The word for ‘Data’ in Marathi

विदा vidā is a neologism for “data” in Marathi. It is believed to have been coined in 2007 by Shailesh Khandekar, a Marathi language blogger and software engineer. विदा vidā is a word borrowed from Sanskrit. This is a distinct word from the homonymous word in Hindi विदा vidā (farewell, sending off; departure) which has an Arabic origin. I have written earlier on Hindi/Urdu vidā in this blog.
In Sanskrit, विदा vidā has two distinct senses depending on its derivation:
1. “knowledge,” if derived from the verb root √vid विद् (know, find) and,

2. “distribute”, “give out” if derived from vi वि + √dā दा (to give).

I think the consensus to choose the word ‘vidā’ (विदा) for ‘data’ was partly motivated by the etymology of the word ‘data’ itself in Latin. In Latin, ‘data’ is the plural of the word ‘datum’, meaning “something given”. ‘Datum’ is a neuter past participle of the verb ‘dare’ (to give) in Latin.

Recently, Marathi language sites have started to use this word more systematically through its ancillary usage: ‘विदा वखार’ (Data Warehousing), ‘विदा संच’ (Data Set), ‘विदा सुरक्षा’ (Data Security), ‘विदा खणन’ (Data Mining), ‘विदा विश्लेषण’ (Data Analysis), ‘बृहत् विदा’ (Big Data), ‘विदागार’ (Database), etc.

However, there are a couple of other suggestions for the word ‘data’ in Marathi: ‘आधार सामग्री’, ‘न्यास’, ‘दत्त’, ‘प्रदत्त’, ‘आ’.कडे, माहिती.

The Marathi Vishvakosh has a couple of articles on data and data-related themes where the word “विदा” has been extensively used. Data scientist Sanhita Joshi has written various articles in the Marathi language newspaper Loksatta using this word. Nevertheless, it is still not a widely common word for “Data,” which continues to be represented more often with “डेटा” or “डाटा.”

References:
Monier-Williams, M. (1899). Vidā. In A Sanskrit-English dictionary: Etymologically and philologically arranged with special reference to cognate Indo-European languages (p. 963). Clarendon Press.

Joshi, S. (2019, January 9). विदाभान : ‘विदा’ म्हणजे नक्की काय? Loksatta. Retrieved July 1, 2026, from https://www.loksatta.com/vishesh/article-about-what-exactly-is-data-1819508/

Marathi Wikipedia contributors. (2013, August 18). चर्चा:विदा. विकिपीडिया. Retrieved July 1, 2026, from https://mr.wikipedia.org/wiki/चर्चा:विदा#c-Mahitgar-2013-08-18T08:19:00.000Z-Untitled/p

महाराष्ट्र राज्य मराठी विश्वकोश निर्मिती मंडळ. (n.d.). मराठी विश्वकोश. Retrieved July 1, 2026, from https://marathivishwakosh.org/

Acknowledgments: Thanks to Niirbhay Jhadav ji for bringing this word to my attention.