Terminology

DBD's terms have the following hierarchy. Terms higher in hierarachy are more general.

Thing/Node
  Element
    Subject/Entity/Object
    Relator
      Verb/Attribute/Property
    Object/Value
  Sequence
    Sentence

Thing
That which has elements which themselves are things. Details...

Data
A thing that represents something.

Database
A collection of data.

Node
In DBD, a thing that represents something. Details...

Sequence
A thing, for example (john like mary), that consists of elements in a specific order. Details...

Element
A thing that is part of a sequence. Details...

Attribute / Property / Verb
Typically, the second element of a sequence. Details...

Value
Typically, the third element of a sequence. Details...

Class
A thing that represents a commonality among a group of things.

Instance
A thing that belongs to a class.

Parent
A thing that is one level higher in a hierarchy. Details...

Ancestor
The parent, or parent of parent, ... of a thing.
Note: 1st-level ancestor is equivalent to parent. Details...

Root
The ultimate ancestor in a hierarchy. Details...

Child
A thing that is one level lower in a hierarchy. Details...

Descendant
The child, or child of child, ... of another thing.
Note: 1st-level descendant is equivalent to child. Details...

Sibling
Children that share a parent in a hierarchy. Details...

Hierarchy
A group of things where the primary relationship between them is the same. Details...

Symbol
An arbitrary thing that is typically used to form strings that identify other things. Details...

String
A sequence of symbols. Details...

Name
A string that identifies a thing. Details...

System Data
Basic data that is necessary to boot the database. Details...
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