information English · revision 2329

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1387|origins=la informāre}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˌɪn.fəˈmeɪ.ʃᵊn/, US /ˌɪn.fɚˈmeɪ.ʃᵊn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|informacion]], [[bor|fro|informacion]] (also [[m|fro|enformacion]]),^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) from [[la|informātiō|t=outline, concept, idea]] (accusative [[m|la|informātiōnem]]),^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(SOED 2002) a noun of action from [[m|la|informāre|t=to shape; to train, instruct]].^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) It is the noun of [[inform]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) The spelling was brought back into line with Latin in the 16th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The shaping of the mind or character; training, teaching: 1387.^(OED 1989)^(NODE 1998)^(RHWU) In the same year it also meant the laying of an accusation against someone, a sense that lasted until 1660.^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From 1390 ''information'' meant the act of telling someone something,^(OED 1989)^(HTOED) and in the mid-15th century it came to mean the knowledge passed on about a particular matter.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) In law, from 1467, it is a formal complaint or charge.^(HTOED) Its technical uses are modern: a mathematically defined quantity from 1925,^(OED 1989) television signals from 1937, punch-card systems from 1944 and DNA from 1953.^(Etymonline) ''Information theory'' dates from 1950, ''information technology'' from 1958, when it was coined in the ''Harvard Business Review'', and ''information overload'' from 1967.^(Etymonline) The early sense “instruction” is now rare or obsolete.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1387 – training, instruction; an accusation.^(OED 1989)^(HTOED)

+ * 1390 – communication of news.^(OED 1989)

+ * mid-15th century – knowledge communicated.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1467 – a legal charge.^(HTOED)

+ * 1925 – a measurable quantity.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1950 – ''information theory''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1958 – ''information technology''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1967 – ''information overload''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Knowledge gained through study, experience or instruction.^(AHD)

+ # Facts about a particular event or situation; [[intelligence]], news.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A collection of facts or [[data]].^(AHD)

+ # The act of informing, or the state of being informed.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(computing)'' A meaningful signal or character used as input to a computer or communication system.^(AHD)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' A numerical measure of the [[uncertainty]] of an outcome.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(law)'' A formal [[accusation]] of a crime made by a public officer.^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[informational]]

+ * [[informationally]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[inform]]

+ * [[informant]]

+ * [[informatics]]

+ * [[information overload]]

+ * [[information retrieval]]

+ * [[information science]]

+ * [[information superhighway]]

+ * [[information technology]]

+ * [[information theory]]

+ * [[form]]

+ * [[formation]]

+ * [[informer]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ RHWU distinguishes ''information'', facts that are told or read and may be disconnected, from ''knowledge'', an organized body of such facts and the understanding that comes from it, and ''wisdom'', a knowledge of people and life so well absorbed that it yields judgment and insight.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}