There are many definitions of the word database . A collection of persistent data that can be shared and interrelated. The terminology of databases and database management systems is confusing. Part of this is due to a lack of standard terminology.
Part is due to historical precedence that muddies the present waters.
They had no good word for a collection of data files. Visual FoxPro refers to files that contain data as tables , and the collection of files as a project . Unlike some other systems, Microsoft Access stores everything in one big file called a database. On the disk is one file with an .mdb extension. Tables hold the data around which you build the system.