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Talk Talk - Communication terms
Category: General technical and industrial
Date & country: 28/05/2010, UK
Words: 18630
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threadIn computing, subject line of electronic messages within an online topic or conference. Most online conferencing systems use some kind of threading; one advantage is that it makes it easy for readers of a particular conference or forum to skip over sections that do not interest them. Threading is an important feature of off-line readers, as...
ThurrockUnitary authority in eastern England, created in 1998 from part of Essex. Area 163 sq km/63 sq mi Towns and cities Grays (administrative headquarters), Purfleet, Tilbury, Chadwell, St Mary, Stanford-le-Hope, Corringham, South Ockendon Features located on north bank of River Thames; Holehaven Creek forms eastern border of authority&#...
thin clientIn computing, a simplified network computer or terminal. In a thin client network all the applications are executed on a central server computer, sometimes called a terminal server. All of the users' input, that is, mouse movements, clicks, and keyboard presses, are encoded using special protocols and sent to the terminal server, which then fee...
ThucydidesAthenian historian. He was briefly a general during the Peloponnesian War with Sparta, but as a result of his failure to save Amphipolis from the Spartan general Brasidas, he was banished from Athens in 424. His
History of the Peloponnesian War gives a detailed account of the conflict to 411. The work is remarkable not only for t...
Theodoric the GreatKing of the Ostrogoths 471–526. He led the Ostrogoths from the Danube frontier regions of the Roman Empire to conquer Italy, where he established a peaceful and prosperous kingdom. Although remembered for his benevolent rule in later years, Theodoric was ruthless in his efforts to attain power. He had no strong successor and his kingdom eventu...
Thermopylae, Battle of(480 BC) Battle between the Greeks under the Spartan king Leonidas and the invading Persians under Xerxes I. They clashed at the narrow mountain pass of Thermopylae, leading from Thessaly to Locrish in central Greece. Although the Greeks were defeated, the heroism of those who fought to the la...
Thorpe, IanAustralian swimmer who won numerous Olympic and World titles in his short-lived career. Known as `Thorpedo`, he took nearly two seconds off the 400-metre freestyle world record at the 1999 Pan Pacific Championships and claimed the world record for the 200-metre freestyle event. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, he won the gold meda...
three-dimensionalDescribing a solid shape having three measurements: length, width, and depth. Examples of three-dimensional shapes are a cube, cuboid, and prism
throwingIn ceramics, the operation of shaping clay on a potter's wheel, a revolving head (disc) onto which a lump of wet clay is `thrown` and then shaped manually. The potter's wheel was invented by the ancient Egyptians in about 5000 BC. Its simplest form is the kickwheel, propelled by the potter using a crank or treadle to keep the turn...
thrillerSensational or exciting novel or film genre. US authors specializing in thriller novels include Tom Clancy, John Grisham, and Thomas Harris, and English thriller novelists include Jack Higgins, John Le Carré, and Alistair MacLean
threnodyGenre of poetry and song, mourning the death of a person or people, similar to a lament
ThüringenGerman name for Thuringia, an administrative region in Germany
thankaElaborate Buddhist wall hanging depicting the lives of the many bodhisattvas, who put off their final liberation to help other beings, and to whom believers may pray for help. Thankas are used in Tibetan Buddhism, or Lamaism
Three Universal TruthsIn Buddhism, the three signs of existence: anicca (impermanence), anatta (impersonality or no self), and dukkha (suffering)
Three TreasuresIn Buddhism, the Buddha, the Sangha (monastic orders), and the dharma (religious teachings). To be or to become a Buddhist, the adherent will `go for refuge` in the Three Treasures – that is, they will have faith in the support of the Buddha and his life, in the scriptures, and in the community of Buddhists
Three RefugesAnother term for the Three Treasures of Buddhism
timberClick images to enlargeWood used in construction, furniture, and paper pulp. Hardwoods include tropical mahogany, teak, ebony, rosewood, temperate oak, elm, beech, and eucalyptus. All except eucalyptus are slow-growing, and world supplies are almost exhausted. Softwoods comprise the conifers (pine, fir, spruce, and la...
TitusRoman emperor from AD 79. Eldest son of Vespasian, he captured Jerusalem in 70 to end the Jewish revolt in Roman Palestine. He completed the Colosseum, and helped to mitigate the suffering from the eruption of Vesuvius in 79, which destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum
TivoliTown in Lazio, Italy, 25 km/15 mi northeast of Rome, Italy; population (2001) 49,300. It has the remains of Hadrian's Villa, with gardens; and the Villa d'Este, with Renaissance gardens laid out in 1549 for Cardinal Ippolito d'Este. Wine is produced, and travertine (a decorative building stone) is quarried locally
TitoYugoslav communist politician, in effective control of Yugoslavia from 1943. In World War II he organized the National Liberation Army to carry on guerrilla warfare against the German invasion in 1941, and was created marshal in 1943. As prime minister 1945–53 and president from 1953, he followed a foreign policy of `positive neutralism&#...
Titicaca, LakeClick images to enlargeLake in the Andes, 3,810 m/12,500 ft above sea level and 1,220 m/4,000 ft above the treeline; area 8,300 sq km/3,200 sq mi, the largest lake in South America, and the world's highest navigable body of water. It is divided between Bolivia (port at Guaqui) and Peru (ports at Puno (...
TitianItalian painter. He was one of the greatest artists of the High Renaissance. During his long career he was court painter to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and to his son, Philip II of Spain. He produced a vast number of portraits, religious paintings, and mythological scenes, including
Bacchus and Ariadne (1520–23; Natio...
titheFormerly, payment exacted from the inhabitants of a parish for the maintenance of the church and its incumbent; some religious groups continue the practice by giving 10% of members' incomes to charity. It was originally the grant of a tenth of all agricultural produce made to priests in Hebrew society. In the Middle Ages the tithe was a...
TirolFederal state of Austria, bounded to the north by Bavaria and to the south by Italy; area 12,648 sq km/4,883 sq mi; population (2001 est) 675,100. Its capital is Innsbruck. East Tirol, the part south of the Hohe Tauern, is detached from the rest of the province
Tipu SultanSultan of Mysore (now Karnataka) in southwestern India from the death of his father, Hyder Ali in 1782. He died of wounds when his capital, Seringapatam, was captured by the British. His rocket brigade led Sir William Congreve (1772–1828) to develop the weapon for use in the Napoleonic Wars
Tippett, Michael(Kemp) English composer. With Benjamin Britten, he became the foremost English composer of his generation. His works include the operas
The Midsummer Marriage (1952),
The Knot Garden (1970), and
New Year (1989); four symphonies; ...
TipperaryCounty of the Republic of Ireland, in the province of Munster, divided into the administrative areas of North and South Ridings; county town Clonmel; area 4,255 sq km/1,643 sq mi; population (2002) Tipperary North 61,000; Tipperary South 79,100. It includes part of the Golden Vale...
TintorettoVenetian painter who produced portraits and religious works of great intensity. Outstanding among his many works is a series of religious works in the Scuola di S Rocco in Venice (1564–88), the dramatic figures lit by a flickering, unearthly light, the space around them distorted into long perspectives. Among his best-known works is
Tintagel
Village resort on the coast of north Cornwall, southwest England; population (2001) 1,820. There are castle ruins, and legend has it that King Arthur was born and held court here
tinnitus
In medicine, constant buzzing or ringing in the ears. The phenomenon may originate from prolonged exposure to noisy conditions (drilling, machinery, or loud music) or from damage to or disease of the middle or inner ear. The victim may become overwhelmed by the relentless noise in the head. In some cases there is a hum at a frequency of about 40 Hz...
Tinbergen, Niko(laas)
Dutch-born British zoologist who was awarded a Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1973 for his work in animal behaviour patterns. He specialized in the study of instinctive behaviour in animals, and was one of the founders of ethology, the scientific study of animal behaviour in natural surroundings. He shared the prize with Konrad Loren...
Tinbergen, Jan
Dutch economist. Tinbergen's work was focused on econometrics (the mathematical-statistical expression of economic theory), with studies of the US and British economies appearing in Statistical Testing of Business Cycle Theories (1939) and Business Cycles in the United Kingdom, 1870–1914 (1951) res...
Times Beach
Town in Missouri, USA, that accidentally became contaminated with dioxin, and was bought by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1983 for cleansing
Tijuana
City and resort in northwestern Mexico, on the Pacific coast, in the state of Baja California; population (2000 est) 1,210,800. The border with the USA at Tijuana and San Diego is believed to be the busiest frontier in the world and there is a considerable tourist trade, for which local horse and dog racing, bullfighting, and casinos are attrac...
Tigris
River flowing through Turkey and Iraq (see also Mesopotamia), joining the Euphrates 80 km/50 mi northwest of Basra, where it forms the Shatt-al-Arab; length 1,600 km/1,000 mi
Tiahuanaco
Site of a city in Bolivia 24 km/15 mi south of Lake Titicaca in the Andes. It gave its name to the 8th–14th-century civilizations found in Peru and Bolivia that preceded the Inca. The Tiahuanco were responsible for many of the roads originally thought to have been built by the Inca. Dating from c. 600, Tiahuanaco was...
Tierra del Fuego
Island group separated from the southern extremity of South America by the Strait of Magellan; Cape Horn is at the southernmost point. The islands are all mountainous and cool, with a mean annual temperature of 6°C/43°F. There are oil, natural gas, and sheep farming industries. Tourism is also important. The largest island is Tier...
Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista
(Giambattista) Italian painter. He was one of the first exponents of Italian rococo and created monumental decorative schemes in palaces and churches in northeastern Italy, southwestern Germany, and Madrid. His style is light-hearted, his colours light and warm, and he made great play with...
Tibet
Click images to enlargeAutonomous region of southwestern China; area 1,221,600 sq km/471,700 sq mi; population (2000 est) 2,620,000 (many Chinese have settled in Tibet; 2 million Tibetans live in China outside Tibet). The capital is Lhasa. Although Tibet has its own People's Government and People's...
Tiberius
Roman emperor, the stepson, adopted son, and successor of Augustus from AD 14. He was a cautious ruler whose reign was marred by the heavy incident of trials for treason or conspiracy. Tiberius fell under the influence of Sejanus who encouraged the emperor's fear of assassination and was instrumental in Tiberius' departure from Rome to Capr...
Tiber
River in Italy that flows through Rome; its length from its source in the Apennines to the Tyrrhenian Sea is 400 km/250 mi. It is Italy's third longest river
Tiberias, Lake
Lake in north Israel, 210 m/689 ft below sea level, into which the River Jordan flows; area 170 sq km/66 sq mi. The first Israeli kibbutz (cooperative settlement) was founded nearby in 1909
Tianjin
City and special municipality in Hebei province, north China; municipality area 4,000 sq km/1,544 sq mi; city population (2000) 6,839,000; municipality 9,848,700. One of four municipalities administered directly from Beijing, it includes the city of Tianjin and the port of Tanggu. An industrial and commercial centre, its handmade si...
Titan rocket
Click images to enlargeFamily of US space rockets, developed from the Titan intercontinental missile. Two-stage Titan rockets launched the Gemini project crewed missions. More powerful Titans, with additional stages and strap-on boosters, such as the Titan-Centaur, were used to launch spy sa...
Titan
(mythology) In Greek mythology, any of the giant children of Uranus, the primeval sky god, and Gaia, goddess of the Earth, whose six sons and six daughters included Kronos, Rhea, Themis, and Oceanus. Kronos and Rhea were in turn the parents of Zeus, who ousted his father as ruler of the world
tit
Any of 65 species of insectivorous, acrobatic birds of the family Paridae, order Passeriformes. Tits are 8–20 cm/3–8 in long and have grey or black plumage, often with blue or yellow markings. They are found in Eurasia and Africa, and also in North America, where many are called chickadees
tiger
Click images to enlargeLargest of the great cats, Panthera tigris (family Felidae, order Carnivora), formerly found in much of central and South Asia, from Siberia south to Sumatra, but nearing extinction (5,000 in 1997) because of hunting and the high prices paid for the pelt, as well as the destructio...
tick
Any of the arachnid family Ixodoidae, order Acarina, of large bloodsucking mites. They have flat bodies protected by horny shields. Many carry and transmit diseases to mammals (including humans) and birds. Life cycle During part of their existence they parasitize animals and birds, for which they have developed a rostrum or beak composed of two bar...
tissue
In biology, any kind of cellular fabric that occurs in an organism's body. It is a group of similar cells that are carrying out a function in a plant or animal. Several kinds of tissue can usually be distinguished, each consisting of cells of a particular kind bound together by cell walls (in plants) or extracellular matrix (in animals). Thus, ...
till
Deposit of clay, mud, gravel, and boulders left by a glacier. It is unsorted, with all sizes of fragments mixed up together, and shows no stratification; that is, it does not form clear layers or beds
tissue culture
Process by which cells from a plant or animal are removed from the organism and grown under controlled conditions in a sterile medium containing all the necessary nutrients. Tissue culture can provide information on cell growth and differentiation, and is also used in plant propagation and drug production
tinplate
Milled steel coated with tin, the metal used for most `tin` cans. The steel provides the strength, and the tin provides the corrosion resistance, ensuring that the food inside is not contaminated. Tinplate may be made by electroplating or by dipping in a bath of molten tin
Titan
(astronomy) In astronomy, largest moon of the planet Saturn, with a diameter of 5,150 km/3,200 mi and a mean distance from Saturn of 1,222,000 km/759,000 mi. It was discovered in 1655 by Dutch mathematician and astronomer Christiaan Huygens, and is the second-largest moon in the So...
tin
Click images to enlargeSoft, silver-white, malleable and somewhat ductile, metallic element, symbol Sn, atomic number 50, relative atomic mass 118.69. Its chemical symbol comes from the Latin stannum. Tin exhibits allotropy, having three forms: the familiar lustrous metallic form above 13.2°...
titanium
Strong, lightweight, silver-grey, metallic element, atomic number 22, relative atomic mass 47.90. The ninth most abundant element in the Earth's crust, its compounds occur in practically all igneous rocks and their sedimentary deposits. It is very strong and resistant to corrosion, so it is used in building high-speed aircraft and space...
tidal wave
Common name for a tsunami
tide
Rhythmic rise and fall of the sea level in the Earth's oceans and their inlets and estuaries due to the gravitational attraction of the Moon and, to a lesser extent, the Sun, affecting regions of the Earth unequally as it rotates. Water on the side of the Earth nearest to the Moon feels the Moon&...
Tissot, James
(Joseph Jacques) French painter. He is best known for detailed depictions of Victorian high society during a ten-year stay in England, as in Ball on Shipboard (1874; Tate Gallery, London). Initially he was influenced by Degas and shared his interest in Japanese print...
time
(science) Continuous passage of existence, recorded by division into hours, minutes, and seconds. Formerly the measurement of time was based on the Earth's rotation on its axis, but this was found to be irregular. Therefore the second, the standard SI unit of time, was redefined in 1956 in...
timbre
In music, the tone colour, or quality of tone, of a particular sound. Different instruments playing a note at the same pitch have different sound qualities, and it is the timbre that enables the listener to distinguish the sound of, for example, a trumpet from that of a violin. The tone quality of a sound depends on several things, including its wa...
Timor
Largest and most easterly of the Lesser Sunda Islands, in the Malay Archipelago; area 33,610 sq km/12,973 sq mi. It is divided into West Timor, under Indonesian rule, and the country of East Timor. Its indigenous people were the Atoni; successive migrants have included Malaysians, Melanesians, Chinese, Arabs, and Gujerati. Produce inclu...
TIR
Abbreviation for Transports Internationaux Routiers (French `International Road Transport`)
time and motion study
Process of analysis applied to a job or number of jobs to check the efficiency of the work method, equipment used, and the worker. Its findings are used to improve performance. Time and motion studies were introduced in the USA by Frederick Taylor at the beginning of the 20th century. Since then, the practice has spread throughout the industrialize...
Tibetan
A Mongolian people inhabiting Tibet who practise a form of Mahayana Buddhism, introduced in the 7th century. Since China's Cultural Revolution 1966–68, refugee communities have formed in India and Nepal. The Tibetan language belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family
Timisoara
Capital of Timis county, western Romania; population (2002) 317,700. Industries include electrical engineering, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles, food processing, metal, and footwear. The revolt against the Ceausescu regime began here in December 1989 when demonstrators prevented the arrest and deportation of a popular Protestant minister w...
Tiresias
In Greek mythology, a man of Thebes blinded by the gods and given the ability to predict the future
Tigré
(region) Region in the northern highlands of Ethiopia; area 65,900 sq km/25,444 sq mi; population (1999 est) 3,593,000. The chief town is Mek'ele. In the mountainous region in the west the highest point is Mokada, rising to 2,295 m/7,529 ft. The east of the region is much l...
tilt-rotor aircraft
Type of vertical takeoff aircraft, also called a convertiplane
titration
In analytical chemistry, a technique to find the concentration of one compound in a solution by determining how much of it will react with a known amount of another compound in solution. One of the solutions is measured by pipette into the reaction vessel. The other is added a little at a time from a...
Timon
Athenian of the age of Pericles notorious for his misanthropy, which was reported and elaborated by classical authors, and became the subject of the play by Shakespeare
tin ore
Mineral from which tin is extracted, principally cassiterite, SnO2. The world's chief producers are Malaysia, Thailand, and Bolivia
titanium ore
Any mineral from which titanium is extracted, principally ilmenite (FeTiO3) and rutile (TiO2). Brazil, India, and Canada are major producers. Both these ore minerals are found either in rock formations or concentrated in heavy mineral sands
Tiffany, Louis Comfort
US artist and glassmaker. He was the son of Charles Louis Tiffany, who founded Tiffany and Company, the New York City jewellers. He produced stained-glass windows, iridescent Favrile (from Latin faber `craftsman`) glass, and lampshades in the art nouveau style. He used glass that contained oxides of iron and other e...
Tiananmen Square
Paved open space in central Beijing (Peking), China, the largest public square in the world (area 0.4 sq km/0.14 sq mi). On 3–4 June 1989 more than 1,000 unarmed protesters were killed by government troops in a massacre that crushed China's emerging pro-democracy movement. Hundreds o...
tidal energy
Energy derived from the tides. The tides mainly gain their potential energy from the gravitational forces acting between the Earth and the Moon. If water is trapped at a high level during high tide, perhaps by means of a barrage across an estuary, it may then be gradually released and its associated gravitational potential energy exploited to drive...
Tigré
(people) A people of northern Ethiopia. The Tigré language is spoken by about 2.5 million people; it belongs to the southeastern Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic (Hamito-Semitic) family. Tigrinya is a closely related language spoken slightly to the south
Tihuanaco
Alternative spelling of Tiahuanaco, an ancient Bolivian city
tibia
Anterior of the pair of bones in the leg between the ankle and the knee. In humans, the tibia is the shinbone. It articulates with the femur above to form the knee joint, the fibula externally at its upper and lower ends, and with the talus below, forming the ankle joint
Timur i Leng
Alternative spelling of Tamerlane, Mongol ruler
timpani
Tuned drums descended from medieval nakers (from Arabic naqqara), with a single head of skin stretched over a hemisphere, usually of copper. They produce notes of definite pitch that can be altered by turning screws at the rim of the `kettle`, thus tightening or relaxing the skin. A mechanical device now widely used all...
Tibetan mastiff
Large breed of dog regarded as the ancestor of many present breeds. It is a very powerful animal with a long black or black and tan coat. It is about 71 cm/28 in in height and 60 kg/132 lb in weight. Tibetan mastiffs were used in Tibet as watchdogs and are mentioned in old Chinese literature and by Marco Polo
tire
US spelling of tyre, an inflatable rubber hoop fitted round the rims of bicycle, car, and other road-vehicle wheels
Tiranë
Alternative spelling of Tirana, the capital of Albania
timer circuit
Electronic device for creating a time delay. The main component of most electronic timing devices is a capacitor in series with a resistor. Together they create a simple time delay. The size of the time delay can be found by using a simple equation: t = C × R × 1.1 where C is the capacitor value in farads, R is the resistor value ...
tie-dyeing
Process of colouring fabric in which thread is tied around sections of the fabric (usually cotton) to form areas that will resist dye, into which the fabric is then dipped. The process can be repeated with different dyes and different areas of the fabric being tied. Finally, the thread is removed. Simple circular designs are most common, but differ...
Tlatelolco, Treaty of
International agreement signed in 1967 in Tlatelolco, Mexico, prohibiting nuclear weapons in Latin America
Tlingit
Member of an American Indian people living on the coasts of southwest Alaska and northern British Columbia for thousands of years. Their language belongs to the Na-Dene family, but is rarely spoken. Like other Northwest Indians, they are known for their dugout canoes, potlatch ceremonies (gift-giving to gain status), and carved wooden `...
TLA
Hackers' self-fulfilling reference to the apparent ubiquity of three-letter abbreviations (all popularly and wrongly referred to as acronyms) in the computing world. Anyone who has used a DOS-based CPU and a VGA or LCD VDU (or, indeed, an IBM MPC) to create GIFs, WAVs, or PDF files, or who has hooked up to an ISP (Internet Service P...
TM
Abbreviation for transcendental meditation
TNT
Abbreviation for trinitrotoluene, CH3C6H2(NO2) 3, a powerful high explosive. It is a yellow solid, prepared in several isomeric forms from toluene by using sulphuric and nitric acids
tomato
Annual plant belonging to the nightshade family, native to South America. It is widely cultivated for its shiny, round, red fruit containing many seeds (technically a berry), which is widely used in salads and cooking. (Lycopersicon esculentum, family Solanaceae.) A genetically engineered tomato, the first genetically engineered ...
tobacco
Click images to enlargeAny of a group of large-leaved plants belonging to the nightshade family, native to tropical parts of the Americas. The species Nicotiana tabacum is widely cultivated in warm, dry climates for use in cigars and cigarettes, and in powdered form as snuff. (Genus Nicoti...
toadflax
Any of a group of small plants belonging to the snapdragon family, native to Western Europe and Asia. Toadflaxes have spurred, two-lipped flowers, commonly purple or yellow, and grow 20–80 cm/8–32 in tall. (Genus Linaria, family Scrophulariaceae.)
toxaemia
Another term for blood poisoning; toxaemia of pregnancy is another term for pre-eclampsia
Townshend, Charles
(politician) British politician, chancellor of the Exchequer 1766–67. The Townshend Acts, designed to assert Britain's traditional authority over its colonies, resulted in widespread resistance. Among other things they levied taxes on imports (such as tea, glass, and paper) into the N...
Tower Hamlets
Inner borough of east Greater London. It includes the districts of Limehouse, Spitalfields, Bethnal Green, Wapping, Poplar, Stepney, and the Isle of Dogs; population (2001) 196,100. Large parts of the borough's dockland areas have been redeveloped for business and residential use. The Tower of London, the Docklands redevelopment area (inclu...
Tours
Administrative centre of Indre-et-Loire département in Centre region, west-central France, on the River Loire 200 km/125 mi southwest of Paris; population (1999) 137,000. It manufactures chemicals, textiles, machinery, and electrical goods, and has a trade in agricultural produce, fruit, wine, and spirits...
Tournai
Town and railway junction in Hainaut province, Belgium, on the River Schelde, 43 km/27 mi northeast of Mons; population (1997) 67,900. Industries include carpets, textiles, pottery, cement, and leather. There are freestone and limestone quarries. It stands on the site of a Roman relay post and has a Romanesque and Gothic cathedral (11th...
Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri
(Marie Raymond de) French artist. He was active in Paris, where he painted entertainers and prostitutes in a style characterized by strong colours, bold design, and brilliant technical skill. From 1891 his lithographic posters were a great success, skilfully executed and yet retaining the spon...
Toulouse
Administrative centre of Haute-Garonne département and of the Midi-Pyrénées region in southwest France, 200 km/125 mi southeast of Bordeaux on the River Garonne; population (1999 est) 389,700, conurbation (2002 est) 975,000. It is the fourth city of F...
