Information, n.
Etymology: [F., fr. L. informatio representation, cinception. See Inform, v. t.]
1. The act of informing, or communicating knowledge or intelligence. The active informations of the intellect. South.
2. News, advice, or knowledge, communicated by others or obtained by personal study and investigation; intelligence; knowledge derived from reading, observation, or instruction. Larger opportunities of information. Rogers. He should get some information in the subject he intends to handle. Swift.
3. (Law)
A proceeding in the nature of a prosecution for some offens against the government, instituted and prosecuted, really or nominally, by some authorized public officer on behalt of the government. It differs from an indictment in criminal cases chiefly in not being based on the finding of a grand juri. See Indictment.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for information; he lists it under education, knowledge, wisdom.
Where he writes about it:
Information is knowledge of fact, real or supposed, derived from persons, books, or observation, and is regarded as casual and haphazard. — from knowledge
We say of a studious man that he has a great store of knowledge, or of an intelligent man of the world, that he has a fund of varied information. — from knowledge
Learning is much higher than information, being preeminently wide and systematic knowledge, the result of long, assiduous study; erudition is recondite learning secured only by extraordinary industry, opportunity, and ability. — from knowledge
Enlightenment, erudition, information, knowledge, learning, and skill are acquired, as by study or practise. — from wisdom