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


mathematical induction
Formal method of proof in which the proposition P(n + 1) is proved true on the hypothesis that the proposition P(n) is true. The proposition is then shown to be true for a particular value of n, say k, and therefore by induction the...

macromolecule
In chemistry, a very large molecule, generally a polymer

magnetic storm
In meteorology, a sudden disturbance affecting the Earth's magnetic field, causing anomalies in radio transmissions and magnetic compasses. It is probably caused by sunspot activity

Manchester
(UK) Metropolitan district of Greater Manchester, and city in northwest England, on the River Irwell, 50 km/31 mi east of Liverpool; population (2001) 394,300. A financial and manufacturing centre, its industries include banki...

malt
In brewing, grain (barley, oats, or wheat) artificially germinated and then dried in a kiln. Malts are fermented to make beers or lagers, or fermented and then distilled to produce spirits such as whisky

margarine
Butter substitute made from animal fats and/or vegetable oils. The French chemist Hippolyte Mège-Mouries invented margarine in 1889. Today, margarines are usually made with vegetable oils, such as soya, corn, or sunflower oil, giving a product low in saturated fats (see polyunsaturate) a...

Malé
Capital and chief atoll of the Maldives in the Indian Ocean; population (2000 est) 74,100. It lies 700 km/435 mi southwest of Sri Lanka and has an international airport which has helped the development of the tourist industry in recent decades. It trades in coconuts, copra, breadfruit, fish (especially tuna and bonito), and palm products. I...

MA
(education) Abbreviation for the degree of Master of Arts

max.
Abbreviation for maximum

marketing
Promoting goods and services to consumers. In the modern business world, marketing plays a prominent role in determining company policy, influencing product development, pricing, methods of distribution, advertising, and promotion techniques

Mauryan dynasty
Indian dynasty c. 321–c. 185 BC, founded by Chandragupta Maurya (321–c. 297 BC). Under Emperor Asoka most of India was united for the first time, but after his death in 232 the empire was riven by dynastic disputes. Reliant on a highl...

marathon
Athletics endurance race over 42.195 km/26 mi 385 yd. It was first included in the Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. The distance varied until it was standardized in 1924. More recently, races have been opened to wider participation, including social runners as well as those competing at senior le...

Marciano, Rocky
(Rocco Francis Marchegiano) US boxer, world heavyweight champion 1952–56. He retired after 49 professional fights, the only heavyweight champion to retire undefeated. Career highlights Professional fights total: 49; wins: 49; knockouts: 43; defeats: 0 First pro...

Matsuoka, Yosuke
Japanese politician, foreign minister 1940–41. A fervent nationalist, Matsuoka led Japan out of the League of Nations in 1933 when it condemned Japan for the seizure of Manchuria. As foreign minister, he allied Japan with Germany and Italy. At the end of World War II, he was arrested as a war criminal but died before his trial was concluded

magnetic resonance imaging
Click images to enlargeDiagnostic scanning system based on the principles of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). MRI yields finely detailed three-dimensional images of structures within the body without exposing the patient to harmful radiation. The technique is invaluable for imaging the soft tissues of the body, in pa...

marquetry
Inlaying of various woods, bone, or ivory, usually on furniture, to create ornate patterns and pictures. Parquetry is the term used for geometrical inlaid patterns. The method is thought to have originated in Germany or Holland

Maia
In Greek mythology, eldest and most beautiful of the Pleiades, daughters of Atlas and Pleione, and mother of Hermes by Zeus. Identified by the Romans with an ancient Italian goddess of spring, also Maia (or Maiesta), she was celebrated in May, the month reputedly named after her

Marcian
Eastern Roman emperor 450–457. He was a general who married Pulcheria, sister of Theodosius II; he became emperor on Theodosius' death. He convened the Council of Chalcedon (the fourth Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church) in 451 and refused to pay tribute to Attila the Hun

magnesia
Common name for magnesium oxide

magistrates' court
In England and Wales, a local law court that mainly deals with minor criminal cases. A magistrates' court consists of between two and seven lay justices of the peace (who are advised on the law by a clerk to the justices), or a single paid lawyer called a stipendiary magistrate. It deals with some civil matters, too, such as licensing certain d...

maintenance
In law, payments to support children or a spouse, under the terms of an agreement, or by a court order. In Britain, financial provision orders are made on divorce, but a court action can also be brought for maintenance without divorce proceedings. Applications for maintenance of illegitimate children are now treated in the same way as for legitimat...

malpractice
In law, negligence by a professional person, usually a doctor, that may lead to an action for damages by the client

manifest destiny
In US history, the belief that Americans had a providential mission to extend both their territory and their democratic processes westwards across the continent. The phrase `manifest destiny` was first used by the New York Post editor and journalist John L O'Sullivan in 1845. The philosophy was especially expounded ...

magnum opus
(Latin) a great work of art or literature

Magnificat
In the New Testament, the song of praise sung by Mary, the mother of Jesus, on her visit to her cousin Elizabeth shortly after the Annunciation. It is used in the liturgy of some Christian churches in the form of a canticle based on text from St Luke's gospel 1:46–55 (`My soul doth magnify the Lord ...`). It is sung at Roman ...

Mahadeva
Title given to the Hindu god Shiva

Mahadevi
Title given to Shakti, the consort of the Hindu god Shiva. As the Mahadevi Shakti she embodies the divine female energy (shakti) which, combined with the male energy of Shiva, underlies all manifest things. Shiva is incomplete without her power. She can be both generous and destructive, having many manifestations, including the warrior goddesses Ka...

Mamet, David
(Alan) US dramatist, writer, and director. His plays use vivid, freewheeling language and urban settings. American Buffalo (1976; filmed 1996), about a gang of hopeless robbers, was his first major success. Glengarry Glen Ross (1983; filmed 1992), ...

Man Ray
US photographer, painter, and sculptor; see Man Ray

Madeira
(river) River of northwest Brazil; length 3,250 km/2,020 mi. It is the longest tributary of the Amazon, and is formed by the rivers Beni and Mamoré. It flows northeast through the state of Amazonas to join the Amazon east of the city of Manaus. It is navigable by ocean-going v...

Malagasy
Inhabitant of the island of Madagascar. The Malagasy language is divided into many dialects and has about 9 million speakers; it belongs to the Austronesian family. Despite Madagascar's proximity to Africa, Malagasy contains only a small number of Bantu and Arabic loan words. It seems likely that the earliest settlers came by sea, some 1,50...

Malay
Member of any of a large group of peoples comprising the majority population of the Malay Peninsula and archipelago, and also found in southern Thailand and coastal Sumatra and Borneo. Their language belongs to the western branch of the Austronesian family. The Malay culture has been enriched by Siamese, Javanese, Hindu, Buginese, Javanese, and Min...

Mastroianni, Marcello
Italian film actor. He was popular for his carefully understated roles as an unhappy romantic lover in such films as Michelangelo Antonioni's La notte/The Night (1961). He starred in several films with Sophia Loren, including Una giornata speciale/A Special Day (1977), and worked with Federico Felli...

Maclean, Donald Duart
English spy who worked for the USSR while in the UK civil service. He defected to the USSR in 1951 together with Guy Burgess. Maclean, brought up in a strict Presbyterian family, was educated at Cambridge University, where he was recruited by the Soviet KGB. He worked for the Foreign Office in Washington in 1944 and then in Cairo in 1948 before ret...

marginal theory
In economics, the study of the effect of increasing a factor by one more unit (known as the marginal unit). For example, if a firm's production is increased by one unit, its costs will increase also; the increase in costs is called the marginal cost of production. Marginal theory is a central tool of microeconomics

Maquis
French resistance movement that fought against the German occupation during World War II

Machado de Assis, Joaquim Maria
Brazilian writer and poet. He is generally regarded as the greatest Brazilian novelist. His sceptical, ironic wit is well displayed in his 30 volumes of novels and short stories, including Epitaph for a Small Winner (1880) and Dom Casmurro (1900)

Maserati
Italian racing-car company founded in 1926 by the six Maserati brothers. The most outstanding Maserati was the 250F Grand Prix car, which the Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio drove during his world-championship-winning year 1957. The company withdrew from Grand Prix racing at the end of 1957

Mauna Loa
Active volcano on the Pacific island of Hawaii, rising to a height of 4,169 m/13,678 ft. Its summit is 17,000 m/56,000 ft from its base on the ocean floor, making it the world's biggest volcano. It has numerous craters, including the second-largest active crater in the world. Since the early 19th century there have been lava flows f...

Malacca
Former name of Melaka, a state of Peninsular Malaysia, and its capital, also called Melaka

Mammon
Evil personification of wealth and greed; originally a Syrian god of riches, cited in the New Testament as opposed to the Christian god

Mauna Kea
Astronomical observatory in Hawaii, built on a dormant volcano of that name at 4,200 m/13,784 ft above sea level. Because of its elevation high above clouds, atmospheric moisture, and artificial lighting, Mauna Kea is ideal for infrared astronomy. The first telescope on the site was installed in 1970. Telescopes include the 2.24-m/88...

Macke, August
German expressionist painter. He was a founding member of the Blaue Reiter group in Munich. With Franz Marc he developed a semi-abstract style, and became noted for his simple, brightly coloured paintings of park and street scenes. He was killed in World War I. He first met Marc and Kandinsky 1909, and in 1912 he and Marc wen...

Mayan art
See pre-Columbian art

Mackendrick, Alexander
US-born Scottish film director and teacher. He was responsible for some of Ealing Studios' finest films, including Whisky Galore! (1949), The Man in the White Suit (1951), and The Ladykillers (1955). He went on to Hollywood to direct Sweet Smell of Success (1957...

Malle, Louis
French film director. His early work anticipated the New Wave. Working in both France and the USA, he made such films as Le Feu follet/A Time to Live and a Time to Die (1963), Atlantic City (1980), Au revoir les enfants (1987), and Damage (1993). One of the great talent...

Mason, James
(Neville) English film actor. He portrayed romantic villains in British films of the 1940s. After Odd Man Out (1947) he worked in the USA, often playing intelligent but troubled, vulnerable men, notably in A Star Is Born (1954). In 1960 he returned to Euro...

Mahmud I
Ottoman sultan from 1730. After restoring order to the empire in Istanbul in 1730, he suppressed the janissary rebellion in 1731 and waged war against Persia 1731–46. He led successful wars against Austria and Russia, concluded by the Treaty of Belgrade in 1739. He was a patron of the arts and also carried out reform of the army

Mahmud II
Ottoman sultan from 1808 who attempted to Westernize the declining empire, carrying out a series of far-reaching reforms in the civil service and army. The pressure for Greek independence after 1821 led to conflict with Britain, France, and Russia, and he was forced to recognize Greek independence in 1830. In 1826 Mahmud destroyed the elite jan...

Marvin, Lee
US film actor. An accomplished performer, with a tough, violent screen persona, he worked with such film-makers as Fritz Lang, John Ford, Don Siegel, and John Boorman on The Big Heat (1953), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), The Killers (1964), and Point Blank (1...

Matthau, Walter
US actor. He was impressive in both comedy and dramatic roles. He gained film stardom after his stage success in The Odd Couple (1965), the first of several collaborations with Neil Simon, and won an Academy Award for The Fortune Cookie (1966). In Grumpy Old Men (1993) and Grumpy Old...

magistrate
In English law, a person who presides in a magistrates' court: either a justice of the peace (with no legal qualifications, and unpaid) or a stipendiary magistrate. Stipendiary magistrates are paid, qualified lawyers working mainly in London and major cities

machine
In mechanics, device that allows a small force (the effort) to overcome a larger one (the load). There are three basic machines: the inclined plane (ramp), the lever, and the wheel and axle. All other machines are combinations of these three basic types. Simple machines derived from the inclined plane include the wedge and the screw; the sp...

MacLaine, Shirley
US actor. A versatile performer, she has played in musicals, comedy, and dramatic roles. Her films include Alfred Hitchcock's The Trouble with Harry (1955), Some Came Running (1958), The Apartment (1960), and Terms of Endearment (1983), for which she won an Academy Awar...

Major, John
British Conservative politician, prime minister 1990–97. He was foreign secretary in 1989 and chancellor of the Exchequer 1989–90. His low-key, consensus style of leadership contrasted sharply with his predecessor Margaret Thatcher. He launched a joint UK–Irish peace initiative on ...

Malcolm X
US black nationalist leader. After converting to Islam, he joined the Nation of Islam sect, became a persuasive speaker about white exploitation of black people, and gained a large popular following, especially among black youth. He opposed the civil-rights movement and, instead of integration and equality, advocated black separatism and self&#...

Masire, Quett Ketumile Joni
Botswanan politician; president 1980–98. In 1962, with Seretse Khama, he founded the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) and in 1965 was made deputy prime minister. After independence in 1966, he became vice-president and, on Khama's death in 1980, president, continuing a policy of non-alignment. He retired in March 1998 and was su...

Mazowiecki, Tadeusz
Polish politician, adviser to the Solidarity trade-union movement and Poland's first post-war non-communist prime minister 1989–90. In the presidential elections of November 1990 he lost to Lech Walesa. In April 1994 he formed the Freedom Union (UW). In the late 1990s he moved away from direct involvement in Polish internal pol...

Macedonia
(modern region) Mountainous region of northern Greece, part of the ancient country of Macedonia which was divided between Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece after the Balkan Wars of 1912–13. Greek Macedonia is bounded west and north by Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; ...

Mahfouz, Naguib
Egyptian novelist and playwright. His novels, which deal with the urban working class, include the semi-autobiographical Khan al-Kasrain/The Cairo Trilogy (1956–57). His book Children of Gebelawi (1959) was banned in Egypt because of its treatment of religious themes. He was awarded the Nobel P...

Mary of Guise
French-born second wife of James V of Scotland from 1538, and 1554–59 regent of Scotland for her daughter Mary Queen of Scots. A Catholic, she moved from reconciliation with Scottish Protestants to repression, and died during a Protestant rebellion in Edinburgh. Daughter of Claude, Duke of Guise, she was first married in 1534 to the Duke o...

Mansell, Nigel
English motor-racing driver. He started his Formula 1 career with Lotus in 1980. Runner-up in the world championship on two occasions, he became world champion in 1992 and in the same year announced his retirement from Formula 1 racing, having won a British record of 30 Grand Prix races. He won the PPG Indycar series in the USA in 1993 befo...

magic bullet
Term sometimes used for a drug that specifically targets certain cells or tissues in the body, such as a small collection of cancerous cells (see cancer) or cells that have been invaded by a virus. Such drugs can be made in various ways, but monoclonal antibodies are increasingly being used to direct the drug to a specific target. The term was orig...

marimba
Musical instrument with wooden bars like a xylophone, but much larger and with a larger range and much lower pitch. The instrument has metal tubes under the keys that both amplify and sustain the sound. The marimba became very popular in the late 20th century, with many international virtuosos such as Scottish player Evelyn Glennie taking the instr...

Marsyas
In Greek mythology, a Phrygian satyr who found the flute discarded by the goddess Athena and challenged Apollo to a musical contest judged by the Muses. On losing, he was flayed alive, his blood sourcing the River Marsyas. Athena had invented the flute but rejected the instrument as playing it distorted her face. The story was described in Ovid'...

Mark
In Celtic legend, king of Cornwall, uncle of Tristan, and suitor and husband of Isolde

Macedonia
(ancient region) Ancient region of Greece, forming parts of modern Greece, Bulgaria, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Macedonia (or Macedon) gained control of Greece after Philip II's victory at Chaeronea in 338 BC. His son, Alexander the Great, conquered a vast empire. Maced...

map projection
Way of showing the Earth's spherical surface on a flat surface. The most common approach has been to redraw the Earth's surface within a rectangular boundary. The main weakness of this is that countries in high latitudes are shown disproportionately large. The most famous such projection is t...

Martins, Peter
Danish-born US dancer, choreographer, and ballet director. He was principal dancer with the New York City Ballet (NYCB) from 1969, its joint ballet master (with Jerome Robbins) from 1983, and its director from 1990. He is especially noted for his partnership with Suzanne Farrell, with whom he danced Balanchine's Jewels (1...

Mayer, Louis B(urt)
Russian-born US film producer. One of the founders of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studios in 1924, he was largely responsible for MGM's lavish style and employment of glamourous film stars

madder
Any of a group of plants bearing small funnel-shaped flowers, especially the perennial vine R. tinctorum which grows in Europe and Asia, the red root of which yields a red dye called alizarin (now made synthetically from coal tar). (Genus Rubia, family Rubiaceae.)

Macquarie Island
Outlying Australian territorial possession, a Tasmanian dependency, some 1,370 km/850 mi southeast of Hobart; area 170 sq km/65 sq mi; it is uninhabited except for an Australian government research station

mantissa
In mathematics, the decimal part of a logarithm. For example, the logarithm of 347.6 is 2.5411; in this case, the 0.5411 is the mantissa, and the integral (whole number) part of the logarithm, the 2, is the characteristic

matter
In physics, anything that has mass. All matter is made up of atoms, which in turn are made up of elementary particles; it ordinarily exists in one of three physical states: solid, liquid, or gas. States of matter Whether matter exists as a solid, liquid, or gas depends on its temperature and the pressure on it. Kinetic theory describes how ...

Madison, James
4th president of the USA 1809–17. In 1787 he became a member of the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention and took a leading part in drawing up the US Constitution, earning him the title `Father of the Constitution`. He was determined that the government was to be composed of three divisions: legislative, executive (administrati...

Madison
State capital of Wisconsin, 193 km/120 mi northwest of Chicago and 120 km/74 mi west of Milwaukee, on an isthmus between lakes Mendota and Monona; seat of Dane County; population (2000 est) 208,100. It is the centre of a rich agricultural region; industries include agricultural machinery, meat packing, battery production, and me...

Maryland
Click images to enlargeState of eastern USA bordered to the north by Pennsylvania, along the Mason–Dixon Line, to the east by Delaware, to the south by Virginia, and to the south and west by West Virginia; area 25,315 sq km/9,774 sq mi; population (2006) 5,615,700; capital Annapolis. The Coastal Plain...

Massachusetts
State of northeastern USA, a New England state and the sixth smallest state in the nation; bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and southeast, Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; area 20,306 sq km/7,8407,840 sq ...

magnetic induction
Production of magnetic properties in unmagnetized iron or other ferromagnetic material when it is brought close to a magnet. The material is influenced by the magnet's magnetic field. The magnetic lines of force pass through the material causing its particles to align themselves parallel to the lines of the magnetic field. The induced magnetism...

magnetic compass
Device for determining the direction of the horizontal component of the Earth's magnetic field. It consists of a magnetized needle (a small bar magnet) with its north-seeking pole clearly indicated, pivoted so that it can turn freely in a plane parallel to the surface of the Earth (in a horizontal circle). The needle aligns itself with the ...

magnetic dipole
The pair of north and south magnetic poles, separated by a short distance, that makes up all magnets. Individual magnets are often called `magnetic dipoles`. Single magnetic poles, or monopoles, have never been observed despite being searched for. See also magnetic domain

magnetic material
One of a number of substances that are strongly attracted by magnets and can be magnetized. These include iron, nickel, and cobalt, and all those alloys that contain a proportion of these metals. Nonmagnetic materials are not attracted by magnets. These materials include paper, plastic, and rubber. Magnetically soft materials can be magnetized very...

mains electricity
Domestic electricity supply system. In the UK, electricity is supplied to houses, offices, and most factories as an alternating current at a frequency of 50 hertz and a root-mean-square voltage of 230 volts. An advantage of having an alternating supply is that it may easily be changed, using ...

magnetic pole
Region of a magnet in which its magnetic properties are strongest. Every magnet has two poles, called north and south. The north (or north-seeking) pole is so named because a freely-suspended magnet will turn so that this pole points towards the Earth's magnetic north pole. The north pole of one magnet will be attracted to the south pol...

magnet
Any object that possesses a magnetic field (displays magnetism), either permanently or temporarily through induction, causing it to attract materials such as iron, cobalt, nickel, and alloys of these. It always has two magnetic poles, called north and south. A device that generates a magnetic field b...

mass number
Sum of the numbers of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom. It is used along with the atomic number (the number of protons) in nuclear notation: in symbols that represent nuclear isotopes, such as 146C, the lower number is the atomic number, and the upper number is the mass number. Since t...

Maguire Seven
Seven Irish victims of a miscarriage of justice. In 1976 Annie Maguire, five members of her family, and a family friend were imprisoned in London for possessing explosives. All seven of the convictions were overturned in June 1991. In the wake of the release of the Guildford Four in October 1989 and calls for a review of the sentencing of the Birmi...

MA
(physics) Abbreviation for mechanical advantage

mass extinction
Event that produces the extinction of many species at about the same time. One notable example is the boundary between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods (known as the K-T boundary) that saw the extinction of the dinosaurs and other large reptiles, and many of the marine invertebrates as well. Mass extinctions have taken place frequently durin...

manifesto
In politics, the published prospectus of a party, setting out the policies that the party will pursue if elected to govern. When elected to power a party will often claim that the contents of its manifesto constitute a mandate to introduce legislation to bring these policies into effect. In an unprecedented move, the Labour Party in 1996 put its ma...

massage
Manipulation of the soft tissues of the body, the muscles, ligaments, and tendons, either to encourage the healing of specific injuries or to produce the general beneficial effects of relaxing muscular tension, stimulating blood circulation, and improving the tone and strength of the skin and muscles. The benefits of massage were known to the ancie...

Madonna
(pop music) US pop singer and actor. She is arguably the most successful female artist in popular music, due in part to her propensity for reinventing herself. Her first hit was `Like a Virgin` (1984); others include `Material Girl` (1985) and `Like a Prayer` ...

Marsalis, Wynton
US trumpet player and composer. He has recorded both classical and jazz music. He was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers 1980–82 and also played with Miles Davis before forming his own quintet. At one time this included his brother Branford Marsalis on saxophone. He has received several Grammy Awards and the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for M...

March on Rome, the
Means by which fascist leader Benito Mussolini came to power in Italy in 1922. A protracted crisis in government and the threat of civil war enabled him to demand the formation of a fascist government to restore order. On 29 October 1922, King Victor Emmanuel III invited Mussolini to come to Rome to take power. The `march` was a propagand...

Macedonian
People of Macedonian culture from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the surrounding area, especially Greece, Albania, and Bulgaria. Macedonian, a Slavic language belonging to the Indo-European family, has 1–1.5 million speakers. The Macedonians are predominantly members of the Greek Orthodox Church and write with a Cyrillic scr...

market forces
In economics, the forces of demand (a want backed by the ability to pay) and supply (the willingness and ability to supply). Some economists argue that resources are allocated most efficiently when producers are able to respond to consumer demand without intervention from `distortions` such as governments and trade unions, and that profit...

manufacturing base
Share of the total output in a country's economy contributed by the manufacturing sector. This sector has greater potential for productivity growth than the service sector, which is labour-intensive; in manufacturing, productivity can be increased by replacing workers with technically advanced capital equipment. It is also significant b...

management buyout
Acquisition of the equity capital of a company by its management. If financed by borrowing, it is a leveraged buyout

market capitalization
Market value of a company, based on the market price of all its issued securities – a price that would be unlikely to apply, however, if a bid were actually made for control of them

Magellan
Click images to enlargeNASA space probe to the planet Venus, launched from the space shuttle Atlantis on 4 May 1989. The probe went into orbit around Venus in August 1990 to make a detailed map by radar of 99% of the planet. It revealed the existence of volcanoes, impact craters, and mountains, on t...