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


ECT
Abbreviation for electroconvulsive therapy

eclampsia
Convulsions occurring during pregnancy following pre-eclampsia

ectopic
In medicine, term applied to an anatomical feature that is displaced or found in an abnormal position. An ectopic pregnancy is one occurring outside the womb, usually in a Fallopian tube

ecumenical council
Meeting of church leaders worldwide to determine Christian doctrine; their results are binding on all church members. Seven such councils are accepted as ecumenical by both Eastern and Western churches, while the Roman Catholic Church accepts a further 14 as ecumenical

ecumenical patriarch
Head of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the patriarch of Istanbul (Constantinople). The bishop of Constantinople was recognized as having equal rights with the bishop of Rome in 451, and first termed `patriarch` in the 6th century. The office survives today but with only limited authority, mainly confined to the Greek and Turkish Orthodox ch...

Echo
In Greek mythology, a mountain nymph personifying disembodied sound. According to Ovid's Metamorphoses, Hera deprived Echo of her speech, except for the repetition of another's last words, after her chatter had kept the goddess from catching faithless Zeus with the nymphs. After being rejected by Narcissus, she wasted awa...

ecstasy
(medicine) (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) illegal recreational drug in increasing use since the 1980s. It is a modified amphetamine with mild psychedelic effects, and works by releasing large a mounts of serotonin (a neurotransmitter) from the brain. The effects of the drug are to int...

Economic and Monetary Union
Development of a unitary economy across the member states of European Union (EU) with a single currency, single market, and harmonized interest and taxation rates. In June 1989, the European Council decided to initiate moves towards EMU from 1 July 1990, on the basis of a report by Jacques Delors, the then president of the European Commission. The ...

ecclesiastical law
Church law. In England, the Church of England has special ecclesiastical courts to administer church law. Each diocese has a consistory court with a right of appeal to the Court of Arches (in the archbishop of Canterbury's jurisdiction) or the Chancery Court of York (in the archbishop of York's jurisdiction). They deal with the constitution...

ECG
Abbreviation for electrocardiogram

ECOWAS
Acronym for Economic Community of West African States

economy of scale
In economics, where the average cost of production, and therefore the unit cost, decreases as output increases. The high capital costs of machinery or a factory are spread across a greater number of units as more are produced. This may be a result of automation or mass production. If output increased by a factor of two, for example, the cost of pro...

Economic Cooperation Organization
Islamic regional grouping formed in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey to reduce customs tariffs and promote commerce, with the aim of eventual customs union. In 1992 Afghanistan and the newly independent former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan were admitted into ECO

eclecticism
In artistic theory, the use of motifs and elements from various styles, periods, and geographical areas. This selection and recombination of features from different sources is a characteristic of Victorian architecture; for example, J F Bentley's design for Westminster Cathedral, London, 1895–1903, in Byzantine style

ecotourism
Growing trend in tourism to visit sites that are of ecological interest, for example the Galapagos Islands, or Costa Rica. Ecotourism can bring about employment and income for local people, encouraging conservation, and is far less environmentally damaging than mass tourism. One of the ideas behind ecotourism is that it is the practice of using mon...

economic activity
The production and distribution of goods and services to satisfy the wants and needs of consumers and other businesses. The many different activities that lead to the production of these goods and services are grouped into three broad categories – primary industry (extraction of raw materials, such as mining), secondary industry (manufacturing...

economy
Set of interconnected activities concerned with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The contemporary economy is very complex and includes transactions ranging from the distribution and spending of children's pocket money to global-scale financial deals being conducted by multinational corporations. There are...

ecological art
Form of art concerned with natural, organic processes such as decomposition. It first appeared in the 1960s. As ecological works reveal natural processes, they usually change over time. For example, the ecological artist Alan Sonfist dampened his canvases and then sealed them in glass boxes, where they gradually grew mouldy. Other works by Sonfist ...

Edward, Edward Antony Richard Louis
Prince of the UK, third son of Queen Elizabeth II. He is seventh in line to the throne. He married Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1999 and became the Earl of Wessex and Viscount Severn. They have a daughter, Louise (2003– ). He received a bachelor of arts degree from Cambridge University, where he was active in theatre, in 1986. He trained brie...

Edward
Prince of Wales, eldest son of Edward III of England. The epithet (probably posthumous) may refer to his black armour. During the Hundred Years' War he fought at the Battle of Crécy in 1346 and captured the French king at Poitiers in 1356. He ruled Aquitaine from 1360 to 1371. In 1367 he invaded Castile and restored to the throne the depos...

Eden,
(Robert) British Conservative politician, foreign secretary 1935–38, 1940–45, and 1951–55; prime minister 1955–57, when he resigned after the failure of the Anglo-French military intervention in the Suez Crisis. Upset by his prime minister's rejection of a peace...

education
Click images to enlargeProcess, beginning at birth, of developing intellectual capacity, skills, and social awareness, especially by instruction. In its more restricted sense, the term refers to the process of imparting literacy, numeracy, and a generally accepted body of knowledge. History of education The earliest known...

Edmund, St
King of East Anglia from 855. In 870 he was defeated and captured by the Danes at Hoxne, Suffolk, and martyred on refusing to renounce Christianity. He was canonized and his shrine at Bury St Edmunds became a place of pilgrimage

Edmonton
(Canada) Capital of Alberta, Canada, on the North Saskatchewan River at an altitude of 665 m/2,182 ft; population (2001 est) 666,100. It is the centre of an oil and mining area to the north and is also an agricultural and dairying region. Manufactured goods include processed foods, pet...

Edison, Thomas Alva
Click images to enlargeUS scientist and inventor, whose work in the fields of communications and electrical power greatly influenced the world in which we live. With more than 1,000 patents, Edison produced his most important inventions in Menlo Park, New Jersey 1876–87, including the phonograph. He obtained a US pat...

Edinburgh
Capital and administrative centre of Scotland and Edinburgh City unitary authority, near the southern shores of the Firth of Forth, 67 km/42 mi east of Glasgow; population (2001) 452,200. Since devolution in 1998, Edinburgh has been the seat of the Scottish Parliament. The city is a cultural ...

Edgar the Peaceful
King of all England from 959. He was the younger son of Edmund I, and strove successfully to unite English and Danes as fellow subjects

Edgehill, Battle of
First battle of the English Civil War. It took place in 1642, on a ridge in south Warwickshire, between Royalists under Charles I and Parliamentarians under the Earl of Essex. Both sides claimed victory

Eden, Garden of
In the Old Testament book of Genesis and in the Koran, the `garden` in which Adam and Eve lived after their creation, and from which they were expelled for disobedience. Its location has often been identified with the Fertile Crescent in Mesopotamia (now in Iraq) and two of its rivers with the Euphrates and the Tigris

Edam
Town in the Netherlands on the IJsselmeer, North Holland province; municipality population (1997), including town of Volendam 26,500. Founded as a customs post in the 13th century, Edam's prosperity in the 16th and 17th centuries was based upon its cheese trade; it still produces round cheeses covered in red wax

edelweiss
Perennial alpine plant belonging to the daisy family, with a white, woolly, star-shaped flower, found in the high mountains of Europe and Asia. (Leontopodium alpinum, family Compositae.)

Edward the Martyr
King of England from 975. Son of King Edgar, he was murdered at Corfe Castle, Dorset, probably at his stepmother Aelfthryth's instigation (she wished to secure the crown for her son, Ethelred). He was canonized in 1001

Edward the Confessor
King of England from 1042, the son of Ethelred II. He lived in Normandy until shortly before his accession. During his reign power was held by Earl Godwin and his son Harold, while the king devoted himself to religion, including the rebuilding of Westminster Abbey (consecrated in 1065), where he is b...

Edward II
King of England from 1307, son of Edward I. Born at Caernarfon Castle, he was created the first Prince of Wales in 1301. Edward was incompetent, with a weak personality, and was over-influenced by his unpopular friend Piers Gaveston. He struggled throughout his reign with discontented barons, who attempted to restrict his power through the Ordi...

Edward IV
King of England 1461–70 and from 1471. He was the son of Richard, Duke of York, and succeeded Henry VI in the Wars of the Roses, temporarily losing his throne to Henry when Edward fell out with his adviser Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. Edward was a fine warrior and intelligent strategist, with victories at Mortimer's Cross and Towton i...

Edward V
King of England in 1483. Son of Edward IV, he was deposed three months after his accession in favour of his uncle (Richard III), and is traditionally believed to have been murdered (with his brother) in the Tower of London on Richard's orders

Edward VI
King of England from 1547, only son of Henry VIII and his third wife, Jane Seymour. The government was entrusted to his uncle, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (who fell from power in 1549), and then to the Earl of Warwick, John Dudley, later created Duke of Northumberland. He was succeeded by hi...

Edward VII
King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1901. As Prince of Wales he was a prominent social figure, but his mother Queen Victoria considered him too frivolous to take part in political life. In 1860 he made the first tour of Canada and the USA ever undertaken by a British prince

Edward VIII
King of Great Britain and Northern Ireland January–December 1936, when he renounced the throne to marry Wallis Warfield Simpson (see abdication crisis). He was created Duke of Windsor and was governor of the Bahamas 1940–45

Edwards, Blake
US film director and writer. He was formerly an actor. Specializing in comedies, he directed the series of Pink Panther films 1963–78, starring Peter Sellers. His other work includes Operation Petticoat (1959), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), 10 (1979), Vic...

Edinburgh, Duke of
Title of Prince Philip of the UK

Edberg, Stefan
Swedish tennis player, who won eight major titles, six of them in singles. He won the junior Grand Slam in 1983 and his first Grand Slam title, the Australian Open, in 1985, repeated in 1987. Other Grand Slam singles titles include Wimbledon in 1988 and 1990 and the US Open in 1991 and 1992. He also played on four winning Davis Cup teams for Sweden...

Edo
Former name of Tokyo, Japan, until 1868

editing
In computing, act of creating, changing, and formatting documents (such as text, spreadsheets, databases, and presentations), graphics, program code, and Web pages

Edmund I
King of England from 939. The son of Edward the Elder, he succeeded his half-brother, Athelstan, as king in 939. He succeeded in regaining control of Mercia, which on his accession had fallen to the Norse inhabitants of Northumbria, and of the Five Boroughs, an independent confederation within the Danelaw. He then moved on to subdue the Norseme...

Edwards, Shaun
English rugby league half-back who between 1984 and 1997 won 32 winners' medals with Wigan, his home town club, in major competitions including a record nine in the Challenge Cup. A precocious talent, he signed as a professional for Wigan on his 17th birthday, and at the age of 18 won the first of 36 Great Britain caps. In May 1999 he exten...

Edmund
(II) King of England in 1016, the son of Ethelred II `the Unready` (c. 968–1016). He led the resistance to Canute's invasion in 1015, and on Ethelred's death in 1016 was chosen king by the citizens of London. Meanwhile, the Witan (the king's counci...

Edward I
King of England from 1272, son of Henry III (1207–1272). He led the royal forces against Simon de Montfort (the Younger) in the Barons' War of 1264–67, and was on a crusade when he succeeded to the throne. He established English rule over all of Wales in 1282–84, and secured recognition of his overlordship from the Scottish king,...

Edward the Elder
King of the West Saxons. He succeeded his father Alfred the Great in 899. He reconquered southeast England and the Midlands from the Danes, uniting Wessex and Mercia with the help of his sister Aethelflaed. By the time of his death his kingdom was the most powerful in the British Isles. He was succeeded by his son Athelstan. Edward extended the sys...

Edward III
King of England from 1327, son of Edward II. He assumed the government in 1330 from his mother, through whom in 1337 he laid claim to the French throne and thus began the Hundred Years' War. Edward was the victor of Halidon Hill in 1333, Sluys in 1340, Crécy in 1346, and at the siege of Calais 1346–47, and created the Order of the Gar...

Edgbaston
(cricket ground) Test-cricket ground in Birmingham, the home of Warwickshire County Cricket Club. It was opened inJune 1886 and first hosted a Test in May 1902. The ground capacity in 1998 was 20,000

eel
Any fish of the order Anguilliformes. Eels are snakelike, with elongated dorsal and anal fins. They include the freshwater eels of Europe and North America (which breed in the Atlantic), the marine conger eels, and the morays of tropical coral reefs. The gulper eel, Eurypharynx pelecanoides&...

EEC
Abbreviation for European Economic Community

EEG
Abbreviation for electroencephalogram

EEPROM
Computer memory that can record data and retain it indefinitely. The data can be erased with an electrical charge and new data recorded. Some EEPROM must be removed from the computer and erased and reprogrammed using a special device. Other EEPROM, called flash memory, can be erased and reprogrammed without removal from the computer

EFTA
Acronym for European Free Trade Association

efficiency
In physics, a general term indicating the degree to which a process or device can convert energy from one form to another without loss, or how effectively energy is used, and wasted energy, such as heat and sound, minimized. It is normally expressed as a fraction or a percentage, where 100% indicates conversion with no loss. The efficiency of a...

EFTPOS
Acronym for electronic funds transfer at point of sale, a form of electronic funds transfer

Effelsberg
Site, near Bonn, Germany, of the 100-m/328-ft radio dish of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, opened in 1971. It was the world's largest fully steerable radio telescope until the building of the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) at Green Bank, West Virginia, USA

egret
Any of several herons with long tufts of feathers on the head or neck. They belong to the order Ciconiiformes

egg
In animals, the ovum, or female gamete (reproductive cell). After fertilization by a sperm cell, it begins to divide to form an embryo. Eggs may be deposited by the female (ovipary) or they may develop within her body (vivipary and ovovivipary). In the oviparous reptiles and birds, the egg is protect...

Egyptology
The study of ancient Egypt. Interest in the subject was aroused by the Napoleonic expedition's discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799. Various excavations continued throughout the 19th century and gradually assumed a more scientific character, largely as a result of the work of the British archaeologist Flinders Petrie from 1880 onwards and the...

Egmont, Mount
Symmetrical dormant volcano in the southwest of the North Island, New Zealand, 29 km/18 mi south of New Plymouth; it is 2,517 m/8,260 ft high and lies within Mount Egmont National Park

Egbert
King of the West Saxons from 802, the son of Ealhmund, an under-king of Kent. By 829 he had united England for the first time under one king

eggplant
Another name for aubergine

ego
In psychology, the processes concerned with the self and a person's conception of himself or herself, encompassing values and attitudes. In Freudian psychology, the term refers specifically to the element of the human mind that represents the conscious processes concerned with reality, in conflict with the id (the instinctual element) and the s...

Egyptian art, ancient
The art of ancient Egypt falls into three main periods – the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms – beginning about 3000 BC and spanning 2,000 years overall. During this time, despite some stylistic development, there is remarkable continuity, representing a deeply religious and traditionalist soc...

Egypt
Click images to enlargeCountry in northeast Africa, bounded to the north by the Mediterranean Sea, east by the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip, Israel, and the Red Sea, south by Sudan, and west by Libya. Government The 1971 constitution provides for a single-chamber people's assembly of 454, ten nominated by...

egestion
Removal of undigested food or faeces from the gut. In most animals egestion takes place via the anus, although the invertebrate flatworms must use the mouth because their gut has no exit. Egestion refers solely to indigestible matter which is never absorbed into the cells – it should not be confused with excretion of the waste products of meta...

egalitarianism
Belief that all citizens in a state should have equal rights and privileges. Interpretations of this can vary, from the notion of equality of opportunity to equality in material welfare and political decision-making. Some states reject egalitarianism; most accept the concept of equal opportunities but recognize that people's abilities v...

EGA
Computer colour display system, providing 16 colours on screen and a resolution of 640 × 350. It has been superseded by VGA, SVGA, XGA, and SXGA

Egypt, ancient
Click images to enlargeAncient civilization, based around the River Nile in Egypt, which emerged 5,000 years ago and reached its peak in the 16th century BC. Ancient Egypt was famed for its great power and wealth, due to the highly fertile lands of the Nile delta, which were rich sources of grain for the whole Mediterrane...

Egyptian medicine, ancient
Medicine of Egypt from around 3,000 BC to around 400 BC. One of the first settled societies, the Egyptians were known for their wealth, power, and advanced agricultural, engineering, and scientific skills. Their medical practices improved on prehistoric medicine to include formal medical training for doctors, the use of minor surgery, and the devel...

Ehrlich, Paul
German bacteriologist and immunologist who was awarded a Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1908 with Ilya Mechnikov for their work on immunity. He produced the first cure for syphilis, developing the arsenic compounds, in particular Salvarsan, that were used in the treatment of syphilis before the discovery of antibiotics. Ehrlich founded c...

eisteddfod
Traditional Welsh gathering lasting up to a week and dedicated to the encouragement of the bardic arts of music, poetry, and literature. The custom dates from pre-Christian times

eider
Large marine duck of the genus Somateria, family Anatidae, order Anseriformes. They are found on the northern coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The common eider S. molissima is highly valued for its soft down, which is used in quilts and cushions for war...

Eisenhower, Dwight David
(`Ike`) 34th president of the USA 1953–60, a Republican. A general in World War II, he commanded the Allied forces in Italy in 1943, then the Allied invasion of Europe, and from October 1944 all the Allied armies in the...

Eire
Name of southern Ireland as prescribed in the 1937 Constitution

Einstein, Albert
German-born US physicist whose theories of relativity revolutionized our understanding of matter, space, and time. Einstein established that light may have a particle nature. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921 for his work on theoretical physics, especially the photoelectric law. ...

Eichmann,
(Karl) Austrian Nazi. As an SS official during Hitler's regime 1933–45, he was responsible for atrocities against Jews and others, including the implementation of genocide. He managed to escape at the fall of Germany in 1945, but was discovered in Argentina in 1960, abducted by Israel...

Eisenstein, Sergei Mikhailovich
Latvian-born Soviet film director. One of the giants of the film medium, his Battleship Potemkin (1925) remains a landmark achievement in the history of world cinema. An intellectual, he wrote extensively on the subject of film theory, and helped pioneer the concept of montage ...

Eid ul-Adha
Muslim festival that takes place during the hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, and commemorates the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ishmael at the command of Allah

Eid ul-Fitr
Muslim festival celebrating the end of Ramadan, the month of sawm (fasting)

Eiffel,
(Alexandre) Click images to enlargeFrench engineer who constructed the Eiffel Tower for the 1889 Paris Exhibition. The tower, made of iron, is 320 m/1,050 ft high and stands in the Champ de Mars, Paris. Sightseers may ride to the top for a ...

einsteinium
Synthesized, radioactive, metallic element of the actinide series, atomic number 99, relative atomic mass 254.09. It was produced by the first thermonuclear explosion, in 1952, and discovered in fallout debris in the form of the isotope Es-253 (half-life 20 days). Its longest-lived isotope, Es-254, with a half-life of 276 days, ...

Eightfold Path
In Buddhism, the way to end attachment to desire (nirodha) can be found in the fourth of the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism: the path to the cessation of suffering. This is achieved by following the Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path outlines a course of discipline and correct behaviour that leads towards freedom from rebirth. The eight elements...

Eivissa
Alternative name for Ibiza, one of the Balearic Islands, Spain

eight-spoked wheel
Symbol of the Buddha's teaching, representing his sermons on the Eightfold Path

ejector seat
Device for propelling an aircraft pilot out of the plane to parachute to safety in an emergency, invented by the British engineer James Martin (1893–1981). The first seats of 1945 were powered by a compressed spring; later seats used an explosive charge. The British company Martin-Baker, a pioneer of ejector seats, claim that by the en...

Ekman spiral effect
In oceanography, theoretical description of a consequence of the Coriolis effect on ocean currents, whereby currents flow at an angle to the winds that drive them. It derives its name from the Swedish oceanographer Vagn Ekman (1874–1954). In the northern hemisphere, surface currents are deflected to the right of the wind direction. The surface...

electronics
Branch of science that deals with the emission of electrons from conductors and semiconductors, with the subsequent manipulation of these electrons, and with the construction of electronic devices. The first electronic device was the thermionic valve, or vacuum tube, in which electrons moved in a vacuum, and led to such inventions as radio, televis...

Eleanor of Aquitaine
Queen of France 1137–51 as wife of Louis VII, and of England from 1154 as wife of Henry II. Henry imprisoned her 1174–89 for supporting their sons, the future Richard I and King John, in revolt against him. She was the daughter of William X, Duke of Aquitaine, and was married 1137–52 to Louis VII of France, but the marriage was annul...

electron gun
Series of electrodes, including a cathode for producing an electron beam. It plays an essential role in many electronic devices, including cathode-ray tubes (television tubes) and electron microscopes

electromagnetic spectrum
Complete range, over all wavelengths and frequencies, of electromagnetic waves. These include (in order of decreasing wavelength) radio and television waves, microwaves, infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet light, X-rays, and gamma radiation. The colour of sunlight is made up of a whole range of colours. A glass prism can be used to s...

electricity
Click images to enlargeAll phenomena caused by electric charge. There are two types of electricity: static and current. Electric charge is caused by an excess or deficit of electrons in a substance, and an electric current is the movement of charge through a material. Materials having equal numbers of positive and neg...

electric field
In physics, a region in which a particle possessing electric charge experiences a force owing to the presence of another electric charge. The strength of an electric field, E, is measured in volts per metre (V m-1). It is a type of electromagnetic field. An electric field is formed between two metal pla...

electric current
Click images to enlargeFlow of electrically charged particles through a conducting circuit due to the presence of a potential difference. The current at any point in a circuit is the amount of charge flowing per second; its SI unit is the ampere (coulomb per second). Current carries electrical energy from a power supp...

electron microscope
Click images to enlargeInstrument that produces a magnified image by using a beam of electrons instead of light rays, as in an optical microscope. An electron lens is an arrangement of electromagnetic coils that control and focus the beam. Electrons are not visible to the eye, so instead of an eyepiece there is a fluoresc...

elm
Any of a group of trees found in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere and in mountainous parts of the tropics. All have doubly-toothed leaf margins and clusters of small flowers. (Genus Ulmus, family Ulmaceae.) Species include the wych elm (Ulmus glabra
elder
(botany) In botany, any of a group of small trees or shrubs belonging to the honeysuckle family, native to North America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Some are grown as ornamentals for their showy yellow or white flower clusters and their colourful black or scarlet berries. (Genus ...