A graph database (GDB) is a database that uses graph structures for semantic queries with nodes, edges, and properties to represent and store data.

A key concept of the system is the graph (or edge or relationship). The graph relates the data items in the store to a collection of nodes and edges, the edges representing the relationships between the nodes. The relationships allow data in the store to be linked together directly and, in many cases, retrieved with one operation. Graph databases hold the relationships between data as a priority. Querying relationships within a graph database is fast because they are perpetually stored within the database itself. Relationships can be intuitively visualized using graph databases, making them useful for heavily inter-connected data.