A single piece of information or fact; the singular form of 'data,' though 'data' is now often used as both singular and plural in modern English.
From Latin 'datum' meaning 'something given,' the past participle of 'dare' (to give). The word entered English in the 17th century and originally referred to a basic fact accepted without proof.
Technically, 'data' should be plural (like 'criteria'), but modern speakers treat it as singular so often that language experts have mostly given up fighting it—language changes when millions of people change it!
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