What technical term is used to refer to a record in a relational database?

The term "tuple" is used in the context of relational databases to refer specifically to a single record or instance of data within a table. In relational database theory, a tuple represents an ordered set of values, which correspond to the attributes defined by the table structure. Each value in a tuple corresponds to a specific column in the table, effectively making a complete set of related data items.

While the term "row" is also commonly used to describe what is essentially the same concept in everyday database language, it is more of a practical term rather than a formal one derived from the foundational theory of relational databases.

On the other hand, "entity" typically refers to a real-world object or concept represented in a database, which may consist of multiple tuples. "Field" denotes a single piece of data or attribute within a record, rather than the record itself. Therefore, "tuple" accurately captures the theoretical essence of a single record in a relational database.