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


parathyroid
One of a pair of small endocrine glands. Most tetrapod vertebrates, including humans, possess two such pairs, located behind the thyroid gland. They secrete parathyroid hormone, which regulates the amount of calcium in the blood

Panthalassa
Ocean that covered the surface of the Earth not occupied by the world continent Pangaea between 300 and 200 million years ago

parthenogenesis
Development of an ovum (egg) without any genetic contribution from a male. Parthenogenesis is the normal means of reproduction in a few plants (for example, dandelions) and animals (for example, certain fish). Some sexually reproducing species, such as aphids, show parthenogenesis at some stage in their life cycle to accelerate reproduction to take...

Pangaea
Single land mass, made up of all the present continents, believed to have existed between 300 and 200 million years ago; the rest of the Earth was covered by the Panthalassa ocean. Pangaea split into two land masses – Laurasia in the north and Gondwanaland in the south – which subsequently broke up into several continents. These then ...

Palaeozoic era
Era of geological time 570–245 million years ago. It comprises the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian periods. The Cambrian, Ordovician, and Silurian constitute the Lower or Early Palaeozoic; the Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian make up the Upper or Late Palaeozoic. The era includes the evolution of ha...

palaeontology
The study of ancient life, encompassing the structure of ancient organisms and their environment, evolution, and ecology, as revealed by their fossils and the rocks in which those fossils are found. The practical aspects of palaeontology are based on using the presence of different fossils to date particular rock strata and to identify rocks that w...

Palaeocene epoch
First epoch of the Tertiary period of geological time, 65–56.5 million years ago. Many types of mammals spread rapidly after the disappearance of the great reptiles of the Mesozoic. Flying mammals replaced the flying reptiles, swimming mammals replaced the swimming reptiles, and all the ecological niches vacated by the reptiles were adopted by...

pancreas
In vertebrates, a gland of the digestive system located close to the duodenum. When stimulated by the hormone secretin, it releases enzymes into the duodenum that digest starches, proteins, and fats. In humans, it is about 18 cm/7 in long, and lies behind and below the stomach. It contains groups...

parthenocarpy
In botany, the formation of fruits without seeds. This phenomenon, of no obvious benefit to the plant, occurs naturally in some plants, such as bananas. It can also be induced in some fruit crops, either by breeding or by applying certain plant hormones

parenchyma
Plant tissue composed of loosely packed, more or less spherical cells, with thin cellulose walls. Although parenchyma often has no specialized function, it is usually present in large amounts, forming a packing or ground tissue. It usually has many intercellular spaces

particle physics
Study of the particles that make up all atoms, and of their interactions. More than 300 subatomic particles have now been identified by physicists, categorized into several classes according to their mass, electric charge, spin, magnetic moment, and interaction. Subatomic particles include the elementary particles (quarks, leptons, and gauge bosons...

Pascal, Blaise
French philosopher and mathematician. He contributed to the development of hydraulics, calculus, and the mathematical theory of probability. Mathematics Pascal's work in mathematics widened general understanding of conic sections, introduced an algebraic notational system that rivalled that of Descartes and made use of the arithmetical triangle...

parallelogram
A quadrilateral (a shape with four sides) with opposite pairs of sides equal in length and parallel, and opposite angles equal. The diagonals of a parallelogram bisect each other. Its area is the product of the length (l) of one side and the perpendicular distance (height ...

parallel lines and parallel planes
Straight lines or planes that always remain a constant distance from one another no matter how far they are extended. Examples of parallel lines found in everyday life include railway lines, the verticals of goal posts, and shelves in a book-case. Parallel lines are shown in diagrams by using single or double arrows:

parabola
In mathematics, a curve formed by cutting a right circular cone with a plane parallel to the sloping side of the cone. A parabola is one of the family of curves known as conic sections. The graph of y = x2 is a parabola. It can also be ...

pacemaker
In vertebrates, a group of muscle cells in the wall of the heart that contracts spontaneously and rhythmically, setting the pace for the contractions of the rest of the heart. The pacemaker's intrinsic rate of contraction is increased or decreased, according to the needs of the body, by stimulation from the autonomic nervous system. The term al...

past participle
Form of the verb, see participle

parenthesis
Practice in written or printed language of placing certain statements between a pair of punctuation marks such as commas, dashes (-), and brackets (), to show that they are asides or interruptions in the normal flow of text. Parenthetical commas are the subtlest device (`He did it, so he said, in order to help us`)&...

participle
In grammatical analysis, a form of the verb. English has two forms. The present participle ends in -ing; for example, `working` in `They are working` (The verb's tense does not have to be present when the present participle is used, for example `they used ...

part of speech
Grammatical function of a word, described in the grammatical tradition of the Western world, based on Greek and Latin. The four major parts of speech are: noun, verb, adjective, and adverb; the minor parts of speech vary according to schools of grammatical theory, but include: conjunction, preposition, pronoun, and interjection. In lang...

Pali
Ancient Indo-European language of northern India, related to Sanskrit, and a classical language of Buddhism

parsec
Unit used for distances to stars and galaxies. One parsec is equal to 3.2616 light years, 2.063 × 105 astronomical units, and 3.857 × 1013 km. A parsec is the distance at which a star would have a parallax (apparent shift in position) of one second of arc when viewed from two points the same d...

parliament
Legislative (law-making) body of a country. The world's oldest parliament is the Icelandic Althing, which dates from about 930. The UK Parliament is usually dated from 1265. The legislature of the USA is called Congress and comprises the House of Representatives and the Senate. In the UK Parliament is the supreme legislature, consisting of ...

Paris Commune
Name given to two separate periods in the history of Paris: The Paris municipal government of 1789–94 was established after the storming of the Bastille and remained powerful in the French Revolution until the fall of Robespierre in 1794. The provisional national government of 18 March–May 1871 was formed while Paris was besieged by t...

Paxton, Joseph
English architect. He was also garden superintendent to the Duke of Devonshire from 1826. He designed the Great Exhibition building 1851 (the Crystal Palace), which was revolutionary in its structural use of glass and iron. Knighted 1851

Pandora
In Greek mythology, the first mortal woman. Zeus sent her to Earth with a box containing every human woe to counteract the blessings brought to mortals by Prometheus, whose gift of fire was stolen from the gods. In the most common tradition, she opened the box, and the evils flew out; only hope was left inside as a consolation

Pan
In Greek mythology, the god of flocks and herds. He is depicted as a man with the horns, ears, and hoofed legs of a goat, and plays a shepherd's syrinx or panpipes; an instrument he reputedly invented. Later he was regarded as the personification of nature, the existing order of things. The Romans identified him with Faunus and Silvanus

Pacific War
War 1879–83 fought by an alliance of Bolivia and Peru against Chile. Chile seized Antofagasta and the coast between the mouths of the rivers Loa and Paposo, rendering Bolivia landlocked, and also annexed the south Peruvian coastline from Arica to the mouth of the Loa, including the nitrate fields of the Atacama Desert. Bolivia has since tried ...

Parsee
Follower of the religion Zoroastrianism. The Parsees fled from Persia after its conquest by the Arabs, and settled in India in the 8th century AD. About 100,000 Parsees now live mainly in the former Bombay State

pansy
Cultivated plant derived from the European wild pansy (Viola tricolor) and including many different varieties and strains. The flowers are usually purple, yellow, or cream, or a mixture of these colours, and there are many highly developed varieties bred for size, colour, or specia...

papaya
Tropical evergreen tree, native from Florida to South America. Varieties are grown throughout the tropics. The edible fruits are like melons, with orange-coloured flesh and large numbers of blackish seeds in the centre; they can weigh up to 9 kg/20 lb. (Carica papaya, f...

parsley
Click images to enlargeHerb belonging to the carrot family, cultivated for flavouring and garnishing in cookery and for its nutrient value, being rich in vitamin C and minerals. It can grow up to 45 cm/1.5 ft high and has aromatic, curled or flat pinnate leaves (leaflets either side of the stem) and delicate open clus...

passion flower
Any of a group of tropical American climbing plants. They have distinctive flowers consisting of a saucer-shaped petal base, a fringelike corona or circle of leafy outgrowths inside the ring of petals, and a central stalk bearing five pollen-producing stamens and three pollen-receiving st...

patchouli
Soft-wooded eastern Indian shrub belonging to the mint family; the leaves are the source of the perfume patchouli. (Pogostemon heyneanus, family Labiateae.)

pawpaw
Small tree belonging to the custard-apple family, native to the eastern USA. It produces oblong fruits 13 cm/5 in long with yellowish edible flesh. The name `pawpaw` is also used for the papaya. (Asimina triloba, family Annonaceae.)

parasite
Organism that lives on or in another organism (called the host) and depends on it for nutrition, often at the expense of the host's welfare. Parasites that live inside the host, such as liver flukes and tapeworms, are called endoparasites; those that live on the exterior, such as fleas and li...

Paris
(mythology) In Greek mythology, a Trojan prince whose abduction of Helen, wife of Menelaus, caused the Trojan wars. Helen had been promised to him by the goddess Aphrodite as a bribe, during his judgement between her beauty and that of the goddesses, Hera and Athena. During the wars, he killed...

particle, subatomic
A particle that is smaller than an atom; see particle physics

parallelogram of forces
In physics and applied mathematics, a method of calculating the resultant (combined effect) of two different forces acting together on an object. Because a force has both magnitude and direction it is a vector quantity and can be represented by a straight line. A second force acting at the same point...

paper
Click images to enlargeThin, flexible material made in sheets from vegetable fibres (such as wood pulp) or rags and used for writing, drawing, printing, packaging, and various household needs. The name comes from papyrus, a form of writing material made from water reed, used in ancient Egypt. The invention of true paper, ...

parachute
Any canopied fabric device strapped to a person or a package, used to slow down descent from a high altitude, or returning spent missiles or parts to a safe speed for landing, or sometimes to aid (through braking) the landing of a plane or missile. Modern designs enable the parachutist to exercise considerable control of direction, as in skydiving....

paint
Any of various materials used to give a protective and decorative finish to surfaces or for making pictures. A paint consists of a pigment suspended in a vehicle, or binder, usually with added solvents. It is the vehicle that dries and hardens to form an adhesive film of paint. Among the most common kinds are cellulose paints (or lacquers), oil-...

panther
Another name for the leopard

Paramaribo
Chief port and capital of Suriname, on the west bank of the Suriname River 24 km/15 mi inland from the Atlantic coast; population (2007 est) 226,100. Products include coffee, fruit, timber, and bauxite, and tourism is a significant source of revenue. Originally an American Indian village, Paramaribo was settled by the French in about 1640. ...

Paz, Octavio
Mexican poet, essayist, and political thinker. His works reflect many influences, including Marxism, surrealism, and Aztec mythology. El laberinto de la soledad/The Labyrinth of Solitude (1950), the book which brought him to world attention, explores Mexico's heritage. His long poem Piedra del sol/Sun Stone&l...

patronage
Power to give a favoured appointment to an office or position in politics, business, or the church; or sponsorship of the arts. Patronage was for centuries bestowed mainly by individuals (in Europe often royal or noble) or by the church. In the 20th century, patrons have tended to be political parties, the state, and – in the arts – p...

parent–teacher association
Group attached to a school consisting of parents and teachers who support the school by fund-raising and other activities

parent governor
Elected parent representative on the governing body of a state school. The 1980 Education Act in the UK made it mandatory for all state schools to include parent governors, in line with the existing practice of some local education authorities. The 1986 Education (No.2) Act increased parental representation

Pasolini, Pier Paolo
Italian film director, poet, and novelist. From his Marxist viewpoint, he illustrated the decadence and inequality of society, set in a world ravaged by violence and sexuality. Among his films are Il vangelo secondo Mateo/The Gospel According to St Matthew (1964), The Decameron (1970), I racconti d...

parapsychology
Study of paranormal phenomena, which are generally subdivided into two types: extrasensory perception (ESP), or the paracognitive; and psychokinesis (PK), telekinesis, or the paraphysical – movement of an object without the use of physical force or energy. Most research into parapsychology has been experimental. The first Society for P...

panchromatic
In photography, a term describing highly sensitive black-and-white film made to render all visible spectral colours in correct grey tones. Panchromatic film is always developed in total darkness

painting
Click images to enlargeApplication of coloured pigment to a surface. The chief methods of painting are: tempera emulsion painting, with a gelatinous (for example, egg yolk) rather than oil base – known in ancient Egypt; fresco watercolour painting on plaster walls – the palace of Knossos, Crete, contains...

pas de deux
Dance for two performers. Codified by Marius Petipa into the grand pas de deux, the dance opens with the ballerina and her male partner dancing together. It continues with display solos, firstly for the man and then the woman, and ends with the two dancing together again

Pavlova, Anna
Russian dancer. Prima ballerina of the Imperial Ballet from 1906, she left Russia in 1913, and went on to become one of the world's most celebrated exponents of classical ballet. With London as her home, she toured extensively with her own company, influencing dancers worldwide with roles such as Mikhail Fokine's The Dying Swan<...

paradigm
All those factors, both scientific and sociological, that influence the research of the scientist. The term, first used by the US historian of science Thomas Kuhn, has subsequently spread to social studies and politics

Palestine Liberation Organization
Arab organization founded in 1964 to bring about an independent state in Palestine. It consists of several distinct groupings, the chief of which is al-Fatah, led by Yassir Arafat, the president of the PLO from 1969. Another major faction is the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a Marxist party formed in 1967, which is more hard li...

parody
In literature and the other arts, a genre of work that imitates the style of another work, usually with mocking or comic intent; it is similar to satire and distinguished from pastiche (in which the intent is homage rather than mockery). The Greek dramatist Aristophanes parodied the dramatic styles of Aeschylus and Euripides in Frogs&l...

Pakistan
Click images to enlargeCountry in southern Asia, stretching from the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea, bounded to the west by Iran, northwest by Afghanistan, and northeast and east by India. Government Pakistan has a multiparty federal parliamentary system, with a dual political executive comprising a president and a prime mi...

Panama
Country in Central America, on a narrow isthmus between the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean, bounded west by Costa Rica and east by Colombia. Government Panama has a presidential political system. Under its 1972 constitution, as amended in 1983, it has a single-chamber legislature, the National A...

Papua New Guinea
Click images to enlargeCountry in the southwest Pacific, comprising the eastern part of the island of New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, and part of the Solomon Islands. Government Under the 1975 constitution, the British monarch is the formal head of state, represented by a resident governor general. Actual executive ...

Paraguay
Landlocked country in South America, bounded northeast by Brazil, south by Argentina, and northwest by Bolivia. Government Paraguay has a multiparty system, with a presidential political executive. The 1992 constitution provides for a president, who is head of state and government, and a two-chamber legislature, the National Congress (Congreso ...

pastiche
In art and literature, a work that imitates another's style, or a medley composed of fragments from an original. The intention is normally homage, rather than ridicule (as in parody). In art, a pastiche is an image that borrows styles and elements of other pieces, but is not necessarily a direct copy. In The Waste Land (1922)...

papal infallibility
Doctrine formulated by the Roman Catholic Vatican Council in 1870, which stated that the pope, when speaking officially on certain doctrinal or moral matters, was protected from error by God, and therefore such rulings could not be challenged

partisan
Member of an armed group that operates behind enemy lines or in occupied territories during wars. The name `partisans` was first given to armed bands of Russians who operated against Napoleon's army in Russia during 1812, but has since been used to describe Russian, Yugoslav, Italian, Greek, and Polish Resistance groups against the Ge...

Pan-Africanist Congress
South African political party, formed as a militant black nationalist group in 1959, when it broke away from the African National Congress (ANC), promoting a black-only policy for Africa. PAC was outlawed 1960–90; its military wing was called Poqo (`we alone`). It suspended its armed struggle in 1994, and transformed itself i...

parsnip
Temperate biennial plant belonging to the carrot family, found in Europe and Asia, and cultivated for its tapering, creamy-white, aromatic root, which is much used as a winter vegetable. (Pastinaca sativa, family Umbelliferae.)

parity
(economics) In economics, equality of price, rate of exchange, wages, and buying power. Parity ratios may be used in the setting of wages to establish similar status to different work groups. Parity in international exchange rates means that those on a par with each other share similar buying ...

Paré, Ambroise
French surgeon who introduced modern principles to the treatment of wounds. As a military surgeon, Paré developed new ways of treating wounds and amputations, which greatly reduced the death rate among the wounded. He abandoned the practice of cauterization (sealing with heat), using balms and soothing lotions instead, and used ligatures to ti...

Palmer, Arnold Daniel
US golfer who helped to popularize the professional sport in the USA in the 1950s and 1960s. He won the Masters in 1958, 1960, 1962, and 1964, the US Open in 1960, and the British Open in 1961 and 1962. He won the Ryder Cup seven times, including once as playing captain and once as non-playing captain. Career highlights British Open 1961–6...

pathology
Medical speciality concerned with the study of disease processes and how these provoke structural and functional changes in the body

paracetamol
Analgesic, particularly effective for musculoskeletal pain. It is as effective as aspirin in reducing fever, and less irritating to the stomach, but has little anti-inflammatory action. An overdose can cause severe, often irreversible or even fatal, liver and kidney damage

paraplegia
Paralysis of the lower limbs, involving loss of both movement and sensation; it is usually due to spinal injury

palliative
In medicine, any treatment given to relieve symptoms rather than to cure the underlying cause. In conditions that will resolve of their own accord (for instance, the common cold) or that are incurable, the entire treatment may be palliative

papier mâché
Craft technique using paper pulp or shredded paper mixed with resin or a water-based glue, such as PVA. The pasted paper can then be moulded, modelled, or built up in layers to form the required shape. Once dry the material hardens, and may be painted and lacquered; mother-of-pearl is...

Parvati
In Hindu mythology, the consort of Shiva in one of her gentler manifestations, and the mother of Ganesh, the god of prophecy, and Karytikeya (or Skanda), the god of war. She is said to be the daughter of the Himalayas. Parvati is sometimes depicted with her vehicle, a lion, but is more often shown either getting married to Shiva, or with Shiva and ...

pass laws
South African laws that required the black population to carry passbooks (identity documents) at all times and severely restricted freedom of movement. The laws, a major cause of discontent, formed a central part of the policies of apartheid. They were repealed in 1986

Paz,
(Estenssoro) Bolivian president 1952–56, 1960–64, and 1985–89. He founded and led the Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario (MNR), which seized power in 1952. His regime extended the vote to Indians, nationalized the country's largest tin mines, embarked on a programme of a...

Paolozzi, Eduardo Luigi
Scottish sculptor and graphic artist. He was an important figure in the pop art movement in London in the 1950s and 1960s. In his early sculptures he typically assembled bronze casts of machinery to create sinister, robot-like figures; Cyclops (1957; Tate Gallery, London) and Jason (1956; Museum...

Paul, Les
US inventor of the solid-body electric guitar in the early 1940s. He was also a pioneer of recording techniques including overdubbing and electronic echo. The Gibson Les Paul guitar was first marketed in 1952 (the first commercial solid-body guitar was made by Leo Fender). As a guitarist in the late 1940s and 1950s he recorded with his wife...

Palme,
(Sven) Swedish social-democratic politician, prime minister 1969–76 and 1982–86. As prime minister he carried out constitutional reforms, turning the Riksdag into a single-chamber parliament and stripping the monarch of power, and was widely respected for his support of devel...

Papuan
Native to or inhabitant of Papua New Guinea; speaker of any of various Papuan languages, used mainly on the island of New Guinea, although some 500 are used in New Britain, the Solomon Islands, and the islands of the southwest Pacific. The Papuan languages belong to the Indo-Pacific family. P...

Panjshir Valley
Valley of the River Panjshir, which rises in the Panjshir range to the north of Kabul, eastern Afghanistan. It was the chief centre of Mujahedin rebel resistance against the Soviet-backed Najibullah government in the 1980s

pasteurization
Treatment of food to reduce the number of micro-organisms it contains and so protect consumers from disease. Harmful bacteria are killed and the development of others is delayed. For milk, the method involves heating it to 72°C/161°F for 15 seconds followed by rapid cooling to 10°C/50°F or lower. The process also kil...

pathetic fallacy
In the arts, the presentation of natural events and objects as controlled by human emotions, so that in some way they express human sorrow or joy (`a brave little snowdrop`; `the heavens smiled on our enterprise`). The phrase was coined by the English critic John Ruskin in Modern Painters (1843–60), t...

pathogen
Any micro-organism that causes disease. Most pathogens are parasites, and the diseases they cause are incidental to their search for food or shelter inside the host. Nonparasitic organisms, such as soil bacteria or those living in the human gut and feeding on waste foodstuffs, can also become pathogenic to a person whose immune system or liver ...

Pagnol, Marcel
(Paul) French film director, producer, writer, and dramatist. His work includes the novels Fanny (1932; filmed 1961) and Manon des sources (1952; filmed 1986). His autobiographical La Gloire de mon père/My Father's Glory
Pacino, Al(fredo) James
US film actor. He is best known for playing powerful, introverted but violent roles, such as the head of a mob family in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972), and a drug gangster in Brian de Palma's Scarface (1983). He won an Academy Award for his role as an ill-tempered retired army officer ...

parallel circuit
Electrical circuit in which the components are connected side by side. The current flowing in the circuit is shared by the components. Voltage in a parallel circuit Components are connected across the same voltage source, and therefore the voltage across each of the components is the same (provided t...

paging
Method of increasing a computer's apparent memory capacity

parity
(computing) Of a number, the state of being either even or odd. In computing, the term refers to the number of 1s in the binary codes used to represent data. A binary representation has even parity if it contains an even number of 1s and odd parity if it contains an odd number of 1s. For examp...

pascal
SI unit of pressure, equal to one newton per square metre. It replaces bars and millibars (105 Pa equals one bar). It is named after the French mathematician Blaise Pascal

pantothenic acid
Water-soluble vitamin (C9H17NO5) of the B complex, found in a wide variety of foods. Its absence from the diet can lead to dermatitis, and it is known to be involved in the breakdown of fats and carbohydrates

Pallas
(Greek) In Greek mythology, a title of the goddess Athena, possibly meaning virgin

Palk Strait
Channel separating southeast India from the island of Sri Lanka, lying north of the sandbanks known as Adam's Bridge, which separates it from the Gulf of Mannar; it is 53 km/33 mi at the narrowest point. It was named by the Dutch after Governor Palk

Parker, Bonnie
US criminal; see Bonnie and Clyde

Palestine Wars
Another name for the Arab-Israeli Wars

Pap test
Common name for cervical smear

parole
Conditional release of a prisoner from jail. The prisoner remains on licence until the date release would have been granted, and may be recalled if the authorities deem it necessary

palaeomagnetism
Study of the magnetic properties of rocks in order to reconstruct the Earth's ancient magnetic field and the former positions of the continents, using traces left by the Earth's magenetic field in igneous rocks before they cool. Palaeomagnetism shows that the Earth's magnetic field has reversed itself – the magnetic north pole beco...

paramilitary
Uniformed, armed force found in many countries, occupying a position between the police and the military. In France such a force is called the Gendarmerie and in Germany the Federal Border Guard. In recent years the term has been extended to include illegal organizations of a terrorist or guerrilla nature