Final answer:
Modification or deletion of data in a database exemplifies processing operations within a DBMS, part of data manipulation language used to maintain the database.
Step-by-step explanation:
The modification or deletion of data in a database is an example of processing operations of a database management system. The correct answer is D) processing.
These operations are part of the data manipulation language (DML) subset of SQL commands, which include insert, update, delete, and select. They are essential for maintaining and updating the information contained within the database and are one of the core functions provided by database management systems (DBMS).