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


Zeus
In Greek mythology, the chief of the Olympian gods (Roman Jupiter). He was the son of Kronos, whom he overthrew; his brothers included Pluto and Poseidon, his sisters Demeter, Hestia, and Hera. As the supreme god he dispensed good and evil and was the father and ruler of all humankind, the fount of kingly power and law and order. His emblems we...

Zenobia
Queen of Palmyra AD 266–272. She assumed the crown as regent for her sons, after the death of her husband Odaenathus, and in 272 was defeated at Emesa (now Homs) by Aurelian and taken captive to Rome

Zeno of Elea
Greek philosopher. He pointed out several paradoxes that raised `modern` problems of space and time. For example, motion is an illusion, since an arrow in flight must occupy a determinate space at each instant, and therefore must be at rest

zenith
Uppermost point of the sky, immediately above the observer; the nadir is below, diametrically opposite. See celestial sphere

Zeebrugge
Small Belgian ferry port on the North Sea, linked to Bruges by a canal (built 1896–1907), 14 km/9 mi long. It was occupied by the Germans in World War I and developed as a major naval base. In March 1987 it was the scene of a disaster in which over 180 passengers lost their lives when the car ferry Herald of Free Enterprise
Zedekiah
Last king of Judah 597–586 BC. Placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar, he rebelled, was forced to witness his sons' execution, then was blinded and sent to Babylon. The witness to these events was the prophet Jeremiah, who describes them in the Old Testament

Zermatt
Ski resort in the Valais (Wallis) canton, Switzerland, altitude 1,620 m/5,315 ft, at the head of the Visp valley and at the foot of the Matterhorn,; population (2000) 5,500. It lies 35 km/22 mi by rail from Visp in the Rhône valley

Zend-Avesta
Sacred scriptures of Zoroastrianism, today practised by the Parsees. They comprise the Avesta (liturgical books for the priests); the Gathas (the discourses and revelations of Zoroaster); and the Zend (commentary upon them)

Zeiss, Carl
German optician. He opened his first workshop in Jena in 1846, and in 1866 joined forces with Ernst Abbe (1840–1905) producing cameras, microscopes, and binoculars

Zen
Click images to enlargeForm of Buddhism introduced from India to Japan via China from the 12th century. Rinzai Zen (founded 1191) features koan (paradoxical questions), intense meditation, and sudden enlightenment (satori). Soto Zen (founded 1227) was spread by the priest Dogen (1200–1253), who emphasized work, pract...

Zeffirelli, Franco
Italian theatre, opera and film director, and stage designer. He is associated with stylish designs and lavish productions. His films include Romeo and Juliet (1968), La Traviata (1983), Otello (1986), and Hamlet (1990). He worked on a number of theatre and opera production...

Zeeland
Province of southwest Netherlands, consisting of five islands lying in the Schelde river estuary, and the region north of the Belgian province of East Flanders; area 1,790 sq km/691 sq mi; population (1997) 368,400. The capital is Middelburg. There are shipbuilding, engineering, and petrochemical industries. There is livestock raising, ...

Zephyrus
In Greek mythology, the god of the west wind, husband of Iris, and father of the horses of Achilles in Homer's Iliad

Zelenchukskaya
Site of what was formerly the world's largest single-mirror optical telescope, with a mirror of 6 m/19.7 ft diameter, in the Caucasus Mountains of Russia. At the same site is the RATAN 600 radio telescope, consisting of radio reflectors in a circle of 600 m/2,000 ft diameter. Both instruments are operated by the Special Astrophysica...

Zeng Guofan
Chinese imperial official who played a crucial role in crushing the Taiping Rebellion. He raised the Hunan army in 1852 to organize resistance to this revolt, eventually capturing Nanjing in 1864. The regional influence he acquired made him in some ways a forerunner of the 20th-century Chinese warlords. Fearful that Zeng's provincial army m...

Zelaya Rosales, José Manuel
Honduras Liberal Party politician, president from 2006. Under his presidency, ties closened with Venezuela, governed by President Hugo Chavez, with the aim of getting access to cheap oil. This raised concerns in the USA

Zhukov, Georgi Konstantinovich
Marshal of the USSR in World War II and minister of defence 1955–57. As chief of staff from 1941, he defended Moscow in 1941, counter-attacked at Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in 1942, organized the relief of Leningrad (now St Petersburg) in 1943, and led the offensive from the Ukraine March in 1944 which ended in the fall of Berlin. Zhukov j...

Zhejiang
Coastal province of southeast China, bounded to the north by Jiangsu, to the east by the East China Sea, to the south by Fujian, and to the west by Jiangxi and Anhui; area 101,800 sq km/39,300 sq mi; population (2000 est) 46,770,000. The capital is Hangzhou. There are silk, chemical fibre, canning, tea-processing, and handicrafts in...

Zhengzhou
Capital of Henan province, China, on the Huang He River; population (2000) 2,501,000. Industries include textile machinery, tractor assembly, light engineering, food and tobacco processing, and the manufacture of chemicals, building materials, and cotton textiles. An ancient city from the Shang dynasty (16th–11th centuries BC) has been exc...

Zhangjiakou
Historic city and trading centre in Hebei province, China, on the Great Wall, 160 km/100 mi northwest of Beijing; population (1990) 670,000. Zhangjiakou used to be an important border post between China and Mongolia on the road and railway to Ulaanbaatar; its Mongolian name means `gate`. It developed under the Qing dynasty, an...

Zhao Ziyang
Chinese politician, prime minister 1980–87 and leader of the Chinese Communist Party 1987–89. His reforms included self-management and incentives for workers and factories. He lost his secretaryship and other posts after the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing in June 1989. Zhao, the son of a wealthy Henan province landlord, joined t...

Zhu De
Chinese communist military leader, `father` and commander of the Chinese Red Army 1931–54. He devised the tactic of mobile guerrilla warfare and organized the Long March to Shaanxi 1934–36. He was made a marshal in 1955. The son of a wealthy Sichuan landlord, Zhu served in the Chinese Imperial Army before supporting Sun Zhong Sh...

Zhubov scale
Scale for measuring ice coverage, developed in the former USSR. The unit is the ball; one ball is 10% coverage, two balls 20%, and so on

Zhou dynasty
Chinese succession of rulers c. 1066–256 BC, during which cities emerged and philosophy flourished. The dynasty was established by the Zhou, a semi-nomadic people from the Wei Valley region, west of the great bend in the Huang He (Yellow River). Zhou influence waned from 403 BC, as the Warring States era began. The found...

Zhirinovsky, Vladimir
Russian politician, leader of the far-right Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) from 1991. His strong, sometimes bizarre views, advocating the use of nuclear weapons and the restoration of the Russian empire, initially cast him as a lightweight politician. However, his ability to win third place out of six candidates in Russia's first...

Zhytomyr
Ukrainian name for Zhitomir, a city in western Ukraine

zinnia
Any of a group of annual plants belonging to the daisy family, native to Mexico and South America; notably the cultivated hybrids of Z. elegans with brightly coloured daisylike flowers. (Genus Zinnia, family Compositae.)

zirconium
Lustrous, greyish-white, strong, ductile, metallic element, atomic number 40, relative atomic mass 91.22. It occurs in nature as the mineral zircon (zirconium silicate), from which it is obtained commercially. It is used in some ceramics, alloys for wire and filaments, steel manufacture, and nuclear reactors, where its low neutron absorption is...

zinc
Hard, brittle, bluish-white, metallic element, atomic number 30, relative atomic mass 65.37. The principal ore is sphalerite or zinc blende (zinc sulphide, ZnS). Zinc is hardly affected by air or moisture at ordinary temperatures; its chief uses are in alloys such as brass, in coating metals (for example, galvanized iron), and in making bat...

Zircon
Codename for a British signals-intelligence satellite originally intended to be launched in 1988. The revelation of the existence of the Zircon project (which had been concealed by the government), and the government's subsequent efforts to suppress a programme about it on BBC television, caused much controversy in 1987. Its intended functi...

zip fastener
Fastening device used in clothing, patented in the USA by Whitcomb Judson in 1893, originally for doing up shoes. It has two sets of interlocking teeth, meshed by means of a slide that moves up and down. It became widely used in the clothing industry in the 1930s

Zion
Jebusite (Amorites of Canaan) stronghold in Jerusalem captured by King David, and the hill on which he built the Temple, symbol of Jerusalem and of Jewish national life

Zi Xi
Empress dowager of China. She was presented as a concubine to the emperor Xianfeng. On his death in 1861 she became regent for her young son Tongzhi (1856–1875) until 1873 and, after his death, for her nephew Guangxu (1871–1908) until 1889. A ruthless conservative, she blocked the Hundred Days' Reform launched in 1898 and assumed powe...

Zimbabwe
(architecture) Extensive stone architectural ruins 27 km/17 mi southeast of Victoria in Mashonaland, Zimbabwe. The site was occupied from the 3rd century AD, but the massive stone structures date from the 10th–15th centuries AD. They were probably the work of the Shona people, who est...

Zinovyev, Grigory Yevseyevich
Russian communist politician whose name was attached to a forgery, the Zinovyev letter, inciting Britain's communists to rise, which helped to topple the Labour government in 1924. A prominent Bolshevik, Zinovyev returned to Russia in 1917 with Lenin and played a leading part in the Revolution. He became head of the Communist International in 1...

ziggurat
In ancient Babylonia and Assyria, a step pyramid of sun-baked brick faced with glazed bricks or tiles on which stood a shrine. The Tower of Babel as described in the Bible may have been a ziggurat

Zia ul-Haq, Muhammad
Pakistani general, in power from 1977 until his death, probably an assassination, in an aircraft explosion. He became army chief of staff in 1976, led the military coup against Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1977, and became president in 1978. Zia introduced a fundamentalist Islamic regime and restricted political activity. Zia was a career soldier from a ...

zither
Member of a family of musical instruments consisting of one or more strings stretched over a resonating frame or soundbox, played horizontally. The modern concert zither has up to 45 strings of which five, passing over frets, are plucked with a plectrum for melody, and the remainder are plucked with the fingers for harmonic accompaniment. Simple st...

Zimbabwe
(country) Click images to enlargeLandlocked country in south central Africa, bounded north by Zambia, east by Mozambique, south by South Africa, and west by Botswana. Government Zimbabwe is an independent republic within the Commonwealth....

Zinnemann, Fred(erick)
Austrian-born US film director, responsible for a series of liberal, moralistic, social realist narratives centred on protagonists undergoing a crisis of conscience, who ultimately feel compelled to defend their beliefs. He received Academy Awards for From Here to Eternity (1953) and A Man for All Seasons (...

ZIFT
Modified form of in vitro fertilization in which the fertilized ovum is reintroduced into the mother's Fallopian tube before the ovum has undergone its first cell division. This mimics the natural processes of fertilization (which normally occurs in the Fallopian tube) and implantation more effectively than older techniques

zidovudine
Antiviral drug used in the treatment of AIDS; see AZT

zinc ore
Mineral from which zinc is extracted, principally sphalerite (Zn,Fe)S, but also zincite, ZnO2, and smithsonite, ZnCO3, all of which occur in mineralized veins. Ores of lead and zinc often occur together, and are common worldwide; Canada, the USA, and Australia are major producers

zircon
Zirconium silicate, ZrSiO4, a mineral that occurs in small quantities in a wide range of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. It is very durable and is resistant to erosion and weathering. It is usually coloured brown, but can be other colours, and when transparent may be used as a gemstone. Zircons contain abundant r...

Zionism
National liberation movement advocating the re-establishment of a Jewish homeland (the Eretz Israel) in Palestine. Here, in the `Promised Land` of the Bible, its adherents called for the Jewish people to be granted a sovereign state with its capital at Jerusalem, the `city of Zion`. The movement was founde...

zinc oxide
White powder, yellow when hot, that occurs in nature as the mineral zincite. It is used in paints and as an antiseptic in zinc ointment; it is the main ingredient of calamine lotion

zinc sulphide
Yellow-white solid that occurs in nature as the mineral sphalerite (also called zinc blende). It is the principal ore of zinc, and is used in the manufacture of fluorescent paints

Zinovyev, Alexander Aleksandrovich
Russian satirical writer and mathematician. His first book Ziyayushchie vysoty/Yawning Heights (1976), a surreal, chaotic narrative, represents a formal negation of the socialist realist novel and the promised `great Future` of Soviet ideology. He complicated the quasi-scientific stance of his writing by deliber...

Zia, Begum Khaleda
Bangladeshi conservative politician, prime minister 1991–96. As leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) from 1984, she successfully oversaw the transition from presidential to democratic parliamentary government, but faced mounting opposition from 1994. In 1958 she married Captain Zia ur Rahman who assumed power in a military coup in ...

Zip drive
In computing, portable disk drive manufactured by or under license from Iomega. Zip drives can store 100 megabytes (MB) or 250 MB on each disk

zoo
Place where animals are kept in captivity. Originally created purely for visitor entertainment and education, zoos have become major centres for the breeding of endangered species of animals; a 1984 report identified 2,000 vertebrate species in need of such maintenance. Notable zoos exist in New York, San Diego, Toronto, Chicago, London, Paris,...

zodiacal light
Cone-shaped light sometimes seen extending from the Sun along the ecliptic (that is, the path that the Sun appears to follow each year as it is orbited by Earth), visible after sunset or before sunrise. It is due to thinly spread dust particles in the central plane of the Solar System. It is very faint, and requires a dark, clear sky to be seen...

zoology
Branch of biology concerned with the study of animals. It includes any aspect of the study of animal form and function – description of present-day animals, the study of evolution of animal forms, anatomy, physiology, embryology, behaviour, and geographical distribution

Zoroastrianism
Pre-Islamic Persian religion founded by the Persian prophet Zoroaster in the 6th century BC, and still practised by the Parsees in India. The Zend-Avesta are the sacred scriptures of the faith. The theology is dualistic, Ahura Mazda or Ormuzd (the good God) being perpetually in conflict with Ahriman (the evil God), but the former is assured...

zombie
Corpse believed to be reanimated by a spirit and enslaved. The idea, widespread in Haiti, possibly arose from voodoo priests using the nerve poison tetrodotoxin (from the puffer fish) to produce a semblance of death from which the victim afterwards physically recovers. Those eating incorrectly prepared puffer fish in Japan have been similarly affec...

Zog, Ahmed Bey Zogu
King of Albania 1928–39. He became prime minister of Albania in 1922, president of the republic in 1925, and proclaimed himself king in 1928. He was driven out by the Italians in 1939 and settled in the UK

zodiac
Zone of the heavens containing the paths of the Sun, Moon, and planets. When this was devised by the ancient Greeks, only five planets were known, making the zodiac about 16° wide. In astrology, the zodiac is divided into 12 signs, each 30° in extent: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, A...

zoom lens
Photographic lens that, by variation of focal length, allows speedy transition from long shots to close-ups

zoonosis
Any infectious disease that can be transmitted to humans by other vertebrate animals. Probably the most feared example is rabies. The transmitted micro-organism sometimes causes disease only in the human host, leaving the animal host unaffected

Zoë
Byzantine empress who ruled from 1028 until 1050. She gained the title by marriage to the heir apparent Romanus III Argyrus, but was reputed to have poisoned him (1034) in order to marry her lover Michael. He died in 1041 and Zoë and her sister Theodora were proclaimed joint empresses. Rivalry led to Zoë marrying Constantine IX Monomachus...

zone therapy
Alternative name for reflexology

zouk
Caribbean dance music originally created in France by musicians from the Antilles. It draws on Latin American, Haitian, and African rhythms and employs electronic synthesizers as well as ethnic drums. Zouk was developed from 1978 and is popular in Paris and parts of the West Indies

zoidogamy
Type of plant reproduction in which male gametes (antherozoids) swim in a film of water to the female gametes. Zoidogamy is found in algae, bryophytes, pteridophytes, and some gymnosperms (others use siphonogamy)

Zsigmondy, Richard Adolf
Austrian-born German chemist who devised and built an ultramicroscope in 1903. The microscope's illumination was placed at right angles to the axis. (In a conventional microscope the light source is placed parallel to the instrument's axis.) Zsigmondy's arrangement made it possible to observe particles with a diameter of one 10-...

Zuider Zee
Former sea inlet in the northwestern Netherlands, closed off from the North Sea by a 32-km/20-mi dyke in 1932; much of it has been reclaimed as land. The remaining lake is called the IJsselmeer

Zululand
Region in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, largely corresponding to the former Black National State KwaZulu. The Zulus formed a powerful kingdom in the early 19th century under Shaka (died 1828) and built up an empire in Natal, displacing other peoples of southern Africa. They were defeated by the British army at Ulundi in 1879. Zululand became par...

zucchini
Another name for the courgette, a type of marrow

Zulu
Click images to enlargeMember of a group of southern African peoples mainly from Kwa Zulu-Natal, South Africa. They are traditionally agriculturalists. The Zulu language, closely related to Xhosa, belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo family. Many Zulus are supporters of the political organization Inkatha...

Zuid Holland
Dutch name for South Holland, a low-lying coastal province of the Netherlands

Zwingli, Ulrich
Swiss Protestant reformer. He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1506, but by 1519 was a Reformer and led the Reformation in Switzerland with his insistence on the sole authority of the Scriptures. He was killed in a skirmish at Kappel during a war against the cantons that had not accepted the Reformation

Zwolle
Capital of Overijssel province, the Netherlands, 64 km/40 mi northeast of Arnhem; population (2006 est) 113,100. There are shipbuilding, chemical, iron, cotton, brewing, distilling, and buttermaking industries. Nearby is Agnietenberg monastery, associated with Thomas à Kempis

Zweig, Stefan
Austrian writer. He was the author of plays, poems, and many biographies of writers (including Balzac and Dickens) and historical figures (including Marie Antoinette and Mary Stuart). He and his wife, exiles from the Nazis from 1934, despaired at what they saw as the end of civilization and culture and committed suicide in Brazil

zwitterion
Ion that has both a positive and a negative charge, such as an amino acid in neutral solution. For example, glycine contains both a basic amino group (NH2) and an acidic carboxyl group (COOH); when these are both ionized in aqueous solution, the acid group loses a proton while the amino group gains one, and the molecule i...

Zwicky, Fritz
Swiss astronomer. He predicted the existence of neutron stars in 1934. He discovered 18 supernovae and determined that cosmic rays originate in them. Zwicky observed that most galaxies occur in clusters, each of which contains several thousand galaxies. He made spectroscopic studies of the Virgo and Coma Berenices clusters and calculated that the d...

zygote
Ovum (egg) after fertilization but before it undergoes cleavage to begin embryonic development

zydeco
Dance music originating in Louisiana, USA, similar to Cajun but more heavily influenced by blues and West Indian music. Zydeco is fast and bouncy, using instruments like the accordion, saxophone, and washboard. It was widely popularized by singer and accordion player Clifton Chenier (1925–1987)

A Coruña
(city) Seaport and capital of A Coruña province in Galicia, northwest Spain, lying on a narrow peninsula between two bays; population (2001) 236,400. It is one of the most important European fishing ports, and is well known for its high quality fish and seafood. Other industries inclu...

a posteriori
In logic, an argument that deduces causes from their effects; inductive reasoning; the converse of a priori

a priori
(Latin `from what comes before`) in logic, an argument that is known to be true, or false, without reference to experience; the converse of a posteriori. Space, time, reality, and negation exist independently of experience and arguments from these are a priori. Immanuel Kant asserts that we do not derive these concepts from experience...

A level
In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, examinations taken by students usually at the age of 18, after two years' study, in no more than four subjects at one time. Two A-level passes are normally required for entry to a university degree course. Scottish students sit Highers

a/c
Abbreviation for account

a cappella
Choral music sung without instrumental accompaniment. In modern music it is characteristic of gospel music, doo-wop, and the evangelical Christian church movement

A
(physics) In physics, symbol for ampere, a unit of electrical current

Açores
Alternative name for the Azores, a group of nine islands in the North Atlantic

Böll, Heinrich
(Theodor) German novelist. A radical Catholic and anti-Nazi, he attacked Germany's political past and the materialism of its contemporary society. His many publications include poems, short stories, and novels which satirized West German society, for example Billard um Halbzeh...

Béziers
Town in the Hérault département in southern France, situated at the crossing of the River Orb and the Canal du Midi, 60 km/37 mi southwest of Montpellier; population (1999) 69,400. It is a centre of the wine and spirit trade. Other industries include the manufacture of textiles, chemicals, and confectionery. Fea...

Báthory, Stephen
King of Poland, elected by a diet convened in 1575 and crowned in 1576. Báthory succeeded in driving the Russian troops of Ivan the Terrible out of his country. His military successes brought potential conflicts with Sweden, but he died before these developed

Bérégovoy, Pierre
(Eugène) French socialist politician, prime minister 1992–93. A close ally of François Mitterrand, he was named chief of staff in 1981 after managing the successful presidential campaign. He was social affairs minister 1982–84 and finance minister 1984–86 and 1988–...

B-Specials
Armed, part-time section of the Royal Ulster Constabulary. The B-Specials helped to police Northern Ireland between their formation in 1920 to their abolition in 1969. They were replaced by the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) in 1970

Bûr Sa'îd
Arabic name for Port Said, a port in Egypt

Côte d'Azur
Mediterranean coast from Menton to St-Tropez in the départements of Alpes-Maritimes and Var, France, renowned for its beaches; it is part of the region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The chief resorts are Antibes, Cannes, Nice, Juan-Les-Pins, and Monte Carlo in Monaco

Córdoba
(city, Spain) Capital of Córdoba province, southern Spain, on the River Guadalquivir; population (2001 est) 313,500. Paper, textiles, silverware, and copper products are manufactured, and there is a large trade in agricultura...

Córdoba
(Argentina, city) Industrial city and capital of Córdoba province, central Argentina, situated on the Primero (or Suquiá) River, 400 m/1,310 ft above sea level at the foot of the Sierra Chica, between the Pampas on the east and the Andes on the west; population (2001) 1,267,5...

Cézanne, Paul
French post-Impressionist painter. He was a leading figure in the development of modern art. He broke away from the Impressionists' concern with the ever-changing effects of light to develop a style that tried to capture the structure of natural forms, whether in landscapes, still lifes, or portraits. Joueurs de Cartes...

C
(computing) In computing, a high-level, general-purpose programming language popular on minicomputers and microcomputers. Developed in the early 1970s from an earlier language called BCPL, C was first used as the language of the operating system Unix, though it has since become widespr...

Cádiz
Spanish city and naval base, capital and seaport of the province of Cádiz, sited on a peninsula on the south side of Cádiz Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, 103 km/64 mi south of Seville; population (2001) 133,400. There are ferries to the Canary Islands and Casablanca, Morocco, and shipbuilding and repairs are important, as ar...

Côte d'Ivoire
Country in West Africa, bounded north by Mali and Burkina Faso, east by Ghana, south by the Gulf of Guinea, and west by Liberia and Guinea. Government The 1960 constitution, as amended, provides for a presidential political system. The president is directly elected by universal suffrage for a five-year term and selects and directs the cabinet a...

César
French sculptor. He created imaginary insects and animals using iron and scrap metal and, in the 1960s, crushed car bodies. From the late 1960s he experimented with works in plastic and polyurethane

C
In physics, symbol for coulomb, the SI unit of electrical charge

Düsseldorf
Commercial city and capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the right bank of the River Rhine, 26 km/16 mi northwest of Cologne; population (2005 est) 574,500. It is a river port and the commercial and financial centre of the Ruhr area, with food processing, brewing, agricultural machinery, textile, and chemical industries