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 Talk Talk - Communication terms
Category: General technical and industrial
Date & country: 28/05/2010, UK
Words: 18630


accumulator
(physics) In electricity, a storage battery – that is, a group of rechargeable secondary cells. A familiar example is the lead–acid car battery. An ordinary 12-volt car battery consists of six lead–acid cells which ...

achromatic lens
Combination of lenses made from materials of different refractive indexes, constructed in such a way as to minimize chromatic aberration (which in a single lens causes coloured fringes around images because the lens diffracts the different wavelengths in white light to slightly different extents)

action potential
In biology, a change in the potential difference (voltage) across the membrane of a nerve cell when an impulse passes along it. A change in potential (from about -60 to +45 millivolts) accompanies the passage of sodium and potassium ions across the membrane

Academy Award
Annual honour awarded since 1927 by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in a number of categories that reflect the diversity and collaborative nature of film-making. The Academy Award is one of the highest accolades in the film industry, and a virtual guarantor of increased financial returns. The trophy itself is a gold-...

acacia
Any of a large group of shrubs and trees that includes the thorn trees of the African savannah and the gum arabic tree (Acacia senegal) of North Africa, and several North American species of the southwestern USA and Mexico. The hardy tree commonly known as acacia is the false acaci...

acanthus
Herbaceous plant with handsome lobed leaves. Twenty species are found in the Mediterranean region and Old World tropics, including bear's-breech (Acanthus mollis) whose leaves were used as a motif in classical architecture, especially on Corinthian columns. (Genus Acanthus, family Acanthaceae.)

aconite
Herbaceous plant belonging to the buttercup family, with hooded blue–mauve flowers, native to Europe and Asia. It produces aconitine, a poison with pain-killing and sleep-inducing properties. (Aconitum napellus, family Ranunculaceae.) There are about 100 species throughout the northern temperate regions, all hardy he...

acorn
Fruit of the oak tree, a nut growing in a shallow cup

acupuncture
In alternative medicine, a system of inserting long, thin metal needles into the body at predetermined points to relieve pain, as an anaesthetic in surgery, and to assist healing. The needles are rotated manually or electrically. The method, developed in ancient China and increasingly popular in the West, is thought to work by stimulating the brain...

Achilles tendon
Tendon at the back of the ankle attaching the calf muscles to the heel bone. It is one of the largest tendons in the human body, and can resist great tensional strain, but is sometimes ruptured by contraction of the muscles in sudden extension of the foot. Ancient surgeons regarded wounds in this tendon as fatal, probably because of the Greek legen...

AC
In physics, abbreviation for alternating current

ACAS
Acronym for Advisory, Conciliation, and Arbitration Service, a government-funded body in the UK

Acts of the Apostles
Fifth book of the New Testament, attributed to Luke, which describes the history of the early Christian church. The book was written in Greek and falls into two parts, the first 12 chapters dealing with the church in Jerusalem and Judaea, with Peter as the central figure, and the second 16 chapters dealing with the church among the Gentiles and the...

acetaldehyde
Common name for ethanal

acetate
Common name for ethanoate

acetic acid
Common name for ethanoic acid

acute
In medicine, term used to describe a disease of sudden and severe onset which resolves quickly; for example, pneumonia and meningitis. In contrast, a chronic condition develops and remains over a long period

acetone
Common name for propanone

Achernar
Brightest star in the constellation Eridanus, and the ninth-brightest star in the sky. It is a hot, luminous, blue star with a true luminosity 250 times that of the Sun. It is 144 light years away from the Sun

acute angle
Angle between 0° and 90°; that is, an amount of turn that is less than a quarter of a circle

acid salt
Chemical compound formed by the partial neutralization of a dibasic or tribasic acid (one that contains two or three replaceable hydrogen atoms). Although a salt, it still contains replaceable hydrogen, so it may undergo the typical reactions of an acid. Examples are sodium hydrogen sulphate (NaHSO4) and acid phosphates

activation energy
In chemistry, the minimum energy required in order to start a chemical reaction. Some elements and compounds will react together merely by bringing them into contact (spontaneous reaction). For others it is necessary to supply energy (heat, radiation, or electrical charge) in order to start the reaction, even if there is ultimately a net output of ...

acoustic
Term describing a musical instrument played without electrical amplification or assistance, for example an acoustic guitar or acoustic piano. It is also a term used by musicians to characterize room response, an important factor in performance. A so-called `bright` acoustic provides a lively reverberation while a `dry` or &#...

accounting
The principles and practice of systematically recording, presenting, and interpreting financial accounts; financial record keeping and management of businesses and other organizations, from balance sheets to policy decisions, for tax or operating purposes. Forms of inflation accounting, such as CCA (current cost accounting) and CPP (current pur...

access time
In computing, the time taken by a computer, after an instruction has been given, to read from or write to memory

accommodation
In biology, the process by which the eye focuses on near or far objects by changing the shape of the lens. For an object to be viewed clearly its image must be precisely focused on the retina, the light-sensitive layer of cells at the rear of the eye. Close objects can be seen when the lens takes...

active transport
Movement of molecules or ions across a cell membrane using energy provided by respiration. Examples of substances that can be actively transported across membranes are sodium ions and glucose. Energy is needed because the movement occurs against a concentration gradient, with substances being moved f...

Acapulco
Port and holiday resort in southwest Mexico, on the Pacific coast; population (2000 est) 722,500. The city lies in Guerrero state 310 km/193 mi southwest of Mexico City. It has a sheltered harbour and is one of the leading Mexican tourist resorts on what is known as the `Mexican Riviera`, attracting many visitors to its beaches, l...

acceleration
Rate of change of the velocity of a moving body. For example, an object falling towards the ground covers more distance in each successive time interval. Therefore, its velocity is changing with time and the object is accelerating. It is usually measured in metres per second per second (m s...

ActionAid
UK charity founded in 1972 to help people in the developing world to secure lasting improvements in the quality of their lives. It has sister organizations in other industrialized countries and by 1990 had projects in 18 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, concentrating on long-term integrated rural development in the areas of water, ...

accumulator
(computing) In computing, a special register, or memory location, in the arithmetic and logic unit of the computer processor. It is used to hold the result of a calculation temporarily or to store data that is being transferred

accuracy
In mathematics, a measure of the precision of a number. The degree of accuracy depends on how many figures or decimal places are used in rounding off the number. For example, the result of a calculation or measurement (such as 13.429314) might be rounded off to three decimal places (13.429), to two decimal places (13.43), to one decimal place (13.4...

accountant
Person responsible for drawing up accounts, usually for a business organization. Accountants have traditionally concentrated on recording what has happened financially in the past. However, in management accounting, accountants are increasingly involved in helping to formulate policy for business organizations, providing information for decision...

accent
(written) Mark (´, ˇ, ˆ) used to indicate stress on a particular syllable or a difference in the pronunciation of a letter. English does not use accents, except in some words of foreign origin such as `cliché`, `café`, and `fête`. In ...

act
In drama, the principal division of a play, usually marking a change of location, time, or mood. Acts are subdivided into scenes. All Shakespeare's plays are printed in five acts. The majority of modern plays are divided into three acts

active voice
In grammar, the voice of a verb when the agent performing the action is the subject of a sentence (`Alan caught the dog`). Verbs can be either in the active or the passive voice

acrylic paint
Any of a range of synthetic substitutes for oil paint, mostly soluble in water. Acrylic paints are used in a variety of painting techniques, from wash to impasto. They dry more quickly than oil paint and are waterproof and remain slightly flexible, but lack the translucency of natural substances

accent
(music) In music, the stress or emphasis on individual notes or passages. Accents may occur naturally in the music. For example, in 4/4 the main accent falls on the first beat, and a secondary accent, less strongly stressed, falls on the third beat. This is known as metrical accent. Adding...

accidental
In music notation, a sharp (#), flat (b), or natural ([natural]) sign preceding a note which changes the pitch of the note by a semitone up (#), down (b), or back to normal ([natural]). Less common is the double sharp (##<...

accompaniment
Music and players providing a bass line, chord structure, and beat to support a solo performer. For example, a singer or instrumentalist may be accompanied by a piano or orchestra. The accompaniment may provide harmonic support (as in the continuo playing of the 17th and 18th centuries), melodic imitation and continuation of the solo part (as in ma...

accelerando
In music, a tempo marking indicating a gradual increase in speed

Ackroyd, Peter
English novelist, biographer, reviewer, and poet. His award-winning books include the fictitious autobiography The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde (1983; Somerset Maugham Award), the biography T S Eliot (1984; Whitbread prize for biography), and the novel Hawksmoor (1985; Whitbr...

Acrobat
(computing) Program developed by US graphics company Adobe to allow users of different types of computers to view the same documents complete with graphics and layout. Launched in 1993, Acrobat was designed to get around the limitations of existing systems when transferring data between differ...

active window
In graphical operating systems, the window containing the program actually in use at any given time. Usually, active windows are easily identified by the use of colour schemes that assign a different colour to the window's title bar (a thin strip along the top of each window bearing the name of the window's specific program or function) fro...

ActiveX
In computing, Microsoft's umbrella name for a collection of technologies used to create applications that run on the World Wide Web or on intranets. ActiveX is based on DCOM (Microsoft's Distributed Component Object Model) and uses ActiveX Controls, which are a lightweight version of OLE (object linking and embedding) Custom Controls or OCX...

Acrux
Brightest star in the constellation of Crux, marking one of the four points of the Southern Cross, and the 13th-brightest star in the night sky. It is a double star comprising two blue-white stars, and is 360 light years away from the Sun. Together with nearby Gacrux, it points towards the south celestial pole

Access
In computing, the database application in Microsoft's Office suite of applications. It is a powerful database program, but can be quite difficult for an inexperienced user to set up

action art
Form of painting that directly uses the body to create works. Popular in the late 1960s, it was the leading forerunner to body art. In action art the artist becomes an actor and the artwork a record of the `act` of painting or creating. The `act` variously expressed an artist's spiritual, social, or political concerns, inclu...

accession
The succession to the throne of a new monarch after the death or abdication of the old king or queen. In the UK, the death of a monarch is proclaimed at an accession council. All members of the Privy Council are summoned, and others, such as members of the House of Lords, the lord mayor of London, aldermen, leading citizens of the City of London, a...

Adams, Samuel
US politician, the chief instigator of the Boston Tea Party (see American Revolution). He was a signatory to the Declaration of Independence, served in the Continental Congress, and anticipated the French emperor Napoleon in calling the British a `nation of shopkeepers`

adhesive
Substance that sticks two surfaces together. Natural adhesives (glues) include gelatin in its crude industrial form (made from bones, hide fragments, and fish offal) and vegetable gums. Synthetic adhesives include thermoplastic and thermosetting resins, which are often stronger than the substances they join; mixtures of epoxy resin and hardener...

Adams, John Couch
English astronomer. He mathematically deduced the existence of the planet Neptune in 1845 from the effects of its gravitational pull on the motion of Uranus, although it was not found until 1846 by J G Galle. Adams also studied the Moon's motion, the Leonid meteors, and terrestrial magnetism

Adams, Richard
(George) English novelist. He wrote Watership Down (1972), a story of rabbits who escape from a doomed warren and work together to establish a new one. Tales from Watership Down (1996) continues the mythology. His other novels using animals as main charact...

Adams, John Quincy
6th president of the USA 1825–29, eldest son of President John Adams. He negotiated the Treaty of Ghent (1814) to end the War of 1812 (fought with Britain) on generous terms for the USA. In 1817 he became President James Monroe's secretary of state, formulating the Monroe Doctrine in 1823. A...

Adams, John
2nd president of the USA 1797–1801, and vice-president 1789–97. He was a member of the Continental Congress 1774–78 and signed the Declaration of Independence. In 1779 he went to France and negotiated the treaty of 1783 that ended the American Revolution. In 1785 he became the first US ambassador in London. His son, John Quincy A...

Adam
(biblical) In the Old Testament (Genesis 2, 3), the first human. Formed by God from dust and given the breath of life, Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden, where Eve was created from his rib and given to him as a companion. Because she tempted him, he tasted the forbidden fruit of the tree o...

Adam
(architects) Family of Scottish architects and designers. William Adam (1689–1748) was the leading Scottish architect of his day, and his son Robert Adam (1728–1792) is considered one of the greatest British architects of the late 18th century, responsible for transforming the prevai...

adrenal gland
Triangular endocrine gland situated on top of the kidney. (The name derives from the Latin word for kidney – ad-renal and supra-renal meaning next to and above the kidney, respectively). The adrenals are soft and yellow, and consist of two parts: the cortex and medulla. The cortex (outer part) secretes various steroid hormones and ...

adaptive radiation
In evolution, the formation of several species, with adaptations to different ways of life, from a single ancestral type. Adaptive radiation is likely to occur whenever members of a species migrate to a new habitat with unoccupied ecological niches. It is thought that the lack of competition in such niches allows sections of the migrant population ...

adaptation
In biology, any feature in the structure or function of an organism that allows it to survive and reproduce more effectively in its environment. Much adaptation is inherited (see inheritance) and is the result of many thousands of years of evolution. It is thought to occur as a result of random variation in the genetic make-up of organisms coup...

adoption
Permanent legal transfer of parental rights and duties from one person to another, usually to provide care for children who would otherwise lack family upbringing

admiral butterfly
(species) Any of several species of butterfly in the same family (Nymphalidae) as the tortoiseshells. The best-known is the red admiral (Vanessa atalanta), found worldwide in the northern hemisphere. It has blac...

Adonis
(mythology) In Greek mythology, a beautiful youth loved by the goddess Aphrodite. He was killed while boar-hunting but was allowed to return from the underworld for a period every year to rejoin her. The ane mone sprang from his blood. Worshipped as a god of vegetation, he was known as Tamm...

Admiralty Islands
Group of small islands in the southwest Pacific, part of Papua New Guinea; area 2,071 sq km/800 sq mi; population (2000) 41,700. The islands form part of the Bismarck Archipelago and with the North Western Islands constitute the Manus district of Papua New Guinea. The largest island (about 80 km/50 mi long) is Manus of which Lorenga...

Admiralty, Board of the
In the UK, the controlling department of state for the Royal Navy from the reign of Henry VIII until 1964, when most of its functions – apart from that of management – passed to the Ministry of Defence. The 600-year-old office of Lord High Admiral reverted to the sovereign

Adige
Second longest river (after the Po) in Italy, 410 km/255 mi in length. It rises in the Rhaetian Alps, crosses the Lombardy Plain and enters the Adriatic just north of the Po delta

Adirondacks
Mountainous area in northeast New York State, rising to 1,629 m/5,344ft at Mount Marcy; the source of the Hudson and Ausable rivers. The Adirondacks region is named after an American Indian people; it is now a summer resort area with good sports facilities, and is noted for its beautiful scenery. The Adirondacks area occupies about 25&#...

administrative law
Law concerning the powers and control of government agencies or those agencies granted statutory powers of administration. These powers include those necessary to operate the agency or to implement its purposes, and making quasi-judicial decisions (such as determining tax liability, granting licences or permits, or hearing complaints against th...

Adler, Alfred
Austrian psychologist. He saw the `will to power` as more influential in accounting for human behaviour than the sexual drive. A dispute over this theory led to the dissolution of his ten-year collaboration with psychiatry's founder Sigmund Freud. The concepts of inferiority complex and overcompensation originated with Adler

Adelaide
(city) Capital and chief port of South Australia; population (2001 est) 1,072,600. Adelaide is situated on the River Torrens, 11 km/7 mi from the Gulf of St Vincent. The city is the economic and cultural centre of South Australia, and a major focus for rail, road, sea and air routes. T...

Addison, Joseph
English poet and dramatist, and one of the most celebrated of English essayists. In 1704 he commemorated Marlborough's victory at Blenheim in a poem commissioned by the government, `The Campaign`. He subsequently held political appointments and was a Member of Parliament for Malmesbury from 1708 until his death. From 1709 to 1711 he c...

Adenauer, Konrad
German Christian Democrat politician, chancellor of West Germany 1949–63. With the French president Charles de Gaulle he achieved the post-war reconciliation of France and Germany and strongly supported all measures designed to strengthen the Western bloc in Europe. Adenauer was mayor of his native city of Cologne from 1917 until his impri...

Adamson, Robert
Scottish photographer. He collaborated with fellow Scottish photographer David Octavius Hill. See Hill and Adamson

adipose tissue
Type of connective tissue of vertebrates that serves as an energy reserve, and also pads some organs. It is commonly called fat tissue, and consists of large spherical cells filled with fat. In mammals, major layers are in the inner layer of skin and around the kidneys and heart. Fatty acids are transported to and from it via the blood system. An e...

adverb
Grammatical part of speech for words that modify or describe verbs (`she ran quickly`), adjectives (`a beautifully clear day`), and adverbs (`they did it really well`). Most adverbs are formed from adjectives or past participles by adding -ly
adjective
Grammatical part of speech for words that describe noun (for example, new, as in `a new hat`, and beautiful, as in `a beautiful day`). Adjectives generally have three degrees (grades or levels for the description of relationships): the positive degree (new, be...

Ada
High-level computer-programming language, developed and owned by the US Department of Defense, designed for use in situations in which a computer directly controls a process or machine, such as a military aircraft. The language took more than five years to specify, and became commercially available only in the late 1980s. It is named after ...

adsorption
Taking up of a gas or liquid at the surface of another substance, most commonly a solid (for example, activated charcoal adsorbs gases). It involves molecular attraction at the surface, and should be distinguished from absorption (in which a uniform solution results from a gas or liquid being incorporated into the bulk structure of a liquid or soli...

adultery
Voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his or her legal partner

Advent
In the Christian calendar, which follows the life of Jesus, the period of preparation before his birth on Christmas Day. It begins four Sundays before Christmas on Advent Sunday; the date varies depending on which day of the week Christmas falls

Adrian IV
Pope 1154–59, the only English pope. He secured the execution of Arnold of Brescia and crowned Frederick I Barbarossa as German emperor. When he died, Adrian IV was at the height of a quarrel with Barbarossa over papal supremacy. He allegedly issued the controversial bull giving Ireland to Henry II of England in 1154. He was attacked for false...

Adventist
Person who believes that Jesus will return to make a second appearance on Earth. Expectation of the Second Coming of Christ is found in New Testament writings generally. Adventist views are held in particular by the Seventh-Day Adventists church (with 4 million members in 200 countries), the Christadelphians, the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Fo...

Adriatic Sea
Large arm of the Mediterranean Sea, lying northwest to southeast between the Italian and the Balkan peninsulas. The western shore is Italian; the eastern includes Croatia, Montenegro, and Albania, with two small strips of coastline owned by Slovenia and Bosnia Herzogovina. The Strait of Otranto, between Italy and Albania, links the Adriatic wit...

adiabatic
In biology and physics, describing a process that occurs without loss or gain of heat, especially the expansion or contraction of a gas in which a change takes place in the pressure or volume, although no heat is allowed to enter or leave. Adiabatic processes can be both non-reversible and approximately reversible

adrenaline
Hormone secreted by the medulla of the adrenal glands. Adrenaline is synthesized from a closely related substance, noradrenaline, and the two hormones are released into the bloodstream in situations of fear or stress. Adrenaline's action on the liver raises blood-sugar levels by stimulating glucose production and its action on adipose tissu...

Aden
Main port and commercial centre of Yemen, on a rocky peninsula at the southwest corner of Arabia, commanding the entrance to the Red Sea; population (2004) 590,400. The city's economy is based on oil refining, fishing, shipping, and light industries, including boatbuilding. A British territory from 1839, Aden became part of independent Sout...

adder
(snake) Click images to enlargeEuropean venomous snake, the common viper Vipera berus. Growing on average to about 60 cm/24 in in length, it has a thick body, a triangular head, with a characteristic V-shaped mark and, ofte...

additive
In food, any natural or artificial chemical added to prolong the shelf life of processed foods (salt or nitrates), alter the colour, texture, or flavour of food, or improve its food value (vitamins or minerals). Many chemical additives are used and they are subject to regulation, since individuals may be affected by constant exposure even to traces...

advertising
Any of various methods used by a company to increase the sales of its products or services or to promote a brand name. Advertising is also used by organizations and individuals to communicate an idea or image, to recruit staff, to publicize an event, or to locate an item or commodity. Product advertising can be seen by economists as either benefici...

Advertising Standards Authority
Organization founded by the UK advertising industry in 1962 to promote higher standards of advertising in the media. It regulates the content of advertisements, sales promotions, and direct marketing in the UK, applying separate standards codes for television, radio, and all other types of advertising. Advertising in the UK being a self-regulat...

addiction
State of dependence caused by frequent and regular use of drugs, alcohol, or other substances. It is characterized by uncontrolled craving, tolerance, and symptoms of withdrawal when access is denied. Habitual use produces changes in body chemistry and treatment must be geared to a gradual reduction in dosage. The meaning of `addiction` i...

Addams, Charles Samuel
US cartoonist, creator of the ghoulish Addams family featured in the New Yorker magazine. A successful 1960s television comedy series and two feature-length films were based on these cartoons

addition reaction
Chemical reaction in which the atoms of an element or compound react with a double bond or triple bond in an organic compound by opening up one of the bonds and becoming attached to it, for example: CH2CH2 + HCl ® CH3CH2Cl Another example is the...

ADH
In biology, part of the system maintaining a correct salt/water balance in vertebrates. Its release is stimulated by the hypothalamus in the brain, which constantly receives information about salt concentration from receptors situated in the neck. In conditions of water shortage increased ADH secretion from the brain will cause more efficient c...

adolescence
In the human life cycle, the period between the beginning of puberty and adulthood

ADP
Abbreviation for adenosine diphosphate, the chemical product formed in cells when ATP breaks down to release energy. ADP can be converted back into ATP by an enzyme called ATP synthase. Like other phosphonucleotides (such as ATP, cAMP, GTP), ADP also has regulatory and signalling functions, that is certain proteins and enzymes behave differently wh...

addition polymerization
Polymerization reaction in which a single type of monomer gives rise to a single polymer, with no other reaction products. Addition polymerization occurs in alkenes, hydrocarbons containing double bonds. The alkenes, such as ethene, are the monomers, the small starting molecules. In addition polymerization, ethene undergoes an addition reaction wit...

adult education
In the UK, voluntary classes and courses for adults provided mainly in further-education colleges, adult-education institutes, and school premises. Adult education covers a range of subjects from electronics to flower arranging. Courses are either vocational, designed to fill the gaps in earlier education and leading to examinations and qua...

adobe
In architecture, a building method employing sun-dried earth bricks; also the individual bricks. The use of earth bricks and the construction of walls by enclosing earth within moulds (pisé de terre) are the two principal methods of raw-earth building. The techniques are commonly found in Spain, Latin America, an...

addition
In arithmetic, the operation of combining two numbers to form a sum; thus, 7 + 4 = 11. It is one of the four basic operations of arithmetic (the others are subtraction, multiplication, and division)