true definition of db first being something that can execute SQL or SQL like statements Pedantic note: the term "database" existed long before the relatio

true definition of db first being something that can execute SQL or SQL like statements Pedantic note: the term "database" existed long before the relational model or SQL existed. Many of the dominant databases of the 80s and 90s (dBase, etc) would not fit your invented definition. Additionally, a lot of "toy" databases like Access can execute SQL statements, so the ability to execute SQL statements isn't necessarily a great way to tell what's a "real" database. In practical terms, I do agree with you -- if somebody in 2023 is referring to "the database" in their app they had darn well better be talking about something robust and ACID-compliant like Postgres or whatever.