big data

UK/ˌbɪɡ ˈdeɪtə//ˌbɪɡ ˈdeɪtə/

big data noun: data on a very large scale, such that it can only be gathered or processed with computers, especially with reference to its potential to allow for new breakthroughs or understanding in a particular field of study.

Noun

big data (uncountable)

Data on a very large scale, such that it can only be gathered or processed with computers, especially with reference to its potential to allow for new breakthroughs or understanding in a particular field of study.
- The insights gained from big data can be used to improve products and customer service, but they can also be used in ways that creep out customers and make them feel uncomfortable or watched.2009 February, Roger Magoulas, Ben Lorica, “Big Data: Technologies and Techniques for Large-Scale Data”, in Release 2.0, number 11, O’Reilly Media, Inc., →ISSN, page 5
- As we’ll discuss in more detail, the big data of this revolution is far more powerful than the analytics that were used in the past. We can measure and therefore manage more precisely than ever before. We can make better predictions and smarter decisions.2012 October 1, Andrew McAfee, Erik Brynjolfsson, “Big Data: The Management Revolution”, in Harvard Business Review, →ISSN

Proper noun capitalized: Big Data

Big Data

Alternative letter-case form of big data.

big data meaning in Tamil, Arabic, Malay and Indonesian

big data in Tamil

collection of data sets: பெருந்தரவு peruntaravu

big data in Arabic

collection of data sets: بَيَانَات ضَخْمَة bayānāt ḍaḵma

big data in Malay

collection of data sets: data raya

big data in Indonesian

collection of data sets: data besar, data raya, mahadata

More languagesFewer languages

big data in Vietnamese: dữ liệu lớn

Examples of big data in a sentence

Big data has the potential to revolutionise the global healthcare system, but barriers to its adoption mean progress is slow.2015 October 23, Oliver Balch, “How much medical information would you share in the name of big data?”, in The Guardian, image caption:
James Cheshire and Oliver Uberti’s enchanting and exhilarating annotated atlas of animal movements[…]is a product of ‘big data’ methodology.2016 November, Richard Smyth, “Bird's-Eye Viewing”, in Literary Review:

Origin of big data

In 2000, economist Francis X. Diebold published the first version of a paper titled “Big Data Dynamic Factor Models for Macroeconomic Measurement and Forecasting.” After being interviewed on his use of the term “big data” by NYTimes.com blogger Steve Lohr, Diebold undertook his own investigation, in which he concluded: “The term ‘Big Data,’ which spans computer science and statistics/econometrics, probably originated in the lunch-table conversations at Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) in the mid 1990s, in which John Mashey figured prominently.”

Questions about big data

What does big data mean?: Big data means data on a very large scale, such that it can only be gathered or processed with computers, especially with reference to its potential to allow for new breakthroughs or understanding in a particular field of study.
What is big data in Tamil?: Big data in Tamil is பெருந்தரவு (peruntaravu). See Big data meaning in Tamil.
How do you use big data in a sentence?: Big data has the potential to revolutionise the global healthcare system, but barriers to its adoption mean progress is slow.
What part of speech is big data?: Big data can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce big data?: Big data is pronounced /ˌbɪɡ ˈdeɪtə/ (UK).

Words near big data in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: big data (page history and authors); Big Data (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-big data.wav.

Cite this entry: “big data.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/big_data. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.