<P> The word data has generated considerable controversy on whether it is a singular, uncountable noun, or should be treated as the plural of the now - rarely - used datum . </P> <P> In one sense, data is the plural form of datum . Datum actually can also be a count noun with the plural datums (see usage in datum article) that can be used with cardinal numbers (e.g. "80 datums"); data (originally a Latin plural) is not used like a normal count noun with cardinal numbers and can be plural with such plural determiners as these and many or as an uncountable noun with a verb in the singular form . Even when a very small quantity of data is referenced (one number, for example) the phrase piece of data is often used, as opposed to datum . The debate over appropriate usage continues, but "data" as a singular form is far more common . </P> <P> In English, the word datum is still used in the general sense of "an item given". In cartography, geography, nuclear magnetic resonance and technical drawing it is often used to refer to a single specific reference datum from which distances to all other data are measured . Any measurement or result is a datum, though data point is now far more common . </P>

What is the plural of the word data