data science

noun

"data-science" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“data science” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An interdisciplinary field about scientific methods, processes and systems to extract knowledge or insights from data.

Corpus desk

Index EN-data-science · data science · English

data science · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "D" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for data science
PropertyValue
Headworddata science
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “data science” in English

data sciencefalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

data science is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An interdisciplinary field about scientific methods, processes and systems to extract knowledge or insights from data.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for data science in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Popularized by DJ Patil and Jeff Hammerbacher, 2000s. The correct English form is data science, spelled D-A-T-A- -S-C-I-E-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    An interdisciplinary field about scientific methods, processes and systems to extract knowledge or insights from data.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how data science appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Starting in 2008, Jeff Hammerbacher (@hackingdata) and I sat down to share our experiences building the data and analytics groups at Facebook and LinkedIn. In many ways, that meeting was the start of data science as a distinct professional specialization (see What Makes a Data Scientist? for the story on how we came up with the title “Data Scientist”). Si…

Etymology

Popularized by DJ Patil and Jeff Hammerbacher, 2000s.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "data science"?
"data science" is spelled D-A-T-A- -S-C-I-E-N-C-E.
What does "data science" mean?
As a noun, "data science" means: An interdisciplinary field about scientific methods, processes and systems to extract knowledge or insights from data.
What is the origin of the word "data science"?
Popularized by DJ Patil and Jeff Hammerbacher, 2000s. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list