A Bloom filter, conceived by Burton Howard Bloom in 1970, is a space-efficient probabilistic data structure that is used to test whether an element is a member of a set. False positive retrieval results are possible, but false negatives are not; i.e. a query returns either "inside set (may be wrong)" or "definitely not in set". Elements can be added to the set, but not removed (though this can be addressed with a counting filter). The more elements that are added to the set, the larger the probability of false positives.
Read more about Bloom Filter: Algorithm Description, Space and Time Advantages, Probability of False Positives, Interesting Properties, Examples, Alternatives
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“A leaping tongue of bloom the scythe had spared
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The mower in the dew had loved them thus,
By leaving them to flourish, not for us,
Nor yet to draw one thought of ours to him,
But from sheer morning gladness at the brim.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)