What does database mean?
A database is an organized collection of data arranged so that it can be readily accessed, managed, and updated, most commonly by computer software designed for that purpose. Databases power much of modern life: they hold bank records, library catalogs, medical files, online inventories, and the indexes behind search engines. The word combines 'data' with 'base,' suggesting a foundation upon which information rests, and entered common use in the 1960s alongside the rise of commercial computing. Today it appears both as a precise technical term — as in relational database or database administrator — and more loosely for any substantial, well-organized body of knowledge. Because databases emphasize structure and retrievability rather than mere storage, the term carries connotations of order, efficiency, and scale, making it one of the defining vocabulary words of the information age.
nounAn organized collection of structured data, typically stored electronically in a computer system and designed so that information can be easily accessed, managed, and updated.
- An organized collection of structured data stored electronically, managed by software that allows efficient storage, retrieval, and updating of information.
- Loosely, any comprehensive body of organized information, whether electronic or not.
"The hospital keeps every patient record in a secure database."
"All customer orders are logged in the company's central database."
"She built a database of historical weather records spanning fifty years."
Standard plural; used freely when referring to multiple separate data collections or systems.
"Researchers combined several public health databases for the study."
The word 'database' didn't exist before the 1960s — yet today it underpins nearly everything you read, buy, and search online.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of database
The word 'database' is a twentieth-century compound of 'data' and 'base,' first appearing in American English in the early 1960s as computers began storing large organized bodies of information. 'Data' derives from Latin 'datum,' meaning 'something given,' while 'base' traces back through Latin 'basis' to Greek 'basis' meaning 'foundation.' The compound thus carries the sense of a foundation of given facts, and it spread rapidly with the growth of the computing industry.
Related word forms
How database is actually used
'Database' is standard in both formal and informal registers and is often used attributively (e.g., database server, database entry). In everyday speech it frequently stands in for any large organized store of information, though technical writers reserve it for structured collections managed by database management systems.
Easily confused with database
A databank is broadly synonymous but usually refers to a large store of information for reference or research, while database more often implies structured data managed by database software.
A dataset is a single collection of data used for analysis or processing, whereas a database is an ongoing, organized system that can contain many datasets or tables.