information

plural informations

1. uncountableusuallySomething that provides a definitive characterization or description of the nature and attributes of a specified entity.

   1 more example

   And now we come to the third keystone, information.⁸ Information may be thought of as a reduction in entropy—as the ingredient that distinguishes an orderly, structured system from the vast set of random, useless ones.⁹ Imagine pages of random characters tapped out by a monkey at a typewriter, or a stretch of white noise from a radio tuned between channels, or a screenful of confetti from a corrupted computer file. Each of these objects can take trillions of different forms, each as boring as the next. But now suppose that the devices are controlled by a signal that arranges the characters or sound waves or pixels into a pattern that correlates with something in the world: the Declaration of Independence, the opening bars of “Hey Jude,” a cat wearing sunglasses. We say that the signal transmits information about the Declaration or the song or the cat.¹⁰

   2018, Steven Pinker, “Chapter 2: Entro, Evo, Info”, in Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, Penguin, →ISBN

2. uncountableusuallyThings that are or can be known about a given topic; communicable knowledge of something.First known use 14th c.

   I need some more information about this issue.

   3 more examples

   And ſo much yet did this contagion breake foorth to the harme of manie Inhabitants of his Towne, who affected the Vicont, that they which were encountred by the kinges troupes, (information being geuen of their demeanor) they were iudged to be of good prize, and voluntarely paid ranſom.

   1592, Henry IV of France, A Discourse of the Great Overthrow, page 2

   It is usual to obtain by means of a census a good deal of information beyond the bare fact of the number of persons whose existence is, for the purposes of the census, taken cognizance of. Part of this information is obtained for purposes connected with the administration of the state, such as that contained in replies to questions as to the religion, profession, &c., of the individuals numbered.

   1885, W[ynnard] Ho[oper], “Population”, in The Encyclopædia Britannica […] , Ninth edition, Volume XIX, Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, page 513, column 2

   By accessing personal electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers, Chinese connected software applications can access and capture vast swaths of information from users, including sensitive personally identifiable information and private information. This data collection threatens to provide the Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information—which would permit China to track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, and build dossiers of personal information.

   2021, Donald J. Trump, Executive Order 13971 (Addressing the Threat Posed by Applications and Other Software Developed or Controlled by Chinese Companies)

3. uncountableusuallyThe act of informing or imparting knowledge; notification.First known use 14th c.

   For your information, I did this because I wanted to.

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   At this time a great uneasiness became manifest among the Castilians, and it was rumored that Magallanes was going to deliver them over to the Portuguese; and they resolved to mutiny and seize the ships. Magallanes upon obtaining information of this was sorely grieved. He summoned the guilty ones before him one by one, but they flatly refused to come.

   1903–1909, “Extracto de una carta (Extract of a letter from the Indies)”, in Emma Helen Blair, James Alexander Robertson, editors, The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898, volume 1, pages 297-299

4. countableusuallylawA statement of criminal activity brought before a judge or magistrate; in the UK, used to inform a magistrate of an offence and request a warrant; in the US, an accusation brought before a judge without a grand jury indictment.First known use 15th c.

   On May 21, 1792, the Attorney General filed an information against Paine charging him with seditious libel.

   1968, Carl B. Cone, The English Jacobins, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 131

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   That friend, […] added, with a smile, that he had more than once amused himself with the thought of a verbarian Attorney-General, authorized to bring informations ex officio against the writer or editor of any work in extensive circulation, who, after due notice issued, should persevere in misusing a word.

   1830, S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “Concerning the Right Idea of the Constitution”, in On the Constitution of the Church and State, according to the Idea of Each: […], London: Hurst, Chance, and Co., →OCLC, footnote *, page 19

   'We have another deposition, doctor, to take; Mr. Irons, here, is prepared to swear informations of very singular importance.'

   1863, J[oseph] Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Church-yard. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Tinsley, Brothers, […], →OCLC

   The second formal method of charging someone with a crime is by information. Informations are filed by prosecutors without grand jury review.

   2011, Daniel E. Hall, Criminal Law and Procedure

5. obsoleteuncountableusuallyThe act of informing against someone, passing on incriminating knowledge; accusation.First known use 14th–17th c.
6. archaicuncountableusuallyThe systematic imparting of knowledge; education, training.First known use 14th c.
7. archaicuncountableusuallyThe creation of form; the imparting of a given quality or characteristic; forming, animation.First known use 17th c.
8. formaluncountableusuallycomputingThe meaning that a human assigns to data by means of the known conventions used in its representation.
9. uncountableusuallyChristianityDivine inspiration.First known use 15th c.

   But there was no information, and so we continued And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon

   1927 August, T[homas] S[tearns] Eliot, “[Ariel Poems.] Journey of the Magi.”, in Collected Poems 1909–1935, London: Faber & Faber […], published September 1954, →OCLC, page 108

10. uncountableusuallyA service provided by telephone which provides listed telephone numbers of a subscriber.First known use 20th c.
11. uncountableusuallycomputingAny unambiguous abstract data, the smallest possible unit being the bit.First known use 20th c.
12. uncountableusuallydata managementcomputingThe output resulting from the systematic collection, manipulation and organization of raw data into a structured, interpretable format.First known use late 20th c.
13. uncountableusuallycomputingAny ordered sequence of symbols (or signals) (that could contain a message).First known use late 20th c.