metadata

American  

[met-uh-dey-tuh, ‐-dat-uh, ‐-dah-tuh] / ˈmɛt əˌdeɪ tə, ‐ˌdæt ə, ‐ˌdɑ tə /

noun

(usually used with a singular verb)

1. data that describes, annotates, or gives information about other data, including but not limited to tags in a programming code, information about a digital file's characteristics, or a library catalog showing the location and call number of books: In their surveillance operations, intelligence agencies were able to access such metadata as the phone numbers involved and duration of phone calls.

   Search engine spiders use content and HTML metadata to index websites.

   In their surveillance operations, intelligence agencies were able to access such metadata as the phone numbers involved and duration of phone calls.

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metadata British  

plural noun

1. computing information that is held as a description of stored data

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Etymology

Origin of metadata

First recorded in 1965–70; meta- (in the sense “analyzing material at a higher level”) + data ( def. )

Example Sentences

Additional sources included records of retracted studies from Retraction Watch, discussion comments from PubPeer and article metadata such as editor names, submission dates and acceptance dates from selected journals.

From Science Daily • Mar. 7, 2026

And if all of this metadata wasn’t spooky enough, here’s a quick reminder as to who contested the Super Bowl in 2015: The New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks.

From Barron's • Feb. 7, 2026

For creative content made using AI, like games or animations, the label can be placed in less intrusive ways, such as in the metadata.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026

An enhanced version was shown to jurors, with the video's metadata showing it was filmed at about 00:30 BST at the exact coordinates of the much-loved tree.

From BBC • May 2, 2025

This directive inserts the PG header as generated from the metadata.

From The Project Gutenberg RST Manual by Marcello Perathoner