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


sial
In geochemistry and geophysics, the substance of the Earth's continental crust, as distinct from the sima of the ocean crust. The name, now used rarely, is derived from silica and alumina, its two main chemical constituents. Sial is often rich in granite

Silurian Period
Period of geological time 439–409 million years ago, the third period of the Palaeozoic era. Silurian sediments are mostly marine and consist of shales and limestone. Luxuriant reefs were built by coral-like organisms. The first land plants began to evolve during this period, and there were many ostracoderms (armoured jawless fishes). The ...

sitatunga
Herbivorous antelope Tragelaphus spekei found in several swamp regions in Central Africa. Its hooves are long and splayed to help progress on soft surfaces. It grows to about 1.2 m/4 ft high at the shoulder; the male has thick horns up to 90 cm/3 ft long. Males are dark greyish-brown, females and young are chestnu...

siamang
The largest gibbon Symphalangus syndactylus, native to Malaysia and Sumatra. Siamangs have a large throat pouch to amplify the voice, making the territorial `song` extremely loud. They are black-haired, up to 90 cm/3 ft tall, with very long arms (a span of 150 cm/5 ft)

silicon chip
Integrated circuit with microscopically small electrical components on a piece of silicon crystal only a few millimetres square. One chip may contain more than a million components. A chip is mounted in a rectangular plastic package and linked via gold wires to metal pins, so that it can be connected to a printed circuit board for use in electronic...

sine
Click images to enlargeIn trigonometry, a function of an angle in a right-angled triangle that is defined as the ratio of the length of the side opposite the angle to the length of the hypotenuse (the longest side). This function can be used to find either angles or sides in a right-angled triangle

simultaneous equations
Two or more algebraic equations that contain two or more unknown quantities that may have a unique solution. For example, in the case of two linear equations with two unknown variables, such as: (i) x + 3y = 6 and (ii) 3y - 2x = 4 the solution will be th...

Sikorsky, Igor Ivan
Ukrainian-born US engineer. He built the first successful Helicopter in 1939 (commercially produced from 1943). His first biplane flew in 1910, and in 1929 he began to construct multi-engined flying boats. The first helicopter was followed by a whole series of production designs using one, then two, piston engines. During the late 1950s pis...

silencer
(exhaust) Device in the exhaust system of cars and motorcycles. Gases leave the engine at supersonic speeds, and the exhaust system and silencer are designed to slow them down, thereby silencing them. Some silencers use baffle plates (plates with holes, which disrupt the airflow), others use p...

simile
(language) Figure of speech that in English uses the conjunctions like and as to express the comparison between two different things (`run like the devil`; `as d eaf as a post`). It is sometimes confused with metaphor. The simile mak...

Sisyphus
In Greek mythology, a king of Corinth who was condemned to Tartarus, a region of the underworld for the wicked. As punishment for his evil life, he was forced to roll a huge stone uphill for eternity; it always fell back before he could reach the top

siren
(mythology) In Greek mythology, a sea nymph, half woman and half bird, who lured sailors to shipwreck along rocky coasts with her irresistable singing, before devouring them. Odysseus, on the advice of the enchantress Circe, tied himself to the mast of his ship in order to hear the sirens safe...

Sino-Japanese Wars
Two wars waged by Japan against China 1894–95 and 1931–45 to expand to the mainland. Territory gained in the First Sino-Japanese War (Korea) and in the 1930s (Manchuria, Shanghai) was returned at the end of World War II. First Sino-Japanese War 1894–95. Under the treaty of Shim...

Sinn Fein
Irish political party founded in 1905, whose aim is the creation of a united republican Ireland. The driving political force behind Irish nationalism between 1916 and 1921, Sinn Fein returned to prominence with the outbreak of violence (`the Troubles`) in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s, when it split into `Provisional` and &...

Sind
Province of southeast Pakistan, mainly in the Indus delta; area 140,914 sq km/54,393 sq mi; population (1993 est) 28,930,000. The capital and chief port is Karachi. Industries include shipbuilding, cement, textiles, and foundries; salt is mined. Wheat, rice, cotton, barley, oilseeds, and vegetables are grown; red Sindhi cattle, ...

Sinai, Battle of
Battle 6–24 October 1973 during the Yom Kippur War between Israel and Egypt. It was one of the longest tank battles in history. Israeli troops crossed the Suez Canal 16 October, cutting off the Egyptian 3rd Army

Sinai, Mount
Mountain near the tip of the Sinai Peninsula; height 2,285 m/7,500 ft. According to the Old Testament this is where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. Its identity is not absolutely certain, but it is traditionally thought to be Jebel Musa (`Mountain of Moses`)

Simpson Desert
Desert area in Australia, chiefly in Northern Territory; area 145,000 sq km/56,000 sq mi. The desert was named after a president of the South Australian Geographical Society who financed its exploration

Simplon Pass
Alpine pass Switzerland–Italy. The road was built by the French emperor Napoleon 1800–05; the Simplon Tunnel, built in 1906, is 19.8 km/12.3 mi, one of Europe's longest

Simenon, Georges Joseph Christian
Belgian crime writer. Initially a pulp fiction writer, in 1931 he created Inspector Maigret of the Paris Sûreté who appeared in a series of detective novels

simony
In the Christian church, the buying and selling of church preferments, now usually regarded as a sin. First condemned 451, it remained widespread until the Reformation. The term is derived from Simon Magus (Acts 8) who offered money to the Apostles for the power of the Holy Ghost

Silk Road
Ancient and medieval overland route of about 6,400 km/4,000 mi by which silk was brought from China to Europe in return for trade goods; it ran west via the Gobi Desert, Samarkand, and Antioch to Mediterranean ports in Greece, Italy, the Middle East, and Egypt. Buddhism came to China via this...

silk
(thread) Natural fibre made from fine soft thread produced by the larva of the silkworm moth when making its cocoon. It is soaked, carefully unwrapped, and used in the manufacture of textiles. The introduction of synthetic fibre originally harmed the silk industry, but rising standards of livi...

silicosis
Chronic disease of miners and stone cutters who inhale silica dust, which makes the lung tissues fibrous and less capable of aerating the blood. It is a form of pneumoconiosis

Silesia
Region of Europe that has long been disputed because of its geographical position, mineral resources, and industrial potential; now in Poland and the Czech Republic with metallurgical industries and a coalfield in Polish Silesia. Dispute began in the 17th century with claims on the area by both Austria and Prussia. It was seized by Prussia'...

Silbury Hill
Artificial mound of the Neolithic (New Stone Age) period, around 2800 BC, situated just south of Avebury in Wiltshire, England. Steep and rounded, it towers 40 m/130 ft high with a surrounding ditch approximately 6 m/20 ft deep, made when quarrying for the structure. It is the largest ancient artificial mound in Europe. Excavation has revea...

Sierra Nevada
(Spain) Click images to enlargeMountain range of southern Spain, mainly in the province of Granada, but also extending east into Almería. The highest point is Mulhacén (3,481 m/11,425 ft high). It has several winter sports resorts; ...

Sierra Madre
Click images to enlargeChief mountain system of Mexico, consisting of three ranges, the Sierra Madre Oriental, the Sierra Madre del Sur, and the Sierra Madre Occidental, enclosing the central plateau of the country; the highest peak is Citlaltepetl at 5,700 m/18,700 ft. The Sierra Madre del Sur (`of the south...

Siena
(town) Town in Tuscany, Italy, about 50 km/31 mi south of Florence; population (2001) 52,600. Founded by the Etruscans, it has medieval sculpture including works in the 13th-century unfinished Gothic cathedral by Niccolo P...

Sicily
The largest Mediterranean island and an autonomous region of Italy, divided from the Italian mainland by the Strait of Messina; area 25,708 sq km/9,926 sq mi; population (2001 est) 4,866,200. It consists of nine provinces: Agrigento, Caltanissetta, Catania, Enna, Messina, Palermo, Rag...

Sichuan
Province of central China, bounded to the north by Qinghai, Gansu, and Shaanxi; to the east by Hubei and Hunan; to the south by Guizhou and Yunnan; and to the west by Tibet; area 539,000 sq km/208,000 sq mi; population (2000 est) 83,290,000. The capital is Chengdu. There are coal, natural gas, iron ore, salt brine, textile, ...

Sibyl
In Roman mythology, one of many priestesses who prophesied under a deity's direct inspiration; most notably the Sibyl of Cumae, near Naples. A priestess of Apollo, she guided Aeneas to Hades, and offered to sell nine collections of prophecies, the Sibylline Books, to the legendary king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus. The price was too high, b...

Siberia
Asian region of Russia, extending from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean; area 12,050,000 sq km/4,650,000 sq mi. Hydroelectric power is generated from the rivers Lena, Ob, and Yenisey; forestry and agriculture are practised. There are vast mineral resources, including coal (in the Kuznetsk Basin), gold, diamonds, oil, natural gas,...

Sibelius, Jean Julius Christian
Finnish composer. His works include nationalistic symphonic poems such as En saga (1893) and Finlandia (1900), a violin concerto (1904), and seven symphonies. In 1940 he suddenly ceased composing and spent the rest of his life as a recluse. Restoration of many works to their original state has helped to remove ...

Sioux
Member of an American Indian people who inhabit the Great Plains region; the largest group of Plains Indians. Their language belongs to the Siouan family, and they are divided into three groups: Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota. Originally hunter-gatherers living around Lake Superior, Michigan, they were forced into North and South Dakota by ...

Sinatra, Frank
(Francis Albert) US singer and film actor. Celebrated for his phrasing and emotion, especially on love ballads, he was particularly associated with the song `My Way`. His films included From Here to Eternity (1953), for which he won an Academy Award, The M...

Sinai
Click images to enlargeEgyptian peninsula, triangular in shape and largely desert, at the head of the Red Sea to the south and bordering the Mediterranean to the north; area 65,000 sq km/25,000 sq mi. Resources include oil, natural gas, manganese, and coal; irrigation water from the River Nile is carried under...

Simon,
(Marvin) US dramatist and screenwriter. His stage plays (which were made into films) include the wryly comic Barefoot in the Park (1963; filmed 1967), The Odd Couple (1965; filmed 1968), and The Sunshine Boys (1972; filmed 19...

silver
White, lustrous, extremely malleable and ductile, metallic element, atomic number 47, relative atomic mass 107.868. Its chemical symbol comes from the Latin argentum. It occurs in nature in ores and as a free metal; the chief ores are sulphides, from which the metal is extracted by smelting with lead. It is the best metallic ...

Sillitoe, Alan
English novelist. One of the Angry Young Men of the 1950s, he wrote Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1958), about a working-class man in Nottingham; the character, Arthur Seaton, returned in Birthday (2001). The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is the title story of a collecti...

silhouette
Profile or shadow portrait filled in with black or a dark colour. A common pictorial technique in Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, it was named after Etienne de Silhouette (1709–1767), a French finance minister who made paper cut-outs as a hobby

Sikorski, Wladyslaw Eugeniusz
Polish general and politician; prime minister 1922–23, and 1939–43 in the Polish government in exile in London during World War II. He was killed in an aeroplane crash near Gibraltar in controversial circumstances. Together with Józef Pilsudski he fought for the restoration of an independent Poland during World War I. As a result...

Sikhism
Religion professed by 14 million Indians, living mainly in the Punjab. Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak. Sikhs believe in a single God (monotheism) who is the immortal creator of the universe and who has never been incarnate in any form, and in the equality of all human beings; Sikhism is strongly opposed to caste divisions. Their holy book is...

signal
Any sign, gesture, sound, or action that conveys information. Examples include the use of flags (semaphore), light (traffic and railway signals), radio telephony, radio telegraphy (Morse code), and electricity (telecommunications and computer networks). The International Code of Signals used by shipping was drawn up by an international committee an...

Siegfried
Legendary Germanic and Norse hero. His story, which may contain some historical elements, occurs in the German Nibelungenlied/Song of the Nibelung and in the Norse Elder or Poetic Edda and the prose Völsunga Saga (in the last two works, the hero ...

Sidney, Philip
English poet and incompetent soldier. He wrote the sonnet sequence Astrophel and Stella (1591), Arcadia (1590), a prose romance, and Apologie for Poetrie (1595). Politically, Sidney became a charismatic, but hardly powerful, figure supporting a `forward` foreign policy that would he...

Siddons, Sarah
English actor. Her majestic presence made her suited to tragic and heroic roles such as Lady Macbeth, Zara in Congreve's The Mourning Bride, and Constance in King John. She toured the provinces with her father Roger Kemble (1721–1802), until she appeared in London to immediate acclaim in Otway's &l...

Sickert, Walter Richard
English artist. His works, broadly Impressionist in style, capture subtleties of tone and light, often with a melancholic atmosphere, their most familiar subjects being the rather shabby cityscapes and domestic and music-hall interiors of late Victorian and Edwardian London. Ennui (c. 1913; Tate Gallery...

sickle-cell disease
Hereditary chronic blood disorder common among people of black African descent; also found in the eastern Mediterranean, parts of the Gulf, and in northeastern India. It is characterized by distortion and fragility of the red blood cells, which are lost too rapidly from the circulation. This often results in anaemia. People with this disease ha...

sisal
Strong fibre made from various species of agave, such as Agave sisalina

silica
Silicon dioxide, SiO2, the composition of the most common mineral group, of which the most familiar form is quartz. Other silica forms are chalcedony, chert, opal, tridymite, and cristobalite. Common sand consists largely of silica in the form of quartz

Siraj-ud-Daula
Nawab of Bengal, India, from April 1756. He captured Calcutta (now Kolkata) from the British in June 1756 and imprisoned some of the British in the Black Hole of Calcutta (a small room in which a number of them died), but was defeated in 1757 by Robert Clive, and lost Bengal to the British at the Battle of Plassey. He was killed in his capital, Mur...

sirocco
Hot, normally dry and dust-laden wind that blows from the deserts of North Africa across the Mediterranean into southern Europe. It occurs mainly in the spring. The name `sirocco` is also applied to any hot oppressive wind

silk-screen printing
Method of printing based on stencilling. It can be used to print on most surfaces, including paper, plastic, fabric, and wood. A fine mesh (originally silk) is stretched across a wooden frame to form the screen. An impermeable stencil (either paper or a photosensitized coating) is applied to it, so that the ink passes through to the area beneath on...

Sihanouk, Norodom
Cambodian politician, king 1941–55 and 1993–2004. He was prime minister 1955–70, when his government was overthrown in a military coup led by Lon Nol. With Pol Pot's resistance front, he overthrew Lon Nol in 1975 and again became prime minister 1975–76, when he was forced to resign by the Khmer Rouge. He returned from exile ...

sinfonietta
Orchestral work that is of a shorter, lighter nature than a symphony, for example Leoš Janácek's Sinfonietta (1926). It is also the name for a small-scale orchestra specializing in such works, for example the London Sinfonietta

Simon, Paul
US pop singer and songwriter. In a folk-rock duo with Art Garfunkel, he had such hits as `The Sound of Silence` (1965), `Mrs Robinson` (1968) and `Bridge Over Troubled Water` (1970). Simon's solo work includes the critically acclaimed album Graceland (1986), for which he drew on Cajun and Afr...

siemens
SI unit of electrical conductance, the reciprocal of the resistance of an electrical circuit. One siemens equals one ampere per volt. It was formerly called the mho or reciprocal ohm

sievert
SI unit of radiation dose equivalent. It replaces the rem (1 Sv equals 100 rem). Some types of radiation do more damage than others for the same absorbed dose – for example, an absorbed dose of alpha radiation causes 20 times as much biological damage as the same dose of beta radiation. The equivalent dose in sieverts is equal to the absorbed ...

Sierra Leone
Country in West Africa, on the Atlantic Ocean, bounded north and east by Guinea and southeast by Liberia. Government Sierra Leone has a directly-elected presidential executive. Its 1991 constitution, which was suspended by the military during much of the 1990s, provides for a multiparty system. The president, who is head of state, head of gover...

Singapore
Country in southeast Asia, off the tip of the Malay Peninsula. Government Singapore is a multiparty democracy with a prime ministerial political executive, but since independence one party, the People's Action Party (PAP), has dominated. The constitution of 1965, as amended in 1991, provides for ...

Six Counties
The six counties that form Northern Ireland: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry/Derry, and Tyrone. Administrative responsibilities are held by 26 district councils. They were set up at the time of partition, under the Government of Ireland Act (UK) 1920

Sikh Wars
Two wars in India between the Sikhs and the British: The First Sikh War 1845–46 followed an invasion of British India by Punjabi Sikhs. The Sikhs were defeated and part of their territory annexed. The Second Sikh War 1848–49 arose from a Sikh revolt in Multan. They were defeated, and the British annexed the Punjab

Singer, Isaac Bashevis
Polish-born US novelist and short-story writer. He lived in the USA from 1935. His works, written in Yiddish, often portray traditional Jewish life in Poland and the USA, and the loneliness of old age. They include The Family Moskat (1950) and Gimpel the Fool and Other Stories (1957). He was awarded the...

SI units
Standard system of scientific units used by scientists worldwide. Originally proposed in 1960, it replaces the m.k.s., c.g.s., and f.p.s. systems. It is based on seven basic units: the metre (m) for length, kilogram (kg) for mass, second (s) for time, ampere (A) for electrical current, kelvin (K) for temperature, mole (mol) f...

Sigurd
Hero of Norse legend; see Siegfried

Sikkim
Upland state of northeast India, bounded by Nepal to the west, Bhutan to the east, Tibet (China) to the north and West Bengal state to the south; area 7,299 sq km/2,818 sq mi; population (2001 est) 540,500. The capital is Gangtok. Industries include carpets, textiles, cigarettes, and food processing, but the state is largely dependent o...

silage
Fodder preserved through controlled fermentation in a silo, an airtight structure that presses green crops. It is used as a winter feed for livestock. The term also refers to stacked crops that may be preserved indefinitely

Singapore City
Capital of Singapore, on the southeast coast of the island of Singapore; population (2000 est) 3,151,300. Its deepwater harbour, its free port status, and its position between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea have helped the city to become the largest port of Southeast Asia and a commercial centre of world class. Major industries includ...

SI
Abbreviation for Système International d'Unités (French `International System of Metric Units`); see SI units

sickle
Harvesting tool of ancient origin characterized by a curving blade with serrated cutting edge and short wooden handle. It was widely used in the Middle East and Europe for cutting wheat, barley, and oats from about 10,000 BC to the 19th century

Sigismund
Holy Roman Emperor from 1411, king of Hungary 1387–1437, and king of Bohemia 1419–37. Sigismund's reign was overshadowed by two religious issues: the Great Schism and the agitation of the reformer John Huss. Sigismund demonstrated his ability as a European leader in working to end the schism by arranging the Council of Constance i...

Sinan
Ottoman architect. He was chief architect to Suleiman the Magnificent from 1538. Among the hundreds of buildings he designed are the Suleimaniye mosque complex in Istanbul 1551–58 and the Selimiye mosque in Adrinople (now Edirne) 1569–74

sin
Transgression of the will of God or the gods, as revealed in the moral code laid down by a particular religion. In Roman Catholic theology, a distinction is made between mortal sins, which, if unforgiven, result in damnation, and venial sins, which are less serious. In Islam, the one unforgivable sin is shirk, denial that Allah is the only god. In ...

Singh, Gobind
Sikh guru; see Gobind Singh

Sita
In Hinduism, the wife of Rama, an avatar (manifestation) of the god Vishnu; a character in the Ramayana epic, characterized by chastity and kindness

Simone Martini
Italian painter. A master of the Sienese school, he was a pupil of Duccio and continued the bright colours and graceful linear patterns of Sienese painting while introducing a fresh element of naturalism. Among his most important works are the Maestà (1315) in the Town Hall of Siena and the Annunciation (1...

Singh, Vishwanath Pratap
Indian politician, prime minister 1989–90. As a member of the Congress (I) Party, he held ministerial posts under Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, and from 1984 led an anti-corruption drive. When he unearthed an arms-sales scandal in 1988, he was ousted from the government and party and formed a broad-based opposition alliance, the ...

Sinhalese
The majority ethnic group of Sri Lanka (70% of the population). Sinhalese is the official language of Sri Lanka; it belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family, and is written in a script derived from the Indian Pali form. The Sinhalese are Buddhists. Since 1971 they have been involved in a violent struggle with t...

sinusitis
Painful inflammation of one of the sinuses, or air spaces, that surround the nasal passages. Most cases clear with antibiotics and nasal decongestants, but some require surgical drainage. Sinusitis most frequently involves the maxillary sinuses, within the cheek bones, producing pain around the eyes, toothache, and a nasal discharge

sic
Abbreviation (Latin `thus`, `so`) sometimes found in brackets within a printed quotation to show that the original has been quoted accurately even though it contains an apparent error (`she wrote threatening to charge me with assult and batery [sic] if I did not apologize`)

silicate
One of a group of minerals containing silicon and oxygen in tetrahedral units of SiO4, bound together in various ways to form specific structural types. Silicates are the chief rock-forming minerals. Most rocks are composed, wholly or in part, of silicates (the main exception being limestones). Glass is a manufactured com...

singularity
In astrophysics, point in space-time at which the known laws of physics break down. A singularity is predicted to exist at the centre of a black hole, where infinite gravitational forces compress the infalling mass of a collapsing star to infinite density. According to the Big Bang model of the origin of the universe, the expansion of the unive...

Sino-Soviet split
Period of strained relations between the two major communist powers, China and the USSR, during the early 1960s, thus dividing the communist world. The tension was based partly on differences in ideology but also involved rivalry for leadership and old territorial border claims. The Chinese communists also criticized the USSR for supplying aircraft...

Sitting Bull
American Indian chief of the Hunkpapa Sioux during the Plains Wars of 1865–90, the struggle between the Plains Indians and the USA. In 1868 Sitting Bull agreed to Sioux resettlement in North and South Dakota, but when gold was discovered in the Black Hills region, miners and the US army invaded ...

sick building syndrome
Malaise diagnosed in the early 1980s among office workers and thought to be caused by such pollutants as formaldehyde (from furniture and insulating materials), benzene (from paint), and the solvent trichloroethene, concentrated in air-conditioned buildings. Symptoms include headache, sore throat, tiredness, colds, and flu. Studies have found t...

Sierra Nevada
(USA) Mountain range in eastern California, USA, extending for about 640 km/400 mi, with a general ridge line at over 2,500 m/8,202 ft. Its highest point is Mount Whitney, which rises to 4,418 m/14,494 ft. The Sierra Nevad...

Six-Day War
Another name for the third Arab-Israeli War

SIDS
Acronym for sudden infant death syndrome, the medical name for cot death

site of special scientific interest
In the UK, land that has been identified as having animals, plants, or geological features that need to be protected and conserved. From 1991 these sites were designated and administered by English Nature, Scottish Natural Heritage, and the Countryside Council for Wales. Numbers fluctuate, but Britain had almost 5,000 SSSIs in 1998, two-thirds ...

Sindhi
The majority ethnic group living in the Pakistani province of Sind. The Sindhi language is spoken by about 15 million people. Since the partition of India and Pakistan 1947, large numbers of Urdu-speaking refugees have moved into the region from India, especially into the capital, Karachi

Sino-Tibetan languages
Group of languages spoken in Southeast Asia. This group covers a large area, and includes Chinese and Burmese, both of which have numerous dialects. Some classifications include the Tai group of languages (including Thai and Lao) in the Sino-Tibetan family

Silayev, Ivan Stepanovich
Soviet politician, prime minister of the USSR August–December 1991. A member of the Communist Party 1959–91 and of its Central Committee 1981–91, Silayev emerged as a reformer in 1990, founding the Democratic Reform Movement (with former foreign minister Shevardnadze). An engineer, Silayev worked 1954–74 in the military-indu...

significant figures
Figures in a number that, by virtue of their position, express the magnitude of that number to a specified degree of accuracy. In a number, the first significant figure is the first figure that is not a 0. The final significant figure is rounded up if the following digit is greater than 5. For example, 5,463,254 to three significant figures is 5,46...

situationism
In ethics, the doctrine that any action may be good or bad depending on its context or situation. Situationists argue that no moral rule can apply in all situations and that what may be wrong in most cases may be right if the end is sufficiently good. In general, situationists believe moral attitudes are more important than moral rules. One of the ...

similar
Of plane or solid figures, having the same shape but a different size or orientation. Two similar figures will have the same corresponding angles, and the ratio of the lengths of their corresponding sides or edges will be constant. They are, therefore, identical shapes but different sizes. Similar figures may be produced by enlargement. For example...

sine rule
Click images to enlargeIn trigonometry, a rule that relates the sides and angles of a triangle, stating that the ratio of the length of each side and the sine of the angle opposite is constant (twice the radius of the circumscribing circle). If the sides of a triangle are a, b, and &l...

Siva
Alternative spelling of Shiva, Hindu god

Single European Act
Act signed in 1986 (and in force from July 1987) to establish a single European market, defined as an area without frontiers in which free movement of goods, services, people, and capital is ensured. The act was the first major revision of the Treaties of Rome. It provided for greater involvement of the European Parliament in the decision-makin...

silverpoint
Drawing instrument consisting of silver wire encased in a holder, used on paper prepared with opaque white. An example of silverpoint is Dürer's Self-portrait (1484; Albertina, Vienna). The ground was composed of powdered bones and gumwater, giving an ivory finish, though in Italy, and especially in Florence, tin...