field

A field is a piece of land, typically used for crops or pasture, surrounded or defined by boundaries. It can also refer to an open or undeveloped land area. Fields are central to agriculture, livestock, and land management, and the term is often used metaphorically to designate a broad area of activity or study. In common usage, a field may be cultivated, fallow, or pasture, and may be part of a larger farm or estate.

In science, a field is a physical quantity defined at every point in space, possibly varying over time. Gravitational, electric, and magnetic fields are examples. Field theories describe how these quantities interact with matter, and field lines and potentials help visualize them. In mathematics, a field is an algebraic structure with two operations, addition and multiplication, satisfying familiar axioms. Notable examples include rational, real, complex, and finite fields.

In computing and information systems, a field is a unit of data in a record or form. Database fields store individual items such as a name or price. Web forms use input fields to collect data, and user interfaces organize information into named fields for processing.

A playing field is the area where a sport is conducted, such as a football pitch or baseball diamond. More broadly, the term is used to denote a domain of activity or study, for example a research field or a field of mathematics.