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 The information may have been taken offline because it is outdated.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


Venn diagram
In mathematics, a diagram representing a set or sets and the logical relationships between them. The sets are drawn as circles. An area of overlap between two circles (sets) contains elements that are common to both sets, and thus represents a third set. Circles that do not overlap represent sets wit...

verb
Grammatical part of speech for what someone or something does, experiences, or is. Verbs are of crucial importance to the construction of the sentence. The rules governing the correct use and spelling of verbs are complex, involving consideration of number, voice, mood, aspect, and tense. Verbs can be categorized as `main` and auxiliary. ...

vector quantity
Any physical quantity that has both magnitude (size) and direction, such as velocity, acceleration, or force, as distinct from a scalar quantity such as speed, density, or mass, which has magnitude but no direction. A vector is represented either geometrically by an arrow whose length corresponds to ...

Vesuvius
Active volcano in Campania, Italy, 15 km/9 mi southeast of Naples, Italy; height 1,277 m/4,190 ft (1969; the height of the main cone changes with each eruption). In AD 79 it destroyed the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae. It is the only active volcano on the European mainland. Vesuvius is a composite volcano at the conver...

Veterans Day
In the USA, the name adopted in 1954 for Armistice Day and from 1971 observed by most states on 11 November. The equivalent in the UK and Canada is Remembrance Sunday

veto
Exercise by a sovereign, branch of legislature, or other political power, of the right to prevent the enactment or operation of a law, or the taking of some course of action

vertical takeoff and landing craft
Aircraft that can take off and land vertically. Helicopters, airships, and balloons can do this, as can a few fixed-wing aeroplanes, like the convertiplane

Very Large Array
Largest and most complex single-site radio telescope in the world. It is located on the Plains of San Augustine, 80 km/50 mi west of Socorro, New Mexico. It consists of 27 dish antennae, each 25 m/82 ft in diameter, arranged along three equally spaced arms forming a Y-shaped array. Tw...

Venezuela
Country in northern South America, on the Caribbean Sea, bounded east by Guyana, south by Brazil, and west by Colombia. Government Venezuela is a federal republic of 23 states, a federal district based on the capital, Caracas, and two federal dependencies. It has a multiparty democratic political sys...

verbena
Any of a group of plants containing about 100 species, mostly found in the American tropics. The leaves are fragrant and the tubular flowers are arranged in close spikes in colours ranging from white to rose, violet, and purple. The garden verbena is a hybrid annual. (Genus Verbena, family Verbenaceae.)

vermouth
Sweet or dry white wine flavoured with bitter herbs and fortified with alcohol. It is made in France, Italy and the USA

Vergil
Alternative spelling of Virgil, Roman poet

Vesalius, Andreas
Belgian physician who revolutionized anatomy by performing postmortem dissections and making use of illustrations to teach anatomy. Vesalius upset the authority of Galen, and his book – the first real textbook of anatomy – marked the beginning of biology as a science. Vesalius was taught anatomy in the Galenist tradition. Galen had never ...

vertigo
Dizziness; a whirling sensation accompanied by a loss of any feeling of contact with the ground. It may be due to temporary disturbance of the sense of balance (as in spinning for too long on one spot), psychological reasons, disease such as labyrinthitis, or intoxication

Vedanta
School of Hindu philosophy that developed the teachings of the Upanishads. One of its teachers was Samkara, who lived in southern India in the 8th century AD and is generally regarded as a manifestation of Shiva. He taught that there is only one reality, Brahman, and that knowledge of Brahman leads finally to moksha
vernal equinox
See equinox

Vedda
Member of any of the aboriginal peoples of Sri Lanka, who occupied the island before the arrival of the Aryans about 550 BC. Formerly cave-dwelling hunter-gatherers, they have now almost died out or merged with the dominant Sinhalese and Tamil populations. They speak a Sinhalese language, belonging to the Indo-European family. They live...

venture capital
Money provided by professional investors to aid the development of new companies, or to expand existing ones. In return for their investment they receive a share of the company's equity. If the company makes an IPO, the equity will convert to traded stock and the venture capitalist can realize their investment. Any money invested in a company i...

velocity
Speed of an object in a given direction, or how fast an object changes its position in a given direction. Velocity is a vector quantity, since its direction is important as well as its magnitude (or speed). For example, a car could have a speed of 48 kph/30 mph and a velocity of 48 kph/30 mph northwards. Velocity = change in position...

vegan
Vegetarian who eats no foods of animal origin whatever, including fish, eggs, and milk. Theoretically vegans are at risk of a deficiency of vitamin B12 which is needed by the body for blood cell and nerve formation (see vitamin); it can be absorbed from fortified soya products and yeast extracts. Vegans ensure an adequate...

Vestmannaeyjar
Click images to enlargeSmall group of islands off the south coast of Iceland. The volcanic island of Surtsey emerged from the ocean in 1963, and in 1973 the volcano Helgafell erupted, causing the population of 5,200 to be temporarily evacuated and adding 2.5 sq km/1 sq mi to the islands' area. The eruption created...

vertex
In geometry, a point shared by three or more sides of a solid figure; the point farthest from a figure's base; or the point of intersection of two sides of a plane figure or the two rays of an angle

vena cava
Either of the two great veins of the trunk, returning deoxygenated blood to the right atrium of the heart. The superior vena cava, beginning where the arches of the two innominate veins join high in the chest, receives blood from the head, neck, chest, and arms; the inferior vena cava, arising from the junction of the right and left common ilia...

ventral surface
Front of an animal. In vertebrates, the side furthest from the backbone; in invertebrates, the side closest to the ground. The positioning of the main nerve pathways on the ventral side is a characteristic of invertebrates

vertebral column
Backbone, giving support to an animal and protecting its spinal cord. It is made up of a series of bones or vertebrae running from the skull to the tail, with a central canal containing the nerve fibres of the spinal cord. In tetrapods the vertebrae show some specialization with the shape of the bones varying according to position. In the chest reg...

Vermont
State in northeastern USA, one of the New England states, bordered to the north by Québec, Canada, to the east by New Hampshire along the Connecticut River, to the south by Massachusetts, and to the west by New York, two-thirds of this border running down the centre of Lake Champlain; ar...

veneer
Thin layers of fine wood applied to the surface of furniture made with a coarser or cheaper wood. Veneer has been widely used from the second half of the 17th century

verification
In computing, the process of checking that data being input to a computer have been accurately copied from a source document. This may be done visually, by checking the original copy of the data against the copy shown on the display screen. A more thorough method is to enter the data twice, using two different keyboard operators, and then to check ...

vector graphics
Click images to enlargeComputer graphics that are stored in the computer memory by using geometric formulae. Vector graphics can be transformed (enlarged, rotated, stretched, and so on) without loss of picture resolution. It is also possible to select and transform any of the components of a vector-graphics display be...

ventricle
In zoology, either of the two lower chambers of the heart that force blood to circulate by contraction of their muscular walls. The term also refers to any of four cavities within the brain in which cerebrospinal fluid is produced

verb phrase
Phrase that contains a verb that is not finite. A verb phrase is more strictly known as a `non-finite` or infinitive phrase, as in `to open the door`. A phrase containing a finite verb is traditionally defined as a clause

Vesuvio
Italian name for Vesuvius, an active volcano in Campania, Italy

ventilation
Alternative term for breathing

VGA
In computing, a colour display system that provides either 16 colours on screen and a resolution of 640 × 480, or 256 colours with a resolution of 320 × 200. SVGA (Super VGA) provides even higher resolution and more colours

VHF
Referring to radio waves that have very short wavelengths (10 m–1 m). They are used for interference-free FM transmissions (see frequency modulation). VHF transmitters have a relatively short range, producing frequencies in the 30–300 MHz band

Visigoth
Member of the western branch of the Goths, an East Germanic people

Vishnu
In Hinduism, the second in the triad of gods (with Brahma and Shiva) representing three aspects of Brahman, the supreme spirit. Vishnu is the Preserver, and is believed to have assumed human appearance in nine avatars, or incarnations, in such forms as Rama and Krishna. His worshippers are the Vaishn...

viscount
In the UK peerage, the fourth degree of nobility, between earl and baron

Vinson Massif
Highest point in Antarctica, rising to 5,140 m/16,863 ft in the Ellsworth Mountains

virginal
Plucked stringed keyboard instrument of the 16th and 17th centuries, often called `virginals` or `a pair of virginals` in England, where the term was applied to any quilled keyboard instrument well into the 17th century. The virginal is rectangular or polygonal in shape and is distinguished from the harpsichord and spinet by its...

Vinland
Norse name for the area of North America, probably the coast of Nova Scotia or New England, which the Norse adventurer and explorer Leif Ericsson visited about 1000. It was named after the wild grapes that grew there and is celebrated in an important Norse saga

Vincennes
(university) The University of Paris VIII, usually known as Vincennes after the suburb of eastern Paris where it was founded 1970 (following the 1968 student rebellion) for blue-collar workers. By 1980, it had 32,000 students. In June 1980, it was moved to the industrial suburb of St-D...

Vimy Ridge
Hill in northern France, taken in World War I by Canadian troops during the battle of Arras, April 1917, at the cost of 11,285 lives. It is a spur of the ridge of Notre Dame de Lorette, 8 km/5 mi northeast of Arras

Vilnius
Capital of Lithuania, situated on the River Neris; population (2001) 542,300. Vilnius is an important railway crossroads and commercial centre. Its industries include electrical engineering, woodworking, and the manufacture of textiles, chemicals, and foodstuffs. From a small 10th-century set...

Villon, François
French poet. He used satiric humour, pathos, and irony in works like Petit Testament or Louis (1456) and Grand Testament (1461) (the latter includes the `Ballade des dames du temps jadis/Ballad of the Ladies of Former Times`), both of which are mock wills bequeathing absurd or o...

villein
A peasant who, under the feudal system of land tenure that prevailed in Europe in the Middle Ages, gave dues and services to a lord in exchange for land. Villeins were not slaves, and were named as freemen and freewomen in medieval documents, but they were not free. They and their land and possessions belonged to the lord of the manor. They were no...

Villehardouin, Geoffroy de
French historian. He was the first to write in the French language. He was a leader of the Fourth Crusade, of which his Conquest of Constantinople (c. 1209) is an account

Vietnam War
War from 1954 to 1975 between communist North Vietnam and US-backed South Vietnam, in which North Vietnam aimed to conquer South Vietnam and unite the country as a communist state. North Vietnam was supported by communist rebels from South Vietnam, the Vietcong. The USA, in supporting the South a...

Vientiane
Capital, largest city, and chief port of Laos, lying in the north on the Mekong River, on the border with Thailand; population (2002 est) 189,600, conurbation 528,100. Though the Mekong is navigable only by small vessels, Vientiane's strategic position on one of the main waterways of southeast Asia has helped it to become a centre for gover...

Vienna, Congress of
International conference held from 1814 to 1815 which agreed the settlement of Europe after the Napoleonic Wars. National representatives included the Austrian foreign minister Metternich, Alexander I of Russia, the British foreign secretary Castlereagh and military commander Wellington, and the French politician Talleyrand. Its final act created a...

Vienna
(city) Click images to enlargeCapital city and autonomous region of Austria, on the River Danube at the foot of the Wiener Wald (Vienna Woods); population (2001) 1,550,100. Although contained within the territory of Lower Austria, it ...

Victoria Falls
(waterfall) Click images to enlargeWaterfall on the River Zambezi, on the Zambia–Zimbabwe border. The river is 1,700 m/5,580 ft wide and drops 120 m/400 ft to flow through a gorge 30 m/100 ft wide. The falls were named after Qu...

Vidal, Gore
US writer and critic. Much of his fiction deals satirically with history and politics and includes the novels Myra Breckinridge (1968), Burr (1973), Empire (1987), The Smithsonian Institution (1998), and The Golden Age (2000). He has written plays and scr...

Victoria Cross
British decoration for conspicuous bravery in wartime, instituted by Queen Victoria in 1856

Victoria, Lake
Largest lake in Africa and third-largest freshwater lake in the world; area over 68,800 sq km/26,560 sq mi; length 410 km/255 mi; average depth 80 m/260 ft. It lies on the Equator at an altitude of 1,136 m/3,728 ft, bounded by Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. It is a source of the River Nile. The British explorer John Ha...

Victoria
(Seychelles) Deep-water port and capital of the republic of the Seychelles, tourist centre on the northeast coast of Mahé Island; population (2002) 25,000. Industries include copra, vanilla, guano, and cinnamon. Victoria is the business and cultural centre of the Seychelles and ha...

vicar
Church of England priest, originally one who acted as deputy to a rector, but now also a parish priest. In the USA, a vicar is in charge of a chapel of the Episcopal Church

Victoria
(Canada) Port and capital of British Columbia, Canada, on the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island, overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca, 132 km/83 mi west of mainland Vancouver; population (2001 est) 74,100. It is a manufacturing, tourist, and retirement centre, and has a naval base...

violet
Click images to enlargeAny of a group of perennial herbaceous plants found in temperate regions; they have heart-shaped leaves and mauve, blue, or white five-petalled flowers, for example the dog violet V. canina, found on sandy heaths, and the fragrant sweet violet V. odorata
vine
Click images to enlargeAny of a group of climbing woody plants, especially V. vinifera, native to Asia Minor and cultivated from antiquity. The fruits (grapes) are eaten or made into wine or other fermented drinks; dried fruits of certain varieties are known as raisins and currants. Many other speci...

viburnum
Any of a group of small trees or shrubs belonging to the honeysuckle family, found in temperate and subtropical regions, including the wayfaring tree, the laurustinus, and the guelder rose of Europe and Asia, and the North American blackhaws and arrowwoods. (Genus Viburnum, family Caprifoliaceae.)

Virgo
Zodiacal constellation of the northern hemisphere, the second-largest in the sky. It is represented as a maiden holding an ear of wheat, marked by first-magnitude Spica, Virgo's brightest star. The Sun passes through Virgo from late September to the end of October. In astrology, the dates for Virgo are between about 23 August and 22 Sep...

vitriol
Former name for any of a number of sulphate salts. Blue, green, and white vitriols are copper, ferrous, and zinc sulphate, respectively. Oil of vitriol is a former name for sulphuric acid

Viking
Click images to enlargeEither of two US space probes to the planet Mars, each one consisting of an orbiter and a lander. They were launched on 20 August and 9 September 1975, and transmitted colour pictures and analysed the planet's soil. Viking 1 carried life-detection laboratories and touched down on 20 July 197...

viper
Any front-fanged venomous snake of the family Viperidae. Vipers range in size from 30 cm/1 ft to 3 m/10 ft, and often have diamond or jagged markings. Most give birth to live young. There are 150 species of viper. The true vipers, subfamily Viperinae, abundant in Africa and southwestern A...

vitamin C
Another name for ascorbic acid

vicuna
Click images to enlargeRuminant mammal Lama vicugna of the camel family that lives in herds on the Andean plateau. It can run at speeds of 50 kph/30 mph. It has good eyesight, fair hearing, and a poor sense of smell. Hunted close to extinction for its meat and soft brown fur, which was used in texti...

vivisection
Literally, cutting into a living animal. Used originally to mean experimental surgery or dissection practised on a live subject, the term is often used by antivivisection campaigners to include any experiment on animals, surgical or otherwise

vitamin
Any of various chemically-unrelated organic (carbon-containing) compounds that are necessary in small quantities for the normal functioning of the mammalian body. Many act as coenzymes, small molecules that enable enzymes to function effectively. Vitamins must be supplied by the diet because ...

virus
(medicine) Click images to enlargeInfectious particle consisting of a core of nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) enclosed in a protein shell. They are extremely small and cause disease. They differ from all other forms of life in that they are not...

viscacha
Argentine Pampas and scrubland-dwelling rodent Lagostomus maximus of the chinchilla family. It is up to 70 cm/2.2 ft long with a 20 cm/8 in tail, and weighs 7 kg/15 lb. It is grey and black and has a large head and small ears. Viscachas live in warrens of up to 30 individuals. They are usually nocturnal and feed o...

viviparous
In animals, a method of reproduction in which the embryo develops inside the body of the female from which it gains nourishment (in contrast to oviparous and ovoviviparous). Vivipary is best developed in placental mammals, but also occurs in some arthropods, fishes, amphibians, and reptiles that have placentalike structures. In plants, it is the fo...

videotext
System in which information (text and simple pictures) is displayed on a television (video) screen. There are two basic systems, known as teletext and viewdata. In the teletext system, information is broadcast with the ordinary television signals, whereas in the viewdata system, information is relayed to the screen from a central data bank via the ...

violin family
Family of bowed stringed instruments developed in 17th-century Italy, which eventually superseded the viols and formed the basis of the modern orchestra. There are four instruments: violin, viola, cello (or violoncello), and the double bass which is descended from the bass viol (or violone)

viol
Member of a Renaissance family of bowed six-stringed musical instruments with flat backs, fretted fingerboards, and narrow shoulders that flourished particularly in England about 1540–1700, before their role was taken by the violins. Normally performing as an ensemble or consort, their reper...

videocassette recorder
Device for recording pictures and sound on cassettes or spools of magnetic tape. It was first launched commercially in 1956 for the television broadcasting industry, but during the late 1970s cheaper models were developed for home use, to record broadcast programmes for future viewing and to view rented or owned video cassettes of commercial films....

Victoria
(Australia) State of southeast Australia; bounded on the north and northeast by New South Wales, from which it is separated by the River Murray; on the west by South Australia; and on the south and southeast by the Souther...

video disc
Term, little used now, referring to a disc with pictures and sounds recorded on it, played back by laser. The DVD is a type of video disc

Vistula
River in Poland that rises in the Carpathian Mountains and runs northwest to the Baltic Sea at Gdansk; length 1,090 km/677 mi. It is heavily polluted, carrying into the Baltic every year large quantities of industrial and agricultural waste, including phosphorus, oil, nitrogen, mercury, cadmium, and zinc

Vitus, St
Christian saint, perhaps Sicilian, who was martyred in Rome early in the 4th century. Feast day 15 June

Vivaldi, Antonio Lucio
Italian Baroque composer, violinist, and conductor. One of the most prolific composers of his day, he was particularly influential through his concertos, several of which were transcribed by Johann Sebastian Bach. He wrote 23 symphonies; 75 sonatas; over 400 concertos, including The Four Seasons (1725) for violin and orch...

viscose
Yellowish, syrupy solution made by treating cellulose with sodium hydroxide and carbon disulphide or with cuprammonium liquor and sodium hydroxide. The solution is then regenerated as continuous filament (rayon) by forcing it through very small holes and solidifying it (in a process known as spinning). Forcing viscose through a slit instead of smal...

video tape recorder
Device for recording on and playing back video cassettes; see videocassette recorder

Virgin Islands
Group of about 100 small islands, northernmost of the Leeward Islands in the Antilles, West Indies. Tourism is the main Industry. They comprise the US Virgin Islands St Thomas (with the capital, Charlotte Amalie), St Croix, St John, and about 50 small islets; area 350 sq km/135 sq mi; tot...

vibrato
In music, a tiny and rapid fluctuation of pitch for dynamic and expressive effect, used mostly by string players and singers. It is different from a tremolo, which is a rapid fluctuation in intensity (rapid repeating) of the same note

viola
Bowed, string instrument, the second smallest member of the violin family. It is one of the instruments that form the string quartet, where its traditional role is to provide harmonies. It is played tucked under the chin, like the violin, and its four strings are tuned to C3, G3, D4, and A4. With its...

violoncello
Full name of the cello

Vietnam
Click images to enlargeCountry in Southeast Asia, on the South China Sea, bounded north by China and west by Cambodia and Laos. Government Vietnam is a one-party socialist state. The dominating force in Vietnam is the Communist Party. It is controlled by a politburo, and is prescribed a `leading role` by the...

vinegar
Sour liquid consisting of a 4% solution of acetic acid produced by the oxidation of alcohol, used to flavour food and as a preservative in pickling. Malt vinegar is brown and made from malted cereals; white vinegar is distilled from it. Other sources of vinegar include cider, wine, and honey. Balsamic vinegar is wine vinegar aged in wooden ...

Victoria
(Queen) Click images to enlargeQueen of the UK from 1837, when she succeeded her uncle William IV, and Empress of India from 1877. In 1840 she married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her relations with her prime ministers ranged from the ...

Victor Emmanuel II
First king of united Italy from 1861. He became king of Sardinia on the abdication of his father Charles Albert 1849. In 1855 he allied Sardinia with France and the UK in the Crimean War. In 1859 in alliance with the French he defeated the Austrians and annexed Lombardy. By 1860 most of Italy had come under his rule, and in 1861 he was proclaimed k...

Victor Emmanuel III
King of Italy from the assassination of his father, Umberto I, in 1900. He acquiesced in the Fascist regime of Mussolini from 1922 and, after the dictator's fall in 1943, relinquished power to his son Umberto II, who cooperated with the Allies. Victor Emmanuel formally abdicated in 1946

VI
(West Indies) Abbreviation for Virgin Islands, in the West Indies

VIP
Abbreviation for very important person

viz
Abbreviation for videlicet (Latin `that is to say`, `namely`)

Virgil
Roman poet. He wrote the Eclogues (37 BC), a series of pastoral poems; the Georgics (30 BC), four books on the art of farming; and his epic masterpiece, the Aeneid (30–19 BC). He was patronized by Maecenas on behalf of Octavian (later the emperor Augustus). Born near Mantua, Virg...

vincristine
Alkaloid extracted from the blue periwinkle plant Vinca rosea. Developed as an anticancer agent, it has revolutionized the treatment of childhood acute leukaemias; it is also included in chemotherapy regimens for some lymphomas (cancers arising in the lymph tissues) and lung and breast cancers. Side effects, such as nerve dam...

viscera
General term for the organs contained in the chest and abdominal cavities

Visby
Historic town and bishopric on the Swedish island of Gotland in the Baltic that became the centre of the German Hanseatic League. It was founded as a Viking trading post on the route from Novgorod to the west. During the 12th and 13th centuries, the Scandinavian population became outnumbered by German colonists, and Visby became the nucleus of the ...

Visconti
Dukes and rulers of Milan 1277–1447. They originated as north Italian feudal lords who attained dominance over the city as a result of alliance with the Holy Roman Emperors. Despite papal opposition, by the mid-14th century they ruled 15 other major towns in northern Italy. The duchy was claimed by the Sforzas in 1450. They had no formal t...