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


vice versa
The other way around

vis-à-vis
(French `face-to-face`) with regard to

Viking art
Sculpture and design of the Vikings, dating from the 8th to 11th century. Viking artists are known for woodcarving and finely wrought personal ornaments in gold and silver, and for an intricate interlacing decorative style similar to that found in Celtic art. A dragonlike creature, known as the `Great Beast`, is a recurring motif. In Engl...

virus
(computing) In computing, a piece of software that can replicate and transfer itself from one computer to another, without the user being aware of it. Some viruses are relatively harmless, but many can damage or destroy data. Antivirus software can be used to detect and destroy well-known ...

vision defect
Any abnormality of the eye that causes less-than-perfect sight. Common defects are short-sightedness or myopia; long-sightedness or hypermetropia; lack of accommodation or presbyopia; and astigmatism. Other eye defects include colour blindness

vibraphone
Electrophonic percussion instrument resembling a xylophone but with metal keys. Electrically driven discs spin within resonating tubes under each key to add a tremulant effect that can be controlled in length with a foot pedal

Vichy government
In World War II, the right-wing government of unoccupied France after the country's defeat by the Germans in June 1940, named after the spa town of Vichy, France, where the national assembly was based under Prime Minister Pétain until the liberation in 1944. Vichy France was that part of France not occupied by German troops until Novem...

Virginia creeper
Eastern North American climbing vine belonging to the grape family, having tendrils, palmately compound leaves (made up of leaflets arranged like an open hand), green flower clusters, and blue berries eaten by many birds but inedible to humans. (Parthenocissus quinquefolia, family Vitaceae.)

viscosity
The resistance of a fluid to flow, caused by its internal friction, which makes it resist flowing past a solid surface and makes layers of the fluid resist flowing past other layers. Treacle and other thick, sticky liquids are highly viscous liquids. Water and petrol are runny liquids and have low viscosity. The term viscosity applies to the motion...

vitreous humour
Transparent jellylike substance behind the lens of the vertebrate eye. It gives rigidity to the spherical form of the eye and allows light to pass through to the retina

Virginia
State in eastern USA, bordered to the north by Maryland and the District of Columbia, to the west by Kentucky and West Virginia, to the south by North Carolina and Tennessee; area 102,548 sq km/39,594 sq mi; population (2006) 7,642,900; capital Richmond. It was named after Queen Eliza...

virtual reality
Advanced form of computer simulation, in which a participant has the illusion of being part of an artificial environment. The participant views the environment through two tiny television screens (one for each eye) built into a visor. Sensors detect movements of the participant's head or body, causing the apparent viewing position to change. Gl...

video art
Type of modern art created by visual artists using video and television equipment; it is a medium rather than a style. The equipment (medium) can be used in any of various ways, for example in installations or as part of performance art. Thus video art often overlaps with other forms of avant-garde expression. The German artist Wolf Vostell...

visual display unit
Computer terminal consisting of a keyboard for input data and a screen for displaying output. The screen and its housing are now more usually termed a monitor

video camera
Portable television camera that records moving pictures electronically on magnetic tape. It produces an electrical output signal corresponding to rapid line-by-line scanning of the field of view. The output is recorded on video cassette and is played back on a television screen via a video ca...

villus
Small fingerlike projection extending into the interior of the small intestine and increasing the absorptive area of the intestinal wall. Digested nutrients, including sugars and amino acids, pass into the villi and are carried away by the circulating blood

violin
Click images to enlargeBowed, string instrument, the smallest and highest pitched (treble) of the violin family. Its four strings are tuned in fifths to G3, D4, A5, and E5. It is usually played tucked between the shoulder and left side of the chin. The right hand draws the bow across a string causing it to vibrate and pro...

virtual
In computing, without physical existence. Most computers have virtual memory, making their immediate-access memory seem larger than it is. Virtual reality is a computer simulation of a whole physical environment

Vijayanagar
The capital of the last extensive Hindu empire in India between the 14th and 17th centuries, situated on the River Tungabhadra, southern India. The empire attained its peak under the warrior Krishna Deva Raya (reigned 1509–65), when the city had an estimated population of 500,000. Thereafter it came under repeated attack by the Deccani Muslim ...

vitamin A
Another name for retinol

vitamin B1
Another name for thiamine

vitamin B2
Another name for riboflavin

vitamin B6
Another name for pyridoxine

vitamin B12
Another name for cyanocobalamin

vitamin D
Another name for cholecalciferol

vitamin E
Another name for tocopherol

vitamin H
Another name for biotin

vitamin K
Another name for phytomenadione

Virgin Birth
Orthodox Christian belief in the virginal (or immaculate) conception of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the Virgin Mary. Roman Catholic dogma also asserts the perpetual virginity of Mary, teaching that she bore Jesus in a miraculous way so that she remained a virgin and subsequently had no other children; the brothers and ...

videoconferencing
In computing, a system that allows people in different locations to interact via video and audio. It is essentially multiparty telephone conferencing with pictures. Older videoconferencing systems required expensive equipment set up in a special-purpose room. By the mid 1990s, newer systems became available for desktop videoconferencing using m...

virtual community
In computing, group of people joined by using the same electronic conferencing system. The sense of virtual community can be extremely strong, going beyond simply exchanging mutually useful information to helping with real-life events such as family illnesses and financial crises

VI
(Canada) Abbreviation for Vancouver Island, off the west coast of Canada

Victorian
(style) Style of architecture, furnituremaking, and decorative art covering the reign of Queen Victoria, from 1837 to 1901. The era was influenced by significant industrial and urban development, and the massive expansion of the British Empire. Victorian style was often very ornate, markedly s...

Virgin
UK company founded and owned by Richard Branson. Branson started Virgin in 1969 as a mail-order business, and the first Virgin record store opened in 1971. The company developed quickly, diversifying from retailing records to travel, soft drinks, Internet and financial services, mobile phones, bridal wear, clothing, and cosmetics. Branson start...

virtual private network
Corporate computer network where data is routed via the Internet rather than, or as well as, via more expensive dedicated lines. There are several ways of implementing a VPN but the data will usually be encrypted to prevent them from being read as they pass across the public parts of the Internet

village, medieval
In the Middle Ages, a typical English village would consist of a few dozen people living in a cluster of huts around a village green. The parish church would usually be the only stone building, as the medieval church was the centre of the community's social, farming, and religious life. The whole community would be engaged in agriculture; i...

Viangchan
Lao name for Vientiane, the capital of Laos

Virgin Mary
In Christianity, the title of Mary, the mother of Jesus

vipassana
In Buddhism, any method of meditation designed to give insight into the true nature of life, the reality beyond a person's `clinging` to normal everyday existence. One practice involves reflecting on the reality of death by thinking of the impermanence of all things. Another is to focus on the six elements in turn: earth, water, f...

vibration
In physics, a periodic or oscillatory motion about a position. Sound is produced by vibrations of objects such as the stretched strings of a violin or the air particles in a wind instrument. The sound of the human voice is produced by the motion of air causing the `strings` of the vocal cords to vibrate

virtual image
Picture or appearance of a real object, formed by light that passes through a lens or is reflected by a mirror, that cannot be projected onto a screen. An image produced by a concave lens is an example of a virtual image. Rays of light passing through a concave lens produce an image. The light from an object passes through the lens and is refracted...

vision
Ability or act of seeing. Light that enters the eye is focused by the eye lens, creating a sharp image on the retina. Electrical signals from the retina travel down the optic nerve where they are interpreted by the brain. In humans, the image of an object created by each of our eyes is slightly different because our eyes are in different positions....

Vienna
(federal state) Administrative region of Austria, occupying the same area as Vienna, Austria's capital city; area 415 sq km/160 sq mi; population (2001 est) 1,562,700

Vladimir I
Russian saint, prince of Novgorod, and grand duke of Kiev. Converted to Christianity 988, he married Anna, Christian sister of the Byzantine emperor Basil II, and established the Byzantine rite of Orthodox Christianity as the Russian national faith

Vladivostok
City on the western shore of the Sea of Japan, on a peninsula extending into Peter the Great Bay; population (1996 est) 627,000. It is the capital of the Primorski (Maritime) Krai of the Russian Federation, and one of the most important economic and cultural centres of the Russian Far East, where it is the largest city. Vladivostok is a terminu...

VLF
In physics, abbreviation for very low frequency. VLF radio waves have frequencies in the range 3–30 kHz

vote
Expression of opinion by ballot, show of hands, or other means. In systems that use direct vote, the plebiscite and referendum are fundamental mechanisms. In parliamentary elections the results can be calculated in a number of ways. The main electoral systems are: simple plurality or first past the post, with single-member constituencies (U...

Vosges
(mountains) Mountain range in eastern France near the Franco-German frontier between the départements of Haut-Rhin and Vosges, 250 km/155 mi in length and rising to its highest point at the Ballon de Guebwiller (1,422 m/4,667 ft). The Vosges forms the we...

Vorticism
Short-lived British literary and artistic movement (1912–15), influenced by cubism and Futurism and led by Wyndham Lewis. Lewis believed that painting should reflect the complexity and rapid change of the modern world; he painted in a harsh, angular, semi-abstract style. The last Vorticist exhibition was held in 1915. The aim was t...

Voronezh
(city) River port and capital of Voronezh oblast (region), in the western Russian Federation; population (1996 est) 909,000. Voronezh is situated 290 km/180 mi northeast of Kharkov on the Voronezh River 18 km/11 mi west of its confluence with the Don. It stands at the centre of the...

voodoo
Set of magical beliefs and practices, followed in some parts of Africa, South America, and the West Indies, especially Haiti. It arose in the 17th century on slave plantations as a combination of Roman Catholicism and West African religious traditions; believers retain membership in the Roman Catholic Church. It was once practiced in New Orlean...

Voltaire
French writer. He is the embodiment of the 18th-century Enlightenment. He wrote histories, books of political analysis and philosophy, essays on science and literature, plays, poetry, and the satirical fable Candide (1759), his best-known work. A trenchant satirist of socia...

Volgograd
Industrial city in southwest Russian Federation, on the River Volga; population (2002) 1,011,400. Industries include the manufacture of metal goods and machinery, sawmilling, and oil refining. Its successful defence 1942–43 against Germany was a turning point in World War II

Volga
Longest river in Europe, entirely within the territory of the Russian Federation. The Volga has a total length 3,685 km/2,290 mi, 3,540 km/2,200 mi of which are navigable. It rises in the Valdai plateau northwest of Moscow, and flows into the Caspian Sea 88 km/55 mi below the city of Astrakhan. The Volga basin drains most of the central...

volcano
Click images to enlargeCrack in the Earth's crust through which hot magma (molten rock) and gases well up. The magma is termed lava when it reaches the surface. A volcanic mountain, usually cone-shaped with a crater on top, is formed around the opening, or vent, by the build-up of solidified lava and ash (rock...

Vojvodina
Autonomous province in northern Serbia, area 21,500 sq km/8,299 sq mi; population (2002) 2,032,000, including 1,110,000 Serbs and 390,000 Hungarians, as well as Croat, Slovak, Romanian, and Ukrainian minorities. Its capital is Novi Sad. In September 1990 Serbia effectively stripped Vojvodina of its autonomous status, causing antigovernment ...

voiceprint
Graph produced by a sound spectograph showing frequency and intensity changes in the human voice when visually recorded. It enables individual speech characteristics to be determined. First used as evidence in criminal trials in the USA in 1966, voiceprints were banned in 1974 by the US Court of Appeal as `not yet sufficiently accepted by scie...

Voyager
Either of two US space probes. Voyager 1, launched on 5 September 1977, passed the planet Jupiter in March 1979, and reached Saturn in November 1980. Voyager 2 was launched earlier, on 20 August 1977, on a slower trajectory that took it past Jupiter in July 1979, Saturn in August 1981, Uranus in Janu...

Von Neumann, John
Hungarian-born US scientist and mathematician, a pioneer of computer design. He invented his `rings of operators` (called Von Neumann algebras) in the late 1930s, and also contributed to set theory, game theory, quantum mechanics, cybernetics (with his theory of self-reproducing automata, called Von Neumann machines), and the deve...

vole
Any of various rodents of the family Cricetidae, subfamily Microtinae, distributed over Europe, Asia, and North America, and related to hamsters and lemmings. They are characterized by stout bodies and short tails. They have brown or grey fur, and blunt noses, and some species reach a length of 30 cm/12 in. They feed on grasses, seeds, aquatic ...

volume
In geometry, the space occupied by a three-dimensional (3D) solid object. A prism such as a cube, cuboid, or a cylinder has a volume equal to the area of the base multiplied by the height. For a pyramid or cone, the volume is equal to one-third of the area of the base multiplied by the perpendicular height. The volume of a sphere is equal t...

Volta
Main river in Ghana, about 1,600 km/1,000 mi long, with two main upper branches, the Black Volta and White Volta. It has been dammed at Akosombo to provide power

volt
SI unit of electromotive force or electric potential (see potential, electric). A small battery has a potential of 1.5 volts, while a high-tension transmission line may carry up to 765,000 volts. The domestic electricity supply in the UK is 230 volts (lowered from 240 volts in 1995); it is 110 volts in the USA. The absolute volt is defined ...

voltmeter
Instrument for measuring the potential difference (voltage) between two points in a circuit. It should not be confused with an ammeter, which measures current. A voltmeter has a high internal resistance (so that it passes only a small current), and is connected in parallel with the component across which potential difference is to be measured –...

Voysey, Charles Francis Annesley
English architect and designer. His country houses are characteristically asymmetrical with massive buttresses, long sloping roofs, and roughcast walls, for example The Cottage, Bishop's Itchington, Warwickshire (1888–89). He also designed textiles and wallpaper in the Arts and Crafts tradition

Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr
US writer. His early works, Player Piano (1952), The Sirens of Titan (1959), and Cat's Cradle< ;/i> (1963), used the science fiction genre to explore issues of technological and historical control. He turned to more experimental methods with his ...

vol.
Abbreviation for volume

volleyball
Indoor and outdoor team game played on a court between two teams of six players. A net is placed across the centre of the court, and players hit the ball over the net with their hands, the aim being to ground the ball in the opponents' court or force them to hit the ball out of play. Originally called Mintonette, the game was invented in 1895 b...

Vorarlberg
Alpine federal state of Austria, bounded to the north by Bavaria, to the west by Lake Constance, the Rhine, and Liechtenstein, to the east by north Tirol, and to the south by Switzerland; area 2,601 sq km/1,004 sq mi; population (2001 est) 351,600. Its capital is Bregenz

volatile
Describing a substance that readily passes from the liquid to the vapour phase. Volatile substances have a high vapour pressure

vocal cords
Paired folds, ridges, or cords of tissue within a mammal's larynx, and a bird's syrinx. Air expelled from the lungs passes between these folds or membranes and makes them vibrate, producing sounds. Muscles in the larynx change the pitch of the sounds produced, by adjusting the tension of the vocal cords

voltage
Commonly used term for potential difference (PD)

voltage amplifier
Electronic device that increases an input signal in the form of a voltage or potential difference, delivering an output signal that is larger than the input by a specified ratio

volumetric analysis
Chemical procedure used for determining the concentration of a solution. A known volume of a solution of unknown concentration is reacted with a known volume of a solution of known concentration (standard). The standard solution is delivered from a burette so the volume added is known. This technique is known as titration. Often an indicator is use...

volcanic rock
Another name for extrusive rock, igneous rock formed on the Earth's surface

voice
(grammar) In grammar, the form of the verb which in English gives two different ways of viewing the action of the verb. `The police officer arrested the criminal` is active while `The criminal was arrested by the police officer` is passive. See active voice and passive voic...

vowel
In speech, a voiced sound without friction. In the English alphabet the vowels are a, e, i, o, and u; y can represent either a vowel or a semivowel; all other letters are consonants

voice
(music) In music, the human singing voice. Sound is produced by forcing air from the lungs through the larynx and making the vocal cords vibrate. The pitch of the sound can be altered by tightening or loosening the muscles of the larynx, and the sound is amplified and modified by the mouth and...

voice mail
E-mail including spoken messages and audio. Messages can also be generated electronically using speech synthesis. In offices, voice mail systems are often included in computerized telephone switchboards

Voluntary Services Overseas
International development charity that recruits volunteers from the developed world to share their skills and experience with local communities in the developing world. VSO recruits volunteers of any nationality living in the European Union (EU), Canada, and the USA. It is the largest independent volunteer-sending agency in the world; since...

VPN
Abbreviation for virtual private network

Vries, Hugo
(Marie) Dutch botanist who conducted important research on osmosis in plant cells and was a pioneer in the study of plant evolution. His work led to the rediscovery of Austrian biologist Gregor Mendel's laws and the discovery of spontaneously occurring mutations

Vranitzky, Franz
Austrian socialist politician, federal chancellor 1986–97. A banker, he entered the political arena through the moderate, left-of-centre Socialist Party of Austria (SPÖ), and became minister of finance in 1984. He succeeded Fred Sinowatz as federal chancellor in 1986, heading an SPÖ-ÖVP (Austrian People's Party) ...

VRML
In computing, method of displaying three-dimensional images on a Web page. VRML, which functions as a counterpart to HTML, is a platform-independent language that creates a virtual reality scene which users can `walk` through and follow links much like a conventional Web page. In some contexts, VRML can replace conventional comput...

Vrindavan
In Hindu tradition, the village on the Ganges where the Hindu god Krishna is said to have been born. It is a place of pilgrimage for Hindus

VSTOL
Aircraft capable of taking off and landing either vertically or using a very short length of runway (see STOL). Vertical takeoff requires a vector-control system that permits the thrust of the aircraft engine to be changed from horizontal to vertical for takeoff and back again to horizontal to permit forward flight. An alternative VSTOL technol...

Vulgate
The Latin translation of the Bible produced by St Jerome in the 4th century

Vulcan
In Roman mythology, the god of fire and destruction, later identified with the Greek god Hephaestus. His principal festival was the Vulcanalia held on 23 Aug, but his most ancient feast was the Fornacalia, where he was worshipped as god of furnaces. In Rome the Vulcanale, an area with an altar, was dedicated to him on the north side of the Forum

vulture
Any of various carrion-eating birds of prey in the order Falconiformes, with naked heads and necks, strong hooked bills, and keen senses of sight and smell. Vultures are up to 1 m/3.3 ft long, with wingspans of up to 3.7 m/12 ft. The plumage is usually dark, and the head brightly coloured...

vulcanization
Technique for hardening rubber by heating and chemically combining it with sulphur. The process also makes the rubber stronger and more elastic. If the sulphur content is increased to as much as 30%, the product is the inelastic solid known as ebonite. More expensive alternatives to sulphur, such as selenium and tellurium, are used to vulcanize...

Vuillard,
(Jean) French painter and printmaker. He was a founding member of les Nabis, and is noted for his decorative paintings of intimate domestic interiors with figures and for his brilliantly coloured lithographs. He was closely linked with Pierre Bonnard, his friend from youth, ...

Vukovar
River port in Croatia at the junction of the rivers Vuka and Danube, 32 km/20 mi southeast of Osijek; population (2001) 30,100. Industries include foodstuffs manufacture, fishing, and agricultural trade. In 1991 the town resisted three months of siege by the Serb-dominated Yugoslav army before capitulating. It suffered the severest dama...

wayfaring tree
European shrub belonging to the honeysuckle family, with clusters of fragrant white flowers, found on limy soils; it is naturalized in the northeastern USA. (Genus Viburnum lantana, family Caprifoliaceae.)

wattle
Any of certain species of acacia in Australia, where their fluffy golden flowers are the national emblem. The leathery leaves are adapted to drought conditions and avoid loss of water through transpiration by turning their edges to the direct rays of the sun. Wattles are used for tanning leather and in fencing

water hyacinth
Tropical aquatic plant belonging to the pickerelweed family. In one growing season 25 plants can produce 2 million new plants. It is liable to choke waterways, removing nutrients from the water and blocking out the sunlight, but it can be used to purify sewage-polluted water as well as in making methane gas, compost, concentrated protein, paper...

watercress
Perennial aquatic plant found in Europe and Asia and cultivated for its pungent leaves which are used in salads. (Genus Nasturtium officinale, family Cruciferae.)

walnut
Deciduous tree, probably originating in southeastern Europe and now widely cultivated elsewhere. It can grow up to 30 m/100 ft high, and produces a full crop of edible nuts about 12 years after planting; the timber is used in furniture and the oil is used in cooking. (Genus Juglans r...

wallflower
European perennial cottage garden plant with fragrant spikes of red, orange, yellow, brown, or purple flowers in spring. (Genus Cheiranthus cheiri, family Cruciferae.)

Walachia
Alternative spelling of Wallachia, part of Romania

Walcheren
Island in Zeeland province, the Netherlands, in the estuary of the River Schelde; area 200 sq km/80 sq mi. The capital is Middelburg. Industries include shipbuilding, engineering, and petrochemicals. There is dairying, and sugar beet and root vegetables are grown