"Data means—and has meant for a very long time—that which is given prior to argument... Without changing meaning, during the eighteenth century data changed connotation. It went from being reflexively associated with those things that are outside of any possible process of discovery to being the very paradigm of what one seeks through experiment and observation" (Rosenburg, 2013, p36).

Rosenberg, D. (2013). Data before the fact. Raw data” is an oxymoron, 15-40 https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/files/eswg/files/rosenburg_-_rawdata.pdf


"English 'data' is derived from Latin, where it is the plural of datum, which is in turn the past participle of the verb dare, “to give,” generally translated into English as “something given.” Sanskrit dadāmi and ancient Greek δίδωμι are related forms. While data (piece of information) and datum (calendar date) are separate lexemes in contemporary English, their association is not accidental; medieval manuscripts frequently closed with the phrase datum die (given on . . . ), effectively time-stamping the preceding text" (Puschmann & Burgess, 2014, p1691).

Puschmann, C., & Burgess, J. (2014). Metaphors of big data. International Journal of Communication, 8, 1690-1709 https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/files/eswg/files/rosenburg_-_rawdata.pdf

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