A database management system specialised for storing and querying RDF (Resource Description Framework) statements — subject-predicate-object triples (or named-graph quads) — typically with a SPARQL query engine on top.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 10 Jul 2026

Examples

Worked examples

Is an instance
Apache Jena TDB storing a CRIS's CERIF data as RDF for SPARQL access.
Is an instance
A Virtuoso instance running the DBpedia SPARQL endpoint.

Counter-examples

Looks similar, but isn't

Not an instance
A Neo4j property-graph database is not an RDF triple store (different model, different query language).
Not an instance
A relational SQL database is not an RDF triple store.

Editorial commentary

RDF triple stores are the canonical persistence layer for linked-data applications. They differ from relational databases in modelling all data as triples (or quads, when graph names are included), supporting open-schema evolution and federated SPARQL queries. Major triple stores include Apache Jena TDB, Virtuoso, Blazegraph (now end-of-life), Stardog, GraphDB, Amazon Neptune, and Oxigraph. Performance characteristics vary by query workload; benchmark suites like LUBM and BSBM are used for comparison.

References

W3C, 'RDF 1.1 Concepts and Abstract Syntax' (w3.org/TR/rdf11-concepts).

Also known as

Triple store · RDF database · Graph database (RDF)

Machine-readable encodings

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element

xml

<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="RDF triple store"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/rdf-triple-store" />

Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)

json

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DefinedTerm",
  "@id": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/rdf-triple-store",
  "name": "RDF triple store",
  "identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/rdf-triple-store",
  "description": "A database management system specialised for storing and querying RDF (Resource Description Framework) statements — subject-predicate-object triples (or named-graph quads) — typically with a SPARQL query engine on top.",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/research-info-systems#set",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/rdf-triple-store",
  "sameAs": [
    "Triple store",
    "RDF database",
    "Graph database (RDF)"
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "publisher": {
    "@id": "https://casrai.org/#organization"
  },
  "dateModified": "2026-07-10T02:06:20",
  "inLanguage": "en"
}

Referenced across the research world

View CASRAI adoption →