Copy of `Talk Talk - Communication terms`

The wordlist doesn't exist anymore, or, the website doesn't exist anymore. On this page you can find a copy of the original information. The information may have been taken offline because it is outdated.


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


middle C
White note, C4, at the centre of the piano keyboard, indicating the division between left- and right-hand regions and between the treble and bass staves of printed music. Middle C is also the pitch indicated by a C clef, for example, for viola

Miller, Henry Valentine
US writer. From 1930 to 1940 he lived a bohemian life in Paris, where he wrote his fictionalized, sexually explicit, autobiographical trilogy Tropic of Cancer (1934), Black Spring (1936), and Tropic of Capricorn (1938). They were banned in the USA and England until the 1960s. Born in New York...

Miami
Industrial city and port in southeastern Florida, on the Atlantic coast of the Florida peninsula about 70 km/43 mi from its southern tip; seat of Dade County; population (2000 est) 362,500. Around 66% of the population is of Hispanic origin, many of whom are Cubans living in the Little Havana area; African Americans comprise 22&...

Michigan
State in north-central USA, situated in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions, consisting of two peninsular masses separated by the Straits of Mackinac; the mitten-shaped, north–south-oriented Lower Peninsula is bordered to the south by Ohio and Indiana, by Lake Michigan to the wes...

Midwest
Large area of the north-central USA. It is loosely defined geographically, but is generally taken to comprise the states of Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota, and the portions of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado that lie east of the Rocky Mountains. Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana are oft...

Milwaukee
Industrial city and port in southeastern Wisconsin, USA, at the mouth of the Milwaukee River, on the western shore of Lake Michigan, 128 km/79 mi north of Chicago; seat of Milwaukee County; population (2000 est) 597,000. It is the centre of a dairying and beef-producing region, and an important port of entry on the Great Lakes–...

Minneapolis
City in southeastern Minnesota, USA, 13 km/8 mi from St Paul, with which it for ms the `Twin Cities` area; seat of Hennepin County; population (2000 est) 382,600; metropolitan area (1992) 2,618,000. It is at the head of navigation of the Mississippi River, and is the centre of one of the richest agricultural areas in the US...

Minnesota
State in north-central USA, situated in the Great Lakes region and bordered to the east by Wisconsin and Lake Superior, to the south by Iowa, to the west by North Dakota and South Dakota, and to the north by the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba; area 206,189 sq km/79,610 sq mi&#...

Mississippi
(state) State in the south of the USA, bordered to the north by Tennessee, to the east by Alabama, to the south by the Gulf of Mexico, Arkansas, and Louisiana, and to the west the Mississippi River separates it from Arkansas and Louis...

Missouri
(state) State in the USA, situated in the Midwest, bordered to the south by Arkansas, to the west by Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, to the north by Iowa, and to the east by Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee; area 178,414 sq km...

Missouri
(river) Major river in central USA, largest tributary of the Mississippi, which it joins north of St Louis; length 3,969 km/2,466 mi; drainage area 1,370,000 sq km/529,000 sq mi. It rises among the Rocky Mountains in Montana, and passes northwards through a 366 m/1,200 ft g...

mineral extraction
Recovery of valuable ores from the Earth's crust. The processes used include open-cast mining, shaft mining, and quarrying, as well as more specialized processes such as those used for sulphur (the Frasch process) and oil

microsurgery
Part or all of an intricate surgical operation – rejoining a severed limb, for example – performed with the aid of a binocular microscope, using miniaturized instruments. Sewing of the nerves and blood vessels is done with a nylon thread so fine that it is only just visible to the naked eye. The technique permits treatment of previously i...

mixed economy
Economy with a mixture of state-run and private sector enterprises. In practice, almost all economies are mixed, although the relative proportions of economic activity falling into the private or public sectors vary considerably from one country to another

Miyake, Issey
Japanese fashion designer. Active in Paris from 1965, he showed his first collection in New York and Tokyo in 1971, and has been showing in Paris since 1973. His `anti-fashion` looks combined Eastern and Western influences: a variety of textured and patterned fabrics were layered and wrapped round the body to create linear and geo...

millefiore
Ornamental glassmaking technique. Coloured glass rods are arranged in bundles so that the cross-section forms a pattern. When the bundle is heated and drawn out thinly, the design becomes reduced in scale. Slices of this are used in glass-bead manufacture and can be set side by side and fused into metalware. The technique is of ancient orig...

MICV
Abbreviation for mechanized infantry combat vehicle

Mickey Mouse
Cartoon character created in 1928 by US animator Ub Iwerks (1901–1971) and voiced originally by Walt Disney. An enduring icon of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is characterized by black disc-shaped ears and white gloves. He made his film debut in Plane Crazy and starred in the first synchronized sound cartoon, ...

Mitsotakis, Constantine
Greek politician, leader of the conservative New Democracy Party (ND) 1984–93, prime minister 1990–93. Minister for economic coordination in 1965 (a post he held again 1978–80), he was arrested by the military junta in 1967, but escaped from house arrest and lived in exile until 1974. In 1980–81 he was foreign minister. He resig...

Minamoto
Ancient Japanese clan, the members of which were the first ruling shoguns 1192–1219. Their government was based in Kamakura, near present-day Tokyo. After the death of the first shogun, Minamoto Yoritomo (1147–1199), the real power was exercised by the regent for the shogun; throughout the Kamakura period (1192–1333), the reg...

misrepresentation
In law, an untrue statement of fact, made in the course of negotiating a contract, that induces one party to enter into the contract. The remedies available for misrepresentation depend on whether the representation is found to be fraudulent, negligent, or innocent

MiniDisc
Digital audio disk that resembles a computer floppy disk in a 5 cm/2 in square case, with up to an hour's playing time. The system was developed by Sony for release in 1993. Their small size makes MiniDiscs particularly suitable for personal and car stereos, and the players are equipped with memory chips that store up to three seconds of mu...

mifepristone
Anti-progesterone drug used, in combination with a prostaglandin, to procure early abortion (up to the tenth week in pregnancy). It is administered only in hospitals or recognized clinics and a success rate of 95% is claimed. It was developed and first used in France in 1989. It was licensed in the UK in 1991, and became available in the US...

migration
Movement of population away from the home region, either from one country to another (international migration) or from one part of a country to another (internal migration). Migrations may be temporary (for example, holidaymakers), seasonal (transhumance), or permanent (people moving to cities to fin...

mixed farming
Farming system where both arable and pastoral farming is carried out. Mixed farming is a lower-risk strategy than monoculture. If climate, pests, or market prices are unfavourable for one crop or type of livestock, another may be more successful and the risk is shared. Animals provide manure for the fields and help to maintain soil fertility

microclimate
Climate of a small area, such as a woodland, lake, or even a hedgerow. Significant differences can exist between the climates of two neighbouring areas – for example, a town is usually warmer than the surrounding countryside (forming a heat island), and a woodland cooler, darker, and less windy than an area of open land. Microclimates play a s...

milli-
Prefix denoting a one-thousandth part (10-3). For example, a millimetre, mm, is one thousandth of a metre

minimum wage
Minimum level of pay for workers, usually set by government. In the UK, minimum pay for many groups of workers has been fixed by wages councils. Minimum wages are set to prevent low-paid workers from being exploited by employers who would otherwise pay them even lower wages. However, minimum wages are argued by some economists to cause unemploy...

Mixtec
Ancient civilization of pre-colonial Mexico. The Mixtecs succeeded the Zapotecs in the valley of Oaxaca. They founded new towns, including Tilatongo and Teozacualco, and partially rebuilt some Zapotec cities. The Mixtecs produced historical records which contain biographies of rulers and noblemen and trace Mixtec history back to AD 692. They we...

Ming dynasty
Chinese dynasty 1368–1644, based in Nanjing. During the rule 1402–24 of Yongle (or Yung-lo), there was territorial expansion into Mongolia and Yunnan in the southwest. The administrative system was improved, public works were carried out, and foreign trade was developed. Art and literat...

mihrab
In Islamic architecture, niche in the wall of a mosque indicating the direction of Mecca to those taking part in prayers

minbar
In Islamic architecture, a high platform in a mosque from which Friday prayers are read, lying adjacent to the mihrab

mixed media
In the arts, a work of art that uses more than one medium. Marcel Duchamp's sculpture To be Looked at (from the Other Side of the Glass), with One Eye, Close to, for Almost an Hour (1918; Museum of Modern Art, New York), using oil paint, lead wire, silver leaf, glass, metal, and wood, is an example of a mixed media work. ...

Micronesia, Federated States of
(country) Country in the west Pacific Ocean, forming part of the archipelago of the Caroline Islands, 800 km/497 mi east of the Philippines. Government The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) is a federation of four states: Kosrae; Yap; Pohnpei; and Chuuk. Under its 1979 c...

Microsoft
US corporation, now the world's largest software supplier. Microsoft's first major product was a version of BASIC, written for the first personal computer, the MITS Altair, in 1975, and adopted by most of the desktop computer industry. Through MS-DOS, written for IBM, Windows, and related applications it has steadily increased its hold ...

Midway, Battle of
In World War II, decisive US naval victory over Japan in June 1942 off Midway Island, northwest of Hawaii. The Midway victory was one of the most important battles of the Pacific war – Japanese naval air superiority was destroyed in one day, putting an end to Japanese expansion and placing them on the defensive thereafter. In May 1942 the Japa...

MI5
Abbreviation for Military Intelligence, section five, the counter-intelligence agency of the British intelligence services. Its role is to prevent or investigate espionage, subversion, and sabotage. The headquarters of MI5 are at Thames House, Millbank, London

MI6
Abbreviation for Military Intelligence, section six, the secret intelligence agency of the British intelligence services which operates largely under Foreign Office control

MIME
In computing, standard for transferring multimedia e-mail messages and World Wide Web hypertext documents over the Internet. Under MIME, binary files (any file not in plain text, such as graphics and audio) are translated into a form of ASCII before transmission, and then turned back into binary form by the recipient

mirror site
In computing, archive site which keeps a copy of another site's files for downloading by FTP. Software archives such as those of the University of Michigan, and the many companies that distribute software by FTP, have several mirror sites around the world, so that users can choose the nearest site

Mines Act
Legislation regulating working conditions and safety standards for coalminers in Britain from 1842. After the nationalization of the coal industry in 1946, the National Coal Board was responsible for ensuring adequate safety standards and proper working conditions for miners. In the coal strikes of the 1970s and 1980s, the withdrawal of a certifica...

Mitchell, Adrian
English writer. His witty and political work includes the verse collections Poems (1964), The Apeman Cometh (1975), For Beauty Douglas: Collected Poems 1953–1979 (1982), and Greatest Hits (1991). His work also includes several novels and a number of plays, includin...

Mithradates
Alternative spelling of Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontus (on the Black Sea coast of modern Turkey)

Middle Ages, the
Term used by Europeans to describe the period between ancient history and the Renaissance. It is not a precise term, but is often taken to cover the time from the fall of the western Roman Empire in AD 476 to the fall of Constantinople (Istanbul) and the end of the Eastern Roman Empire in 1453, or alternatively Columbus's voyage to the Americas...

Minoan art
Art of a Bronze Age civilization that flourished on the Mediterranean island of Crete from about 3000 BC to 1000 BC. The term originates from the legendary King Minos, ruler of Crete in Greek mythology, and was first used in 1894 by the British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans, whose extensive excavations on the island form the basis of our understan...

Millennium Dome
Purpose-built structure in London, England, designed as the centrepiece for UK celebrations of the year 2000. Located on a 73-ha/181-acre site in the borough of Greenwich, the Dome is 320 m/1,050 ft in diameter, 1 km/0.6 mi in circumference, 50 m/164 ft in height, and covers an area of 80,425 sq m/865,687 sq ft. It c...

Milton Keynes
(authority) Unitary authority in central England, formerly part of Buckinghamshire. Area 311 sq km/120 sq mi Towns and cities Milton Keynes (administrative headquarters), Newport Pagnell, Olney, Bletchley, Stony Stratford, Woburn ...

Millennium Bug
Crisis that faced computer professionals and users at the end of the year 1999. The crisis arose because it was feared that computers would be unable to operate normally when faced with the unfamiliar date format of the year 2000. Information about the year was typically stored in a two-digit instead of a four-digit field in order to save m...

Mimosa
Second-brightest star in the southern-hemisphere constellation of Crux, marking one of the four corners of the Southern Cross, and the 19th-brightest star in the night sky. It is a blue-white giant star of magnitude 0.8 around 460 light years from the Sun

minor sentence
`Irregular` sentence, as opposed to a major sentence, that cannot be broken down by sentence analysis. Minor sentences include: conventional utterances, such as `Hello`; interjections, such as `Wow!`; phrasal questions, such as `Jam or honey?`; and signs, such as `Staff only`

misfit valley
Large valley with a small stream. In most cases the valley was formed when a much larger river flowed through it. The valleys of the Cotswolds, England, were mostly formed by large rivers of meltwater at the end of the last glacial period. They now contain small streams such as the Evenlode and the Windrush, which do not have the volume of water or...

miscible
In chemistry, describing liquids that mix with each other, such as ethanol and water. Ethanol dissolves in water to form a solution. Miscible liquids may be separated from each other by fractional distillation using a fractionating column

mitzvah
In Judaism, a commandment. Jews should try to follow the 613 mitzvot given in the Torah. They include the main Ten Commandments, and cover social conduct as well religious observance. The mitzvot referring to the Temple of Jerusalem are excluded, as it was destroyed in AD 70

minyan
In Judaism, the ten adult Jewish men required for public prayer to take place, either in a synagogue or temple, or in the home, as in the ceremony of brit milah (ritual circumcision) performed on a newborn boy

Millennium Volunteers
UK organization for people aged 16–24 years old, the aim of which is to encourage young people to volunteer to work within their community and so gain experience and skills at the same time as making a positive contribution. Organizations from the voluntary sector, local government, and further and higher education run MV projects on behalf of...

milling machine
Machine used to shape solid material. Unlike a lathe, the finished items are not cylindrical but are based on a larger rectangular area. The material is held securely in place whilst a specialized high-speed tool (similar to a drill or router) is moved over and into it. The result can be a finished item or may be a mould for vacuum forming, for...

ml
Symbol for millilitre

MLR
Abbreviation for minimum lending rate

Mmabatho
Capital of North West Province, South Africa, and former capital of the former independent homeland of Bophuthatswana; population (2007 est) 86,200. Many of the major buildings were built from revenues of the Sun City casino-resort

mmHg
Symbol for millimetre of mercury

mm
Symbol for millimetre

mnemonic
(language) Verbal device to aid memory; often a short sentence or a rhyme (such as `i before e except after c`). A mnemonic is a form of abbreviation

mock orange
Any of a group of deciduous shrubs, including P. coronarius, which has white, strongly scented flowers similar to those of the orange tree. (Genus Philadelphus, family Philadelphaceae.)

monstera
Evergreen climbing plant belonging to the arum family, native to tropical America. M. deliciosa is grown as a house plant. Areas between the veins of the leaves dry up, forming deep notches and eventually holes. (Genus Monstera, family Araceae.)

Moravian
Member of a Christian Protestant sect, the Moravian Brethren. An episcopal church that grew out of the earlier Bohemian Brethren, it was established by the Lutheran Count Zinzendorf in Saxony in 1722. Persecution of the Bohemian Brethren began 1620, and they were held together mainly by the leadership of their bishop, Comenius (Jan Komensky). Drive...

Mordvinia
Autonomous republic of central Russian Federation; area 26,200 sq km/10,100 sq mi; population (1990) 964,000 (60% Russian, 35% Mordvinians). The capital is Saransk. The republic is about 350 km/217 mi southeast of Moscow. The River Sura is in the east, and there are forests in the west. Industries include sugar beet, grains,...

Moravia
Area of central Europe, forming two regions of the Czech Republic: South Moravia (Czech Jihomoravský) and North Moravia (Czech Severomoravský). South Moravia has an area of 15,030 sq km/5,800 sq mi and a population (1991) of 2,048,900. Its capital is Brno. North Moravia has an area of 11,070 sq km/4,273 sq mi and a population ...

Moravia, Alberto
Italian novelist. His first successful novel was Gli indifferenti/The Time of Indifference (1929), but its criticism of Mussolini's regime led to the government censoring his work until after World War II. Later books include Agostino (1944), La romana/Woman of Rome (1947),
Moral Rearmament
International movement calling for `moral and spiritual renewal`, founded by the Christian evangelist F N D Buchman in the 1920s as the Oxford Group. It based its teachings on the `Four Absolutes` (honesty, purity, unselfishness, love). Later, as the MRA (1938), it became more involved in political and social issues, particularl...

morality play
Didactic medieval European verse drama, in part a development of the mystery play (or miracle play), in which human characters are replaced by personified virtues and vices, the limited humorous elements being provided by the Devil. In England, morality plays, such as Everyman, flourished in the 15th century. They exerted an infl...

Moor
Any of the northwestern African Muslims, of mixed Arab and Berber origin, who conquered Spain and ruled its southern part from 711 to 1492, when they were forced to renounce their faith and became Christian (they were then known as Moriscos). The name (English form of Latin Maurus) was originally applied to an ...

Moore, John
(general) Scottish-born British general. In 1808 he commanded the British army sent to Portugal in the Peninsular War. After advancing into Spain he had to retreat to Coruña in the northwest, and was killed in the battle fought to cover the embarkation. He was made KB in 1804. He ente...

Moonie
(religion) Popular name for a follower of the Unification Church, a religious sect founded by Sun Myung Moon

Montserrat
(island) Volcanic island in the West Indies, one of the Leeward group, a British crown colony; capital Plymouth; area 110 sq km/42 sq mi; population (1995 est) 13,000. Montserrat produces cotton, cotton-seed, coconuts, citrus and other fruits, and vegetables. The island'...

Montserrat
(mountain) Isolated mountain in Cataluña, northeast Spain, on the right bank of the River Llobregat, 37 km/23 mi north of Barcelona; so called because its uneven outline of eroded pinnacles resembles the edge of a saw. Its highest point is 1,240 m/4,070 ft. On the east side of...

Moon probe
Crewless spacecraft used to investigate the Moon. Early probes flew past the Moon or crash-landed on it, but later ones achieved soft landings or went into orbit. Soviet probes included the Luna series. US probes (Ranger space probes, Surveyor, Lunar Orbiter) prepared the way for the Apollo project crewed flights

month
Unit of time based on the motion of the Moon around the Earth. The time taken for the Moon to orbit the Earth (from one new or full Moon to the next) is known as a synodic or lunar month and is 29.53 days. The Western calendar is not based on the lunar month, but rather on the calendar month, a human invention devised to fit the calendar year. Howe...

monosodium glutamate
White, crystalline powder, the sodium salt of glutamic acid (an amino acid found in proteins that plays a role in the metabolism of plants and animals). It has been shown to possess its own taste receptor, making it the fifth taste (see umami), alongside sweet, sour, acid, and salt. It is used to enhance the flavour of many packaged and `fast ...

molybdenum
Heavy, hard, lustrous, silver-white, metallic element, atomic number 42, relative atomic mass 95.94. The chief ore is the mineral molybdenite (MoS2). The element is highly resistant to heat and conducts electricity easily. It is used in alloys, often to harden steels. It is a necessary trace element in human nutrition, an...

Mozart,
(Johann Chrysostom) Click images to enlargeAustrian composer and performer who was a child prodigy and an adult virtuoso. He was trained by his father, Leopold Mozart (1719–1787). From an early age he composed prolifically, and his works i...

mouth organ
Any of a family of small portable free-reed wind instruments originating in Eastern and South Asia. The compact harmonica, or European mouth organ, developed by Charles Wheatstone in 1829, has tuned metal free reeds of variable length contained in a narrow rectangular box and is played by blowing and sucking air while moving the instrument from...

Moustier, Le
Rock shelter in the Dordogne, southwestern France, with prehistoric remains. It gave the name Mousterian to a type of flint-tool culture associated with Neanderthal sites of 100,000–40,000 years ago

mountaineering
Click images to enlargeArt and practice of mountain climbing. For major peaks of the Himalayas it was formerly thought necessary to have elaborate support from the native Sherpas, fixed ropes, and oxygen at high altitudes (siege-style climbing). In the 1980s the Alpine style was introduced. This dispenses with these a...

Mostar
Industrial town (aluminium, tobacco) in Bosnia-Herzegovina, known for its grapes and wines; population (2005 est) 63,500. The eastern, mainly Muslim sector of the town was under siege by Bosnian Croat forces 1993–94

mosque
Click images to enlargeIn Islam, a place of worship. Chief features are: the dome; the minaret, a balconied turret from which the faithful are called to prayer; the mihrab, or prayer niche, in one of the interior walls, showing the direction of the holy city of Mecca; and an open court surrounded by portic...

Moskva
Russian name for Moscow, the capital of the Russian Federation

Moslem
Alternative spelling of Muslim, a follower of Islam

Moselle
(river) River in Western Europe, some 515 km/320 mi long. It rises in the Vosges Mountains, France, in two headwaters uniting near St-Maurice. It flows north past Metz and is canalized from Thionville to its confluence with th...

Moses, `Grandma`
US painter. Born in Washington County, New York, she began full-time painting about 1927, after many years as a farmer's wife. She was self-taught, and painted naive and colourful scenes from rural American life. Her first solo exhibition What a Farmwife Painted was held in New York in 1940. Her work was subsequently ...

Moscow
(city) Click images to enlargeIndustrial and commercial city, capital of the Russian Federation and of the Moscow region, and formerly (1922–91) of the USSR; population (2002) 10,382,800....

mosaic
Click images to enlargeDesign or picture, usually for a floor or wall, produced by setting small pieces (tesserae) of marble, glass, or other materials in a cement ground. The ancient Greeks were the first to use large-scale mosaic (in the Macedonian royal palace at Pella, for example). Mosaic was c...

Mortimer, Roger de
English politician and adventurer. He opposed Edward II and with Edward's queen, Isabella, led a rebellion against him in 1326, bringing about his abdication. From 1327 Mortimer ruled England as the queen's lover, until Edward III had him executed. Knighted 1306, Earl 1328

mortgage
Transfer of property, usually a house, as a security for repayment of a loan. The loan is normally repaid to a bank or building society over a period of years

Morrison, Herbert Stanley
British Labour politician. He was a founder member and later secretary of the London Labour Party 1915–45, and a member of the London County Council 1922–45. He entered Parliament in 1923, representing South Hackney in 1923, 1929–31, and 1935–45, and East Lewisham 1945–59. He organized the Labour Party's general electio...

morris dance
English folk dance. The dances take different forms and various theories about the origin of morris dancing have been put forward. These include the claim that it originated in pagan fertility rites, that it was imported to England in the 15th century as a European court entertainment, and that it was a staple of springtime church and village festi...

morphine
Narcotic alkaloid, C17H19NO3, derived from opium and prescribed only to alleviate severe pain. Its use produces serious side effects, including nausea, constipation, tolerance, and addiction, but it is highly valued for the relief of the terminally ill. The risk of addiction arisi...

Moroni
Capital, largest town, and main port of the Comoros Republic, on Njazidja (Grand Comore) Island near the northern limit of the Mozambique Channel; population (2003) 41,600. It has a small natural harbour from which coffee, cacao, and vanilla are exported. Local agricultural markets trade in coconuts, cassava, bananas, and rice

Moro, Aldo
Italian Christian Democrat politician. Prime minister 1963–68 and 1974–76, he was expected to become Italy's president, but he was kidnapped and shot by Red Brigade urban guerrillas

Mormon
Member of a Christian sect, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, founded at Fayette, New York, in 1830 by Joseph Smith. According to Smith, who had received visions and divine revelations during the 1820s, Mormon was an ancient prophet in North America whose hidden writings, the Book of Mormon, were shown to him i...

Morley, Thomas
English composer. He wrote consort music, madrigals, and airs including the lute song `It was a lover and his lass` for Shakespeare's play As You Like It (1599). He edited a collection of Italian madrigals The Triumphs of Oriana (1601), and published an influential keyboard tutor A Plaine...