Information

[in-fer-mey-shuh n] /ˌɪn fərˈmeɪ ʃən/

noun
1.
knowledge communicated or received concerning a particular fact or circumstance; news:
information concerning a crime.
2.
knowledge gained through study, communication, research, instruction, etc.; factual data:
His wealth of general information is amazing.
3.
the act or fact of informing.
4.
an office, station, service, or employee whose function is to provide information to the public:
The ticket seller said to ask information for a timetable.
5.
.
6.
Law.

7.
(in information theory) an indication of the number of possible choices of messages, expressible as the value of some monotonic function of the number of choices, usually the logarithm to the base 2.
8.
Computers.

/ˌɪnfəˈmeɪʃən/
noun
1.
knowledge acquired through experience or study
2.
knowledge of specific and timely events or situations; news
3.
the act of informing or the condition of being informed
4.

5.

6.
(computing)

7.
(informal) too much information, I don’t want to hear any more
n.

late 14c., “act of informing,” from Old French informacion, enformacion “information, advice, instruction,” from Latin informationem (nominative informatio) “outline, concept, idea,” noun of action from past participle stem of informare (see inform). Meaning “knowledge communicated” is from mid-15c. Information technology attested from 1958. Information revolution from 1969.

data
The result of applying data processing to data, giving it context and meaning. Information can then be further processed to yeild knowledge.
People or computers can find patterns in data to perceive information, and information can be used to enhance knowledge. Since knowledge is prerequisite to wisdom, we always want more data and information. But, as modern societies verge on information overload, we especially need better ways to find patterns.
1234567.89 is data.
“Your bank balance has jumped 8087% to $1234567.89” is information.
“Nobody owes me that much money” is knowledge.
“I’d better talk to the bank before I spend it, because of what has happened to other people” is wisdom.
(2007-09-10)
see under gold mine