance and privacy: phone metadata.
Patterns
- collect metadata
- metadata about calls
Investigators examined the phone metadata rather than the messages themselves.
Even without reading emails, metadata can reveal a person's habits.
Common combinations
- file metadata
- File metadata includes the size and creation date.
- photo metadata
- Photo metadata can reveal where a picture was taken.
- add metadata
- Editors add metadata to help people find articles.
- strip metadata
- You should strip metadata from images before posting them.
- embedded metadata
- Embedded metadata travels with the file wherever it goes.
Synonyms and how they differ
- file properties
- File properties is the user-friendly name for the details displayed on a computer, a narrower idea than metadata.
- tags
- Tags are labels added to items for searching, and they are only one kind of metadata.
- catalog information
- Catalog information is the library term for descriptive records about items, a specific use of metadata.
Word family
Commonly confused: metadata or data?
metadata vs data
Data is the information itself, such as the text of an email, while metadata describes it, such as the sender and time sent.
Practice
Which item is an example of metadata for a digital photo?
Choose one answer.
Metadata describes the file, such as the date and camera. The faces and colors are the content of the picture itself.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “metadata”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.