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

corticosteroid
Any of several steroid hormones secreted by the cortex of the adrenal glands; also synthetic forms with similar properties. Corticosteroids have anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects and may be used to treat a number of conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, severe allergies, asthma, some skin diseases, and some cancers. Side...

coronary artery disease
Click images to enlargeCondition in which the fatty deposits of atherosclerosis form in the coronary arteries that supply the heart muscle, narrowing them and restricting the blood flow. These arteries may already be hardened (arteriosclerosis). If the heart's oxygen requirements are increased, as during exercise, the...

conglomerate
(geology) In geology, a type of sedimentary rock composed of rounded fragments ranging in size from pebbles to boulders, cemented together in a finer sand or clay material

community
(society) In the social sciences, the sense of identity, purpose, and companionship that comes from belonging to a particular place, organization, or social group. The idea dominated sociological thinking in the first half of the 20th century, and inspired academic courses in community studies

corrie
Scottish term for a steep-sided armchair-shaped hollow in the mountainside of a glaciated area. The weight and movement of the ice has ground out the bottom and worn back the sides. A corrie is open at the front, and its sides and back are formed of arêtes. There may be a small lake in t...

core
(earth science) In earth science, the innermost part of the Earth. It is divided into an outer core, which begins at a depth of 2,900 km/1,800 mi, and an inner core, which begins at a depth of 4,980 km/3,100 mi. Both parts are...

cordillera
Group of mountain ranges and their valleys, all running in a specific direction, formed by the continued convergence of two tectonic plates (see plate tectonics) along a line. The term is applied especially to the principal mountain belt of a continent. The Andes of South America are an example

cost of living
Cost of goods and services needed for an average standard of living

continent
Any one of the seven large land masses of the Earth, as distinct from the oceans. They are Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Europe, Australia, and Antarctica. Continents are constantly moving and evolving (see plate tectonics). A continent does not end at the coastline; its boundary is...

consumption
(economics) In economics, the purchase of goods and services for final use, as opposed to providing for future production

Comecon
Economic organization from 1949 to 1991, linking the USSR with Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, East Germany (1950–90), Mongolia (from 1962), Cuba (from 1972), and Vietnam (from 1978), with Yugoslavia as an associated member. Albania also belonged between 1949 and 1961. Its establishment was prompted by the Marshall Plan. Co...

colon
(anatomy) In anatomy, the main part of the large intestine, between the caecum and rectum. Water and mineral salts are absorbed from undigested food in the colon, and the residue passes as faeces towards the rectum

conjunction
(language) Grammatical part of speech that serves to connect words, phrases, and clauses. Coordinating conjunctions link parts of equal grammatical value; and, but, and or are the most common. Subordinating conjunctions link subordin...

comma
Punctuation mark (,) most commonly used to mark off a phrase or noun in apposition, to mark off a subordinate clause or phrase, or to separate items in a list

Cornish language
Extinct member of the Celtic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Cornwall, England, until 1777. In recent years the language has been revived in a somewhat reconstructed form by people interested in their Cornish heritage

Copt
Descendant of those ancient Egyptians who adopted Christianity in the 1st century and refused to convert to Islam after the Arab conquest. They now form a small minority (about 5%) of Egypt's population. Coptic is a member of the Hamito-Semitic language family. It is descended from the language of the ancient Egyptians and is the ritual...

computer numerical control
Control of machine tools, most often milling machines or lathes, by a computer. The pattern of work for the machine to follow, which often involves performing repeated sequences of actions, is described using a special-purpose programming language

computer game
Any computer-controlled game in which the computer (sometimes) opposes the human player. Computer games typically employ fast, animated graphics on a VDU (visual display unit) and synthesized sound. Commercial computer games became possible with the advent of the microprocessor in the mid-1970s and rapidly became popular as amusement-ar...

computer
Click images to enlargeProgrammable electronic device that processes data and performs calculations and other symbol-manipulation tasks. There are three types: the digital computer, which manipulates information coded as binary numbers (see binary number system); the analogue computer, which works with continu...

command language
In computing, a set of commands and the rules governing their use, by which users control a program. For example, an operating system may have commands such as SAVE and DELETE, or a payroll program may have commands for adding and amending staff records

COBOL
High-level computer-programming language, designed in the late 1950s for commercial data-processing problems; it has become the major language in this field. COBOL features powerful facilities for file handling and business arithmetic. Program instructions written in this language make extensive use of words and look very much like ...

Coltrane, John
(William) US jazz saxophonist. He first came to fame in 1955 with the Miles Davis quintet, later playing with Thelonious Monk in 1957. He was a powerful and individual artist, whose performances featured much experimentation. His 1960s quartet was highly regarded for its innovations in melody ...

congress system
Developed from the Congress of Vienna (1814–15), a series of international meetings in Aachen, Germany, in 1818, Troppau, Austria, in 1820, and Verona, Italy, in 1822. British opposition to the use of congresses by Klemens Metternich as a weapon against liberal and national movements inside Europe brought them to an end as a system of internat...

Congress
Click images to enlargeNational legislature of the USA, consisting of the House of Representatives (435 members, apportioned to the states of the Union on the basis of population, and elected for two-year terms) and the Senate (100 senators, two for each state, elected for six years, one-third elected every two ye...

conservatism
Approach to government favouring the preservation of existing institutions and identified with a number of Western political parties, such as the British Conservative, US Republican, German Christian Democratic, and Australian Liberal parties. It tends to favour a `practical` rather than a theoretical approach but generally emphasizes fre...

collective security
System for achieving international stability by an agreement among all states to unite against any aggressor. Such a commitment was embodied in the post-World War I League of Nations and also in the United Nations (UN), although the League was not able to live up to the ideals of its founders, nor has the UN been able to do so

corporatism
Belief that the state in capitalist democracies should intervene to a large extent in the economy to ensure social harmony. In Austria, for example, corporatism results in political decisions often being taken after discussions between chambers of commerce, trade unions, and the government

coalition
Association of political groups, usually for some limited or short-term purpose, such as fighting an election or forming a government when one party has failed to secure a majority in a legislature or parliament

conga
(dance) Latin American dance, originally from Cuba, in which the participants form a winding line, take three steps forwards or backwards, and then kick

Commons, House of
Lower chamber of the UK Parliament. It consists of 646 elected members of Parliament (MPs), each of whom represents a constituency. Its functions are to debate, legislate (pass laws), and to oversee the activities of government. Constituencies are kept under continuous review by the Parliamentary Boundary Commissions (1944). The House of Commons is...

Common Market
Popular name for the European Economic Community; see European Union

Columbia, District of
Federal district of the USA, see District of Columbia and Washington, DC

colour
(physics) Click images to enlargeIn physics, wavelength, or mixture of wavelengths, of light emitted or reflected from an object; in psychology, the subjective visual response to that combination of wavelengths. Visible white light consists of el...

Copernicus, Nicolaus
Polish astronomer who believed that the Sun, not the Earth, is at the centre of the Solar System, thus defying the Christian church doctrine of the time. For 30 years, he worked on the hypothesis that the rotation and the orbital motion of the Earth are responsible for the apparent movement of the he...

constellation
One of the 88 areas into which the sky is divided for the purposes of identifying and naming celestial objects. The first constellations were simple, arbitrary patterns of stars in which early civilizations visualized gods, sacred beasts, and mythical heroes. The constellations used in scientific ast...

conic section
Curve obtained when a conical surface is intersected by a plane. If the intersecting plane cuts both extensions of the cone, it yields a hyperbola; if it is parallel to the side of the cone, it produces a parabola. Other intersecting planes produce circles or ellipses. The Greek mathematician Apo...

Confucianism
Body of beliefs and practices based on the Chinese classics and supported by the authority of the philosopher Confucius. The origin of things is seen in the union of yin and yang, the passive and active principles. Human relationships follow the patriarchal pattern. For more than 2,000 years Chinese ...

Commonwealth conference
Any consultation between the prime ministers (or defence, finance, foreign, or other ministers) of the sovereign independent members of the British Commonwealth. These are informal discussion meetings, and the implementation of policies is decided by individual governments

common land
Unenclosed wasteland, forest, and pasture used in common by the community at large. Poor people have throughout history gathered fruit, nuts, wood, reeds, roots, game, and so on from common land; in dry regions of India, for example, the landless derive 20% of their annual income in this way, together with much of their food and fuel. Codes...

common law
That part of the English law not embodied in legislation. It consists of rules of law based on common custom and usage and on judicial (court) decisions. English common law became the basis of law in the USA and many other English-speaking countries. Common law developed after the Norman Conquest 1066 as the law common to the whole of England, ...

Commodus, Lucius Aelius Aurelius
Roman emperor from 177 (jointly with his father), sole emperor from 180, son of Marcus Aurelius. He was a tyrant, spending lavishly on gladiatorial combats, confiscating the property of the wealthy, persecuting the Senate, and renaming Rome `Colonia Commodiana`. There were many attempts against his life, and he was finally strangled at th...

committal proceedings
In the UK, a preliminary hearing in a magistrate's court to decide whether there is a case to answer before a higher court. The media may only report limited facts about committal proceedings, such as the name of the accused and the charges, unless the defendant asks for reporting restrictions to be lifted

commissioner for oaths
In English law, a person appointed by the Lord Chancellor with power to administer oaths or take affidavits. All practising solicitors have these powers but must not use them in proceedings in which they are acting for any of the parties or in which they have an interest

comet
Small, icy body orbiting the Sun, usually on a highly elliptical path that takes it beyond the dwarf planet Pluto. A comet consists of a central nucleus a few kilometres across and is made mostly of ice mixed with gas and dust. As a comet approaches the Sun its nucleus heats up, releasing gas and dus...

Cockerell, Christopher Sydney
English engineer who invented the hovercraft in the 1950s. Cockerell tested various ways of maintaining the air cushion. In 1957 he came up with the idea of a flexible skirt, an idea derided by sceptics who could not believe that a piece of fabric could be made to support a large vessel. Knighted 1969

court
Body that hears legal actions and the building where this occurs. Particular kinds of law court include the Court of Appeal, the county courts, the Court of Session in Scotland, and, in Northern Ireland, the Diplock courts

Covenanter
In Scottish history, one of the Presbyterian Christians who swore to uphold their forms of worship in a National Covenant, signed on 28 February 1638, when Charles I attempted to introduce a liturgy on the English model into Scotland. A general assembly abolished episcopacy, and the Covenanters signed with the English Parliament the Solemn League a...

conjugation
(biology) In biology, temporary union of two single cells (or hyphae in fungi) with at least one of them receiving genetic material from the other: the bacterial equivalent of sexual reproduction. A fragment of the DNA from one bacterium is passed along a thin tube, the pilus, into another...

coal
Black or blackish mineral substance formed from the compaction of ancient plant matter in tropical swamp conditions. It is used as a fuel and in the chemical industry. Coal is classified according to the proportion of carbon it contains. The main types are anthracite (shiny, with about 90% carbon...

cobalt ore
Cobalt is extracted from a number of minerals, the main ones being smaltite, (CoNi)As₃; linnaeite, Co₃S₄; cobaltite, CoAsS; and glaucodot, (CoFe)AsS. All commercial cobalt is obtained as a by-product of other metals, usually associated with other ores, such as copp...

copper ore
Any mineral from which copper is extracted, including native copper, Cu; chalcocite, Cu₂S; chalcopyrite, CuFeS₂; bornite, Cu₅FeS₄; azurite, Cu₃(CO₃...

contact lens
Lens, made of soft or hard plastic, that is worn in contact with the cornea and conjunctiva of the eye, beneath the eyelid, to correct defective vision. In special circumstances, contact lenses may be used as protective shells or for cosmetic purposes, such as changing eye colour. The earliest use of...

commutator
Device in a DC (direct-current) electric motor that reverses the current flowing in the armature coils as the armature rotates. A DC generator, or dynamo, uses a commutator to convert the AC (alternating current) generated in the armature coils into DC. A commutator consists of opposite pairs of conductors insulated from one another, and contac...

coaxial cable
Electric cable that consists of a solid or stranded central conductor insulated from and surrounded by a solid or braided conducting tube or sheath. It can transmit the high-frequency signals used in television, telephone, and other telecommunications transmissions

coal gas
Gas produced when coal is destructively distilled or heated out of contact with the air. Its main constituents are methane, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide. Coal gas has been superseded by natural gas for domestic purposes

combine harvester
Machine used for harvesting cereals and other crops, so called because it combines the actions of reaping (cutting the crop) and threshing (beating the ears so that the grain separates). A combine, drawn by horses, was first built in Michigan in 1836. Today's mechanical combine harvesters are cap...

compact disc
Disk for storing digital information, about 12 cm/4.5 in across, mainly used for music, when it can have over an hour's playing time. A laser beam etches the compact disc with microscopic pits that carry a digital code representing the sounds; the pitted surface is then coated with aluminium. During playback, a laser beam reads the code...

Concorde
The only supersonic airliner, which cruises at Mach 2, or twice the speed of sound, about 2,170 kph/1,350 mph. Concorde, the result of Anglo-French cooperation, made its first flight in 1969 and entered commercial service seven years later. It is 62 m/202 ft long and has a wing span of nearly 26 m/84 ft. Developing Concorde cost Fre...

contact process
Main industrial method of manufacturing the chemical sulphuric acid. Sulphur dioxide is produced by burning sulphur: S + O₂ ® SO₂. Sulphur dioxide and air are passed over a hot (450°C) catalyst of vanadium (V) oxide: 2SO₂ + O₂ «...

conveyor
Device used for transporting materials. Widely used throughout industry is the conveyor belt, usually a rubber or fabric belt running on rollers. Trough-shaped belts are used, for example in mines, for transporting ores and coal. Chain conveyors are also used in coal mines to remove coal from the cutting machines. Crossbars attached to an endle...

corrosion
(chemistry) Eating away and eventual destruction of metals and alloys by chemical attack. The rusting of ordinary iron and steel is the most common form of corrosion. Rusting takes place in moist air, when the iron combines with oxygen and water to form a brown-orange deposit of rust (hydr...

cohesion
In physics, a phenomenon in which interaction between two surfaces of the same material in contact makes them cling together (with two different materials the similar phenomenon is called adhesion). According to kinetic theory, cohesion is caused by attraction between particles at the atomic or molecular level. Surface tension, which causes liquids...

colloid
Substance composed of extremely small particles of one material (the dispersed phase) evenly and stably distributed in another material (the continuous phase). The size of the dispersed particles (1–1,000 nanometres across) is less than that of particles in suspension but greater than that of molecules in true solution. Colloids involving gase...

condenser
(optics) In optics, a lens or combination of lenses with a short focal length used for concentrating a light source onto a small area, as used in a slide projector or microscope substage lighting unit. A condenser can also be made using a concave mirror

conductance
Ability of a material to carry an electrical current, usually given the symbol G. For a direct current, it is the reciprocal of resistance: a conductor of resistance R has a conductance of 1/R. For an alternating current, conductance is the resistance R divided by t...

conductor
(science) Any material that conducts heat or electricity (as opposed to an insulator, or nonconductor). A good conductor has a high electrical or heat conductivity, and is generally a substance rich in loosely-held free electrons, such as a metal. Copper and aluminium are good conductors. ...

convection
Transfer of heat energy that involves the movement of a fluid (gas or liquid). Fluid in contact with the source of heat expands and tends to rise within the bulk of the fluid. Cooler fluid sinks to take its place, setting up a convection current. This is the principle of natural convection in many do...

combustion
Burning, defined in chemical terms as the rapid combination of a substance with oxygen, accompanied by the evolution of heat and usually light. A slow-burning candle flame and the explosion of a mixture of petrol vapour and air are extreme examples of combustion. Combustion is an exothermic reaction as heat energy is given out

compass
Any instrument for finding direction. The most commonly used is a magnetic compass, consisting of a thin piece of magnetic material with the north-seeking pole indicated, free to rotate on a pivot and mounted on a compass card on which the points of the compass are marked. When the compass is pro...

cocaine
Alkaloid extracted from the leaves of the coca tree. It has limited medical application, mainly as a local anaesthetic agent that is readily absorbed by mucous membranes (lining tissues) of the nose and throat. It is both toxic and addictive. Its use as a stimulant is illegal. crack is a derivative of cocaine. Cocaine was first extracted from the c...

Cocos Islands
Group of 27 small coral islands in the Indian Ocean, about 2,700 km/1,678 mi northwest of Perth, Australia; area 14 sq km/5.5 sq mi; population (2001 est) 620. An Australian external territory since 1955, the islanders voted to become part of Australia in 1984, and in 1992 they became subject to the laws of Western Australia. The ma...

colitis
Inflammation of the colon (large intestine) with diarrhoea (often bloody). It is usually due to infection or some types of bacterial dysentery

Colombo
Chief commercial city and seaport, and former capital, of Sri Lanka, on the west coast near the mouth of the Kelani River; population (2001 est) 642,000. It trades in the export of tea, rubber, and cacao, and its industries include iron- and steelworks, an oil refinery, and motor vehicle assembly. Colombo is the hub of the road and rail net...

Combination Acts
Laws passed in Britain in 1799 and 1800 making trade unionism illegal. They were introduced after the French Revolution for fear that the trade unions would become centres of political agitation. The unions continued to exist, but claimed to be friendly societies or went underground, until the acts were repealed in 1824, largely owing to the radica...

Comédie Française
French national theatre (for both comedy and tragedy) in Paris, founded in 1680 by Louis XIV. Its base is the Salle Richelieu on the right bank of the River Seine, and the Théâtre de l'Odéon, on the left bank, is a testing ground for avant-garde ideas

company
(economics) In economics, a form of business enterprise with a legal personality, such as public limited companies, partnerships, joint ventures, sole proprietorships, and branches of foreign companies. Most companies are private and, unlike public companies, cannot offer their shares to the g...

composite
In industry, any purpose-designed engineering material created by combining materials with complementary properties into a composite form. Most composites have a structure in which one component consists of discrete elements, such as fibres, dispersed in a continuous matrix. For example, lengths of asbestos, glass, or carbon steel, or `whi...

concertina
Musical instrument, a portable reed organ related to the accordion but smaller in size and hexagonal in shape, with buttons for keys. Metal reeds are blown by wind from pleated bellows which are opened and closed by the player's hands. It was invented in England in the 19th century

confession
(religion) In religion, the confession of sins practised in Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and most Far Eastern Christian churches, and since the early 19th century revived in Anglican and Lutheran churches. It is the sacrament of penance (sorrow for sin). Confession to a priest (who in Catholic do...

Congreve, William
English dramatist and poet. His first success was the comedy The Old Bachelor (1693), followed by The Double Dealer (1694), Love for Love (1695), the tragedy The Mourning Bride (1697), and The Way of the World (1700). His plays, which satirize and critici...

conquistador
Any of the early Spanish conquerors in the Americas. The title is applied in particular to those leaders who overthrew the indigenous empires of Peru and Mexico, and other parts of Central and South America. They include Hernán Cortés, who subjugated Mexico; Francisco Pizarro, conqueror of Peru with Diego de Almagro; and Juan Ponc...

Compositae
Click images to enlargeDaisy family, comprising dicotyledonous flowering plants characterized by flowers borne in composite heads. It is the largest family of flowering plants, the majority being herbaceous. Birds seem to favour the family for use in nest `decoration`, possibly because many species either repel ...

conscientious objector
Person refusing compulsory service, usually military, on moral, religious, or political grounds

constitution
Body of fundamental (basic) laws of a state, laying down the system of government and defining the relations of the executive (administration), legislature (law-making body), and judiciary (courts) to each other and to the citizens. Since the French Revolution (1789–1799) almost all countries (the UK is an exception) have adopted written c...

consumer protection
Laws and measures designed to ensure fair trading for buyers. Responsibility for checking goods and services for quality, safety, and suitability has in the past few years moved increasingly away from the consumer to the producer. In earlier days it was assumed that consumers could safeguard themselves by common sense, testing before purchase, and ...

Cooperative Party
Former political party founded in Britain in 1917 by the cooperative movement to maintain its principles in parliamentary and local government. A written constitution was adopted in 1938. The party had strong links with the Labour Party; from 1946 Cooperative Party candidates stood in elections as Cooperative and Labour Candidates and, after th...

copyright
Law applying to literary, musical, and artistic works (including plays, recordings, films, photographs, radio and television broadcasts, and, in the USA and the UK, computer programs), which prevents the reproduction of the work, in whole or in part, without the author's consent. It is the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, display, lice...

Coventry
Industrial city in the West Midlands, England, on the River Sherbourne, 29 km/18 mi southeast of Birmingham; population (2001) 303,500. Principal industries are engineering and the manufacture of electronic equipment, machine tools, agricultural machinery, synthetic fibres, aerospace components, telecommunications equipment, and vehicles, i...

Coward, Noël Peirce
English dramatist, actor, revue-writer, director, and composer. He epitomized the witty and sophisticated man of the theatre. From his first success with The Young Idea (1923), he wrote and appeared in plays and comedies on both sides of the Atlantic such as Hay Fever (1925), Private Lives...

Cowper, William
English poet. His verse anticipates Romanticism and includes the six books of The Task (1785). He also wrote hymns (including `God Moves in a Mysterious Way`). Cowper's work is important for its directness and descriptive accuracy, and deals with natural themes develo...

copepod
Crustacean of the subclass Copepoda, mainly microscopic and found in plankton

College of Arms
English heraldic body formed in 1484. There are three kings-of-arms, six heralds, and four pursuivants, who specialize in genealogical and heraldic work. The college establishes the right to a coat of arms, and the kings-of-arms grant arms by letters patent. The office of king-of-arms for Ulster was transferred to the Colleg...

Congo River
Second-longest river in Africa (after the Nile), rising near the border of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (and known as the Lualaba River in the upper reaches) and flowing 4,500 km/2,800 mi to the Atlantic Ocean, running in a great curve that crosses the Equator twice, and discharging a volume of water second only to the Amazon...

college of higher education
In the UK, a college in which a large proportion of the work undertaken is at degree level or above. Colleges of higher education are centrally funded by the Universities and Colleges Funding Council, and some of the largest became universities in 1992 at the same time as the former polytechnics

community school/education
System based on the philosophy asserting that educational institutions are more effective if they involve all members of the surrounding community

comprehensive school
Secondary school that admits pupils of all abilities, and therefore without any academic selection procedure. In England 86.8% of all pupils attend a comprehensive school. Other state secondary schools are middle, deemed secondary (5.2%), secondary modern (2.6%), secondary grammar (4.2%), and technical (0.1%). There were 4,462 s...

comedy
Literary genre that aims to make its audience laugh. Drama, verse, and prose can all have a comic aim. Stereotypically, comedy has a happy or amusing ending, as opposed to tragedy, but it can also embody a far subtler structure and purpose. Traditional comedy, like tragedy, has human weakness as its primary focus but, instead of being destroyed, in...

commedia dell'arte
Popular form of Italian improvised comic drama in the 16th and 17th centuries, performed by trained troupes of actors and involving stock characters and situations. It exerted considerable influence on writers such as Carlo Goldoni, and Molière, and on the genres of pantomime, harlequinade, and the Punch and Judy show. It laid the foundation f...

cognition
In psychology, a general term covering the functions involved in synthesizing information – for example, perception (seeing, hearing, and so on), attention, memory, and reasoning

cognitive therapy
Treatment for emotional disorders such as depression and anxiety states. It encourages the patient to challenge the distorted and unhelpful thinking that is characteristic of depression, for example. The treatment may include behaviour therapy