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

International Court of Justice
Main judicial organ of the United Nations, in The Hague, the Netherlands. It hears international law disputes as well as playing an advisory role to UN organs. It was set up by the UN charter in 1945 and superseded the World Court. There are 15 judges, each from a different member state

intelligence
(government) In military and political affairs, information, often secretly or illegally obtained, about other countries. Counter-intelligence is information on the activities of hostile agents. Much intelligence is gained by technical means, such as satellites and the electronic intercept...

intelligence
(psychology) In psychology, a general concept that summarizes the abilities of an individual in reasoning and problem solving, particularly in novel situations. These consist of a wide range of verbal and nonverbal skills and therefore some psychologists dispute a unitary concept of intelligen...

intaglio
Design cut into the surface of gems or seals by etching or engraving; an engraving technique

insurance
Contract guaranteeing compensation to the payer of a premium against loss by fire, death, accident, and so on, which is known as assurance in the case of a fixed sum and insurance where the payment is proportionate to the loss. Insurance contracts are governed not by the doctrine of caveat emptor (`buyer beware`) but by...

insanity
In medicine and law, any mental disorder in which the patient cannot be held responsible for their actions. The term is no longer used to refer to psychosis

insulin
Protein hormone, produced by specialized cells in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas, which regulates the metabolism (rate of activity) of glucose, fats, and proteins. In this way it helps to regulate the concentration of glucose in the blood of mammals. If the blood glucose concentration is to...

inoculation
Injection into the body of dead or weakened disease-carrying organisms or their toxins (vaccine) to produce immunity by inducing a mild form of a disease

inquest
Inquiry held by a coroner into an unexplained death. At an inquest, a coroner is assisted by a jury of between 7 and 11 people. Evidence is on oath, and medical and other witnesses may be summoned

Inns of Court
Four private legal societies in London, England: Lincoln's Inn, Gray's Inn, Inner Temple, and Middle Temple. All barristers (advocates in the English legal system) must belong to one of the Inns of Court. The main function of each Inn is the education, government, and protection of its members. Each is under the administration of a body...

Innocents' Day
Festival of the Roman Catholic Church, celebrated 28 December in memory of the Massacre of the Innocents, the children of Bethlehem who were allegedly slaughtered by King Herod after the birth of Jesus

ink
Coloured liquid used for writing, drawing, and printing. Traditional ink (blue, but later a permanent black) was produced from gallic acid and tannic acid, but inks are now based on synthetic dyes

Innocent III
Pope from 1198. He asserted papal power over secular princes, in particular over the succession of Holy Roman emperors. He also made King John of England his vassal, compelling him to accept Stephen Langton as archbishop of Canterbury. He promoted the fourth Crusade and crusades against the non-Christian Livonians and Letts, and the Albigensian...

initiative
In politics, a device whereby constitutional voters may play a direct part in making laws. A proposed law may be drawn up and signed by petitioners, and submitted to the legislature. A referendum may be taken on a law that has been passed by the legislature but that will not become operative unless the voters assent to it. Switzerland was the first...

influenza
Any of various viral infections primarily affecting the air passages, accompanied by systemic effects such as fever, chills, headache, joint and muscle pains, and lassitude. Treatment is with bed rest and analgesic drugs such as aspirin or paracetamol. Depending on the virus strain, influenza varies in virulence and duration, and there is always th...

inflammation
Defensive reaction of the body tissues to disease or damage, including redness, swelling, and heat. Denoted by the suffix -itis (as in appendicitis), it may be acute or chronic, and may be accompanied by the formation of pus. This is an essential part of the healing process. Inflammation occurs when damaged cells release a su...

inferiority complex
In psychology, a complex or cluster of repressed fears, described by Alfred Adler, based on physical inferiority. The term is popularly used to describe general feelings of inferiority and the overcompensation that often ensues

infection
Invasion of the body by disease-causing organisms (pathogens, or germs) that become established, multiply, and produce symptoms. Bacteria and viruses cause most diseases, but diseases are also caused by other micro-organisms, protozoans, and other parasites. Most pathogens enter and leave the body through the digestive or respiratory tracts...

infant mortality rate
Measure of the number of infants dying under one year of age, usually expressed as the number of deaths per 1,000 live births. Improved sanitation, nutrition, and medical care have considerably lowered figures throughout much of the world; for example, in the 18th century in the USA and UK infant mortality was about 500/1,000 compared with ...

infanticide
In law, the killing of a child under 12 months old, and more generally, any killing of a newborn child. It is often seen as a method of population control, especially among hunter-gatherers and nomadic societies where it may be impossible for a mother to carry around more than one small child and still perform the tasks necessary for survival. ...

infante
Title given in Spain and Portugal to the sons (infante), other than the heir apparent, and daughters (infanta), respectively, of the sovereign. The heir apparent in Spain bears the title of prince of Asturias

indulgence
In the Roman Catholic Church, the total or partial remission of temporal punishment for sins for which amendment needs to be made after penitence and confession have secured exemption from eternal punishment. The doctrine of indulgence began as the commutation of church penances in exchange for suita...

Indra
Hindu god of the sky, shown as a four-armed man on a white elephant, carrying a thunderbolt. The intoxicating drink soma is associated with him

Indochina, French
Name given by the French to their colonies in Southeast Asia: Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, which became independent after World War II

India of the Princes
The 562 Indian states ruled by princes during the period of British control. They occupied an area of 1,854,347 sq km/715,967 sq mi (45% of the total area of pre-partition India) and had a population of over 93 million. At the partition of British India in 1947 the princes were given independence by the British government but were advis...

Indian Ocean
Click images to enlargeOcean between Africa and Australia, with India to the north, and the southern boundary being an arbitrary line from Cape Agulhas to south Tasmania; area 73,500,000 sq km/28,370,000 sq mi; average depth 3,872 m/12,708 ft. The greatest depth is the Java Trench 7,725 m/25,353 ft. It...

Indian art
Arts of the Indian subcontinent (present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh). Indian art dates back to the ancient Indus Valley civilization, about 3000–1500 BC, centred on the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro. Only resilient artefacts have survived from this era because of the Indian cli...

Independence Day
Public holiday in the USA commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, 4 July 1776

index
(economics) In economics, an indicator of a general movement in wages and prices over a specified period

Independence
City in western Missouri, USA, a suburb of Kansas City, on the Missouri River; seat of Jackson County; population (2000 est) 113,300. It is the centre of an agricultural region; industries include steel, agricultural machinery, Portland cement, petroleum refining, and flour milling. History Settled in 1827, it was one of the chief river...

indemnity
In law, an undertaking to compensate another for damage, loss, trouble, or expenses, or the money paid by way of such compensation – for example, under fire-insurance agreements

Inuit
Click images to enlargeMember of am American Indian people inhabiting the Arctic coasts of Alaska, the eastern islands of the Canadian Arctic, Labrador, and the ice-free coasts of Greenland. Originating from Siberia from around 2000 BC, they had populated the region by AD 1000. The Inuit language Inupiaq is spoken in ...

interplanetary matter
Gas, dust, and charged particles from a variety of sources that occupies the space between the planets. Dust left over from the formation of the Solar System, or from disintegrating comets, orbits the Sun in or near the ecliptic plane and is responsible for scattering sunlight to cause the zodiacal light (mainly the smaller particles) and for meteo...

inert gas
Any gas that can be used in the laboratory to protect sensitive substances from reacting with the oxygen of the air. Pure nitrogen can be used in principle, but a noble gas such as argon is usually preferred

infrared astronomy
Study of infrared (IR) radiation produced by relatively cool gas and dust in space, as in the areas around forming stars. Objects at normal temperatures emit infrared radiation, so some critical parts of telescopes designed to observe IR radiation have to be cooled to very low temperatures. IR telescopes are located on high mountains, above most of...

indium
Soft, ductile, silver-white, metallic element, atomic number 49, relative atomic mass 114.82. It occurs in nature in some zinc ores, is resistant to abrasion, and is used as a coating on metal parts. It was discovered in 1863 by German metallurgists Ferdinand Reich (1799–1882) and Hieronymus Richter (1824–1898), who named it after the...

industry
The extraction and conversion of raw materials, the manufacture of goods, and the provision of services. Industry can be either low technology, unspecialized, and labour-intensive, as in countries with a large unskilled labour force, or highly automated, mechanized, and specialized, using advance...

insect
Any of a vast group of small invertebrate animals with hard, segmented bodies, three pairs of jointed legs, and, usually, two pairs of wings; they belong among the arthropods and are distributed throughout the world. An insect's body is divided into three segments: head, thorax, and abdom...

intersex
Individual that is intermediate between a normal male and a normal female in its appearance (for example, a genetic male that lacks external genitalia and so resembles a female)

intestine
In vertebrates, the digestive tract from the stomach outlet to the anus. The human small intestine is 6 m/20 ft long, 4 cm/1.5 in in diameter, and consists of the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum; the large intestine is 1.5 m/5 ft long, 6 cm/2.5 in in diameter, and includes the caecum...

instinct
In ethology, behaviour found in all equivalent members of a given species (for example, all the males, or all the females with young) that is presumed to be genetically determined. Examples include a male robin's tendency to attack other male robins intruding on its territory and the tendency of many female mammals to care for their offspring. ...

inhibition, neural
In biology, the process in which activity in one nerve cell suppresses activity in another. Neural inhibition in networks of nerve cells leading from sensory organs, or to muscles, plays an important role in allowing an animal to make fine sensory discriminations and to exercise fine control over movements

inbreeding
In genetics, the mating of closely related individuals. It is considered undesirable because it increases the risk that offspring will inherit copies of rare deleterious recessive alleles (genes) from both parents and so suffer from disabilities

inclusive fitness
In genetics, the success with which a given variant (or allele) of a gene is passed on to future generations by a particular individual, after additional copies of the allele in the individual's relatives and their offspring have been taken into account. The concept was formulated by W D Hamilton as a way of explaining the evolution of altruism...

insectivore
Any animal whose diet is made up largely or exclusively of insects. In particular, the name is applied to mammals of the order Insectivora, which includes shrews, hedgehogs, moles, and tenrecs. According to the Red List of endangered species published by the World Conservation Union for 1996, 36% of insectivore species are threatened with extin...

inflorescence
In plants, a branch, or system of branches, bearing two or more individual flowers. Inflorescences can be divided into two main types: cymose (or definite) and racemose (or indefinite). In a cymose inflorescence, the tip of the main axis produces a single flower and subsequent flowers arise on lower side branches, as in forget-me-not &l...

interest
In finance, a sum of money paid by a borrower to a lender in return for the loan, usually expressed as a percentage per annum. Simple interest is interest calculated as a straight percentage of the amount loaned or invested. In compound interest, the interest earned over a period of time (for example, per annum) is added to the investment, so that ...

integration
(mathematics) In mathematics, a method in calculus of determining the solutions of definite or indefinite integrals. An example of a definite integral can be thought of as finding the area under a curve (as represented by an algebraic expression or function) between particular values of the fu...

integer
Any whole number. Integers may be positive or negative; 0 is an integer, and is often considered positive. Formally, integers are members of the set Z = {... -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, ... } This is the integer set of the number line. Fractions, such as 1/2 and the decimal 0.35, are known as non&...

infinity
Mathematical quantity that is larger than any fixed assignable quantity. By convention, the result of dividing any number by zero is regarded as infinity

intrusion
Mass of igneous rock that has formed by `injection` of molten rock, or magma, into existing cracks beneath the surface of the Earth, as distinct from a volcanic rock mass which has erupted from the surface. Intrusion features include vertical cylindrical structures such as stocks, pipes, an...

inselberg
Prominent steep-sided hill of resistant solid rock, such as granite, rising out of a plain, usually in a tropical area. Its rounded appearance is caused by so-called onion-skin weathering (exfoliation), in which the surface is eroded in successive layers. The Sugar Loaf in Rio de Janeiro harbour in Brazil, and Ayers Rock in Northern Ter...

insider trading
Illegal use of privileged information in dealing on a stock exchange, for example, when a company takeover bid is imminent. Insider trading is in theory detected by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the USA, and by the Securities and Investment Board (SIB) in the UK. Neither agency, however, has any legal powers other than public disc...

inflation
(economics) In economics, a rise in the general level of prices. The many causes include cost-push inflation, which results from rising production costs. Demand-pull inflation occurs when overall demand for goods exceeds the supply. Suppressed inflation occurs in controlled economies a...

investment
In economics, the purchase of any asset with the potential to yield future financial benefit to the purchaser (such as a house, a work of art, stocks and shares, or even a private education)

incomes policy
Government-initiated exercise to curb inflation by restraining rises in incomes, on either a voluntary or a compulsory basis; often linked with action to control prices, in which case it becomes a prices and incomes policy

International Monetary Fund
Specialized agency of the United Nations, headquarters Washington, DC, established under the 1944 Bretton Woods agreement and operational since 1947. It seeks to promote international monetary cooperation and the growth of world trade, and to smooth payment arrangements among member states. IMF standby loans are available to members in balance-...

Indo-Germanic languages
Former name for the Indo-European languages

inflection
(grammar) In grammatical analysis, an ending or other element in a word that indicates its grammatical function in a sentence. (whether it is plural or singular, masculine or feminine, subject or object, and so on). In a highly inflected language like Latin, nouns, verbs, and adjectives have m...

Indo-European languages
Family of languages that includes some of the world's major classical languages (Sanskrit and Pali in India, Zend Avestan in Iran, Greek and Latin in Europe), as well as several of the most widely spoken languages (English worldwide; Spanish in Iberia, Latin America, and elsewhere; and the Hindi group of languages in northern India). In...

Indo-Aryan languages
Another name for the Indo-European languages

interpreter
In computing, a program that translates and executes a program written in a high-level language. Unlike a compiler, which produces a complete machine-code translation of the high-level program in one operation, an interpreter translates the source program, instruction by instruction, each...

Indian languages
Traditionally, the languages of the subcontinent of India; since 1947, the languages of the Republic of India. These number some 200, depending on whether a variety is classified as a language or a dialect. They fall into five main groups, the two most widespread of which are the Indo-European languages (mainly in the north) and the Dravidi...

input device
Click images to enlargeDevice for entering information into a computer. Input devices include keyboards, joysticks, mice, light pens, touch-sensitive screens, scanners, graphics tablets, speech-recognition devices, and vision systems. The input into an electronic system is usually through switches or sensors. Comp...

Inchon
Chief port of Seoul, South Korea; population (2002 est) 2,433,000. The city lies where the Han River enters the Yellow Sea. The building of a rail link with Seoul in 1900 boosted the port's trade. Exports include rice, wheat, paper, and electronic goods

inch
Imperial unit of linear measure, a twelfth of a foot, equal to 2.54 centimetres. It was defined in statute by Edward II of England as the length of three barley grains laid end to end

incarnation
Assumption of living form (plant, animal, human) by a deity; for example, the gods of Greece and Rome, Hinduism, and Christianity (Jesus as the second person of the Trinity)

Industrial Revolution
Click images to enlargeAcceleration of technical and economic development that took place in Britain in the second half of the 18th century. The traditional agricultural economy was replaced by one dominated by machinery and manufacturing, made possible through technical advances such as the steam engine. This transferred...

incubus
In the popular belief of the Middle Ages in Europe, a male demon who had sexual intercourse with women in their sleep. Supposedly the women then gave birth to witches and demons. Succubus is the female equivalent

inductance
In physics, phenomenon in which a changing current in a circuit builds up a magnetic field which induces an electromotive force either in the same circuit and opposing the current (self-inductance) or in another circuit (mutual inductance). The SI unit of inductance is the henry (symbol H). A component designed to introduce inductance into a ci...

income tax
Direct tax levied on personal income, mainly wages and salaries, but which may include the value of receipts other than in cash. It is one of the main instruments for achieving a government's income redistribution objectives, to make incomes less unequal. In contrast, indirect taxes are duties payable whenever a particular product or service is...

incendiary bomb
Bomb containing inflammable matter. Usually dropped by aircraft, incendiary bombs were used in World War I and incendiary shells were used against Zeppelin aircraft. Incendiary bombs were a major weapon in attacks on cities in World War II, causing widespread destruction. To hinder firefighters, delayed-action high-explosive bombs were usua...

investment trust
Public company that makes investments in other companies on behalf of its shareholders. It may issue shares to raise capital and issue fixed-interest securities

indigo
Violet-blue vegetable dye obtained from various tropical plants such as the anil, but now replaced by a synthetic product. It was once a major export crop of India. (Plant genus Indigofera, family Leguminosae.)

incandescence
Emission of light from a substance in consequence of its high temperature. The colour of the emitted light from liquids or solids depends on their temperature, and for solids generally the higher the temperature the whiter the light. Gases may become incandescent through ionizing radiation, as in the glowing vacuum discharge tube. The oxides of cer...

infrared radiation
Electromagnetic radiation of wavelength between about 700 nanometres and 1 millimetre – that is, between the limit of the red end of the visible spectrum and the shortest microwaves. All bodies above the absolute zero of temperature absorb and radiate infrared radiation. Infrared radiation is used in medical photography and treatment, and in i...

internal-combustion engine
Heat engine in which fuel is burned inside the engine, contrasting with an external-combustion engine (such as the steam engine) in which fuel is burned in a separate unit. The diesel engine and petrol engine are both internal-combustion engines. Gas turbines and jet and rocket engines are also considered to be internal-combustion engin...

instrument landing system
(ILS) Landing aid for aircraft that uses radio beacons on the ground and instruments on the flight deck. One beacon (localizer) sends out a vertical radio beam along the centre line of the runway. Another beacon (glide slope) transmits a beam in the plane at right angles to the localizer beam ...

insecticide
Any chemical pesticide used to kill insects. Among the most effective insecticides are synthetic organic chemicals such as DDT and dieldrin, which are chlorinated hydrocarbons. These chemicals, however, have proved persistent in the environment and are also poisonous to all animal life, including hum...

Indian corn
Another name for maize

inductor
Device included in an electrical circuit because of its inductance

Indus
(river) River in Asia, rising in Tibet and flowing 3,180 km/1,975 mi to the Arabian Sea. In 1960 the use of its waters, including those of its five tributaries, was divided between India (rivers Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) and Pakistan (rivers Indus, Jhelum, Chenab). In the 3rd and 2nd millennia B...

insulator
Any poor conductor of heat, sound, or electricity. Most substances lacking free (mobile) electrons, such as non-metals, are electrical or thermal insulators that resist the flow of electricity or heat through them. Plastics and rubber are good insulators. Usually, devices of glass or porcelain, called insulators, are used for insulating and sup...

interference
In physics, the phenomenon of two or more wave motions interacting and combining to produce a resultant wave of larger or smaller amplitude (depending on whether the combining waves are in or out of phase with each other). Interference of white light (multiwavelength) results in coloured bands; for example, the iridescent colours of oil films s...

inverse square law
When the strength or intensity of some quantity depends inversely on the square of the distance from the source or origin of that quantity, it is said to obey an inverse square law. For example, the strength of gravitational attraction of a body is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from that body; the intensity of a sound is ...

independent school
In the UK, a school run privately without direct assistance from the state. IN 1998, just over 7% of children attended private fee-paying schools. There are some 2,420 independent schools in Britain, with about 600,000 pupils. A group of old-established and prestigious independent schools are known as public schools. Pupil numbers fell ...

intelligence test
Test that attempts to measure innate intellectual ability, rather than acquired ability. It is now generally believed that a child's ability in an intelligence test can be affected by his or her environment, cultural background, and teaching. There is scepticism about the accuracy of intelligence tests, but they are still widely used as a diagn...

industrial relations
Relationship between employers and employees, and their dealings with each other. In most industries, wages and conditions are determined by free collective bargaining between employers and trade unions. Some European and American countries have worker participation through profit-sharing and industrial democracy. Another solution is co-own...

inflation tax
Effect of inflation on the real value of money and government debt denominated in money terms

inheritance tax
In the UK, a tax charged on the value (above a threshold set by the chancellor of the Exchequer) of an individual's estate on his or her death, including gifts made within the previous seven years. It replaced capital transfer tax in 1986 (which in turn had been in force since 1975 as a successor to estate duty)

incest
Sexual intercourse between persons thought to be too closely related to marry; the exact relationships that fall under the incest taboo vary widely from society to society. A biological explanation for the incest taboo is based on the necessity to avoid inbreeding. Within groups in which ritual homosexuality is practised, for example in New Gui...

internment
Detention of suspected criminals without trial. Foreign citizens are often interned during times of war or civil unrest

intermezzo
In music, initially a one-act comic opera, such as Giovanni Pergolesi's La serva padrona/The Maid as Mistress (1732); also a short orchestral interlude played between the acts of an opera to denote the passage of time. By extension, an intermezzo has come to mean a short piece to be played between other more subst...

interval
In music, the distance or difference in pitch between two notes. It is written in terms of the major or minor scale. To work out the number of the interval, the letter name of both notes is included. For example, C to D is a second, C to E is a third, C to F is a fourth, and so on. A complete description of an interval includes not only its number,...

Indian National Congress
Official name for the Congress Party of India

India
Click images to enlargeCountry in southern Asia, bounded to the north by China, Nepal, and Bhutan; east by Myanmar and Bangladesh; northwest by Pakistan and Afghanistan; and southeast, south, and southwest by the Indian Ocean. Government India is a federal republic whose 1949 constitution contains elements fro...

Indonesia
Click images to enlargeCountry in southeast Asia, made up of 13,677 islands situated on or near the Equator, between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It is the world's fourth most populous country, surpassed only by China, India, and the USA. Government The 1945 constitution (amended 1950 and 1969) is based on a state i...

Indochina War
War of independence 1946–54 between the nationalist forces of what was to become Vietnam and France, the occupying colonial power. In 1945 Vietnamese nationalist communist leader Ho Chi Minh proclaimed an independent Vietnamese republic, which soon began an armed struggle against French forces. ...

intuition
Rapid, unconscious thought process. In philosophy, intuition is that knowledge of a concept which does not derive directly from the senses. Thus, we may be said to have an intuitive idea of God, beauty, or justice. The concept of intuition is similar to Bertrand Russell's theory of knowledge by acquaintance. In both cases, it is contrasted with...

invertebrate
Animal without a backbone. The invertebrates form all of the major divisions of the animal kingdom called phyla, with the exception of vertebrates. Invertebrates include the sponges, coelenterates, flatworms, nematodes, annelids, arthropods, molluscs, and echinoderms