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


refraction
Click images to enlargeBending of a wave when it passes from one medium into another. It is the effect of the different speeds of wave propagation in two substances that have different densities. For example, when light passes from air (less dense) into glass (more dense) it slows down (from 300 million to 200 million met...

relativity
In physics, theory of the relative rather than absolute character of mass, time, and space, and their interdependence, as developed by German-born US physicist Albert Einstein in two phases: Special theory of relativity (1905) Starting with the premises that (1) the laws of nature are the same for all observers in unaccelerated motion and (...

received pronunciation
In the UK, a term used to describe national and international English accents which are associated with Standard English. RP is the language of official authority

red shift
In astronomy, lengthening of the wavelengths of light from an object as a result of the object's motion away from us. It is an example of the Doppler effect. The red shift in light from galaxies is evidence that the universe is expanding. Lengthening of wavelengths causes the light to move or shi...

Reinhardt, Django
Belgian jazz guitarist and composer. He was co-leader, with Stéphane Grappelli, of the Quintet du Hot Club de France 1934–39. He had a lyrical acoustic style and a highly individual linear technique (due to a severe injury caused by a fire in his caravan, he could use only two of the fingers on his left hand). He was one of the first ...

revolutions of 1848
Series of revolts in various parts of Europe against monarchical rule. Although some of the revolutionaries had republican ideas, many more were motivated by economic grievances. The revolution began in France with the overthrow of Louis Philippe and then spread to Italy, the Austrian Empire, and Ger...

Revolutionary Wars
Series of wars from 1791 to 1802 between France and the combined armies of England, Austria, Prussia, and others, during the period of the French Revolution and Napoleon's campaign to conquer Europe

revolution
Any rapid, far-reaching, or violent change in the political, social, or economic structure of society. It is usually applied to political change: examples include the American Revolution, where the colonists broke free from their colonial ties and established a sovereign, independent nation; the French Revolution, where an absolute mona...

resistance
In physics, that property of a conductor that restricts the flow of electricity through it, associated with the conversion of electrical energy to heat; also the magnitude of this property. Materials that are good conductors of electricity have electrons held loosely in the outer shells of their atoms. Current can flow easily and these material...

reed
Any of various perennial tall, slender grasses found growing in wet or marshy environments; also the hollow, jointed stalks of any of these plants. The common reed (P. australis) reaches a height of 3 m/10 ft, having stiff, upright leaves and straight stems with a plume of purplish flowers at the top. (Especially species ...

REM sleep
Phase of sleep that recurs several times nightly in humans and is associated with dreaming. The eyes flicker quickly beneath closed lids

recombination
In genetics, any process that recombines, or `shuffles`, the genetic material, thus increasing genetic variation in the offspring. The two main processes of recombination both occur during meiosis (reduction division of cells). One is crossing over, in which chromosome pairs exchange segments; the other is the random reassortment of c...

reggae
Major form of West Indian popular music of the 1970s and 1980s, characterized by a heavily accented offbeat and a thick bass line. The lyrics often refer to Rastafarianism. Musicians include Bob Marley, Lee `Scratch` Perry (performer and producer), and the group Black Uhuru. Reggae is also popular in the UK, USA, South Africa, and elsewhe...

rectifier
Device for obtaining one-directional current (DC) from an alternating source of supply (AC). (The process is necessary because almost all electrical power is generated, transmitted, and supplied as alternating current, but many devices, from television sets to electric motors, require direct current.) Types include plate rectifiers, thermionic ...

regelation
Phenomenon in which water refreezes to ice after it has been melted by pressure at a temperature below the normal freezing point of water. Pressure makes an ice skate, for example, form a film of water that freezes once again after the skater has passed

relative humidity
Concentration of water vapour in the air. It is expressed as the ratio of the partial pressure of the water vapour to its saturated vapour pressure at the same temperature. The higher the temperature, the higher the saturated vapour pressure

relay
In electrical engineering, an electromagnetic switch. A small current passing through a coil of wire wound around an iron core attracts an armature whose movement closes a pair of sprung contacts to complete a secondary circuit, which may carry a large current or activate other devices. The solid-...

resistor
In physics, any component in an electrical circuit used to introduce resistance to a current by restricting the flow of electrons. Resistors are often made from wire-wound coils (higher resistance) or pieces of carbon (lower resistance). Rheostats and potentiometers are variable resistors. When r...

record player
Device for reproducing recorded sound stored as a spiral groove on a vinyl disc. A motor-driven turntable rotates the record at a constant speed, and a stylus or needle on the head of a pick-up is made to vibrate by the undulations in the record groove. These vibrations are then converted to ...

refrigeration
Use of technology to transfer heat from cold to warm, against the normal temperature gradient, so that an object can remain substantially colder than its surroundings. Refrigeration equipment is used for the chilling and deep-freezing of food in food technology, and in air conditioners and indust...

relative density
Density (at 20°C/68°F) of a solid or liquid relative to (divided by) the maximum density of water (at 4°C/39.2°F). The relative density of a gas is its density divided by the density of hydrogen (or sometimes dry air) at the same temperature and pressure

Redgrave, Michael
(Scudamore) English actor. His stage roles included Hamlet and Lear (Shakespeare), Uncle Vanya (Chekhov), and the schoolmaster in Terence Rattigan's The Browning Version (filmed 1951). On screen he appeared in The Lady Vanishes (1938), The Imp...

Redmond, John Edward
Irish nationalist politician, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) 1900–18. He rallied his party after Charles Stewart Parnell's imprisonment in 1881, and came close to achieving home rule for all Ireland in 1914. However, the pressure of World War I, Unionist intransigence, and the fallout of the 1916 Easter Rising destroyed both...

Red Sea
Branch of the Indian Ocean, formed from a submerged (and still gradually widening) section of the Great Rift Valley, extending northwest from the Gulf of Aden. It is 2,000 km/1,200 mi long and up to 320 km/200 mi wide, reaching depths of over 2,300 m/7,545 ft. Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, and ...

Regency style
Style of architecture and interior furnishings popular in England during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It is characterized by restrained simplicity and the imitation of ancient classical elements, often Greek

repression
In psychology, a mental process that ejects and excludes from consciousness ideas, impulses, or memories that would otherwise threaten emotional stability. In the Austrian psychiatrist Sigmund Freud's early writing, repression is controlled by the censor, a hypothetical mechanism or agency that allows ideas, memories, and so on from the unconsc...

Reagan, Ronald Wilson
40th president of the USA 1981–89, a Republican. He was governor of California 1966–74, and a former Hollywood actor. Reagan was a hawkish and popular president. He adopted an aggressive foreign policy in Central America, attempting to overthrow the government of Nicaragua, and invading Grenada in 1983. In 1987, Irangate was investigated ...

recitative
Declamatory, speechlike style of singing used in opera and oratorio. It rises and falls according to the meaning of the text and follows the rhythms and inflections of natural speech. A form of sung narration, it is used to carry the plot of the work forward. It is usually sparingly accompanied by harpsichord or organ

requiem
In the Roman Catholic Church, a Mass for the dead. Musical settings include those by Palestrina, Mozart, Berlioz, Verdi, Fauré, and Britten

retail-price index
UK index, compiled by the Office for National Statistics, to reflect the cost of living at any particular time. The Retail Price Index was introduced in 1947, superseding the Cost of Living Index, which had been published monthly from April 1914 and was based on the expenditure of a working-class family of a man, woman, and three children. Toda...

research
The primary activity in science, a combination of theory and experimentation directed towards finding scientific explanations of phenomena. It is commonly classified into two types: pure research, involving theories with little apparent relevance to human concerns; and applied research, concerned with finding solutions to problems of social...

recession
In economics, a fall in business activity lasting more than a few months, causing stagnation in a country's output

Reed, Lou(is Firbank)
US rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was a member (1965–70 and 1993) of the New York avant-garde group the Velvet Underground, one of the most influential bands of the period. His solo work deals largely with urban alienation and angst, and includes the albums Berlin (1973), Street Hassle (197...

REM
US rock group. Their songs are characterized by melodic bass lines, driving guitar, and inspiring lyrics. The album Out of Time (1991) included the worldwide hit single `Losing My Religion`, and further successes include Automatic For The People (1992) and Monster (1994). N...

Reich, Steve
US composer. His minimalist music employs simple patterns carefully superimposed and modified to highlight constantly changing melodies and rhythms; examples are Phase Patterns for four electronic organs (1970), Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices, and Organ (1973), and Music for Percussion and Ke...

Restoration comedy
Style of English theatre, dating from the Restoration period. The genre placed much emphasis on wit and sexual intrigues. It also witnessed the first appearance of women on the English stage, most notably in the `breeches part`, specially created in order to costume the actress in male attire, thus revealing her figure to its best advanta...

Reconstruction
In US history, the period 1865–77 after the Civil War during which the nation was reunited under the federal government after the defeat of the Southern Confederacy and Union troops were stationed in Southern states. Much of the industry and infrastructure of the South lay in ruins after the Civil War. President Andrew Johnson devised a plan f...

Red Brigades
Extreme left-wing guerrilla groups active in Italy during the 1970s and early 1980s. They were implicated in many kidnappings and killings, some later attributed to right-wing agents provocateurs, including that of Christian Democrat leader Aldo Moro in 1978

republic
Country where the head of state is not a monarch, either hereditary or elected, but usually a president, whose role may or may not include political functions

Restoration
In English history, the period when the monarchy, in the person of Charles II, was re-established after the English Civil War and the fall of the Protectorate in 1660. Restoration literature covers writers active at this period, most notably English poet and dramatist John Dryden, English religious writer John Bunyan, English poet John Milton, ...

resources
Materials that can be used to satisfy human needs. Because human needs are varied and extend from basic physical requirements, such as food and shelter, to spiritual and emotional needs that are hard to define, resources cover a vast range of items. The intellectual resources of a society – its ideas and technologies – determine which asp...

Red River
(Vietnam) River in north Vietnam, 500 km/310 mi long, that flows into the Gulf of Tonkin. Its extensive delta is a main centre of population

revisionism
Political theory derived from Marxism that moderates one or more of the basic tenets of Karl Marx, and is hence condemned by orthodox Marxists. The first noted Marxist revisionist was Eduard Bernstein, who in Germany in the 1890s questioned the inevitability of a breakdown in capitalism. After World War II the term became widely used by established...

re
Abbreviation for Latin `with regard to`

receiver
In law, a person appointed by a court to collect and manage the assets of an individual, company, or partnership in serious financial difficulties. In the case of bankruptcy, the assets may be sold and distributed by a receiver to creditors

retail
Sale of goods and services to a consumer. The retailer is the last link in the distribution chain. A retailer's purchases are usually made from a wholesaler, who in turn buys from a manufacturer. The large range of retail outlets include vending machines, street peddlers, specialized shops, depar...

refugee
According to international law, a person fleeing from oppressive or dangerous conditions (such as political, religious, or military persecution) and seeking refuge in a foreign country. In 1995 there were an estimated 27 million refugees worldwide; their resettlement and welfare is the responsibi...

resuscitation
Steps taken to revive anyone on the brink of death. The most successful technique for life-threatening emergencies, such as electrocution, near-drowning, or heart attack, is mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Medical and paramedical staff are trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR): the use of specialized equipment and techniq...

remission
In medicine, temporary disappearance of symptoms during the course of a disease

relative atomic mass
Mass of an atom relative to one-twelfth the mass of an atom of carbon-12. It depends primarily on the number of protons and neutrons in the atom, the electrons having negligible mass. If more than one isotope of the element is present, the relative atomic mass is calculated by taking an average that takes account of the relative proportions...

relative molecular mass
Mass of a molecule, calculated relative to one-twelfth the mass of an atom of carbon-12. It is found by adding the relative atomic masses of the atoms that make up the molecule

Red Scare
Campaign against communists (called `reds`) in the USA during the 20th century, and associated atmosphere of suspicion and fear. The first major Red Scare took place in the aftermath of World War I and the Russian Revolution, and coincided with a period of US labour disorders, most notably by the Industrial Workers of the World. The secon...

Rehoboam
King of Judah about 932–915 BC, son of Solomon. Under his rule the Jewish nation split into the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Ten of the tribes revolted against him and took Jeroboam as their ruler, leaving Rehoboam only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin

resurrection
In Christian, Jewish, and Muslim belief, the rising from the dead that all souls will experience at the Last Judgement. The Resurrection also refers to Jesus rising from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion, a belief central to Christianity and celebrated at Easter

Revelation
Last book of the New Testament, traditionally attributed to the author of the Gospel of St John but now generally held to be the work of another writer. It describes a vision of the end of the world, of the Last Judgement, and of a new heaven and earth ruled by God from Jerusalem

renewable resource
Natural resource that is replaced by natural processes in a reasonable amount of time. Soil, water, forests, plants, and animals are all renewable resources as long as they are properly conserved. Solar, wind, wave, and geothermal energies are based on renewable resources

realism
(arts) In the arts and literature generally, a `true-to-life` approach to subject matter; also described as naturalism. Taken to its extreme, trompe l'oeil paintings trick the eye into believing objects are real. More specifically, realism refers to a movement in mid&...

reverse takeover
In business, situation where a smaller company takes over a larger one. This may be a company's strategy to avoid a hostile takeover by selling itself to a white knight. The term is also used to describe the situation where a private company buys a publicly-listed company. This is often the most cost-effective method of obtaining a publ...

rennet
Extract, traditionally obtained from a calf's stomach, that contains the enzyme rennin, used to coagulate milk in the cheesemaking process. The enzyme can now be chemically produced

red blood cell
Most common type of blood cell, and responsible for transporting oxygen around the body. They contain haemoglobin, a red protein, which combines with oxygen from the lungs to form oxyhaemoglobin. When transported to the tissues the oxyhaemoglobin splits into its original constituents, and the cells a...

Reform Acts
In the UK, acts of Parliament in 1832, 1867, and 1884 that extended voting rights and redistributed parliamentary seats; also known as Representation of the People Acts

Representation of the People Acts
Series of UK acts of Parliament from 1867 that extended voting rights, creating universal suffrage in 1928. The 1867 and 1884 acts are known as the second and third Reform Acts. The 1918 act gave the vote to men over the age of 21 and women over the age of 30, and the 1928 act extended the vote to women over the age of 21. Certain people had the ri...

resonance
Rapid amplification of a vibration when the vibrating object is subject to a force varying at its natural frequency. In a trombone, for example, the length of the air column in the instrument is adjusted until it resonates with the note being sounded. Resonance effects are also produced by many electrical circuits. Tuning a radio, for example, is d...

reel
In cinema, a plastic or metal spool used for winding and storing film. As the size of reels became standardized, the word came to refer to the running time of the film: a standard 35-mm reel held 313 m/900 ft of film, which runs for ten minutes when projected at 24 frames per second, so a two-reeler was a film lasting 20 minutes. Mu...

Redford,
(Charles) US actor and film director. His boyish good looks and versatility earned him his first starring role in Barefoot in the Park (1967), followed by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and The Sting (1973), both with Paul New...

Rehnquist, William
US Supreme Court associate justice 1972–86, and chief justice from 1986. Under his leadership the court established a reputation for conservative rulings on such issues as abortion and capital punishment. This has been possible because a majority of its members have been nominated by Republican presidents; Rehnquist was nominated associate...

René, France-Albert
Seychelles left-wing politician, president 1977–2004. He became the country's first prime minister after independence, and president from 1977 after a coup. He followed a non-nuclear policy of non-alignment. In 1993 René and his party, the People's Progressive Front, won the country's first free elections in 16 yea...

recursion
In computing and mathematics, a technique whereby a function or procedure calls itself into use in order to enable a complex problem to be broken down into simpler steps. For example, a function that finds the factorial of a number n (calculates the product of all the whole numbers between 1 and n) would obtain...

relational database
Database in which data are viewed as a collection of linked tables. It is the most popular of the three basic database models, the others being network and hierarchical. Its theoretical concepts were developed by E F Codd (1924–2003) in the early 1970s

recording
Any of a variety of techniques used to capture, store, and reproduce music, speech, and other information carried by sound waves. A microphone first converts the sound waves into an electrical signal that varies in proportion to the loudness of the sound. The signal can be stored in digital or analogue form, or on magnetic tape. Analogue recording ...

reaction
Click images to enlargeIn chemistry, the coming together, or interaction, of two or more atoms, ions, or molecules with the result that a chemical change takes place and a new substance is formed, with a different chemical composition. The nature of the reaction is described by a chemical equation. For example, in the che...

reduction
In chemistry, the gain of electrons, loss of oxygen, or gain of hydrogen by an atom, ion, or molecule during a chemical reaction. Reduction may be brought about by reaction with another compound, which is simultaneously oxidized (reducing agent), or electrically at the cathode (negative electrode) of an electric cell. Examples include the reduction...

residue
In chemistry, a substance or mixture of substances remaining after the removal of one or more components by a separation process. The nonvolatile substance left in a container after evaporation of liquid, the solid left behind after removal of liquid by filtration, and the substances left in a distillation flask after removal of components by disti...

Recruit scandal
In Japanese politics, the revelation in 1988 that a number of politicians and business leaders had profited from insider trading. It led to the resignation of several cabinet ministers, including Prime Minister Takeshita, whose closest aide committed suicide, and to the arrest of 20 people. It set in motion the breakaway from the ruling Liberal Dem...

residual current device
Device that protects users of electrical equipment from electric shock by interrupting the electricity supply if a short circuit or current leakage occurs. It contains coils carrying current to and from the electrical equipment. If a fault occurs, the currents become unbalanced and the residual current trips a switch. Residual current devices are u...

rem
Unit of radiation dose equivalent

rest mass
In physics, the mass of a body when its velocity is zero or considerably below that of light. According to the theory of relativity, at very high velocities, there is a relativistic effect that increases the mass of the particle

Revere, Paul
American revolutionary, a Boston silversmith, who carried the news of the approach of British troops to Lexington and Concord (see American Revolution) on the night of 18 April 1775. On the next morning the first shots of the Revolution were fired at Lexington. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem &...

response
(biology) Any change in an organism occurring as a result of a stimulus. There are many different types of response, some involving the entire organism, others only groups of cells or tissues. Examples include the muscular contractions in an animal, the movement of leaves towards the light, an...

retina
Light-sensitive area at the back of the eye connected to the brain by the optic nerve. It has several layers and in humans contains over a million rods and cones, sensory cells capable of converting light into nervous messages that pass down the optic nerve to the brain. The rod cells, about 120 million in each eye, are distributed throughout t...

resistivity
In physics, a measure of the ability of a material to resist the flow of an electric current. It is numerically equal to the resistance of a sample of unit length and unit cross-sectional area, and its unit is the ohm metre (symbol Ωm). A good conductor has a low resistivity (1.7 × 10-8 Ωm for copper)&#...

resultant force
In mechanics, a single force acting on a particle or body whose effect is equivalent to the combined effects of two or more separate forces. The resultant of two forces acting at one point on an object can be found using the parallelogram of forces method

reverberation
In acoustics, the multiple reflections, or echoes, of sounds inside a building that merge and persist a short time (up to a few seconds) before fading away. At each reflection some of the sound energy is absorbed, causing the amplitude of the sound wave and the intensity of the sound to reduce a little. Too much reverberation causes sounds to becom...

reactivity series
Chemical series produced by arranging the metals in order of their ease of reaction with reagents such as oxygen, water, and acids. An example of such an arrangement, starting with the most reactive, is: potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, aluminium, zinc, iron, tin, lead, copper, silver, gold. This arrangement aids the understanding of the ...

redox reaction
Chemical change where one reactant is reduced and the other reactant oxidized. The reaction can only occur if both reactants are present and each changes simultaneously. For example, hydrogen reduces copper(II) oxide to copper while it is itself oxidized to water. The corrosion of iron and the reactions taking place in electric and electrolytic cel...

reversible reaction
Chemical reaction that proceeds in both directions at the same time, as the product decomposes back into reactants as it is being produced. Such reactions do not run to completion, provided that no substance leaves the system. Examples include the manufacture of ammonia from hydrogen and nitrogen, and the oxidation of sulphur dioxide to sulphur tri...

Red River
(USA) Western tributary of the Mississippi River, USA, 1,638 km/1,018 mi long; so called because of the reddish soil sediment it carries. Formed in Oklahoma by the confluence of the North Fork and the Prairie Dog Town Fork, it flows through Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana, before enteri...

remand
In law, the committing of an accused but not convicted person into custody or to release on bail while awaiting a court hearing or trial

regolith
Surface layer of loose material that covers most bedrock. It consists of eroded rocky material, volcanic ash, river alluvium, vegetable matter, or a mixture of these known as soil

reflexology
In alternative medicine, manipulation and massage of the feet to ascertain and treat disease or dysfunction elsewhere in the body. It is based on the belief that each part of the foot is a mirror site for a part of the body. Reflexologists consider themselves to be holistic medicine practitioners, not foot doctors, as they believe that the whole bo...

remix
In pop music, the studio practice of reassembling a recording from all or some of its individual components, often with the addition of new elements. As a commercial concept, remixes accompanied the rise of the 12-inch single in the 1980s. Issuing a recording in several different remixes ensures additional sales to collectors and increases airp...

repetitive strain injury
Generic term for various kinds of work-related musculoskeletal injuries, such as carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis. Symptoms of RSI include inflammation of tendon sheaths, mainly in the hands and wrists, which may be disabling. It is found predominantly in factory workers involved in constant repetitive movements, and in those who work with...

renewable energy
Power from any source that can be replenished. Most renewable systems rely on solar energy directly or through the weather cycle as wave power, hydroelectric power, wind power via wind turbines, or solar energy collected by plants (alcohol fuels, for example). In addition, the gravitational force of ...

reuse
Multiple use of a product (often a form of packaging), by returning it to the manufacturer or processor each time. Many such returnable items are sold with a deposit which is reimbursed if the item is returned. Reuse is usually more energy- and resource-efficient than recycling unless there are large transport or cleaning costs

reflex
In animals, a very rapid involuntary response to a particular stimulus. It is controlled by the nervous system. A reflex involves only a few nerve cells, unlike the slower but more complex responses produced by the many processing nerve cells of the brain. A simple reflex is entirely automatic and in...

reverse osmosis
Movement of solvent (liquid) through a semipermeable membrane from a more concentrated solution to a more dilute solution. The solvent's direction of movement is opposite to that which it would experience during osmosis, and is achieved by applying an external pressure to the solution on the more concentrated side of the membrane. The technique...

repellent
Anything whose smell, taste, or other properties discourages nearby creatures. Insect repellent is usually a chemical substance that keeps, for example, mosquitoes at bay; natural substances include citronella, lavender oil, and eucalyptus oils. A device that emits ultrasound waves is also claimed to repel insects and small mammals

resolution
(computing) In computing, the number of dots per unit length in which an image can be reproduced on a screen or printer. A typical screen resolution for colour monitors is 72–96 dpi (dots per inch). A laser printer will typically...

revolutions of 1989
Popular uprisings in many countries of Eastern Europe against communist rule, prompted by internal reforms in the USSR that permitted dissent within its sphere of influence. By 1990 nearly all the Warsaw Pact countries had moved from one-party to pluralist political systems, in most cases peacefully but with growing hostility between various na...

Renault
French motor-vehicle manufacturer, founded in 1898. Having been under state control from the 1940s, the company was privatized in 1996. Three years later it entered into a cross-shareholding alliance with Japanese motor manufacturer Nissan. By 2005 Renault–Nissan sales accounted for almost 10% of the worldwide market. In 2005 and 2...