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Original · left

Blob (shapeless mass)

A small drop or shapeless mass of a thick liquid.

First in use: the 1700s
Duplicate · right

Binary large object

A binary large object: an unstructured chunk of data stored as a single value.

First in use: the 1970s

Blob / Blob (shapeless mass) / Binary large object

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Duplicate share · 12 mo—
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Colour keyGrey · original meaningGreen · duplicate meaningAmber · contested (40–60%)How colours work

A shapeless glob vs. binary storage.

Which meaning of Blob is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Blob (shapeless mass) came first (the 1700s). Binary large object arrived in the 1970s. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Blob (shapeless mass)Binary large object
English Wikipedia pageviews since July 2015 load here.

Duplicate's share of attention

Green line = duplicate's % · above 60 it owns the word · below 40 the original does

Share-of-attention line loads here.

The case for each meaning

Sourced definitions, usage stats and quotes

Original · the 1700s

Blob (shapeless mass)

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Duplicate · the 1970s

Binary large object

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More duplicated terms

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