Tom Heath schreibt zu der Frage “What is the relationship between Linked Data and the Semantic Web?” in der Linked-Data-FAQ:
Opinions on this topic do differ somewhat, however a widely held view is that the Semantic Web is made up of Linked Data; i.e. the Semantic Web is the whole, while Linked Data is the parts. Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the Web and the person credited with coining the terms Semantic Web and Linked Data has frequently described Linked Data as “the Semantic Web done right”, e.g. in these slides.
Das W3C hat natürlich auch eine Definition des Terms Linked Data, auch in Beziehung zum Semantic Web.