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Original · left

Cube (geometry)

A solid with six equal square faces.

First in use: ancient / pre-modern
Duplicate · right

OLAP cube

A multidimensional array of data used for fast analytical queries in business intelligence.

First in use: the 1990s

Cube / Cube (geometry) / OLAP cube

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

Six square faces vs. multidimensional analytics.

Which meaning of Cube is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Cube (geometry) came first (ancient / pre-modern). OLAP cube arrived in the 1990s. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Cube (geometry)OLAP cube
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 · ancient / pre-modern

Cube (geometry)

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Duplicate · the 1990s

OLAP cube

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More duplicated terms

Data & databases