Copy of `Talk Talk - Communication terms`

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 The information may have been taken offline because it is outdated.


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


vacuum
In general, a region completely empty of matter; in physics, any enclosure in which the gas pressure is considerably less than atmospheric pressure (101,325 pascals)

vapour density
Density of a gas, expressed as the mass of a given volume of the gas divided by the mass of an equal volume of a reference gas (such as hydrogen or air) at the same temperature and pressure. If the reference gas is hydrogen, it is equal to half the relative molecular weight (mass) of the gas

vapour pressure
Pressure of a vapour given off by (evaporated from) a liquid or solid, caused by atoms or molecules continuously escaping from its surface. In an enclosed space, a maximum value is reached when the number of particles leaving the surface is in equilibrium with those returning to it; this is known as the saturated vapour pressure or equilibrium ...

vacuum cleaner
Cleaning device invented in 1901 by the Scot Hubert Cecil Booth. Having seen an ineffective dust-blowing machine, he reversed the process so that his machine (originally on wheels, and operated from the street by means of tubes running into the house) operated by suction

vacuum flask
Container for keeping things either hot or cold. It has two silvered glass walls with a vacuum between them, in a metal or plastic outer case. This design reduces heat transfer by radiation (prevented by the silvering) and conduction (prevented by the vacuum). A vacuum flask is therefore equally effi...

Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes
Valley in southwestern Alaska, on the Alaska Peninsula, where in 1912 Mount Katmai erupted in one of the largest volcanic explosions ever known, although without loss of human life since the area was uninhabited. The valley was filled with ash to a depth of 200 m/660 ft. It was dedicated as the Katmai National Monument in 1918. Thousands of fis...

Var
(river) River in southern France, rising on the Col de la Cayolle (2,326 m/7,631 ft) in the Maritime Alps, in the département of Alpes-Maritimes, and flowing generally southeast for 130 km/81 mi into the Mediterranean near Nice. It gives its name to the Var ...

van Gogh, Vincent
Dutch painter; see Gogh, Vincent van

variation
(music) One of the earliest musical forms. A theme or melody is first presented in a straightforward manner and then repeated as often as the composer wishes but each time it is varied in one or more ways. The theme is usually easily recognizable; it may be a popular tune or – as a ge...

Vanuatu
Group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, part of Melanesia. Government Vanuatu is an independent republic within the Commonwealth, with a multiparty political system and a parliamentary executive. The constitution dates from independence in 1980. It provides for a president, who is formal hea...

Vatican City State
Click images to enlargeSovereign area within the city of Rome, Italy. Government The absolute head of state of the Vatican City is the pope, who is elected for life by the Sacred College of Cardinals. He appoints, for five-year periods, a pontifical commission (a body of Roman Catholic cardinals) to act as a legislatu...

valerian
Any of a group of perennial plants native to the northern hemisphere, with clustered heads of fragrant tubular flowers in red, white, or pink. The root of the common valerian or garden heliotrope V. officinalis is used in medicine to relieve wind and to soothe or calm patients. (Genera Valeriana and Ce...

Vatican Council
Either of two Roman Catholic ecumenical councils called by Pope Pius IX 1869 (which met 1870) and by Pope John XXIII 1959 (which met 1962). These councils deliberated over elements of church policy

van Dyck, Anthony
Flemish painter; see Dyck, Anthony van

VAT
Abbreviation for value-added tax

vasectomy
Male sterilization; an operation to cut and tie the ducts (see vas deferens) that carry sperm from the testes to the penis. Vasectomy does not affect sexual performance, but the semen produced at ejaculation no longer contains sperm. Some surgical attempts to reopen the duct have been successful, and some have opened spontaneously, thus making ...

Varangian
Member of the Byzantine imperial guard founded in 988 by Vladimir of Kiev (955–1015), which lasted until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. The name (meaning `the sworn`) came to be used for a widespread Swedish Viking people in eastern Europe and the Balkans. From the late 11th century, the Byzantine guard included English and Norm...

vassal
In medieval Europe, a person who paid feudal homage to a superior lord (see feudalism), and who promised military service and advice in return for a grant of land. The term was used from the 9th century. The relationship of vassalage was the mainstay of the feudal system and declined along with it during the transition to bastard feudalism

Vasarely, Victor
Hungarian-born French artist. He was one of the leading exponents of op art. In the 1940s he developed precise geometric compositions, full of visual puzzles and effects of movement, which he created with complex arrangements of hard-edged geometric shapes and subtle variations in colours. After studying medicine in Budapest, he went to Par...

vagina
Lower part of the reproductive tract in female mammals, linking the uterus to the exterior. It admits the penis during sexual intercourse, and is the birth canal down which the baby passes during delivery

van Eyck, Jan
Flemish painter; see Eyck, Jan van

Valdivia, Pedro de
Spanish explorer who travelled to Venezuela about 1530 and accompanied Francisco Pizarro on his second expedition to Peru. He then went south into Chile, where he founded the cities of Santiago in 1541 and Valdivia in 1544. In 1552 he crossed the Andes to explore the Negro River. He was killed by Araucanian Indians

Vassiliou, Georgios Vassos
Greek-Cypriot politician and entrepreneur, president of Cyprus 1988–93. A self-made millionaire, he entered politics as an independent and in 1988 won the presidency, with Communist Party support. He subsequently, with United Nations help, tried to heal the rift between the Greek and Turkish communities, but was unsuccessful. In the Fe...

valve
(technology) In technology, a device that controls the flow of a fluid. Inside a valve, a plug moves to widen or close the opening through which the fluid passes. Common valves include the cone or needle valve, globe valve, and butterfly valve, all named after the shape of the plug. Specialize...

valve
(electronics) In electronics, a glass or metal tube containing gas at low pressure, which is used to control the flow of electricity in a circuit. The electron tube valve was developed by US radio engineer Lee de Forest (1873–1961) and is used to modify electrical signals. Three or more m...

Vassar, Matthew
British-born US entrepreneur and educational philanthropist. A proponent of higher education for women, he endowed Vassar Female College in Poughkeepsie, New York, 1861. The school opened 1865 with a full college curriculum and became one of the finest women's educational institutions in the USA. Born in England, Vassar came to the USA with...

varve
In geology, a pair of thin sedimentary beds, one coarse and one fine, representing a cycle of thaw followed by an interval of freezing, in lakes of glacial regions. Each couplet thus constitutes the sedimentary record of a year, and by counting varves in glacial lakes a record of absolute time elapsed can be determined. Summer and winter laye rs oft...

Van Buren, Martin
8th president of the USA 1837–41, a Democrat, who had helped establish the Democratic Party. He was secretary of state 1829–31, minister to Britain 1831–33, vice-president 1833–37, and president during the Panic of 1837, the worst US economic crisis until that time, caused by land speculation in the West. Refusing to interve...

value-added tax
General consumption tax assessed on the value of goods and services, applied at each stage of the production of a commodity, and charged only on the value added at that stage. It is a general tax because the tax applies to all commercial activities that involve the production and distribution of goods and the provision of services; and a consum...

valve
(biology) In animals, a structure for controlling the direction of the blood flow. In humans and other vertebrates, the contractions of the beating heart cause the correct blood flow into the arteries because a series of valves preven...

variation
(biology) In biology, a difference between individuals of the same species, found in any sexually reproducing population. Variations may be almost unnoticeable in some cases, obvious in others, and can concern many aspects of the organism. Typically, variations in size, behaviour, biochemistry...

vapour
One of the three states of matter (see also solid and liquid). The molecules in a vapour move randomly and are far apart, the distance between them, and therefore the volume of the vapour, being limited only by the walls of any vessel in which they might be contained. A vapour differs from a gas only in that a vapour can be liquefied by increased p...

valence electron
Electron in the outermost shell of an atom. It is the valence electrons that are involved in the formation of ionic and covalent bonds (see molecule). The number of electrons in this outermost shell represents the maximum possible valence for many elements and matches the number of the group that the element occupies in the periodic table of the el...

valence shell
Outermost shell of electrons in an atom. It contains the valence electrons. Elements with four or more electrons in their outermost shell can show variable valence. Chlorine can show valences of 1, 3, 5, and 7 in different compounds

van de Graaff generator
Electrostatic generator capable of producing a voltage of over a million volts. It consists of a continuous vertical conveyor belt that carries electrostatic charges (resulting from friction) up to a large hollow sphere supported on an insulated stand. The lower end of the belt is earthed, so that ch...

valvular heart disease
Damage to the heart valves, leading to either narrowing of the valve orifice when it is open (stenosis) or leaking through the valve when it is closed (regurgitation). Worldwide, rheumatic fever is the commonest cause of damage to the heart valves, but in industrialized countries it is being replaced by bacterial infection of the valves themselves ...

vault
In architecture, a continuous arch of brick, stone, or concrete, forming a self-supporting roof over a building or part of a building; also a vaulted structure, for example under a street pavement. Of the many different types of vault, the barrel vault or tunnel vault is the simplest form of ...

value added
In economics, the difference between the price the customer pays for a product and the total costs of the inputs (that is, the cost of producing the product). From the value added comes the money needed to pay overheads, wages, and dividends. Added value is the basis of VAT or value-added tax, a tax on the value added at each stage of the produ...

validation
In computing, the process of checking input data to ensure that it is complete, accurate, and reasonable. Although it would be impossible to guarantee that only valid data are entered into a computer, a suitable combination of validation checks should ensure that most errors are detected. The term is also commonly used to describe the process of te...

variable
(computing) In computing, a quantity that can take different values. Variables can be used to represent different items of data in the course of a program. A computer programmer will choose a symbol to represent each variable used in a program. The computer will then automatically assign a mem...

vas deferens
In male vertebrates, a tube conducting sperm from the testis to the urethra. The sperm is carried in a fluid secreted by various glands, and can be transported very rapidly when the smooth muscle in the wall of the vas deferens undergoes rhythmic contraction, as in sexual intercourse

Vasa dynasty
Swedish royal house founded by Gustavus Vasa. He liberated his country from Danish rule 1520–23 and put down local uprisings of nobles and peasants. By 1544 he was secure enough to make his title hereditary. His grandson, Gustavus Adolphus, became king 1611 and led the armies of the Protestant princes in the Thirty Years' War until his dea...

variable cost
Cost of production materials, fuel, and so on which varies directly with the volume of output. For example, steel is a direct cost for a car manufacturer because if twice the number of cars are produced, twice the amount of steel will be used in the production process

van der Waals' law
Modified form of the gas laws that includes corrections for the non-ideal behaviour of real gases (the molecules of ideal gases occupy no space and exert no forces on each other). It is named after Dutch physicist J D van der Waals (1837–1923). The equation derived from the law states that: (P + a
Vaishnavism
Worship of the Hindu god Vishnu, numerically the most widespread faith in Hinduism. The principal forms of Vishnu are Krishna and Rama, whose teachings are summarized in such scriptures as the Bhagavad-Gita and Ramayana, dedicated to Krishna and Rama respectively. The central theme is bhakti, devotion to a ...

Varnashrama
System of social division in Vedic culture that characterizes traditional Hindu society. The four varnas (orders) are the Brahman, or priests; the Kshatriya, warriors and rulers; the Vaisya, merchants and farmers; and the Sudra, labourers and craft-workers. The four ashramas, or stages of life, are brahma...

Vale of Glamorgan
Unitary authority in south Wales, created in 1996 from parts of the former counties of Mid Glamorgan and South Glamorgan. Area 337 sq km/130 sq mi Towns Barry (administrative headquarters), Penarth Physical lowland area Features Comeston Lake and Medieval Village, Fonmon castle (17th century), Be...

Valencian Community
Autonomous community of western Spain, comprising the provinces of Alicante, Castellón de la Plana, and Valencia; area 23,305 sq km/8,998 sq mi; population (2001 est) 4,202,600. The region is chiefly mountainous, with a rich agricultural area on the coastal plain, producing citrus and other fruits, vegetables, rice, olive oil, and ...

Van Morrison
Northern Irish singer, songwriter, and saxophonist; see Van Morrison

variety
In biology, a stable group of organisms within a single species, clearly different from the rest of the species. Such a group would generally be called a variety for plants and a breed for animals. The differences lie in their genetic make-up and could have arisen naturally – through natural selection or as a result of selective breeding b...

valediction
In literature, a poem, statement, or speech bidding farewell

vajra
In Buddhism, a metal or carved symbol of a thunderbolt or diamond, representing the power and determination of Buddhism

Vassa
Three-month period of retreat for Theravada Buddhist monks and nuns during the rainy season. It begins at the festival of Asalha in June/July, which marks the Buddha's first sermon, and ends at Assayuja in October, which commemorates the return of the Buddha from heaven after passing on his teachings to his mother. The end of Vassa is c...

vand chakna
Sikh concept of sharing everything with those in need. The gurus (teachers) emphasized the necessity to look after others before oneself

vak
In Sikh worship, a random reading from the Guru Granth Sahib (holy book). It is taken from the top left-hand corner of whatever page falls open. A vak both begins and ends the gurdwara service, and is regarded as guidance for the day. Sikhs may also read a vak at the beginning of their day at home. It is taken as a manifestat...

valley
A long, linear depression sloping downwards towards the sea or an inland drainage basin. Types of valleys include the V-shaped valley, U-shaped valley, hanging valley, dry valley, misfit valley, asymmetric valley, and rift valley

Vaisya
A member of the third caste in India's caste system. Originally the occupations of people belonging to the Vaisya caste would have encompassed agriculture, trade, and the rearing of livestock. Today traders of products and sellers of goods are the predominant occupations. Legend teaches that members of the Vaisya evolved from Brahma's thigh...

varna
Term meaning social category or class when referring to the caste system of India. The hierarchy of the caste system is entered by birth and permeates all of Indian life, religious and social, determining marriage, customs, and occupation. Discrimination against the untouchables, the fifth caste, or those thought of as being outside of the varna sy...

Vanhanen, Matti Taneli
Finnish liberal politician, Centre Party leader, and prime minister from 2003. An economic liberal, his Centre Party–Social Democrats coalition government cut personal and corporate taxes to stimulate the economy. In 2006 he challenged unsuccessfully to become Finland's president. The son of professor Tatu Vanhanen, co-author of
VDU
Abbreviation for visual display unit

Vesta
In Roman mythology, the goddess of the hearth, equivalent with the Greek Hestia. In Rome, the sacred flame in her shrine at the Forum represented the spirit of the community, and was kept constantly alight by the six Vestal Virgins

Vespucci, Amerigo
Florentine merchant. The Americas were named after him as a result of the widespread circulation of his accounts of his explorations. His accounts of the voyage from 1499 to 1501 include descriptions of places he could not possibly have reached (the Pacific Ocean, British Columbia, Antarctica)

Vespasian
Roman emperor from AD 69. Proclaimed emperor by his soldiers while he was campaigning in Palestine, he reorganized the eastern provinces, and was a capable administrator. He was responsible for the construction of the Colosseum in Rome, which was completed by his son Titus. As the legate of the 2nd Legion (Legio II Augusta), he t...

Verwoerd, Hendrik
(Frensch) South African right-wing Nationalist Party politician, prime minister 1958–66. As minister of native affairs 1950–58, he was the chief promoter of apartheid legislation (segregation by race). He banned the African National Congress (ANC) in 1960 and withdrew South Afric...

Verulamium
Romano-British town near St Albans, Hertfordshire, occupied until about AD 450. Verulamium superseded a nearby Belgic settlement and was first occupied by the Romans in 44–43 BC. The earliest English martyr, St Alban, was martyred here, perhaps during the reign of Septimus Severus. A fragmentary inscription from the site of the forum recor...

verse
Arrangement of words in a rhythmic pattern, which may depend on the length of syllables (as in Greek or Latin verse), or on stress, as in English. Classical Greek verse depended upon quantity, a long syllable being regarded as occupying twice the time taken up by a short syllable. In English verse syllables are either stressed (strong) or unstresse...

Versailles, Treaty of
Click images to enlargePeace treaty after World War I between the Allies (except the USA and China) and Germany, signed on 28 June 1919. It established the League of Nations, an international organization intended to solve disputes by arbitration. Germany surrendered Alsace-Lorraine to France, and large areas in the e...

verruca
Growth on the skin; see wart

Versailles
Administrative centre of the département of Yvelines in northern France, situated 18 km/11 mi southwest of Paris; population (2001 est) 83,900. From 1678 Versailles was the principal residence of the kings of France until 1793, and the seat of government from 1682 to 1...

Verrocchio, Andrea del
Florentine sculptor, painter, and goldsmith. He ran a large workshop in Florence and received commissions from the Medici family. His works include the vigorous equestrian statue of Bartolommeo Colleoni (begun about 1480; Campo SS Giovanni e Paolo, Venice) and the painting The Baptism of Christ (c....

Verona
(town) Click images to enlargeTown in Veneto, Italy, on the Adige River, 100 km/62 west of Venice; population (2001 est) 243,500. It is the capital of Verona province and an important industrial and agricultural centre, lying at the junction ...

Verne, Jules
French author. He wrote tales of adventure that anticipated future scientific developments: Five Weeks in a Balloon (1862), Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1864), Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea (1870), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873)

Vermeer, Jan
Dutch painter, active in Delft. He painted quiet, everyday scenes that are characterized by an almost abstract simplicity, subtle colour harmonies, and a remarkable ability to suggest the fall of light on objects. Examples are The Lacemaker (c. 1655; Louvre, Paris) and Maidservant Pouring Milk
Verlaine, Paul Marie
French lyric poet. He was acknowledged as the leader of the Symbolist poets (see Symbolism). His volumes of verse, strongly influenced by the poets Charles Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud, include Poèmes saturniens/Saturnine Poems (1866), Fêtes galantes/Amorous Entertainments (1869), and
Verdun
Fortress town in northeast France in the département of the Meuse, 280 km/174 mi east of Paris. During World War I it became a symbol of French resistance and was the centre of a series of bitterly fought actions between French and German forces, finally being recaptured September 1918

Vercingetorix
Gallic chieftain. Leader of a revolt of all the tribes of Gaul against the Romans 52 BC; he lost, was captured, displayed in Julius Caesar's triumph 46 BC, and later executed. This ended the Gallic resistance to Roman rule

Verdi, Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco
Italian opera composer of the Romantic period. He took his native operatic style to new heights of dramatic expression. In 1842 he wrote the opera Nabucco, followed by Ernani in 1844 and Rigoletto in 1851. Other works include Il trovat...

Veracruz
(port) Port (trading in coffee, tobacco, and vanilla) in eastern Mexico, on the Gulf of Mexico; population (2005) 702,400. Products include chemicals, sisal, and textiles. It was founded by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés as Villa Nueva de la Vera Cruz (`new town of t...

Venus
(mythology) In Roman mythology, the goddess of love and beauty, equivalent to the Greek Aphrodite. The patricians of Rome claimed descendance from her son, the Trojan prince Aeneas, and she was consequently venerated as the guardian of the Roman people. Venus was also worshipped as a goddess o...

Venturi, Robert Charles
US architect. He pioneered postmodernism through his books Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture (1967), for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1991, and Learning from Las Vegas (1972). He designed the Sainsbury Wing extension to the National Gallery, London, which opened in 1991. He is famous for his slog...

Venice
(city) Click images to enlargeCity, port, and naval base on the northeast coast of Italy; population (2001 est) 266,200. It is the capital of the Veneto region. The old...

Veneto
Region of northeast Italy, comprising the provinces of Belluno, Padua, Treviso, Rovigo, Venice, Verona, and Vicenza; area 18,392 sq km/7,101 sq mi; population (2001 est) 4,490,600. Its capital is Venice, and major towns include Padua, Verona, and Vicenza. Veneto forms part of the north Italian plain, with the delta of the River Po; ...

venereal disease
Any disease mainly transmitted by sexual contact, although commonly the term is used specifically for gonorrhoea and syphilis, both occurring worldwide, and chancroid (`soft sore`) and lymphogranuloma venerum, seen mostly in the tropics. The term sexually transmitted disease (STD) is more o...

Vendée, La
(river) River in western France, rising near the village of La Châtaigneraie and flowing 72 km/45 mi to join the Sèvre Niortaise 11 km/7 mi east of the Bay of Biscay

Venda
Former independent homeland Black National State within South Africa, independent from 1979 (but not recognized by the United Nations) until 1994 when it was re-integrated into South Africa, in Northern Province; area 6,500 sq km/2,510 sq mi. Towns and cities include Makwarela, Makhade, and Sibasa. Its main industries are coal, copper, ...

velvet
Fabric of silk, cotton, nylon, or other textile, with a short, thick pile. Utrecht in the Netherlands and Genoa, Italy, are traditional centres of manufacture. It is woven on a double loom, then cut between the centre pile to form velvet nap

vegetarian
Person who eats only foods obtained without slaughter, for humanitarian, aesthetic, political, or health reasons. There are many types of vegetarians. Lacto-ovo-vegetarians will eat eggs and dairy products; lacto-vegetarians will eat dairy products but not eggs; and pesco-vegetarians will eat fish as well as dairy products. ...

Vega, Lope Felix de
(Carpio) Spanish poet and dramatist. He was one of the founders of modern Spanish drama. He wrote epics, pastorals, odes, sonnets, novels, and over 500 plays (of which 426 are still in existence), mostly tragicomedies. He set out his views on drama in Arte nuevo de hacer comedias/...

Veda
The most sacred of the Hindu scriptures, hymns written in an old form of Sanskrit; the oldest may date from 1500 or 2000 BC. The four main collections are: the Rig Veda (hymns and praises); Yajur Veda (prayers and sacrificial formulae); Sâma Veda (tunes and chants); a...

vetch
Any of a group of trailing or climbing plants belonging to the pea family, usually having seed pods and purple, yellow, or white flowers, and including the fodder crop alfalfa (Medicago sativa). (Several genera, especially Vicia, family Leguminosae.)

Venus flytrap
Click images to enlargeInsectivorous plant belonging to the sundew family, native to the southeastern USA. Its leaves have two hinged surfaces that rapidly close together to trap any insect which brushes against the sensitive leaf hairs; digestive juices then break down the insect body so that it can be absorbed by th...

Venus
(astronomy) Click images to enlargeSecond planet from the Sun. It can approach Earth to within 38 million km/24 million mi, closer than any other planet. Its mass is 0.82 that of Earth. Venus rotates on its axis more slowly than any other planet,...

Vela
Bright constellation of the southern hemisphere near Carina, represented as the sails of a ship. It contains large wisps of gas – called the Gum nebula after its discoverer, the Australian astronomer Colin Gum (1924–1960) – believed to be the remains of one or more supernovae. Vela also contains the second optical pulsar (a pulsar th...

Vega
Brightest star in the constellation Lyra and the fifth-brightest star in the night sky. It is a blue-white star, about 25 light years from the Sun, with a true luminosity 50 times that of the Sun. In 1983 the Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) discovered a ring of dust around Vega, possibly a disc from which a planetary system is forming

verdigris
Green-blue coating of copper ethanoate that forms naturally on copper, bronze, and brass. It is an irritating, poisonous compound made by treating copper with ethanoic acid, and was formerly used in wood preservatives, antifouling compositions, and green paints

vein
Click images to enlargeVessel that carries blood from the body to the heart in animals with a circulatory system. Veins contain valves that prevent the blood from running back when moving against gravity. They carry blood at low pressure, so their walls are thinner than those of arteries. They always carry deoxygenated bl...

veldt
Subtropical grassland in South Africa, equivalent to the Pampas of South America

vestigial organ
In biology, an organ that remains in diminished form after it has ceased to have any significant function in the adult organism. In humans, the appendix is vestigial, having once had a digestive function in our ancestors

vertebrate
Any animal with a backbone. The 41,000 species of vertebrates include mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fishes. They include most of the larger animals, but in terms of numbers of species are only a tiny proportion of the world's animals. The zoological taxonomic group Vertebrata is a subgroup of the phylum Chordata. In 2003, palaeontol...

vegetative reproduction
Click images to enlargeType of asexual reproduction in plants that relies not on spores, but on multicellular structures formed by the parent plant. Some of the main types are stolons and runners, gemmae, bulbils, sucker shoots produced from roots (such as in the creeping thistle Cirsium arvense), tuber...