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


intermediate technology
Application of machines and other technologies, based on inventions and designs developed in the developed world, but utilizing materials, assembly, and maintenance methods found in less developed regions. Intermediate technologies aim to allow developing countries to benefit from new techniques and ...

INLA
Abbreviation for Irish National Liberation Army

integral calculus
Branch of mathematics using the process of integration. It is concerned with finding volumes and areas and summing infinitesimally small quantities

Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty
Agreement signed 8 December 1987 between the USA and the USSR to eliminate all ground-based nuclear missiles in Europe that were capable of hitting only European targets (including European Russia). It reduced the countries' nuclear arsenals by some 2,000 (4% of the total). The treaty included provisions for each country to inspect the ...

INF
Abbreviation for intermediate nuclear forces, as in the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty

insemination, artificial
See artificial insemination

in
Abbreviation for inch, a measure of distance

induction
(medicine) In obstetrics, deliberate intervention to initiate labour before it starts naturally; then it usually proceeds normally. Induction involves rupture of the fetal membranes (amniotomy) and the use of the hormone oxytocin to stimulate contractions of the womb. In biology, induction...

interferon
Naturally occurring cellular protein that makes up part of mammalian defences against viral disease. Three types (alpha, beta, and gamma) are produced by infected cells and enter the bloodstream and uninfected cells, making them immune to virus attack. Interferon was discovered in 1957 by Scottish virologist Alick Isaacs. Interferons are cytokines,...

incontinence
Failure or inability to control evacuation of the bladder or bowel (or both in the case of double incontinence). It may arise as a result of injury, childbirth, disease, or senility

interdict
In the Christian church, a punishment that excludes an individual, community, or realm from participation in spiritual activities except for communion. It was usually employed against heretics or realms whose ruler was an excommunicant

injunction
Court order that forbids a person from doing something, or orders him or her to take certain action. Breach of an injunction is contempt of court

intestacy
Absence of a will at a person's death. Special legal rules apply on intestacy for appointing administrators to deal with the deceased person's affairs, and for disposing of the deceased person's property in accordance with statutory provisions

inclination
In astronomy, angle between the ecliptic and the plane of the orbit of a planet, asteroid, or comet. In the case of satellites orbiting a planet, it is the angle between the plane of orbit of the satellite and the equator of the planet

inferior planet
Planet (Mercury or Venus) whose orbit lies within that of the Earth, best observed when at its greatest elongation from the Sun, either at eastern elongation in the evening (setting after the Sun) or at western elongation in the morning (rising before the Sun)

International Gothic
Late Gothic style of painting and sculpture flourishing in Europe in the late 14th and 15th centuries. It is characterized by bright colours, a courtly elegance, and a naturalistic rendering of detail. Originally evolving in the court art of France and Burgundy, it spread to many parts of Europe, its leading exponents including the Italian Simone M...

Independent Television Commission
Public body responsible for licensing and regulating commercial television services in the UK, including ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5, as well as teletext and a number of cable and satellite services. It is not responsible for licensing S4C, the fourth Welsh channel. Its duties include implementing a code of practice, ensuring adequate quality of ...

in vitro fertilization
Allowing eggs and sperm to unite in a laboratory to form embryos. The embryos (properly called pre-embryos in their two- to eight-celled state) are stored by cooling to the temperature of liquid air (cryopreservation) until they are implanted into the womb of the otherwise infertile mother (an extension of artificial insemination). The ...

Intifada
Palestinian uprising, specifically between December 1987 and September 1993, during which time a loosely organized group of Palestinians (the Liberation Army of Palestine, also called Intifada) rebelled against armed Israeli troops in the occupied territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Their campaign for self-determination included st...

Inkatha Freedom Party
South African political party, representing the nationalist aspirations of the country's largest ethnic group, the Zulus. It was founded as a paramilitary organization in 1975 by its present leader, Chief Gatsha Buthelezi, with the avowed aim of creating a non-racial democratic political situation. The party entered South Africa's first...

Incan art
See pre-Columbian art

information technology
Collective term for the various technologies involved in processing and transmitting information. They include computing, telecommunications, and microelectronics. The term became popular in the UK after the Government's `Information Technology Year` in 1972. Word processing, databases, and spreadsheets are just some of the computing ...

interface
In computing, the point of contact between two programs or pieces of equipment. The term is most often used for the physical connection between the computer and a peripheral device, which is used to compensate for differences in such operating characteristics as speed, data coding, voltage, and power consumption. For example, a printer interface is...

intrauterine device
A contraceptive device that is inserted into the womb (uterus). It is a tiny plastic object, sometimes containing copper. By causing a mild inflammation of the lining of the uterus it prevents fertilized eggs from becoming implanted. IUDs are not usually given to women who have not had children. They are generally very reliable, as long as they sta...

interferometer
In physics, a device that splits a beam of light into two parts, the parts being recombined after travelling different paths to form an interference pattern of light and dark bands. Interferometers are used in many branches of science and industry where accurate measurements of distances and angles are needed. In the Michelson interferometer, a lig...

indicator
In chemistry, a compound that changes its structure and colour in response to its environment. The commonest chemical indicators detect changes in pH (for example, litmus and universal indicator) or in the oxidation state of a system (redox indicators)

inversion
In music, the mirror image of a melody used in counterpoint; alternatively a chord in which the natural order of notes is rearranged. In classical counterpoint, melodic inversion usually includes a degree of flexibility to avoid dissonance or unwanted harmonic implications; in strict twelve&#...

industrial dispute
Disagreement between an employer and its employees, usually represented by a trade union, over some aspect of the terms or conditions of employment. A dispute may be followed by industrial action, in the form of a strike or a work to rule

industrial law
The body of law relating to relationships between employers (and their representatives), employees (and their representatives), and government

Inca
Click images to enlargeAncient Peruvian civilization of Quechua-speaking American Indians that began in the Andean highlands about AD 1200. By the time the Spanish conquered the region in the 1530s, the Inca ruled an empire that stretched from Ecuador in the north to Chile in the south. The word Inca was used for the ...

Indus Valley civilization
One of the four earliest ancient civilizations of the Old World (the other three being the Sumerian civilization of 3500 BC; Egypt 3000 BC; and China 2200 BC), developing in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent c. 2500 BC. Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa were the two main ...

index
(mathematics) In mathematics, another term for exponent, the number that indicates the power to which a term should be raised

indeterminacy principle
Alternative name for uncertainty principle

induction coil
Type of electrical transformer, similar to an ignition coil, that produces an intermittent high-voltage alternating current from a low-voltage direct current supply. It has a primary coil consisting of a few turns of thick wire wound around an iron core and subjected to a low voltage (usually from a battery). Wound on top of this is a secon...

Indianapolis
State capital and largest city of Indiana, on the White River, 300 km/186 mi southeast of Chicago; seat of Marion County; population (2000 est) 781,900. Situated in the rich Corn Belt agricultural region, the city is a warehouse, distribution, and convention centre. A number of national firms and institutions have made Indianapolis thei...

integrated circuit
Miniaturized electronic circuit produced on a single crystal, or chip, of a semiconducting material – usually silicon. It may contain many millions of components and yet measure only 5 mm/0.2 in square and 1 mm/0.04 in thick. The IC is encapsulated within a plastic or ceramic case, and l...

insulation
Process or material that prevents or reduces the flow of electricity, heat, or sound from one place to another. Materials that are poor conductors of heat, such as glass, brick, water, or air, are good insulators. They play a vital role, for example, in keeping homes and people warm

intensity
In physics, power (or energy per second) per unit area carried by a form of radiation or wave motion. It is an indication of the concentration of energy present and, if measured at varying distances from the source, of the effect of distance on this. For example, the intensity of light is a measure of its brightness, and may be shown to diminish wi...

intermolecular force
Force of attraction between molecules. Intermolecular forces are relatively weak; hence simple molecular compounds are gases, liquids, or low-melting-point solids

individualism
In politics, a view in which the individual takes precedence over the collective: the opposite of collectivism. The term possessive individualism has been applied to the writings of John Locke and Jeremy Bentham, describing society as comprising individuals interacting through market relations

indie
In music, a record label that is neither owned nor distributed by one of the large conglomerates (`majors`) that dominate the industry. Without a corporate bureaucratic structure, the independent labels are often quicker to respond to new trends and are more idealistic in their aims. What has become loosely known as indie music therefore ...

inorganic chemistry
Branch of chemistry dealing with the chemical properties of the elements and their compounds, excluding the more complex covalent compounds of carbon, which are considered in organic chemistry. The origins of inorganic chemistry lay in observing the characteristics and experimenting with the uses of the substances (compounds and elements) that coul...

infrastructure
Relatively permanent facilities that serve an industrial economy. Infrastructure usually includes roads, railways, other communication networks, energy and water supply, and education and training facilities. Some definitions also include sociocultural installations such as health-care and leisure facilities

Inter-American Development Bank
Bank founded in 1959, at the instigation of the Organization of American States (OAS), to finance economic and social development, particularly in the less wealthy regions of the Americas. Its membership includes the states of Central and Southern America, the Caribbean, and the USA, as well as Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Ge...

Integrated Services Digital Network
Internationally developed telecommunications network for sending signals in digital format that offers faster data transfer rates than traditional analogue telephone circuits. It involves converting the `local loop` – the link between the user's telephone (or private automatic branch exchange) and the digital telephone exchange &...

incorporation
In law, the formation of an association that has corporate personality and is therefore distinct from its individual members, who have no liability for its debts. Corporations (such as companies) can own property and have their own rights and liabilities in legal proceedings

industrial music
Avant-garde music that uses electronic distortion, metal percussion, and industrial tools to achieve deafening, discordant effects, often combined with imagery intended to shock or disgust. Leading industrial bands have included Throbbing Gristle (formed in 1976 in the UK), Einstürzende Neubauten (formed in 1980 in Germany), and Non (forme...

income support
In the UK, social security benefit payable to people who are unemployed or who work for less than 24 hours per week and whose financial resources fall below a certain level. It replaced supplementary benefit in 1988. Originally payable to anyone over 18 not in full-time employment and without adequate resources, as of October 1996 it was restri...

indentured labour
Work under a restrictive contract of employment for a fixed period in a foreign country in exchange for payment of passage, accommodation, and food. Indentured labour was the means by which many British people emigrated to North America during the colonial era, and in the 19th–early 20th centuries it was used to recruit Asian workers for emplo...

Indian music
Classical musical culture of the Hindustani tradition found in North India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh, and of the Karnatic tradition in South India and Sri Lanka. An oral culture with a long history, it is linked to Muslim traditions of the Middle East and Central Asia. It resembles the medieval European troubadour tradition of composer-p...

Indian Mutiny
Revolt of Indian soldiers (sepoys) against the British in India from 1857 to 1858. The uprising was confined to the north, from Bengal to the Punjab, and central India. It led to the end of rule by the British East India Company and its replacement by direct British crown administration. The majority of support for the mutiny came from the army and...

ink-jet printer
Computer printer that creates characters and graphics by spraying very fine jets of quick-drying ink onto paper. Ink-jet printers range in size from small machines designed to work with microcomputers to very large machines designed for high-volume commercial printing. Because they produc...

intelligent terminal
In computing, a terminal with its own processor that can take some of the processing load away from the main computer. The amount of processing done by the terminal varies. It may be concerned mainly with formatting the input and output data exchanged with the main computer, as on a thin client, or it may be more extensive, as when a personal compu...

interactive computing
In computing, a system for processing data in which the operator is in direct communication with the computer, receiving immediate responses to input data. In batch processing, by contrast, the necessary data and instructions are prepared in advance and processed by the computer with little or no intervention from the operator

inverted index
In computing, a file that reorganizes the structure of an existing data file to enable a rapid search to be made for all records having one field falling within set limits. For example, a file used by an estate agent might store records on each house for sale, using a reference number as the key field for sorting. One field in each record would be ...

industrial estate
Area planned for industry, where space is available for large buildings and further expansion. Industrial estates often have good internal road layouts and occupy accessible sites near main road junctions but away from the central business district (CBD)

industrial sector
Any of the different groups into which industries may be divided: primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary. Primary industries extract or use raw materials; for example, mining and agriculture. Secondary industries are manufacturing industries, where raw materials are processed or components are assembled. Tertiary industries supply ser...

inner city
The area surrounding the central business district of a town or city. In many cities this is one of the older parts and may suffer from decay and neglect, leading to social problems. The area behind St Pancras Station in London, UK, is one example of a traditional inner city. Some theories of urban l...

industrialization
Process by which an increasing proportion of a country's economic activity is involved in industry. It is essential for economic development and largely responsible for the growth of cities (urbanization). It is usually associated with the modernization of developing countries, beginning with the manufacture of simple goods that can replace imp...

International Date Line
Imaginary line that approximately follows the 180° line of longitude. The date is put forward a day when crossing the line going west, and back a day when going east. The IDL was chosen at the International Meridian Conference in 1884

ingestion
Process of taking food into the mouth. The method of food capture varies but may involve biting, sucking, or filtering. Many single-celled organisms have a region of their cell wall that acts as a mouth. In these cases surrounding tiny hairs (cilia) sweep food particles together, ready for ingestion

infiltration
Passage of water into the soil. The rate of absorption of surface water by soil (the infiltration capacity) depends on the intensity of rainfall, the permeability and compactness of the soil, and the extent to which it is already saturated with water. Once in the soil, water may pass into the bedrock to form groundwater

incised meander
In a river, a deep steep-sided meander (bend) formed by the severe downwards erosion of an existing meander. Such erosion is usually brought about by the rejuvenation of a river (for example, in response to a fall in sea level). There are several incised meanders along the middle course of the River Wye, near Chepstow, Gwent

interlocking spur
One of a series of spurs (ridges of land) jutting out from alternate sides of a river valley. During glaciation its tip may be sheared off by erosion, creating a truncated spur

intrusive rock
Igneous rock formed beneath the Earth's surface. Magma, or molten rock, cools slowly at these depths to form coarse-grained rocks, such as granite, with large crystals. (Extrusive rocks, which are formed on the surface, are generally fine-grained.) A mass of intrusive rock is called an in...

inequality
In mathematics, a statement that one quantity is larger or smaller than another, employing the symbols < and >. Inequalities may be solved by finding sets of numbers that satisfy them. For example, to find the solution set to the inequality 2x + 3 < 19, the inequality can be treated like an equation: 2...

interquartile range
In statistics, a measure of the range of data, equalling the difference in value between the upper and lower quartiles. It provides information on the spread of data in the middle 50% of a distribution and is not affected by freak extreme values

inverse function
Function that exactly reverses the transformation produced by a function f; it is usually written as f-1. For example, to find the inverse of a function y = 3x + 2, x is made the subject of the equation: 3
India Acts
Legislation passed in 1858, 1919, and 1935 which formed the basis of British rule in India until independence in 1947. The 1858 Act abolished the administrative functions of the British East India Company, replacing them with direct rule from London. The 1919 Act increased Indian participation at local and provincial levels but did not meet nationa...

income
Earnings of an individual or business organization over a period of time. Gross earnings are earnings before tax and other deductions, while net earnings are earnings after tax. Earned income is income received from working, while unearned income is income such as interest and dividends from financial and other wealth. Part of the income for a comp...

indirect tax
Tax on products or services. VAT (value-added tax) and excise duties are examples of indirect taxes. The opposite of an indirect tax is a direct tax, a tax on income

industrial tribunal
Independent panel that rules on disputes between employers and employees or trade unions relating to statutory terms and conditions of employment. Employment issues brought before it include unfair dismissal, redundancy, equal opportunities, and discrimination at work. The panel is made up of a lawyer, a union representative, and a management repre...

interdependence
In economics, situation where an individual, business organization, or economy is economically reliant on others. Interdependence always occurs when specialization occurs. For example, the UK is dependent on India for tea. The USA is dependent on the UK for consumption of Rolls Royce cars. A teacher is dependent on a farmer for food

interview
Face-to-face meeting where one party, the interviewer, wishes to collect information from another party, the interviewee. Interviews are commonly used in selecting people for jobs. Banks and building societies also use interviews for processing applications for loans, and market researchers conduct interviews to gather information about the...

indirect object
In grammar, the noun phrase or pronoun that is the indirect recipient of the action of a transitive verb (`He brought me a flower`). There can be no indirect object without a direct object in the sentence

interjection
Word that is used to express an emotion such as surprise, admiration, or anger. Interjections are mainly used in spoken English. Examples are Oh!, Hey!, Mmm!, Ouch!, Shhh!, Whew!, and Wow! ...

interrogative
In grammar, a word or sentence making an enquiry, as in `Why did the chicken cross the road?`. In English, a question normally has inverted word order (verb before subject: `Is that so?`) and may contain an interrogative pronoun (who, whom, which, &l...

intonation
(language) The way in which the level of the voice changes in order to add meaning to what is being said. For example, when someone asks a question, the level (or `pitch`) of his or her voice usually rises towards the end of the question: `Are you coming with us tomorrow?...

intransitive verb
Verb that has no object, for example `she laughed`. A verb that is followed by an object is a transitive verb. Some verbs can be either transitive (`it hailed frogs`) or intransitive (`it hailed`)

inverted commas
Another term for quotation marks

indirect speech
Someone's words rephrased to become part of a sentence that is not a quotation. For example, `I want you all to vote for me tomorrow,` said the candidate` can be rephrased as The candidate said he wanted them all to vote for him on the following day. The second sentence is a reported or indirect version of the ...

international style
Architectural style, an early and influential phase of the Modern Movement, originating in Western Europe in the 1920s but finding its fullest expression in the 1930s, notably in the USA. It is characterized by a dominance of geometric, especially rectilinear, forms; emphasis on asymmetrical composition; large expanses of glazing; and w...

industrial design
Branch of artistic activity that came into being as a result of the need to design machine-made products, introduced by the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century. The purpose of industrial design is to ensure that goods satisfy the demands of fashion, style, function, materials, and cost. Industrial design became a fully fledged professiona...

Internet
Click images to enlargeGlobal public computer network that provides the communication infrastructure for applications such as e-mail, the World Wide Web, and FTP. The Internet is not one individual network, but an interconnected system of smaller networks using common protocols to pass packets of information from one ...

introversion
In psychology, preoccupation with the self, generally coupled with a lack of sociability. The opposite of introversion is extroversion. The term was introduced by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung in 1924 in his description of schizophrenia, where he noted that `interest does not move towards the object but recedes towards the subject`. Th...

Ingushetia
Autonomous republic of the Russian Federation, on the northern slopes of the Caucasus mountains; area 2,000 sq km/770 sq mi; population (1994 est) 250,000 (Ingush 85%). The capital is Nazran. The chief industries are farming and cattle-raising; there is also petroleum drilling. The predominant religion is Islam. The Ingush p...

infrastructure
(Internet) On the Internet, the underlying structure of telephone links, leased lines, and computer programs that makes communication possible

inline graphics
On the World Wide Web, images included in Web pages that can be downloaded and viewed as part of the page without further action by the user. Web browsers display these graphics automatically without any action required by the user. Those with slow connections, however, may choose to turn these off in the interests of speed and just view the text

inline video
In computing, on the World Wide Web, video files included in Web pages that can be played back as part of the page without any further action by the user. Web browsers typically require a helper application or plug-in to be installed to play these files. Most sites that include inline video have links to the necessary software for users who are...

intellectual property
Intangible assets such as copyright, trademarks, and patents. Copyright is the exclusive right given to the author of a work to reproduce, distribute, display, license, or perform their work. A trademark is a distinctive word, picture, or symbol that is used to distinguish and identify the origin of a product. A patent enables the inventor of a pie...

intellectual property rights
Right of control over the copying, distribution, and sale of intellectual property which is codified in the copyright laws. The future of intellectual property rights is unclear, as the Internet makes mass distribution and copying quick and easy. Many schemes have been considered, including using encryption to mark computer files or prevent copying...

Internet Explorer
In computing, Web browser created by Microsoft in 1995 to compete with Netscape Navigator. Internet Explorer is given away free by Microsoft and bundled with its Windows program. This has been one of the issues under contention between Microsoft and the US Justice Department. In 2007, about half of all Internet access was conducted through Internet...

Internet phone
In computing, technology allowing users of the World Wide Web to talk to each other in more or less real time, via microphones and headsets. Network delays mean such connections are not as good in quality as traditional telephone connections. The earliest products were limited in that they only allowed users to talk to each other if both were logge...

Internet Relay Chat
In computing, service that allows users connected to the Internet to chat with each other in real time and over many channels. There are probably hundreds of IRC channels active at any one time, covering a variety of topics. Anything written in one channel can be seen by all other users of that channel. Private channels can be used for private conf...

Internet Service Provider
Organization that provides Internet services, including access to the Internet. Several types of company provide Internet access, including online information services such as America Online (AOL), electronic conferencing systems such as the WELL and Compulink Information eXchange, and local bulletin board systems (BBSs). Many ISPs, such as Demon I...

InterNIC
In computing, service that administered domain names and maintained a number of Internet user directories until 1988, when the role was taken over by ICANN

intranet
In computing, an organization's computer network based on the same TCP/IP protocols as the Internet. The intranet resembles an Internet Web site to the user and is effectively an internal Internet. The difference between the Internet and an intranet is that access to an intranet is limited to those with authorization from the organization. ...

Inverclyde
Unitary authority in western Scotland, created in 1996 from Inverclyde district in Strathclyde region. Area 161 sq km/62 sq mi Towns Greenock (administrative headquarters), Port Glasgow, Gourock Physical coastal lowland on the Firth of Clyde estuary, rising sharply to an inland plateau of 305 m&#...

Independent Television
Independent television in the UK, formed by a number of regional contractors and paid for by advertising. It began broadcasting in 1955. There are a varying number of regional channels, as well as national channels for news and breakfast programmes. Independent television companies are regulated by the Independent Television Commission (ITC), and a...

Indian Removal Act
US federal act signed by President Andrew Jackson on 28 May 1830 empowering him to offer land in Indian Territory to all American Indians situated east of the Mississippi River, in exchange for their lands there. Most northern American Indian peoples, except the Iroquois, were peacefully relocated, but the Five Civilized Tribes in the southeast ref...