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FOURTH EDITION 



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DICTIONARY OF 

ICT 

FOURTH EDITION 

S.M.H. Collin 



BLOOMSBURY 



A BLOOMSBURY REFERENCE BOOK 
www.bloomsbury.com/reference 



Originally published by Peter Collin Publishing 
as Dictionary of Information Technology 

First published 1987 

Second edition published 1996 

Third edition published 2002 

Fourth edition published 2004 

Bloomsbury Publishing Pic 
38 Soho Square, London W1D 3HB 

Copyright © S.M.H. Collin 1987, 1996, 2002 
This edition copyright © Bloomsbury Publishing Pic 2004 

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may 

be reproduced in any form or by any means without the 

prior written permission of the publishers. 

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data 
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library 

ISBN 7475 6990 8 
eISBN-13: 978-1-4081-0215-2 

Editor 

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Preface 

This dictionary provides the user with a comprehensive up-to-date 
vocabulary used in information technology. It covers computers, 
programming, networks, communications, database design, the Internet, 
electronic mail, world wide web, electronics, music, graphics, 
multimedia, desktop publishing, and many other computer applications. 
In addition, the dictionary covers communications subjects including fdm, 
video, TV and radio. 

The entries are each explained in clear and strightforward English. 
Examples are given to show how the words and phrases are used in 
context. General comments about particular items of interest, complex 
ideas or hardware or software applications are given in separate boxes. 
Quotations from a range of magazines and journals are given to show how 
the words are used in real text. The supplement at the back of the book 
provides extra information that would be useful for computing and 
communications studies. 



A: used in some operating systems to denote 
the first disk drive on the system 
A1 /,ei 'wDn/, A2, A3, A4, A5 noun ISO 
recommended international standard sizes of 
paper or sizes of screen O a standard 300 
d.p.i. black and white A4 monitor O You must 
photocopy the spreadsheet on A3 paper. O 
We must order some more A4 headed notepa- 
per. 

abandon /a'baendan/ verb to clear a docu- 
ment, file or work from a computer's memo- 
ry without saving it O Once you have aban- 
doned your spreadsheet, you cannot retrieve 
it again. 

abbreviation /3,briivi'eir(3)n/ noun a 
short form of a word, command or instruction 
O Within the text, the abbreviation proc is 
used instead of processor. 
ABD abbr Apple Desktop Bus 
abend /'aebend/ noun an unexpected stop- 
page of a program that is being run, caused 
by a fault, error or power failure O An inter- 
rupt from a faulty printer caused an abend. 
Also called abnormal end, abnormal ter- 
mination 

aberration /.aeba'rei J"(a)n/ noun 1 . distor- 
tion of a light beam or image caused by de- 
fects in the optical system 2. distortion of a 
television picture caused by a corrupt signal 
or incorrect adjustment 
ablation /a'bleiJXajn/ noun a method of 
writing data to an optical storage device in 
which a laser burns a hole or pit, representing 
digital bits of data, into the thin metal surface 
of the storage device 
comment: A laser burns a hole or pit (which 
represents digital bits of data) into the thin 
metal surface of the storage device. 

abnormal /aeb'no:m(a)V adjective not 

normal O It 's abnormal for two consecutive 
disk drives to break down. 
abnormal end /aeb,noim(3)l 'end/ noun 
same as abend 

abnormally /aeb'noimali/ adverb not as 
normal or not as usual O The signal is abnor- 
mally weak. 

abnormal termination /aeb,no:m(a)l 
,t3imi'neij(3)n/ noun same as abend 
abort /a'boit/ verb to end a process in the 
event of a malfunction occurs by switching 
the computer off manually or by an internal 



feature O The program was aborted by press- 
ing the red button. 

About... /a'baut/ (in the SAA CUA front 
end) a menu selection that tells you who de- 
veloped the program and gives copyright in- 
formation 

above-the-fold /a,bAv 5a 'fauld/ adjec- 
tive referring to the part of a webpage that is 
seen by all users who call up the page, be- 
cause they do not have to scroll down to read 
it. Compare below-the-fold 
above-the-line costs /3,bAv ds ,1am 
'kDSt s/ plural noun variable costs involved in 
making TV films (such as scriptwriters, ac- 
tors, sets, etc.) as opposed to below-the-line 
costs (film crew, technicians, etc.). Compare 
below-the-line costs 

AB roll /,ei 'bii ,raul/ noun (in a multime- 
dia application) a sequence of two video or 
music segments that are synchronised so that 
one fades as the second starts 
absolute address /.aebsaluit a'dres/ 
noun a computer storage address that can 
only access one location. Also called actual 
address, machine address 
absolute cell reference /.aebsaluit sel 
'ref(d)rdns/ noun a spreadsheet reference 
that always refers to the same cell, even when 
copied to another location 
absorb hb'zoib/ verb to take in light, liq- 
uid or a signal 

absorptance /ab'zoiptans/ noun a meas- 
ure of how completely an object or substance 
absorbs radiant energy. Opposite reflect- 
ance 

absorption /ab'zozpjan/ noun the power 
loss of a signal when travelling through a me- 
dium, due to its absorptance 
abstract /'aebstraekt/ noun a short summa- 
ry of a document O It's quicker to search 
through the abstracts than the full text. 

abstracting and indexing 

/,a3bstraektirj an 'mdeksirj/ verb making 
summaries and indexes for articles and books 
ac abbr academic organisation (note: used 
in email and website addresses) 
AC abbr alternating current 
Academy The Academy of Motion Picture 
Arts and Sciences □ Academy awards the 
yearly presentation of the Oscar award by the 
Academy to artists and technicians for excel- 
lence in their area of the film world 



ACAP 



ACAP /,ei si: ei "pi:/ noun an email system 
developed to work with the IMAP4 email 
protocol to provide extra features such as 
management of an address book. Full form 
application configuration access proto- 
col (note: It was originally termed IMSP 
(Interactive Mail Support Protocol).) 
ACC /,ei si: 'si:/ noun the most important 
internal CPU storage register, containing the 
data word that is to be processed. Full form 
accumulator 

accelerated graphics port /ok 
.sebreitid 'graefiks ,po:t/ nounfull form of 
AGP 

accelerated motion bk,seb,reitd 
'm3oJ(3)n/ noun a special (film) effect in 
which the camera is run at a slower frame rate 
than the standard 24 frames per second which 
gives the effect of faster-than-average motion 
acceleration /ak,seb'reif(a)n/ noun » 
mouse acceleration 

acceleration time /ak,seb'reif(3)n 
taim/ noun the time taken for a disk drive to 
spin a disk at the correct speed, from rest O 
Allow for acceleration time in the access 
time. 

accelerator bk'sebreits/ noun » accel- 
erator key 

accelerator board bk'seb.reita ba:d/, 
accelerator card bk'sebreita ka:d/ noun 
a circuit board that carries a faster or more 
advanced version of the same processor that 
runs a computer. Adding an accelerator board 
to a computer makes it run faster. 
accelerator key bk'seb.reita kk/ noun 
a key that, when pressed together with anoth- 
er, carries out a function that would other- 
wise have to be selected from a menu using a 
mouse O Instead of selecting the File menu 
then the Save option, use the accelerator keys 
Alt and S to do the same thing and save the 
file. 

accent /'aeksant/ noun a mark above a 
character to indicate a different pronuncia- 
tion 

accented /'aeksantid/ adjective (of a 
letter) with an accent on it 
accept bk'sept/ verb 1. to agree to do 
something O He accepted the quoted price 
for printing. 2. to take something which is 
being offered 3. to establish a session or con- 
nection with another computing device 
acceptable /ak'septab(3)V adjective 

which can be accepted O The error rate was 
very low, and is acceptable. 

acceptable use policy /ak,septab(3)l 

ju:z 'pDlisi/ noun a set of rules that describe 
what a user can write or do on the Internet 
without offending other users. Abbr AUP 



acceptance bk'septsns/ noun the action 
of accepting something 
acceptance test /ak'septans test/ noun 
a test to check that a piece of equipment will 
perform as required or will reach required 
standards 

acceptance testing /ak.septans 
'testirj/ noun the performing of an accept- 
ance test 

access /'aekses/ noun the fact of being al- 
lowed to use a computer and read or alter 
files stored in it. This is usually controlled by 
a security device such as a password. □ to 
deny access to refuse access to a circuit or 
system for reasons of workload or security 
access authority /'aekses o:,0Dr3ti/ 
noun permission to carry out a particular op- 
eration on data 

access-barred /,aekses 'ba:d/ adjective 
prevented from accessing particular data 
access category /'aekses ,kaet3g(3)ri/ 
noun a category that defines which files or 
data a user can access and which he or she 
cannot 

access code /'aekses kaod/ noun a series 
of characters or symbols that must be entered 
to identify a user before access to a computer 
is permitted 

access control /'aekses kar^traol/ noun 
a security device such as a password that only 
allows selected users to use a computer sys- 
tem or read files 

access control list /,aekses kan'traul 
list/ noun full form of ACL 
access head /'aekses hed/ noun the part 
of a disk drive that moves to the correct part 
of the disk's surface and reads information 
stored on the disk ■ verb to call up (data) 
which is stored in a computer; to obtain data 
from a storage device O She accessed the em- 
ployee's file stored on the computer. 
accessible bk'sesib(3)l/ adjective which 
can be reached or accessed O Details of cus- 
tomers are easily accessible from the main 
computer files. 

accession number bk'se J"(3)n .nAmba/ 
noun 1 . a number in a record that shows in 
which order each record was entered 2. a se- 
rial number used in a library indexing system 
accessions bk'sej(3)nz/ plural noun 
new books which are added to a library 
access log /'aekses fog/ noun a file on a 
website server computer that contains a 
record of every visitor to the website, show- 
ing when a person visited and which pages he 
or she viewed O The access log is invaluable 
- we produce graphs of the pages that are 
most popular using an access log analyser 
program. 



achromatic 



access method /'aekses .meOad/ noun 1 . 
a means used for the internal transfer of data 
between memory and display or peripheral 
devices. Differences in the methods used are 
often the cause of compatibility problems. 2. 
a set of rules that allows a device to send data 
onto a network. Token passing and CS- 
MA/CD are two methods commonly used in 
a local area network. 

accessor /'aeksesa/ noun a person who ac- 
cesses data 

accessory /ak'sesari/ noun an extra, add- 
on device, e.g. a mouse or printer, that is at- 
tached to or used with a computer O The 
printer comes with several accessories in- 
cluding a soundproof hood, (note: The plu- 
ral is accessories.) 

access privilege /'aekses ,privihd3/ 
noun the status granted to a user that allows 
him or her to see, read or alter files 
access provider /'aekses pr3,vaida/ 
noun same as ISP 

access rights /'aekses raits/ plural noun 
the rights of a particular user to access a par- 
ticular file or data object 
access time /'aekses ,taim/ noun 1. the 
total time that a storage device takes between 
the moment the data is requested and the re- 
turn of the data O The access time of this dy- 
namic RAM chip is around 200nS - we have 
faster versions if your system clock is run- 
ning faster. 2. the length of time required to 
find a file or program, either in main memory 
or a secondary memory source 
accidental /,aeksi'dent(3)l/ adjective 
which happens by accident O Always keep 
backup copies in case of accidental damage 
to the master file. 

accordion fold /a'koidian faold/, accor- 
dion fanfold noun method of folding contin- 
uous paper, one sheet in one direction, the 
next sheet in the opposite direction, allowing 
the paper to be fed into a printer continuously 
with no action on the part of the user. Also 
called fanfold 

account /a'kaont/ noun (in a network or 
online system) a record of a user's name, 
password and rights to access a network or 
online system O If you are a new user, you 
will have to ask the supervisor to create an 
account for you. ■ verb to keep track of how 
much time and resources each user of a net- 
work or online system uses 
accounting package /a'kaontirj 
,paekid3/ noun a piece of software that auto- 
mates a business's accounting functions O 
We now type in each transaction into the new 
accounting package rather than write it into 
a ledger. Also called accounts package 



account name /a'kaont neim/ noun the 
unique name of a user on a network or online 
system O John Smith's account name is 
JSMITH. 

accounts package /a'kaunts ,paekid3/ 
noun same as accounting package 
accumulate /a'kjuimjuleit/ verb to gath- 
er several things together over a period of 
time O We have gradually accumulated a 
large databank of names and addresses. 
(note: accumulates - accumulating - ac- 
cumulated) 

accumulator /a'kjumjoleita/, accumu- 
lator register /,ei si: 'sii/ noun full form of 
ACC O Store the two bytes of data in regis- 
ters A and B and execute the add instruction 
- the answer will be in the accumulator. 
accuracy /'aekjurasi/ noun the total 
number of bits used to define a number in a 
computer (note: The more bits allocated 
the greater the accuracy of the definition.) 
accurate /'aekjurat/ adjective correct; 
without any errors O The printed bar code 
has to be accurate to within a thousandth of 
a micron. 

accurately /'aekjoretli/ adverb correctly 
or with no errors OThe OCR had difficulty in 
reading the new font accurately. 
comment: Most high level languages allow 
numbers to be represented in a more accu- 
rate form by using two or more words to 
store the number. 

ACD /,ei si: 'di:/ noun a specialised tele- 
phone system that can handle lots of incom- 
ing calls and direct them to a particular oper- 
ator according to programmed instructions in 
a database. Full form automatic call distri- 
bution 

ACE noun a 1000 watt spotlight (film) 
ACES noun computer-operated camera 
movement system developed by Disney Stu- 
dios which is designed to film repeatable 
camera moves on separate exposures. Full 
form automatic camera effects system 
acetate /'aesiteit/ noun a sheet of transpar- 
ent plastic used for making overlays 
acetate base /'aesiteit beis/ noun plastic 
material used as the standard base for motion 
picture film 

acetate tape /'aesiteit teip/ noun audio- 
tape consisting of acetate backing with mag- 
netically sensitive oxide coating 
acetone /'aes3,t3on/ noun a clear, flamma- 
ble liquid which is used to clean film print 
surfaces and splices and other editing and 
filming apparatus ( film) 
achromatic ^eikre'maetik/ noun, adjec- 
tive (an optical device) that has been correct- 
ed for chromatic aberration 



achromatic colour 



achromatic colour /.eikremaetik 'kAla/ 
noun a grey colour within the range between 
black and white displayed by a graphics 
adapter 

ACK /,ei sii 'kei/ noun a signal that is sent 
from a receiver to indicate that a transmitted 
message has been received and that it is ready 
for the next one O The printer generates an 
ACK signal when it has received data. Full 
form acknowledge 

acknowledge /ak'rrolids/ noun full form 
of ACK 

acknowledged mail /3k,nDhd3d 'meil/ 
noun a function that signals to the sender 
when an electronic mail message has been 
read by the recipient 

acknowledgements /akWlidsmants/ 
noun text printed at the beginning of a book, 
where the author or publisher thanks people 
who have helped 

ACL /,ei sii 'el/ noun a security system that 
has a list of user names and passwords that is 
checked by the operating system to find out if 
a particular user is allowed to access or use a 
resource or feature of the shared computer or 
network. Full form access control list 
acoustic /a'kuistik/ adjective referring to 
sound 

acoustical feedback /a,ku:stik(3)l 
'fiidbaek/ noun distortion in an audio signal, 
due to a part of an amplified signal being 
picked up by the microphone and amplified 
again until the amplifier is overloaded 
acoustic coupler /a,ku:stik 'kApla/ 
noun a device that connects to a telephone 
handset, converting binary computer data 
into sound signals to allow it to be transmit- 
ted down a telephone line 
comment: The acoustic coupler also con- 
verts back from sound signals to digital sig- 
nals when receiving messages. It is basi- 
cally the same as a modem but uses a 
handset on which a loudspeaker is placed 
to send the signals ratherthan a direct con- 
nection to the phone line. It is portable and 
clips over both ends of a normal telephone 
handset. It can be used even in a public 
phone booth. The acoustic coupler has 
generally been replaced by a direct cable 
link from the computer's modem to the 
standard telephone socket. 

acoustic hood /a'kuistik hud/ noun a 
soundproof cover put over a line printer to cut 
down its noise 

acoustics /s'kuistiks/ noun study and 
science of sound waves 
acquisition /,aekwi'zij(3)n/ noun the ac- 
cepting, capturing or collecting of informa- 
tion 

ACR /,ei si: 'ai/ noun a type of videotape 
recorder 



Acrobat » Adobe Acrobat 

acronym /'aekranim/ noun an abbrevia- 
tion, formed from various letters, which 
makes up a word which can be pronounced O 
The acronym FORTRAN means Formula 
Translator. 

actintic light /'aektmtik ,lait/ noun light 
which is able to cause chemical change in a 
material, such as film 

action /'aekfan/ noun 1. something which 
has been done 2. (in an SAA CUA front end) 
a user event 3. movement 4. the command to 
begin a performance, said by a director to an 
actor (film) 

action bar /'aekfan bail noun a top line of 
the screen that displays the menu names 
action bar pull-down /.aekjan ba: 'pul 
,daon/ noun (in an SAA CUA front end) a 
feature whereby the full menu is displayed 
below the menu name when a user moves the 
cursor to a particular menu name on the ac- 
tion bar 

activate /'aekti,veit/ verb to start a process 
or to make a device start working O Pressing 
CR activates the printer. 
activated /'aektiveitid/ adjective button or 
field in a screen layout that has a script at- 
tached to it; the script is executed when the 
user clicks on the button (note: If the button 
or field is not activated, it is normally dis- 
played greyed out and does not respond if a 
user selects it.) 

active /'aektiv/ adjective busy, working or 
being used 

Active Document /,aektiv 'dokjomant/ 
noun a standard Windows application that is 
accessed from within a web browser and con- 
trolled by special commands in the webpage 
active file /,aektiv 'fail/ noun a file that is 
currently being worked on 
active pixel region /,aektiv 'piks(a)l 
,ri:d33n/ noun an area of a computer screen 
that can display graphic image information 
active printer /,aektiv 'prmta/ noun a 
printer that is currently connected to the com- 
puter's printer port 

active program /,aektiv 'prsugraem/ 
noun (in a multitasking system) a program 
that is currently in control of the processor 
active record /,aektiv 'rekoid/ noun a 
record that is being updated or accessed 
Active Server Page /,a2ktiv S3iv3 
peid3/ noun a webpage that is created only 
when accessed by a visitor, allowing the web- 
site to display up-to-date information or in- 
formation from a database O The database 
search results page is implemented as an Ac- 
tive Server Page. Abbr ASP 



active streaming format /.asktiv 
'striimirj .foimaet/ noun full form of ASF 
active video /.aektiv ' vidiao/, active vid- 
eo signal /.aektiv 'vidiao ,sign(a)l/ noun a 
part of a video signal that contains picture in- 
formation 

ActiveVRML /.aektiv vi: a: em 'el/ noun 
♦ VRML 

active window /.aektiv 'wmdao/ noun 1 . 
an area of the display screen where the oper- 
ator is currently working 2. (in a GUI or SAA 
CUA front end) the window that is currently 
the focus of cursor movements and screen 
displays. f> window 

ActiveX /,aektiv 'eks/ a trade name for a 
programming language and program defini- 
tion used to create small applications de- 
signed to enhance the functionality of a web- 
page. l> applet, Java, VBScript 
comment: ActiveX applications, called ap- 
plets, are often used to add database or 
multimedia effects to a website that cannot 
be supported with basic HTML commands. 
When a user visits the web page that uses 
the ActiveX applet, the program is auto- 
matically downloaded by the user's brows- 
er and run on the user's computer. 
activity /aek'tiviti/ noun being active or 
busy 

actual address /,aekt Jual a'dres/ noun 
same as absolute address 
actual data transfer rate /.aektjual 
.delta 'traensf3: ,reit/ noun the average 
number of data bits transferred in a period of 
time 

actuator /'aekt Joeita/ noun a mechanical 
device that can be controlled by an external 
signal, e.g. the read/write head in a disk drive 
ACU /,et si: 'ju:/ noun a device that allows 
a computer to call stations or dial telephone 
numbers automatically. Full form automatic 
calling unit 

acuity /a'kjunti/ noun ability of the ear to 
detect frequency or volume changes 
acutance /a'kjuitans/ noun the ability of 
a lens to produce clear edges 
acute /a'kjuit/ adjective very sharp or clear 
AD noun the person who carries out the di- 
rector's instructions, oversees the work and 
whereabouts of the actors, technicians and 
rest of crew and works in close contact with 
the production unit (film) Full form assist- 
ant director, associate director 
A/D abbr analog to digital 
ADA /,et di: 'ei/ noun a high-level program- 
ming language that is used mainly in military, 
industrial and scientific fields of computing 
adapt /a'daept/ verb to change, adjust or 
modify something so that it fits O Can this 
computer be adapted to take 5.25 inch disks? 



added entry 

adaptation /.aedaep'teiJXajn/ noun the 
ability of a device to adjust its sensitivity 
range according to various situations 
adapter /a'daepta/, adaptor /a'daepta/ 
noun a device that allows two or more in- 
compatible devices to be connected together 
O The cable adapter allows attachment of the 
scanner to the SCSI interface. 

adaptive channel allocation /a 

,daeptiv 'tjaen(a)l aela,keij(a)n/ noun pro- 
vision of communications channels accord- 
ing to demand rather than a fixed allocation 
adaptive compression /a,daeptiv kam 
'prej(a)n/ noun a data compression system 
that continuously monitors the data it is com- 
pressing and adjusts its own algorithm to pro- 
vide the most efficient compression 
adaptive differential pulse code 
modulation /a,daepttv difa,renj(a)l 
'pAls kaud mDdju,leiJ(a)n/ noun full form 
ofADPCM 

adaptive interframe transform cod- 
ing /a,daeptiv .mtafreim traens'faim 
,kaodtrj/ noun a class of compression algo- 
rithms commonly used with video signals to 
reduce the data transmission rate 
adaptive packet assembly /a,daeptiv 
'paekit a,sembli/ noun a method used by the 
MNP error correcting protocol to adjust the 
size of data packets according to the quality 
of the telephone line. The better the line, the 
bigger the packet size. 

adaptive routing /a,daeptiv 'rurtirj/ 
noun the ability of a system to change its 
communications routes in response to vari- 
ous events or situations such as line failure 
(note: The messages are normally sent 
along the most cost-effective path unless 
there is a problem with that route, in which 
case they are automatically re-routed.) 
adaptive system /a,daeptiv 'sistam/ 
noun a system that is able to alter its respons- 
es and processes according to inputs or situa- 
tions 

adaptor /a'daepta/ noun another spelling 
of adapter 

ADB™ abbr Apple Desktop Bus 
ADC /,ei dii "si:/ noun an electronic device 
that converts an analog input signal to a dig- 
ital form, which can be processed by a com- 
puter. Full form analog to digital convert- 
er 

add /aed/ verb 1 . to put figures together to 
make a total O In the spreadsheet each col- 
umn should be added to make a subtotal. 2. 
to put things together to form a larger group 
O The software house has added a new man- 
agement package to its range of products. 
added entry /,aedid 'entri/ noun a sec- 
ondary file entry in a library catalogue 



addend 



addend /'aedend/ noun the number added 
to the augend in an addition 
adder /'aeda/ noun a device or routine that 
provides the sum of two or more inputs, ei- 
ther digital or analog 
comment: A parallel adder takes one clock 
cycle to add two words, a serial adder 
takes a time equal to the number of bits in 
a word to add. 

add-in /'aed in/ noun, adjective something 
that is added to something else 
additional /a'di.f(3)n3l/ adjective added or 
extra O Can we link three additional work- 
stations to the network? 

additional dialogue replacement h 

,dij(3)nal .daiarog n'pleismant/ noun full 
form of ADR 

additive colour mixing /.aeditrv ,kAb 
'miksirj/ verb to mix different coloured 
lights to produce the colour which is wanted 
add-on /'aed Dn/ adjective added to a com- 
puter system to improve its performance O 
The add-on hard disk will boost the compu- 
ter's storage capabilities. Opposite built-in 
address /a'dres/ noun 1. a number allow- 
ing a central processing unit to reference a 
physical location in a storage medium in a 
computer system O Each separate memory 
word has its own unique address. 2. a unique 
number that identifies a device on a network 
O This is the address at which the data starts. 
■ verb to put the location data onto an ad- 
dress bus to identify which word in memory 
or storage device is to be accessed O A larger 
address word increases the amount of memo- 
ry a computer can address. 
'The world's largest open data network, the Inter- 
net, links more than 10,000 local networks and 3 
million workstations in 50 countries. It has grown 
so fast that its address space is 'bust' and is being 
redesigned to allow further expansion.' [Comput- 
ing] 

addressability /a.dresa'biliti/ noun the 
control available over pixels on screen 

addressable /3'dres3b(3)l/ adjective 
which can be addressed O With the new oper- 
ating system, all of the 5MB of installed RAM 
is addressable. 

addressable point /3,dresab(3)l 'point/ 
noun a point or pixel in a graphics system 
that can be directly addressed 

address book /a'dres buk/ noun 1. (in a 
network) a list of node addresses 2. (in elec- 
tronic mail) a list of the network addresses of 
other users to which electronic mail can be 
sent 

addressing /a'dresirj/ noun the process of 
accessing a location in memory 



addressing machine /a'dresirj ma, rim/ 
noun a machine which puts addresses on en- 
velopes automatically 

address resolution protocol /a,dres 
,rez3'luij(3)n .prautakDl/ noun full form of 
ARP 

adjacent /a'd3eis(3)nt/ adjective which is 
near or next to something O The address is 
stored adjacent to the customer name field. 

adjunct register /.aed^Ankt 'red3ist3/ 
noun a 32-bit register in which the top 16 bits 
are used for control information and only the 
bottom 16 bits are available for use by a pro- 
gram 

adjust /a'd3ASt/ verb to change something 
to fit new conditions or so that it works better 
O You can adjust the brightness and contrast 
by turning a knob. 

adjustment /3'd3AStm3nt/ noun the mak- 
ing of a slight change made to something so 
that it works better, or a change made O The 
brightness needs adjustment. 
administrator /sd'mmistreita/ noun a 
person who is responsible for looking after a 
network, including installing, configuring 
and maintaining it 

Adobe Acrobat /a.daubi 'aekrabaet/ a 
trade name for a piece of software that con- 
verts documents and formatted pages into a 
file format that can be viewed on almost any 
computer platform or using a web browser on 
the Internet (note: For example if you pub- 
lish a newsletter, you could lay out the pag- 
es using a desktop publish system, print the 
pages for a paper version, and convert the 
files to Acrobat format allowing you to dis- 
tribute the same formatted pages on CD- 
ROM or over the Internet.) 
Adobe Systems /s.daobi 'sistamz/ a 
software company that developed products 
including Acrobat, ATM, and PostScript 
Adobe Type Manager /a.daobi taip 
'maentd33/ a trade name for a standard for 
describing scalable fonts, used with Apple 
System 7 and Microsoft Windows to provide 
fonts that can be scaled to almost any point 
size, and printed on almost any printer. Abbr 
ATM 

ADP /,ei dii 'pii/ noun data processing done 
by a computer. Full form automatic data 
processing 

ADPCM /,ei dii pii sii 'em/ noun a CCITT 
standard that defines a method of converting 
a voice or analog signal into a compressed 
digital signal. Full form adaptive differen- 
tial pulse code modulation 
ADR noun the process of adding words or 
phrases to a section of film in post produc- 
tion; a continuous loop of film is shown to the 
artists in which the same scene is shown re- 



AGP 



peatedly to help them synchronise their 
speech with their filmed lip movements 
ADSL /,ei dii es 'el/ noun high-speed trans- 
mission standard that uses the same copper 
telephone wires as a normal telephone serv- 
ice, but is much faster than a standard modem 
or a digital system such as ISDN. Full form 
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line 
(note: As well as the speed, ADSL provides 
a user with an 'always on' connection to the 
Internet - there is no need to dial an access 
number and no delay. Typically, companies 
provide ADSL for a fixed monthly rental; 
data is usually transferred from the Internet 
to the user's computer at 2Mbps but trans- 
ferred from the user's computer to the Inter- 
net at a slower rate of 256Kbps.) 
advance /ad'vams/ verb to move forward; 
to make something move forward O The pa- 
per is advanced by turning this knob. 
advanced /ad'vamst/ adjective more 
complicated or more difficult to learn 
Advanced Interactive Executive /ad 
,vamst .mtar.aektivig'zekjutiv/ noun full 
form of AIX 

Advanced Micro Devices /ad.vamst 
'maikrao di,vaisiz/ full form of AMD 
advanced peer-to-peer networking 
/ad.vainst ,pia ta ,pia 'netw3ikirj/ noun 
full form of APPN 

advanced power management /ad 
,vamst ,paus 'maenid3m3nt/ noun full 
form of APM 

advanced program to program com- 
munications /3d,vainst .praugraem ta 
.praugraem k3,mjuini'keij(3)nz/ noun full 
form of APPC 

Advanced Research Projects Agen- 
cy Network /ad,va:nst ,riis3itj 
,prDd3ekts ,eid3(a)nsi 'netw3ik/ noun full 
form of ARPANET 

advanced technology attachment 
/ad.vamst tek,nDlad3i a'taetjmant/ noun 
full form of ATA 

Advanced Television Systems Com- 
mittee /ad,va:nst 'tehvi3(a)n .sistamz 
ka.miti/ noun full form of ATSC 
advanced version /sd.vcnnst 'v3: J"(a)n/ 
noun a program with more complex features 
for use by an experienced user 
advisory lock /ad'vaiz(a)ri IM noun (in 
a multitasking system) a lock placed on a re- 
gion of a file by one process to prevent any 
other process accessing the same data 
advisory system /ad,vaiz(a)ri 'sistanV 
noun an expert system that provides advice 
to a user 

aerial /'earial/ noun a device for receiving 
or sending radio transmissions by converting 



electromagnetic impulses into electrical sig- 
nals and vice- versa ■ adjective in the air 
aerial cable /'earial ,keib(a)l/riounawire 
stretched between poles which acts as an aer- 
ial 

aerial perspective /,earial pa'spektiv/ 
noun a view of a three-dimensional land- 
scape as if the viewer is above the scene 
aerial view /.earial 'vju:/ noun a view 
from high above a scene 
affect /a'fekt/ verb to touch or to influence 
or to change something O Changes in voltage 
will affect the way the computer junctions. 
affiliate /a'filieit/ verb to connect or join 
with 

affiliated /a'filiettid/ adjective connected 
with or owned by another company O one of 
our affiliated companies 

affiliate marketing /a'ftliat ,ma:kitirj/ 
noun a type of marketing that uses a central 
website to advertise and sell products and 
services from other sites 
affirmative /a'f3:mativ/ adjective mean- 
ing 'yes' 

AFI PS abbr American Federation of Infor- 
mation Processing Societies 
AFNOR /'aefno:/ noun (in France) the 
French standards organisation. Full form As- 
sociation Francaise de Normalisation 
AFP /,ei ef 'pi:/ a protocol used to commu- 
nicate between workstations and servers in a 
network of Apple Macintosh computers. Full 
form Appletalk Filing Protocol 
afterglow /'aiftaglau/ noun » persist- 
ence 

after-image /,a:fta 'imid3/ noun a copy 
of a block of data that has been modified 
AGC noun an electronic circuit that adjusts 
the level of an incoming signal so that it is 
suitable for the next part of the circuit. Full 
form automatic gain control 
agenda /spends/ noun a list of tasks or 
appointments or activities that have to be car- 
ried out on a particular day 
agent /'eid3ant/ noun a series of com- 
mands or actions that are carried out auto- 
matically on a particular file or data 
aggregate /'aegngat/ noun a collection of 
data objects 

AGP /,ei d3ii 'pi:/ noun a dedicated bus be- 
tween a graphics controller and main memo- 
ry that allows data to be transferred very 
quickly without using the main processor. 
Full form accelerated graphics port 
(note: It is used with the Intel Pentium II 
processor to provide very high-speed three- 
dimensional graphics and video process- 
ing. This port does not replace a PCI bus 
but works with it.) 



Al 



Al /,ei 'ai/ noun the design and development 
of computer programs that attempt to imitate 
human intelligence and decision-making 
functions, providing basic reasoning and oth- 
er human characteristics. Full form artificial 
intelligence. ; IKBS 

aiming symbol /.eimirj 'simbal/, aiming 
field /fiild/ noun a symbol displayed on 
screen which defines the area in which a 
light-pen can be detected 
airbrush /'ea.brAjV noun (in graphics soft- 
ware) a painting tool that creates a diffuse 
pattern of dots, like an mechanical airbrush O 
We used the airbrush to create the cloud ef- 
fects in this image. 

air gap /'ea gaep/ noun a narrow gap be- 
tween a recording or playback head and the 
magnetic medium 

AIX a trade name for a version of UNIX pro- 
duced by IBM to run on its range of PCs, 
minicomputers and mainframes. Full form 
Advanced Interactive Executive 
ALC abbr automatic level control. i> AGC 
alert /a'l3it/ noun a warning message sent 
from software to warn a person or application 
that an error or problem has occurred 
algebra /'aekbjibra/ noun the use of letters 
in certain mathematical operations to repre- 
sent unknown numbers or a range of possible 
numbers 

algebraic language /,aeid3ibreiik 
'laerjgwid3/ noun a context-free language 
ALGOL /'aelgDl/ noun a high-level pro- 
gramming language using algorithmic meth- 
ods for mathematical and technical applica- 
tions. Full form algorithmic language 
algorithm /'aelg3nd(3)m/ noun a set of 
rules used to define or perform a specific task 
or to solve a specific problem 
'...image processing algorithms are step by step 
procedures for performing image processing op- 
erations' [Byte] 

'...the steps are: acquiring a digitized image, de- 
veloping an algorithm to process it, processing 
the image, modifying the algorithm until you are 
satisfied with the result' [Byte] 

algorithmic /.aelga'ndmik/ adjective ex- 
pressed using algorithms 
algorithmic language /.aelgandmik 
'laerjgwid3/ noun full form of ALGOL 
alias /'etlias/ noun 1 . a representative name 
given to a file, port, device or spreadsheet cell 
or range of cells O The operating system uses 
the alias COM1 to represent the serial port 
address 3FCh. 2. an undesirable value within 
a digital sample - often because a very high 
input signal has exceeded the limits of the 
converter and is wrongly represented as a 
very low value O The operating system uses 



the alias COM1 to represent the serial port 
address 3FCh. 

aliasing /'eiliasirj/ noun jagged edges that 
appear along diagonal or curved lines dis- 
played on a computer screen caused by the 
size of each pixel 

alias name /'eilias neim/ noun another 
name that is used on a network instead of the 
user name 

alien /'eilian/ adjective not fitting the usual 
system 

align /a'lam/ verb 1. to make sure that the 
characters to be printed are spaced and lev- 
elled correctly, either vertically or horizontal- 
ly 2. to arrange numbers into a column with 
all figured lines up against the right hand side 
(right-aligned) or the left-hand side (left- 
aligned) 3. to ensure that a read/write head is 
correctly positioned over the recording medi- 
um 4. to tune two or more radio circuits to- 
gether 

aligner /a'lama/ noun a device used to 
make sure that the paper is straight in a print- 
er 

aligning edge /s'lainirj ed3/ noun an 
edge of an optical character recognition sys- 
tem used to position a document 
alignment /a'latnmant/ noun the correct 
spacing and levelling of printed characters 
allocate /'aela.keit/ verb to divide a period 
of time or a piece of work in various ways 
and share it out between users O The operat- 
ing system allocated most of main memory to 
the spreadsheet program, (note: allocates — 
allocating - allocated) 
allocation /,aeb'keij(3)n/ noun the divid- 
ing of something such as memory, disk 
space, printer use, operating system time, or 
a program or device in various ways O allo- 
cation of time or capital to a project 
allophone /'aelafaon/ noun the smallest 
unit of sound from which speech can be 
formed. i> phoneme 

all points addressable mode /,o:l 
.points a'dres3b(3)l .maud/ noun a graph- 
ics mode in which each pixel can be individ- 
ually addressed and its colour and attributes 
defined. Also called APA mode 
alpha /'aelfa/ noun A. same as alpha test O 
The new software is still in an alpha product 
stage. 2. an item of data that defines the prop- 
erties of a pixel or part of an image 
ALPHA /'aelfa/ noun a 64-bit RISC proces- 
sor chip developed by Digital Equipment 
Corporation 

alphabet /'aelfa.bet/ noun the 26 letters 
used to make words 

alpha beta technique /.aslfa 'biita tek 
,niik/ noun a free structure technique used in 



ambient 



artificial intelligence for solving game and 

strategy problems 

alphabetically /.aelfs'betiklV adverb in 

alphabetical order O The files are arranged 
alphabetically under the customer's name. 

alphabetical order /,aelfabetik(a)l 

'o:d3/ noun the arrangement of records (such 
as files, index cards) in the order of the letters 
of the alphabet (A,B,C,D, etc.) 
alphabetic character set /.selfabetik 
'kaerikta ,set/ noun the set of characters, 
both capitals and small letters, that make up 
the alphabet 

alphabetise /'aelfabetaiz/, alphabetize 
verb to put items into alphabetical order O 
Enter the bibliographical information and 
alphabetise it. (note: alphabetises - al- 
phabetising - alphabetised) 
alpha channel /'aelfa ,tfaen(a)V noun 1. 
(in 32-bit graphics systems) the top eight 
bits that define the properties of a pixel 
(note: The lower 24 bits define the pixel's 
colour.) 2. a video channel, often used to hold 
mattes 

alphageometric /.aelfadsiiau'metnk/ 
adjective referring to a set of codes that in- 
struct a teletext terminal to display various 
graphics patterns or characters 
alphamosaic /.aelfamau'zenk/ adjective 
(character set) used in teletext to provide al- 
phanumeric and graphics characters 
alphanumeric /.aelfanjo'menk/ adjec- 
tive using the letters of the alphabet, the Ara- 
bic numerals and punctuation marks 
alphanumeric data /.aelfanjumenk 
'deita/ noun data that represents the letters 
of the alphabet and the Arabic numerals 
alpha-particle /'self a ,pa:tik(a)l/ nounan 
emitted alpha radiation particle 
alphaphotographic /.aelfafsotau 

'graefik/ adjective which represents pictures 
using predefined graphics characters, for 
teletext services 

alphasort/,a3lf3's3it/ verbto sort data into 
alphabetical order 

alpha test /'aelf 3 test/ noun the first work- 
ing attempt of a computer product. Also 
called alpha, l) beta test 
alpha wrap /'aelfa rasp/ noun a method 
used for feeding tape into a helical scan video 
recorder to make sure the alignment is cor- 
rect 

alt /oilt/ noun a type of newsgroup on the In- 
ternet that contains discussions about alterna- 
tive subjects. i> newsgroup (note: These 
are not official newsgroups and are not sup- 
ported or monitored by any company, and 
any user can write just about anything that 
he or she wants to say. Some online service 
providers do not allow their subscribers to 



view all of the alt newsgroups because they 
may contain offensive and pornographic 
material.) 

alter /'oilt a/ verb to change O to alter the 
terms of a contract 

alterable /'oi t3rab(3)l/ adjective which 
can be altered. i> EAPROM, EAROM 
alteration /,0ilt3'reiJ(3)n/ noun a change 
which has been made O The agreement was 
signed without any alterations. 
alternate verb /'Dltaneit/ to change from 
one state to another and back, over and over 
again (note: alternates - alternating - al- 
ternated) ■ adjective /Dl't3in3t/ which 
change from one to another 
alternately /o:l't3:ii9tli/ adverb switching 
from one to the other 

alternating current /.oiltaneitirj 
'kArant/ noun an electrical current whose 
value varies with time in a regular sinusoidal 
way, changing direction of flow each half cy- 
cle. Abbr AC 
comment: The mains electricity supply 
uses alternating current to minimise trans- 
mission power loss, with a frequency of 50 
Hz in the UK, 60 Hz in the USA. 

alternative /o:l't3:n3tiv/ noun something 
which can be done instead of something else 
O What is the alternative to re-keying all the 
data? ■ adjective other or which can take the 
place of something 

alternator /'oilt3,neit3/ noun a device 
which produces an alternating current 
Alt key /'oilt kii/ noun a special key on a 
PC's keyboard used to activate special func- 
tions in an application O Press Alt and P at 
the same time to print your document. 
comment: The Alt key has become the 
standard method of activating a menu bar 
in any software running on a PC. For ex- 
ample, Alt-F normally displays the File 
menu of a program, Alt-X normally exits the 
program. 

ALU /,ei el 'jui/ noun a section of the CPU 
that performs all arithmetic and logical func- 
tions. Full form arithmetic logic unit. Also 
called arithmetic unit. i> CPU 
always on /'oilweiz on/ adjective refer- 
ring to a feature of high-speed broadband 
communications devices such as cable mo- 
dems and ADSL that link your computer to 
the Internet whereby your computer appears 
to be permanently connected to the net and 
you do not need to dial up a special number 
AM abbr amplitude modulation 
A-MAC /,ei ,em ei 'si:/ noun a low band- 
width variation of MAC 
ambient /'aembiont/ adjective referring to 
normal background conditions 



ambiguous 10 

ambiguous /aem'bigjuas/ adjective 
which has two or more possible meanings 
ambisonics /.aembi'sDniks/ noun the 
process of recording more than one audio 
signal to give the effect of being surrounded 
by sound 

AM D a company that develops and produces 
processor components including a range of 
processors that are compatible with Intel 
processors and are used in many PCs. Full 
form Advanced Micro Devices 
American National Standards Insti- 
tute /a.menkan ,na2r(a)nal 'staendadz 
,mstit juit/ noun full form of ANSI 
American Standard Code for Infor- 
mation Interchange /a,menkan 
,staendad kaod far ,infameij(a)n 
'mtat Jemd3/ noun full form of ASCII 
American Standards Association /a 
.merikan 'staendadz a,sausieij(a)n/ noun 
an organisation that sets standards for the 
light sensitivity of photographic film emul- 
sion - e.g., 100 ASA. The film is numbered 
in accordance to it's sensitivity to light; the 
higher the number, the higher the film's sen- 
sitivity. Abbr ASA 

America Online /a,menka 'Dnlam/ a 
company that is the largest Internet service 
provider in the world. Abbr AOL 
AMM noun a multimeter that uses a graduat- 
ed scale and a moving needle as a readout for 
voltage, current and impedance levels. Full 
form analog multimeter. Compare DMM 
amount /a'maont/ noun the quantity of 
data or paper, etc. O What is the largest 
amount of data which can be processed in 
one hour? 

amp /aemp/ noun same as ampere (note: 
used with figures: a 13-amp fuse) 
ampere /'aempea/ noun the base SI unit of 
electrical current, defined as the current flow- 
ing through an impedance of one ohm which 
has a voltage of one volt across it. Abbr A 
ampersand /'aempa.saend/ noun a print- 
ing sign (&) which means 'and' 
amplification /,aemplifi'keir(a)n/ noun 
the output-to-input signal strength ratio O In- 
crease the amplification of the input signal. 
amplifier /'aemph.faia/ noun an electronic 
circuit that magnifies the power of a signal 
amplify /'aemph.fai/ verb to magnify a sig- 
nal power or amplitude O The received signal 
needs to be amplified before it can be proc- 
essed, (note: amplifies - amplifying - am- 
plified) 

amplitude /'aemph.tjuid/ noun the 
strength or size of a signal 
amplitude modulation /'aemphtjuid 
mDdju,leiJ(a)n/ noun a method of carrying 



data by varying the size of a carrier signal of 
fixed frequency according to the data 
analog /'aenalDg/, analogue /'aen(a)lDg/ 
noun the representation and measurement of 
numerical data by continuously variable 
physical quantities, as for the size of electri- 
cal voltages. Compare digital 
analog display /,aenalDg di'splei/ noun a 
display or monitor that can display an infinite 
range of colours or shades of grey, unlike a 
digital display that can only display a finite 
range of colours. VGA monitors are a form 
of analog display. 

analog multimeter /,aenatog 

'mAlitmiita/ noun a piece of testing equip- 
ment which uses a moving needle to indicate 
voltage, current or impedance levels. Abbr 
AMM 

analog to digital /,aenalrjg ta 'did3it(a)l/ 
adjective referring to changing a signal from 
an analog form to a digitally coded form. 
Abbr A/D, A to D 

analog to digital converter /,;cnolng 
ta ,did3it(a)l kan'v3ita/ noun full form of 
ADC 

analyse /'aenalaiz/, analyze verb to exam- 
ine in detail O to analyse a computer printout 
analyser /'aenalaiza/ noun a piece of elec- 
tronic test equipment that displays various 
features of a signal (note: The US spelling is 
analyzer.) 

analysis /a'naelasis/ noun a detailed ex- 
amination and report O market analysis 
analyst /'aenahst/ noun a person who car- 
ries out an analysis of a problem 
analytical engine /,aenalrtik(a)l 
'end3in/ noun a mechanical calculating ma- 
chine developed by Charles Babbage in 1833 
that is generally considered the first general- 
purpose digital computer 
anamorphic /.aens'moifik/ adjective re- 
ferring to an image that has unequal vertical 
and horizontal scaling, making it appear 
squashed or taller than the original 
anamorphic image /,aena,maifik 
'imid3/ noun an image which has been dis- 
torted in one direction 

anamorphic lens /,aena'mo:fik lenz/ 
noun a motion picture camera lens which al- 
lows a wide picture to be compressed on to 
standard film. When in a projector, it lets the 
image expand to fill a wide screen, (film) 
ANAPROP /'aenaprop/ abbr anomalous 
propagation ■ noun distortion of transmitted 
television signals due to atmospheric condi- 
tions 

anastigmatic ^aenastig'maetik/ noun a 
lens or optical device that has been corrected 
for astigmatism 



11 



anomalistic period 



ancestral file /aen,sestrel 'fail/ noun a 
system of backing up files based on a son to 
father to grandfather file, where the son is the 
current working file 

anchor /'aerjka/ noun the main presenter of 
a television programme who sets the style 
and tone of the show (film) 
anchor cell /'aerjka sel/ noun a cell in a 
spreadsheet program that defines the start of 
a range of cells 

ancillary equipment /aen.silsri i 
'kwipmant/ noun equipment which is used 
to make a task easier but which is not abso- 
lutely necessary 

AND /aend/ noun an operator, often used in 
searches, that matches text that contains both 
search words. Compare OR (note: For ex- 
ample searching for 'cat AND dog' finds all 
entries that contain both the words 'cat' and 
'dog') 

AND circuit /'aend, S3ikit/, AND element 
/'aend .ehmant/ noun same as AND gate 
AND function /'aend .fArjkJan/ noun a 
logical function whose output is true if both 
its inputs are true. Also called coincidence 
function 
comment: If both inputs are 1 , results of the 
AND will be 1 . If one of the input digits is 0, 
then AND will produce a 0. 
AND gate /'aend geit/ noun electronic gate 
that performs a logical AND function on 
electrical signals. Also called AND circuit, 
AND element. Compare coincidence gate 
AND operation /'aend ,Dp3rei.T(3)n/ 
noun the processing of two or more input sig- 
nals, outputting their AND function 
anechoic /,aenek'3uik/ adjective (room) 
that produces no echoes, used for testing au- 
dio equipment 

anechoic chamber /.aenekauik 
'tjeimba/ noun a perfectly quiet room in 
which sound or radio waves do not reflect off 
the walls 

ANG afabrAnglia Television (film) 
angle /'aerjgal/ noun a measure of the 
change in direction, usually as the distance 
turned from a reference line 
angled line /.aerjglad 'lam/ noun a line 
with three or more points, e.g. a zig-zag 
Anglia Television /.aerjglia 'telivi3(9)n/ 
noun an independent commercial TV com- 
pany based in Norwich and serving the sur- 
rounding east coast areas 
angstrom /'aenstrom/ noun a unit of 
measurement equal to one thousand mil- 
lionth of a metre 

ANI /,ei en 'ai/ noun a telephone system 
which displays the telephone number of the 
caller. Full form automatic number identi- 
fication 



animate /'aenimeit/ verb to make a series 
of drawings which, when filmed, will create 
moving images 

animated GIF /,aeni,meitid ,d3ii ai 'ef/ 
noun a simple animation effect created by 
saving several small graphic images within 
one file so that they can be repeatedly dis- 
played in sequence giving an impression of 
animation. It is often used to create animated 
buttons or other effects on a webpage. i> 
transparent GIF 

animated graphics /,aemmeitid 
'graefiks/ plural noun images that move on 
the screen 

animatic ^aeni'maetik/ noun a succession 
of drawings describing the story of a film, ad- 
vertisement, animation or multimedia pro- 
duction before filming begins (film) t) story 
board 

animation /,aem'meij(3)n/ noun 1. the 
creation of the illusion of movement by dis- 
playing a series of slightly different images 
on screen very rapidly to give the effect of 
smooth movement. Also called computer 
animation 2. the process of filming puppets 
or still drawings in sequence in order to give 
the appearance of movement 3. the process 
of drawing images on film, especially using a 
computer to create moving graphical images, 
such as cartoons 

ANN noun a voice over or a person on cam- 
era who gives information during a broadcast 
or who introduces and closes a radio or TV 
programme (film) Full form announcer 
annotation /,aen3'tetj(3)n/ noun a com- 
ment or note in a program which explains 
how the program is to be used 
announce /a'nauns/ verb to publicise a 
new or updated website by registering the do- 
main name with the main search engines; 
(note: announces - announcing - an- 
nounced) 
comment: Each search engine allows a 
person to add a new website and enter a 
description and category. Because there 
are now several hundred search engines, 
special software utilities are available to 
automatically register the website with 
each engine. 

announcer /a'naonsa/ noun full form of 

ANN 

annunciator /a'nAnsieita/ noun a signal 

which can be heard or seen in order to attract 

attention 

anode /'aenaod/ noun a positive electrical 

terminal of a device 

anomalistic period /a.nnmalistik 

'piariad/ noun the time taken for a satellite 

to travel between consecutive maximum 

points in its orbit 



anomalous propagation 



12 



anomalous propagation /a.nnmsbs 

,prop3'geij(3)n/ noun distortion of trans- 
mitted television signals due to atmospheric 
conditions 

anonymiser fe'ntinimaizs/, anonymizer 
noun a website that allows a person to 
browse the World Wide Web without leaving 
any traces of his or her identity 
anonymous FTP /a.nDmmas ef ti: 'pi:/ 
noun a method commonly used on the Inter- 
net that allows a user to connect to a remote 
computer using the FTP protocol and log in 
as a guest to download publicly accessible 
files, t) FTP (note: If you are using the FTP 
protocol to connect to a remote computer 
and you are asked for a login name and 
password, you can normally gain access to 
the remote computer's public areas by en- 
tering 'anonymous' as the login user name 
and your full email address as the pass- 
word.) 

ANSI /'aensi/ US a US organisation which 
specifies computer and software standards, 
including those of high-level programming 
languages. Full form American National 
Standards Institute 

ANSI screen control /,aensi 'skriin kan 
,traol/ noun a set of standard codes devel- 
oped by ANSI that control how colours and 
simple graphics are displayed on a computer 
screen 

answer /'ainsa/ noun a reply or solution to 
a question ■ verb 1 . to reply or provide the 
solution to a question 2. to reply to a signal 
and set up a communications link O The first 
modem originates the call and the second an- 
swers it. 

answerphone /'ainsafaun/ noun a cas- 
sette recorder attached to a telephone, which 
plays a prerecorded message and records 
messages from people dialling the number 
answer print /'ainsa print/ noun the ini- 
tial composite or graded print (copy) from an 
edited negative colour film which includes 
sound, music, titles (film) 
antenna /asn'tena/ noun an aerial or de- 
vice for receiving or sending radio transmis- 
sions by converting electromagnetic impuls- 
es into electrical signals and vice-versa 
antenna array /aen'tena a,rei/ noun a se- 
ries of small transmitting or receiving ele- 
ments connected in parallel, that make up a 
complex antenna 

antenna gain /aen'tena gem/ nounthe in- 
crease in transmitted signal power due to us- 
ing a certain type of antenna 
anthropomorphic software 

/,aen9rapamaifik 'sDftwea/ noun artificial 
intelligence software that appears to react to 
what a user says 



anti- /aenti/ prefix against 
anti-aliasing /,aenti 'eiliasirj/ noun 1. a 
method of reducing the effects of jagged edg- 
es in graphics by using shades of grey to 
blend in along edges. Also called dejagging 
2. a method of adding sound signals between 
the sound samples to create a smoother sound 
anti-virus program /.aenti 'vairas 
.praograem/ noun a software program that 
looks for virus software on a computer and 
destroys it before it can damage data or files 
anti-virus software /.asnti 'vairas 
,SDftwea/ noun software that removes a vi- 
rus from a file 
AOL abbr America Online 
A PA abbr all points addressable 
APA mode /,ei pi: 'ei ,maod/ noun same 
as all points addressable mode 
A PC abbr asynchronous procedure call 
APD abbr avalanche photodiode 
aperture /'aepatja/ noun 1. a lens dia- 
phragm that allows the amount of light that 
reaches the film to be regulated according to 
the user's wishes 2. an opening in a device 
that allows a certain amount of light or a sig- 
nal to pass through it 

aperture illumination /,aepat Ja i,lu:mi 
'nei f(a)n/ noun a pattern generated from an 
aperture antenna 

API /,ei pii 'ai/ noun a set of standard pro- 
gram functions and commands that allow any 
programmer to interface a program with an- 
other application O If I follow the published 
API for this system, my program will work 
properly. Full form application program- 
ming interface 

APL /,ei pii 'el/ noun a high-level program- 
ming language used in scientific and mathe- 
matical work. Full form A programming 
language 

APM /,ei pii 'em/ noun a specification that 
allows an operating system such as older 
Windows to control the power management 
features of a computer. Full form advanced 
power management (note: This standard 
has been replaced by the ACPI standard in 
Windows 98 and Windows NT 5.0.) 
apochromatic lens /,aepaukramaetik 
'lenz/ noun an optical lens that has been cor- 
rected for chromatic aberration 
apogee /'aepad3i/ noun the point in a satel- 
lite's orbit where it is at its maximum dis- 
tance from the earth 

apostrophe /a'pDstrafi/ noun a printing 
sign ('), which generally indicates that a let- 
ter is missing or used in fs), to indicate pos- 
session (note: computer's can mean 'be- 
longing to a computer' or 'the computer is': 
The computer's casing is blue; The compu- 



13 



application icon 



ter's broken and has to be repaired. Note 
that this is different from it's = 'it is' as op- 
posed to its = 'belonging to it': It's easy to 
program; You cannot edit a disk when its 
write protect tag is closed.) 
APPC /,ei pii pii "si:/ noun a set of proto- 
cols developed by IBM that allows peer-to- 
peer communication between workstations 
connected to an SNA network. Full form ad- 
vanced program to program communi- 
cations. : LU 

append /a'pend/ verb 1. to add data to an 
existing file or record O If you enter the DOS 
command COPY A+B, the file B will be ap- 
pended to the end of file A. 2. to add a file or 
data to the end of an existing file 
appendix /a'pendiks/ noun a section at 
the back of a book, containing additional in- 
formation O For further details see the ap- 
pendices, (note: The plural is appendices.) 
Apple Computer Corporation 
/,aep(3)lk3m'pjuit3 ,ko:p3reiJ(3)n/ a com- 
pany, formed in 1975, that has developed a 
range of personal computers including the 
Apple II, Apple Lisa and, more recently, the 
Apple Mac 
'Apple Computer has fleshed out details of a mi- 
gration path to the PowerPC RISC architecture 
for its 7 million Apple Macintosh users. Develop- 
ments in the pipeline include PowerPC versions 
of the AppleTalk Remote Access networking 
protocol.' [Computing] 

Apple Desktop Bus /,aep(3)l .desktop 
'das/ a trade name for a serial bus built into 
Apple Macs that allows low-speed devices, 
e.g. the keyboard and mouse, to communi- 
cate with the processor 
Apple file exchange /,aep(3)l 'fail iks 
,tjeind3/ a trade name for a software pro- 
gram that runs on an Apple Mac allowing it 
to read disks from a PC 
Apple filing protocol /,aep(3)l 'failiri 
.praotaktil/ a trade name for a protocol used 
to communicate between workstations and 
servers in a network of Apple Macintosh 
computers. Abbr AFP 

Apple Key /'aep(3)l kii/ a trade name for a 
special key on the keyboard of an Apple Mac 
that, when pressed with another key, provides 
a short-cut to a menu selection 
Apple Mac /'aep(a)l maek/, Apple Macin- 
tosh computer /,aep(3)l .maekmtDj kam 
'pjuita/ a trade name for any of a range of 
personal computers developed by Apple 
Computer Corporation that has a graphical 
user interface and uses the 68000 family of 
processors 

AppleScript /'aep(3)lskript/ a trade name 
for a script language built into the operation 



system of an Apple Mac that allows a user to 
automate simple tasks 

Appleshare /'aep(3)l lea/ a trade name for 
software that allows Apple Macs to share 
files and printers using a file server 
applet /'aepbt/ noun 1 . a small utility with- 
in Microsoft Windows, originally any of the 
icons in the Control Panel window, but now 
any piece of software that is used to config- 
ure the computer O There are applets to help 
format your disk and configure your key- 
hoard. 2. a small applications on the Internet 
designed to enhance the functionality of a 
webpage. i> ActiveX, Java, VBScript (note: 
For example if you want to add multimedia 
effects to your webpage, you cannot carry 
out these functions with standard HTML 
commands, but you could write a small Ac- 
tiveX program, called an applet, that is au- 
tomatically downloaded by the user's 
browser and run on the user's computer.) 
AppleTalk™ /'aep(3)ltaik/ a trade name 
for a communications protocol developed by 
the Apple Computer Corporation that carries 
data over network hardware between two or 
more Apple Macs and peripherals (note: Ap- 
pleTalk is similar to the seven-layer OSI pro- 
tocol model. It can link up to 32 devices, 
uses a CSMA-CA design, and transmits 
data at 230Kbps.) 

AppleTalk Filing Protocol /,aep(3)ltaik 
'faihrj ,pr3ot3kDl/ full form of AFP 
appliance /a'plaians/ noun a machine, es- 
pecially one used in the home O All electrical 
appliances should be properly earthed. 

appliance computer /a.plaisns kom 

'pjuita/ noun a ready-to-run computer sys- 
tem that can be bought in a shop, taken home 
and used immediately for a particular pur- 
pose. i> turnkey system 
applicant /'aeplikant/ noun a person who 
applies for something O applicant for a job 
or job applicant O There were thousands of 
applicants for shares in the new company. 
application / l aepli l keiJ'(3)n/ noun 1. ask- 
ing for something, usually in writing O appli- 
cation for an account on the system 2. a task 
which a computer performs or a problem 
which a computer solves 
'How do users interact with a computer system? 
Via a terminal or PC. So what application layer 
OSI protocol do we need first? The Virtual Ter- 
minal. And what do we get? File Transfer Access 
and Maintenance.' [Computing] 

application configuration access 
protocol /,aepltkeij(3)n kan 

,figjoreiJ(3)n 'aekses ,pr3ot3kt>l/ noun full 
form of ACAP 

application icon /,aepli'keij(3)n ,aikmi/ 
noun a small image or graphical symbol that 



application package 



14 



represents an application program in a graph- 
ical user interface 

application package /,aepli'keij'(a)n 
,paekid3/ noun a set of computer programs 
and manuals that cover all aspects of a partic- 
ular task, e.g. payroll, stock control or tax. 
Also called applications package 
application program /,aepli'keij(3)n 
.praograem/ noun a piece of application 
software O The multi-window editor is used 
to create and edit applications programs. 

application programming interface 

/,aephkeij(3)n 'praugraemirj .mtafeis/ 
noun full form of API O If I follow the pub- 
lished API for this system, my program will 
work properly. 

application service provider 

/,aeplikeij(3)n 's3:vis prs.vaida/ noun a 
specialist company that installs, configures 
and manages software on its own server and 
then allows any business to use the software 
via the Internet or a private network. Abbr 
ASP (note: The user does not realise that 
the software is located on a distant server, 
and the business does not need to buy or 
support the software, just rent it.) 
application software /,aephkeij(a)n 
'sDftwea/ noun software designed to make 
the computer do what is required and per- 
form particular tasks O The multi-window ed- 
itor is used to create and edit applications 
programs. Also called applications soft- 
ware 

applications package /,aepli'keir(a)nz 
,paekid3/ noun same as application pack- 
age 

application specific integrated cir- 
cuits /,aephkeij(3)n spa,sifik ,intigreitid 
's3ikits/ noun full form of ASIC 
applications software /,aepli'keif(a)nz 
.sDt'twea/ noun same as application soft- 
ware 

apply /a'plai/ verb 1 . to ask for something, 
usually in writing 2. to affect or to touch O 
This formula applies only to data received af- 
ter the interrupt signal. 
APPN /,ei pii pii 'en/ noun an extension to 
the IBM SNA protocol that allows worksta- 
tions to share information on a peer-to-peer 
basis without the need for a central main- 
frame. Full form advanced peer-to-peer 
networking (note: It is often used to route 
information around a network and dynami- 
cally adjusts the route if part of the network 
is damaged.) 

appoint /a'pomt/ verblo choose someone 
for a job O to appoint James Smith (to the 
post of) manager O We have appointed a new 
computer services manager, (note: you ap- 
point a person to a job) 



appointee /apom'tii/ noun a person who 
is appointed to a job 

appointment /a'pomtmant/ noun 1. an 
arrangement to meet a appointments book 
desk diary in which appointments are noted 
2. being appointed to a job □ on his appoint- 
ment as manager when he was made man- 
ager □ letter of appointment letter in which 
someone is appointed to a job 3. a job □ staff 
appointment job on the staff □ computer 
appointments vacant list (in a newspaper) 
of jobs which are available in the computer 
industry 

approval /a'pruiv(3)l/ noun an agreement 
that something can be used O A BABT ap- 
proval is needed for modems. 
approve /a'pruiv/ verb to agree to some- 
thing O to approve the terms of a contract 
approximate /a'prDksimat/ adjective not 
exact, but almost correct O We have made an 
approximate calculation of the time needed 
for keyboarding. 

approximately /a'proksimatli/ adverb 
almost correctly O Processing time is ap- 
proximately 10% lower than during the pre- 
vious quarter. 

approximating /a'prDksimeitirj/ adjec- 
tive which is nearly correct 
approximation /a.proksi'meiJXajn/ 
noun a rough calculation O approximation of 
keyboarding time 

A programming language /,ei 
'praugraemirj ,laerjgwid3/ noun full form of 
APL 

APT /,ei pii 'til/ noun a programming lan- 
guage used to control numerically controlled 
machines. Full form automatically pro- 
grammed tools 

arbitrator /'aibitreita/ noun software that 
is responsible for allocating resources to de- 
vices, often used to manage the way Plug and 
Play adapters use other resources in a compu- 
ter 

arcade game /ai 'keid geim/ noun an ad- 
venture game played on a machine in a public 
place 

archetype /'aikitaip/ noun a document or 
book that illustrates the styles of a particular 
time and subject 

Archie /'ait Jii/ noun a system of servers on 
the Internet that catalogue the public files 
available on the Internet 
Archimedes /,aiki'miidiiz/ noun a per- 
sonal computer developed by Acorn Com- 
puters; the Archimedes is based around a 
RISC central processor and is not compatible 
with either the IBM PC or Apple Macintosh 
architecture /'aikitekt JV noun the lay- 
out and interconnection of a computer's in- 



15 



ascender 



ternal hardware and the logical relationships 
between CPU, memory and I/O devices 
'Software giant Microsoft is also interested in us- 
ing Xerox' Glyph technology as part of its Micro- 
soft At Work architecture that seeks to unite of- 
fice computers with fax machines and copiers.' 
[Computing] 

archival quality /'a:kaiv(a)l .kwDlati/ 
noun the length of time that a copy can be 
stored before it becomes illegible 
archive /'aikaiv/ noun storage of data over 
a long period ■ verb to put data in storage 
(note: archives - archiving - archived) 
archived copy /.aikaivd 'kDpi/ noun a 
copy kept in storage 

archive file /'aikaiv fail/ noun a file con- 
taining data which is out of date but which is 
kept for future reference 
archive storage /,aikaiv 'stoind3/ noun 
storage of data for a long period of time 
area /'earia/ noun 1 . a measurement of the 
space taken up by something, calculated by 
multiplying the length by the width. O The 
area of this office is 3,400 square feet. 2. a 
section of memory or code that is reserved 
for a certain purpose 

area fill /'earia fil/ noun (in graphics) an 
instruction to fill an area of the screen or an 
enclosed pattern with a colour or pattern 
area manager /.earia 'maenid3a/ noun a 
manager who deals with a certain part of the 
country 

arg /aig/ noun same as argument 
argue /'aigjui/ verb to discuss something 
about which you do not agree O They argued 
over or about the design of the cover. (NOTE: 
you argue with someone about or over 
something) 

argument /'aigjomant/ noun 1. the proc- 
ess of discussing something without agreeing 
O They got into an argument with the cus- 
toms officials over the documents. 2. a varia- 
ble acted upon by an operator or function O 
If you enter the words 'MULTIPLY A, B', the 
processor will recognise the operator, MUL- 
TIPLY, and use it with the two arguments, A 
and B. t> operand. Abbr arg 
arithmetic /a'ri9matik/ noun a science 
concerned with mathematical functions such 
as addition, subtraction, division and multi- 
plication 

arithmetic logic unit /.aenQmetik 
'lr>d3ik juinit/ noun full form of ALU 
arithmetic unit /.aenQmetik 'juimt/ 
noun same as ALU 

ARP /,ei ai 'pi:/ noun a protocol within the 
TCP/IP standard that is used to determine 
whether the source and destination address in 
a packet are in the data-link control or Inter- 
net protocol format. Full form address res- 



olution protocol (note: Once the format of 
the address is known, the packet can be 
correctly routed over a network.) 
ARPANET /'aipanet/ noun the original 
network of interconnected computers, linked 
by leased lines, that formed the first proto- 
type for the current Internet. It was developed 
by the US Department of Defense. Full form 
Advanced Research Projects Agency 
Network 

ARQ /,ei ai 'kjui/ noun an error correction 
system, used in some modems, which asks 
for data to be re-transmitted if it contains er- 
rors. Full form automatic repeat request 
array /a'rei/ noun an ordered structure con- 
taining individually accessible elements ref- 
erenced by numbers, used to store tables or 
sets of related data 

array processor /a'rei ,prausesa/ noun 
a computer that can act upon several arrays of 
data simultaneously, for very fast mathemat- 
ical applications O The array processor al- 
lows the array that contains the screen image 
to be rotated with one simple command. 
arrow key /'aerao kii/ noun each of a set of 
four keys on a keyboard that move the cursor 
or pointer around the screen, controlling 
movement up, down, left and right 
arrow pointer /.aerao 'pointa/ noun a 
small arrow on-screen that you can move us- 
ing the mouse 

art file /'ait fail/ noun a digital picture store 
which has extra graphic and painting facili- 
ties (film) 

article /'aitik(a)l/ noun 1. one message in 
a newsgroup 2. a section of a newspaper or 
magazine O He wrote an article about the 
user group for the local newspaper. 3. a sec- 
tion of an agreement O See article 8 of the 
contract. 

artifacts /'aitifaekts/ plural noun very 
small errors in a digital version of an analog 
signal 

artificial intelligence /,a:trfif(a)l m 
'tehd3(a)ns/ noun full form of AI 
artificial neural network /,a:tifif(a)l 
'njuaral ,netw3ik/ noun a system for 
processing information that is made up of in- 
terconnected elements that behave in a simi- 
lar way to the neurons in the human nervous 
system and have the ability to learn through 
experience 

artwork /'ait,w3ik/ noun graphical work 
or images 

ASA abbr American Standards Association 
(film) 

ascend /a'send/ verb to increase 
ascender /a'senda/ noun a part of a char- 
acter that rises above the main line of printed 
characters, e.g. the upward line of a 'b' or 'd' 



ASCII 



16 



ASCII /'aeskii/ noun a code which repre- 
sents alphanumeric characters in binary 
code. Full form American Standard Code 
for Information Interchange 
ASCII character /'aeski .kaenkta/ noun a 
character which is in the ASCII list of codes 
ASCII file /'aeski fail/ noun a stored file 
containing only ASCII coded character data 
O Use a word processor or other program 
that generates a standard ASCII file. 
ASCII text /'aeski tekst/ noun the set of 
letter and number characters with an ASCII 
code between and 127 
ASF /,ei es 'ef/ noun a multimedia delivery 
format developed by Microsoft for delivery 
over the Internet and used in its NetShow 
product. Full form active streaming format 
ASIC /,ei es ai "si:/ plural noun specially 
designed ICs for one particular function or to 
special specifications. Full form application 
specific integrated circuits 
ASP abbr 1 . Active Server Page 2. applica- 
tion service provider 

aspect /'aespekt/ noun the way in which 
something appears 

aspect ratio /,aespekt 'reijiao/ noun the 
ratio of the width to the height of pixel shapes 
ASR /,ei es 'ai/ noun a device or terminal 
that can transmit and receive information. 
Full form automatic send/receive. Com- 
pare KSR 
comment: An ASR terminal can input infor- 
mation via a keyboard or via a tape cas- 
sette or paper tape. It can receive informa- 
tion and store it in internal memory or on 
tape. 

assemble /3'semb(3)l/ verb 1. to put a 
hardware or software product together from 
various smaller parts O The parts for the disk 
drive are made in Japan and assembled in 
France, (note: assembles - assembling - 
assembled) 2. to translate assembly code 
into machine code O There is a short wait 
during which time the program is assembled 
into object code. 

assemble edit /3,semb(3)l 'edit/ verb 
adding new images, sounds, control tracks or 
timecodes to previous material on a video- 
tape when in the process of editing (film) 
assembler /a'sembla/ noun a program 
which converts a program written in assem- 
bly language into machine code. Also called 
assembler program 

assembler program /a'sembb 
.preograem/ noun same as assembler 
assembly /a'sembli/ noun 1. the process 
of putting an item together from various parts 
O There are no assembly instructions to show 
you how to put the computer together. 2. the 



process of converting a program into ma- 
chine code 

assertion /3's3:J"(3)n/ noun a program 
statement of a fact or rule 
assets /'assets/ plural noun separate data 
elements such as video, audio and image that 
are used in a multimedia application 
assign /a'sam/ verb 1. to give a computer 
or person something to do O He was assigned 
the job of checking the sales figures. 2. to set 
a variable equal to a string of characters or 
numbers 3. to keep part of a computer system 
for use while a program is running 
assigned numbers /3,samd 'nAmbaz/ 
plural noun unique numbers that are each as- 
signed to an Internet or network manufactur- 
er's device, protocol or other resource (note: 
Manufacturers apply for a unique ID 
number from the IANA organisation.) 
assignment /a'sammant/ noun 1. a par- 
ticular job of work 2. the process of setting a 
variable equal to a value or string or character 
3. the transfer of a property or of a right O as- 
signment of a copyright 
assignor /,aesai'noi/ noun a person who 
assigns something to someone 
assist /a' sist/ verb to help O Can you assist 
the stock controller in counting the stock? O 
He assists me with my income tax returns. 
(note: you assist someone in doing some- 
thing or with something) 
assistant cameraman /a,sist(a)nt 
'kaem(3)r3maen/ noun the person who car- 
ries out camera operations under the instruc- 
tion of the director of photography 
assistant director /3,sist(3)nt dai 
'rekts/ noun the person who carries out the 
director's instructions, oversees the work and 
whereabouts of the actors, technicians and 
rest of crew and works in close contact with 
the production unit. Also called associate 
director 

associate /a'sausiat/ adjective linked ■ 
noun a person who works in the same busi- 
ness as someone O She is a business associ- 
ate of mine. 

associated document /o.soosieiiid 

'dDkjumant/, associated file /fail/ noun a 
document or file that is linked to its originat- 
ing application (note: When you select the 
file, the operating system automatically 
starts the originating application.) 
associate director /a.sausiat dai'rekta/ 
noun same as assistant director 
associate producer /a.sausiat pre 
'djuisa/ noun a personal assistant to the pro- 
ducer who is likely to have a particular un- 
derstanding of the subject of the film or pro- 
gramme being made (film) 



17 



AtoD 



associational editing /a,s3usieif(3)n3l 

'editirj/ noun a way of editing a film or video 
so as to present together scenes which are 
similar to others 

associative addressing /a.sausiatrv o 
'dresirj/ noun the identification of a location 
by its contents rather than its address. Also 
called content-addressable addressing 
associative processor /a^susiativ 
'praosesa/ noun a processor that uses asso- 
ciative memory 

AST noun a system which permits broadcast 
quality videotape pictures to be broadcast at 
different speeds or frame rates (film) Full 
form automatic scan tracking 
astable multivibrator /,eisteib(a)l 
'mAltivaibreita/ noun an electronic current 
that repeatedly switches an output between 
two voltage levels 

asterisk /'aestarisk/ noun a graphical sym- 
bol (*) used in programming as a sign for 
multiplication 

astigmatism /3'stigm3tiz(3)m/ noun a 
camera lens defect which causes focal prob- 
lems such as out-of-focus or blurred images 
(film) 

Asymetrix™ /.eisi'metriks/ noun a soft- 
ware company that publishes the ToolBook 
multimedia authoring software package 
asymmetric compression /,aesi 
,metrik k3m'prej(3)n/ noun a method of 
reducing the space taken by data 
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line 
^aesi.metrik ,did3it(3)l sab'skraiba ,1am/ 
noun full form of ADSL 
asymmetric system /,aesi,metnk 
'sistam/ noun a system that requires more 
equipment to compress the data than to de- 
compress it 

asymmetric transmission /eisi 
,metrik traenz'mij(3)n/ noun a method of 
data transmission which has two different 
speeds for data received by the computer and 
data transmitted by the computer 
asymmetric video compression /eisi 
,metnk 'vidiao k3m,prej(3)n/ noun the 
use of a powerful computer to compress vid- 
eo, allowing it to be played back on a less 
powerful computer 

async /ei'sirjk/ adjective same as asyn- 
chronous (informal) 

asynchronous /a'sirjkranas/ adjective 
referring to serial data or equipment which 
does not depend on being synchronised with 
another piece of equipment 
asynchronous cache /ei.sirjkrenas 
'kae J7 noun a type of cache memory that pro- 
vides the slowest performance and uses a 
type of SDRAM that is cheap but slow 



asynchronous communication /ei 

,sirjkr3n3s k^mjuini'keiJXa)!!/ noun data 
transmission between devices that is not syn- 
chronised to a clock, but is transmitted when 
ready 

asynchronous procedure call /ei 
^irjkranas pra'siid^a ,koil/ noun a pro- 
gram function that runs separately from the 
main program and will execute when a par- 
ticular set of conditions exist. Abbr APC 
asynchronous sound /ei.sirjkranas 
'saond/ noun sound which is not synchro- 
nised to each particular frame but is related to 
the general action (film) 
asynchronous transfer mode Am 
,sirjkr3n3s 'traensf3i ,m3od/ noun full 
form of ATM 

asynchronous transmission /ei 
,sirjkr3n3s traenz'mi J"(3)n/ noun data trans- 
mission that uses handshaking signals rather 
than clock signals to synchronise data pulses 
AT /,ei 'til/ noun a trade name for a standard 
of PC originally developed by IBM that uses 
a 16-bit 80286 processor 
comment: AT originally meant IBM's Ad- 
vanced Technology personal computer, 
but is now used to describe any IBM PC 
compatible that uses a 16-bit processor. 

ATA /,ei ti: 'ei/ noun hard disk drive tech- 
nology in which the controller is part of the 
disk drive rather than being part of the main 
computer or located on the motherboard. Full 
form advanced technology attachment. 
Also called AT attachment 
ATD /,ei ti: 'dii/ noun a standard command 
for compatible modems used to dial a tele- 
phone number; defined by Hayes Corpora- 
tion. Full form attention, dial 
ATM 1 /,ei tii 'em/ abbr Adobe Type Manag- 
er 

ATM 2 /,ei tii 'em/ noun 1. method of trans- 
ferring data very rapidly, at up to 155 Mbps, 
across an ISDN link or network 2. a CCITT 
and ANSI standard defining cell relay trans- 
mission ► full form asynchronous trans- 
fer mode 

ATM 3 /,ei ti: 'em/ noun electronic machine 
in a bank that dispenses cash when you insert 
a magnetic card. Full form automated teller 
machine 

atmosphere /'aetmas^'ia/ noun a gas 
which surrounds the earth 
atmospheric interference /.aetmas 
,fenk ^nta'fiarans/ noun electrical distur- 
bances in the earth's atmosphere which cause 
hissing and crackling sounds on radio or TV 
channels 

A to D /,ei ts 'di:/ adjective same as analog 
to digital 



atom 18 

atom /'aetsm/ noun the smallest particle of 
an element that has the same properties as the 
element 

atomic /a'tDmik/ adjective referring to at- 
oms 

ATSC /,ei til es "si:/ noun a committee that 
defines the SDTV and HDTV standards for 
use in the USA. Full form Advanced Televi- 
sion Systems Committee 
attach /a'taetJV verb to connect a node or 
login to a server on a network 
attachment /a'taetfmant/ noun 1. a de- 
vice which is attached to a machine for a spe- 
cial purpose O There is a special single sheet 
feed attachment. 2. a named file which is 
transferred together with an electronic mail 
message O There is an attachment with my 
last mail message - it contains the sales re- 
port. 

attack /a'taek/ noun the shape of the start of 
a sound signal over time 
attended operation /a.tendid ,Dpa 
'reij(a)n/ noun a process which has an oper- 
ator standing by in case of problems 
attend to /a'tend tu:/ verb to give careful 
thought to (something) and deal with it O The 
managing director will attend to your com- 
plaint himself. O We have brought in experts 
to attend to the problem of installing the new 
computer. 

attention, dial /a.tenjan 'daial/ noun full 
form of ATD 

attention code /a'tenjan kaod/ noun the 
two characters 'AT' that are used to preface a 
command to a Hayes-compatible modem 
(note: For example 'ATD123' tells the mo- 
dem to dial the number '123') 
attenuate /s'tenjueit/ verb to reduce the 
strength or size of peaks (of a signal) 
attenuation /3,tenju'eiJ(3)n/ noun the 
difference between transmitted and received 
power measured in decibels O // the cable is 
too long, the signal attenuation will start to 
cause data errors. Opposite gain 
attribute /'aetribjuit/ noun 1. a piece of in- 
formation concerning the display or presen- 
tation of information 2. a set of control data 
stored with and controlling particular func- 
tions or aspects of the file in some operating 
systems such as DOS and OS/2 3. a single bit 
that defines whether the font has a particular 
characteristic, e.g., whether it is displayed in 
normal, bold or underlined 
audible /'o:dib(3)l/ adjective which can be 
heard O The printer makes an audible signal 
when it runs out of paper. 
audience /'aidians/ noun people who 
watch a TV programme or listen to a radio 
programme 



audience rating /'aidians ,reitirj/ noun 
the rating of a programme by calculating the 
number of people who have watched it 
audio /'oidiao/ adjective referring to sound 
or to things which can be heard 
audio file /'Didiau fail/ noun a digital 
sound sample stored on disk 
audio range /'oidiau remd3/ noun the 
frequency range between 50-20,000 Hz that 
can be detected by a human ear 
audiotape /'oidiaoteip/ noun tape treated 
with magnetisable metallic oxide in order to 
allow sound to be recorded (film) 
audiotex /'oidiaoteks/ noun an interactive 
voice response over the telephone in which a 
computer asks the caller questions and the 
caller responds by pressing numbers on his 
telephone 

audio/video interleaved /,o:diau 
,vidiau .mta'lkvd/ noun full form of AVI 
audio-video support system /.oidiau 
, vidiau sa'poit/ noun full form of AVSS 
audiovisual /,oidi3u 'vi3U3l/ adjective 
which uses sound and images 
audiovisual aids /,oidi3uvi3U3l 'eidz/ 
plural noun equipment used in teaching, 
which includes both sound and pictures 
audiovisual scripts /,o:di3uvi3U3l 
'eskripts/ plural noun scripts that indicate 
and separate live and mechanical sources 
audit /'aidit/ noun the process of noting 
tasks carried out by a computer ■ verb to ex- 
amine the state of a system and check that it 
is still secure or working properly 
audit trail /'o:dit treil/ noun a record of 
details of the use made of a system by noting 
transactions carried out, used for checking on 
illegal use or malfunction 
augend /'oigend/ noun the number to 
which another number, the addend, is added 
to produce the sum 

augment /aig 'merit/ verb to increase 
augmenter /pig'menta/ noun a value 
added to another 

AUI connector /,ei ju: 'ai ka,nekt3/ 
noun a D-connector used to connect thick 
Ethernet cable to a network adapter 
aural /'oiral/ adjective by ear 
authentic /Di'Oentik/ adjective which is 
true 

authenticate /Di'9enti,keit/ verb to say 
that something is true or genuine 
authentication /3:,9enti'keiJ(3)n/ noun 
the process of making sure that something is 
authentic 

authenticator /ai'Oentikeita/ noun a 
trustworthy company that provides authenti- 
cation for digital signatures on the Internet 
(note: This process is used by secure web- 



19 



automatic mode 



sites (shopping or payment sites) to prove 
to a visitor that the website has been creat- 
ed by the authorised publisher.) 
author /'o:03/ noun the person who wrote a 
program ■ verb to create a multimedia appli- 
cation by combining sound, video and imag- 
es 
The authoring system is a software product that 
integrates text and fractally compressed images, 
using any wordprocessor line editor, to create an 
electronic book with hypertext links between dif- 
ferent pages.' [Computing] 

authoring language /.otGsrirj 

'laerjgwid3/ noun a programming language 
used to write CAL and training programs 
authoring software /.aiBanrj 'softwea/, 
authoring system /^iSanrj 'sistam/ noun 

1 . a special application that allows you to cre- 
ate multimedia titles. Authoring software lets 
you design the pages of the multimedia book 
and place video clips, images, text and sound 
on a page, (note: Almost all multimedia de- 
velopers use some type of authoring soft- 
ware rather than a traditional programming 
language because it's a much faster and 
easier way to create multimedia programs.) 

2. same as webpage design software 
authorisation /,o:63rai'zeiJ'(3)n/, au- 
thorization noun the process of giving a 
user permission to access a system 
authorisation code /,3i03rai'zeiJ(3)n 
kaod/ noun a code used to restrict access to 
a computer system to authorised users only 
authorised user /, 3i9s,raizd 'juiza/, au- 
thorized user noun person who is allowed 
to access a system 

authority /o:'9r>r3ti/ noun the power to do 
something O He has no authority to delete 
your account. 

authorize /'D:93,raiz/ verb 1. to give per- 
mission for something to be done O to au- 
thorise the purchase of a new computer sys- 
tem 2. to give someone the authority to do 
something 

authorized /'oiBaraizd/ adjective permit- 
ted 

author level /,o:0a 'lev(a)l/ noun the 
mode of an authoring software package that 
is used by the author to design the application 
(note: The user uses the finished applica- 
tion at user level.) 

auto /'oitao/ adjective, prefix automatic or 
which works without the user needing to act 
'...expansion accessories include auto-dial and 
auto-answer' [Electronic & Wireless Worlds] 

autocue /'oitaukju:/ noun a method that 
enables a person to read out a rolling text 
which is projected on to an angled mirror in 
front of the camera lens (film) O Autocue en- 
ables a TV presenter to read a script without 



looking down. O An autocue operator con- 
trols the speed. 

AUTOEXEC.BAT /.oitauig'zek beet/ 
noun (in an IBM PC running the MS-DOS 
operating system) a batch file that contains 
commands that are executed when the com- 
puter is first switched on or reset 
autoflow /'oitaofbu/ noun a feature of 
DTP or wordprocessing software that auto- 
matically flows text around a graphic image 
or from one page to the next 
autOfOCUS /'oitaufsokas/ noun an infra- 
red sensors in cameras or camcorders that ac- 
tivate the focusing operation (film) 
automate /'oita^eit/ verb to install ma- 
chines to do work previously done by people 
automated teller machine 

/pitameitid 'tela majiin/ noun full form 
of ATM 

automatic /.otta'maetik/ adjective which 
works by itself, without being worked by an 
operator 

automatically /pita'maetikli/ adverb 
(machine) working without a person giving 
instructions O The compiler automatically 
corrected the syntax errors. t> APT 

automatically programmed tools 

/,oit3maetikli .praugraemd 'tuilz/ plural 
noun full form of APT 
automatic backup /.oitsmaetik 'baekAp/ 
noun same as auto save 
automatic call distribution 
/,oit3maetik 'koil ,distnbjuij(3)n/ noun 
full form of ACD 

automatic calling unit /,o:tamaetik 
'koihrj juinit/ noun full form of ACU 
automatic camera effects system 
noun full form of ACES 
automatic data processing 
/,oit3maetik 'deits ,pr3osesirj/ noun full 
form of ADP 

automatic frequency switching 
/,oit3maetik 'friikwansi .switjirj/ noun 
same as automatic mode 
automatic gain /,oit3maetik 'gem/ noun 
an electronic circuit which automatically in- 
creases the volume when someone is speak- 
ing quietly and drops it when someone is 
speaking loudly 

automatic gain control /.oitamaetik 
,gem kan'traol/ noun full form of AGC 
automatic mailing list /.oUsmaetik 
'meilirj .list/ noun » listserv 
automatic mode /.aita'maetik msud/ 
noun a feature of a monitor that can adjust its 
internal circuits to the different frequencies 
used by different video standards. Also called 
automatic frequency switching 



automatic number identification 20 



automatic number identification 

/,oit3maetik 'nAmbs ai,dentifikeij(3)n/ 
noun full form of ANI 

automatic repeat request /,o:tamaetik 
n'piit n.kwest/ noun full form of ARQ 
automatic scan tracking noun full 
form of AST 

automatic send/receive /,o:tamaetik 
.send ri'siiv/ noun full form of ASR 
automatic volume control 

/,o:t3maetik 'vDljuim kar^traol/ noun full 
form of AVC 

automation /,0it3'meiJ(3)n/ noun the use 
of machines to do work with very little super- 
vision by people 

autopositive /,o:t3o'pDzitiv/ noun a 
photographic process that produces a posi- 
tive image without a negative stage 
auto-reliable mode /,o:tau n'lai3b(a)l 
.maod/ noun a feature of a modem in which 
the modem will try and establish a reliable 
connection with another modem using error 
correction 

auto save /'aitsu seiv/ noun a feature of 
some application programs, e.g. word-proc- 
essor or database software, that automatical- 
ly saves the file being used every few minutes 
in case of a power failure or system crash. 
Also called automatic backup 
auto scan /'oitao skaen/ noun the ability 
of a monitor to maintain the same rectangular 
image size when changing from one resolu- 
tion to another 

autOSizing /.oitau'saizirj/ noun the abili- 
ty of a monitor to maintain the same rectan- 
gular image size when changing from one 
resolution to another 

auto trace /'oitau treis/ noun a feature of 
some graphics programs that will transform a 
bit-mapped image into a vector image by au- 
tomatically locating the edges of the shapes 
in the image and drawing lines around them 
AUX /,ei jui 'eks/ noun a serial communi- 
cations port under the DOS operating system. 
Full form auxiliary 

A/UX a trade name for a version of the Unix 
operating system for the Apple Mac range of 
computers 

auxiliary /oig'ziliari/ adjective which 
helps O The computer room has an auxiliary 



power supply in case there is a mains failure. 
■ noun full form of AUX 
auxiliary device /aig.ziliari di'vais/ 
noun a piece of computer hardware that is 
not part of the central processing unit but is 
controlled by it, e.g. a printer or scanner. 
Same as peripheral 
a/v abbr audiovisual 

avalanche /'aevslaint JV noun a sequence 
of actions in which each action starts another 
O There was an avalanche of errors after I 
pressed the wrong key. 

avalanche photodiode noun full form 
of APD 

avatar /'aevatai/ noun 1. the graphical im- 
age that is used to represent a real person in a 
cyberspace or three-dimensional system, e.g. 
the image of a person in a three-dimensional 
adventure game 2. the name for the superuser 
account on a UNIX system. Also called root 
AVC 1 /,ei vii "si:/ noun an electronic circuit 
that maintains a constant sound level despite 
undesired differences in strength of the in- 
coming signal. Full form automatic volume 
control 

AVC 2 /,ei vii 'sii/ a trade name for multime- 
dia software developed by IBM that works 
with its Audio Capture and Video Capture 
boards 

AVI/,ei vi: 'ai/ noun a Windows multimedia 
video format developed by Microsoft. Full 
form audio/video interleaved 
AVSS /,ei vii es 'es/ noun a digital video 
system, originally for MS-DOS, used to play 
back video and audio files on a computer. 
Full form audio-video support system 
A wind /'ei wamd/ noun a videotape 
wound onto a reel so that it winds in a clock- 
wise direction; the oxide layer being on the 
inside (film) 

axis /'aeksis/ noun 1 . a line around which 
something turns O The CAD package allows 
an axis to be placed anywhere. (NOTE: The 
plural is axes.) 2. a reference line which is 
the basis for coordinates on a graph 
azerty keyboard /3,z3iti 'kiiboid/ noun 
a method of arranging the keys on a keyboard 
where the first line begins AZERTY, used 
mainly in Continental Europe. Compare 
QWERTY keyboard 

azimuth /'aezimaO/ noun the angle of a 
tape head to a reference, e.g. a tape plane 



B 



b abbr bit 
B 1 abbr byte 

B 2 symbol the hexadecimal equivalent of the 
decimal number 1 1 

B: used in personal computers to indicate the 
second disk drive, normally a floppy disk 
drive O Copy the files from the hard drive, C:, 
to the floppy drive, B:. 

B2B /,bi: ta 'bi:/ adjective referring to ad- 
vertising or marketing that is aimed at other 
businesses rather than at consumers. Full 
form business-to-business 
B2C /,bii ta 'si:/ adjective referring to ad- 
vertising or marketing that is aimed at con- 
sumers rather than at other businesses. Full 
form business-to-consumer 
babble /'baeb(a)l/ noun crosstalk or noise 
from other sources which interferes with a 
signal 

BABT /,bi: ei bi: 'ti:/ noun an independent 
organisation that tests and certifies telecom- 
munications equipment O If you design a 
new modem, you must have BABT approval 
before you can sell it. Full form British Ap- 
provals Board for Telecommunications 
baby /'beibi/ noun a spotlight with a 1000 
watt bulb (film) 

baby legs /'beibi legz/, tripod /'traipDd/ 
noun a small tripod which is used when 
shooting low angle shots (film) 
back /baek/ noun the opposite side to the 
front O There is a wide range of connectors 
at the back of the main unit. 
'The V3500 has on-board Ethernet and SCSI in- 
terfaces, up to 32Mb local DRAM, two program- 
mable timers, a battery-backed real-time clock 
with 32Kb RAM and four serial ports.' [Comput- 
ing] 

backbone /'baek,baon/ noun a high- 
speed, high-capacity connection path that 
links smaller sub-networks, usually used to 
connect servers on a network O We have 
linked the servers in each office using a high- 
speed backbone, (note: Smaller workgroups 
or networks are connected to the backbone 
as segments or ribs.) 

back buffer /,baek 'bAf a/ noun a section of 
memory used as a temporary storage for 
graphics before they are displayed on screen 
(note: The image is built up in the back buff- 
er memory area then transferred to the 
main video memory area for display.) 



backdate /baek'deit/ verb to put an earlier 
date on a cheque or a document O Backdate 
your cheque to April 1st. O The pay increase 
is backdated to January 1st. 
backdrop /'baekdrap/ noun a static back- 
ground image in front of which are displayed 
actors or scenes 

back-end network /,baek end 'netw3:k/ 
noun a connection between a mainframe 
computer and a high-speed mass storage de- 
vice or file server 

back-end server /,baek end 's3iva/ noun 
a computer connected to a network that car- 
ries out tasks requested by client worksta- 
tions 

back focus /,baek 'faukas/ noun the dis- 
tance between the electronic camera trans- 
ducer (that converts light into electronic sig- 
nals) and the rear part of a zoom lens; this gap 
is adjusted when the lens is set to its widest 
point to produce a sharp image (film) 
background /'baekgraond/ noun 1. past 
work or experience O His background is in 
the computer industry. 2. the part of a picture 
which is behind the main object of interest O 
The new graphics processor chip can handle 
background, foreground and sprite move- 
ment independently. 3. a system in a compu- 
ter where low-priority work can be done in 
the intervals when very important work is not 
being done 

background colour /.baekgraond kAla/ 
noun the colour of a computer screen display, 
different from that of characters and graphics 
O White background colour with black char- 
acters is less stressful for the eyes. 

background image /,baekgraund 
'tmid3/ noun an image displayed as a back- 
drop behind a program or windows of a GUI 
(note: The background image does not 
move and does not interfere with any pro- 
grams.) 

background mode /'baekgraond 
,maod/ noun in a computer system in which 
two modes for program execution are possi- 
ble, the mode that is for housekeeping and 
other necessary system programs. Compare 
foreground mode 

background plane /.baekgraond 'plein/ 
noun » backdrop 

background processing /.baekgraund 
'praosestrj/ noun 1 . the execution of a low- 



background projection 



22 



priority job when there are no higher priority 
activities for the computer to attend to 2. a 
process which does not use the on-line capa- 
bilities of a system. Opposite foreground 
background projection /,baek,graund 
pr3'd3ek[3n/ noun a special effect in which 
actors seem to be performing in front of an 
actual moving background when instead, 
they are acting in front of images being pro- 
jected onto the back of a screen (film) 

backing memory /.baekirj 'mem(a)ri/ 
noun same as backing store 

backing storage /'bsektrj ,sta:rid3/ 
noun same as backing store 
backing Store /'baekirj stoi/, backing 
storage /'baekirj ,sto:rid3/, backing mem- 
ory /,b<Ekirj 'mem(3)ri/ noun a permanent 
storage medium onto which data can be re- 
corded before being processed by the compu- 
ter or after processing for later retrieval O By 
adding another disk drive, I will increase the 
backing store capabilities. 
backlash /'baeklaeJY noun a fault when 
slack film, caused by a fault in mechanics, is 
broken or damaged; common when using 
take-up or rewind wheels (film) 
back-level /'baek ,lev(s)V noun the earlier 
release of a product which may not support a 
current function 

backlight /'baeklait/ noun light behind a 
liquid crystal display unit that improves the 
contrast of characters on the screen and al- 
lows it to be read in dim light 
backlit display /,baekht di'splei/ noun a 
liquid crystal display unit that has a backlight 
fitted to improve the contrast of the display 
backlog /'baek.kjg/ noun work or tasks 
that have yet to be processed O The program- 
mers can 't deal with the backlog of program- 
ming work. 

back office /,baek 'trfis/ noun a secure 
area of e-commerce software containing de- 
tails of a company's store properties and 
products and tax tables ■ adjective relating 
to the internal administration of a business, 
not to its contacts with the public 
backout /.baek'aut/ verb to restore a file to 
its original condition before any changes 
were made 

back pack /'baek paek/ noun lightweight 
television recording equipment which the 
cameraman carries on his back when filming 
(film) 

back panel /,baek 'paen(a)l/ noun a panel 
at the rear of a computer which normally 
holds the connectors to peripherals such as 
keyboard, printer, video display unit and 
mouse 



backplane /'baekplem/ noun part of the 
body of a computer which holds the circuit 
boards, buses and expansion connectors (the 
backplane does not provide any processing 
functions). i> motherboard, rack (note: 
The backplane does not provide any 
processing functions.) 
back projection /,baek pr3'd3ekT(3)n/ 
noun the projection of an image from behind 
a screen (note: It is often used in animation 
where the static scene is displayed with 
back projection, then the foreground char- 
acters are displayed and the composite 
scene photographed.) 
backscatter /'baekskaeta/ noun a reflect- 
ed or scattered radio wave travelling in the 
opposite direction to the original signal 
backslash /'baekslaeJV noun ASCII char- 
acter 92, \, the sign which is used in MS-DOS 
to represent the root directory of a disk, such 
as C: or to separate subdirectories in a path, 
such as C: 

backspace /'baek,speis/ noun a move- 
ment of a cursor or printhead left or back by 
one character 

backspace key /'baek,speis ki:/ noun the 
key which moves the cursor left on the screen 
or back by one character O If you make a mis- 
take entering data, use the backspace key to 
correct it. 

backstage /baek'steid3/ noun the area be- 
hind a theatrical stage or film set which is not 
seen by the audience or camera (film) 
backtab /'baektaeb/ verb (in an SAA CUA 
front end) to move the cursor back to the pre- 
vious field (note: backtabbing 
backtabbed) 

backtime /'baektaim/ noun a method of 
timing the length of rewinding from a specif- 
ic end point in material to establish a specific 
start point in order to permit the end point to 
occur at a precise time (film) 
back up /'baek Ap/ verb 1 . to support some- 
thing or help someone O He brought along a 
file of documents to back up his claim. 2. to 
make a copy of a file or data or disk O The 
company accounts were backed up on disk as 
a protection against fire damage. 
backup /'baekAp/ noun 1 . the providing of 
help O We offer a free backup service to cus- 
tomers. 2. a copy of a file or data or disk 
made as a security precaution. Also called 
backup copy, backup version 3. the proc- 
ess of making a copy of a file or data or disk 
as a security precaution 
'. . .the previous version is retained, but its exten- 
sion is changed to .BAK indicating that it's a 
back-up' [Personal Computer World] 

backup copy /'baekAp ,kDpi/ noun same 
as backup 3 



backup disk /'baekAp disk/ noun a disk 
which contains a copy of the information 
from other disks, as a security precaution 
backup file /'baekAp fail/ noun a copy of 
a file, made as a security precaution 
backup plan /'baekAp plaen/ noun a set of 
rules that take effect when normal operation 
has gone wrong O The normal UPS has gone 
wrong, so we will have to use our backup 
plan to try and restore power. 
backup procedure /,baekAp pr3'si:d33/ 
noun a method of making backup copies of 
files 

backup server /.baekAp 's3:vs/ noun a 
second computer on a network that contains 
duplicate files and up-to-date data in case of 
a problem with the main server 
backward /'baekwad/, backwards adjec- 
tive, /A/ adverb towards the back or in the op- 
posite direction 
comment: Backward recovery is carried 
out by passing the semi-processed data 
from the crashed computer through a rou- 
tine that reverses the effects of the main 
program to return the original data. 

backwards compatible /,baekwsdz 
k3m'paet3b(3)l/ adjective 1. able to work 
with older versions or systems 2. referring to 
a new piece of software that provides the 
same functions as the previous version and 
can read the files created in the previous ver- 
sion 

BACS /baeks/ noun a system to transfer 
money between banks using computer linked 
via a secure network. Full form Bankers Au- 
tomated Clearing Services 
bacterium /baek'tiariam/ noun » virus 
bad break /,baed 'breik/ noun a hyphen 
inserted in the wrong place within a word, a 
problem sometimes caused by the automatic 
hyphenation feature of word-processing soft- 
ware 

bad copy /,baed 'kDpi/ noun an illegible or 
badly edited manuscript which the typesetter 
will not accept 

badge reader /'baed3 .riida/ noun a ma- 
chine that reads data from an identification 
badge O A badge reader makes sure that only 
authorised personnel can gain access to a 
computer room. 

bad sector /,baed 'sekta/ noun a disk sec- 
tor that has been wrongly formatted or which 
contains an error or fault and is unable to be 
correctly written to or read from O You will 
probably receive error messages when you 
copy files that are stored on bad sectors on a 
disk. 

baffle /'baef (a)l/ noun a sound absorber and 
deflector which is a moveable unit used in re- 
cording studios and film and television sets 



23 bank 

BAFTA /'baefta/ abbr British Academy of 
Film and Television Arts (film) 
BAK file extension /,baek fail ig 
'stenj(a)n/ noun a standard three-letter file 
extension used in MS-DOS systems to signi- 
fy a backup or copy of another file 
balance /'baebns/ noun 1. the placing of 
text and graphics on a page in an attractive 
way O The dtp package allows the user to see 
if the overall page balance is correct. 2. the 
positioning of musical instruments so that 
they may be recorded to their best advantage 
3. amplitude control of left and right audio 
signals in a stereo system 4. the adjustment 
of the blue, green and red TV camera signals 
in order to create a neutral chart of tones 
ranging from black to white. This is done to 
enable the production of a true colour picture 
on television. 5. lighting equal to that in other 
takes shot on the same set ■ verb 1 . to plan 
something so that two parts are equal 2. to 
calculate the amount needed to make the two 
sides of an account equal O / have finished 
balancing the accounts for March. 
band /baend/ noun a range of frequencies 
between two limits 

B and C /,bii an "si:/ noun, adjective (vid- 
eotape) ready for editing; the tape includes 
the timecode, control track and colour black 
signals (film) Full form blacked and coded 
bandlimited /'baendhmitid/ adjective 
(signal) whose frequency range has been lim- 
ited to one band 

bandpass filter /'baendpais ,frlts/ noun 
an electronic filter that allows a range of fre- 
quencies to pass but attenuates all frequen- 
cies outside the specified range 
bandwidth /'baendwidS/ noun 1. a range 
of frequencies 2. a measure of the amount of 
data that can be transmitted along a cable or 
channel or other medium O This fibre-optic 
cable has a greater bandwidth than the old 
copper cable and so it can carry data at high- 
er speeds. 

bandwidth on demand /,baend,wid9 
Dn di'maind/ noun a system used with a 
switching service, e.g. ISDN, in a wide area 
network that allows a user to send as much 
information as he or she wants because the 
network will adjust to transmit this amount of 
information 

bank /baerjk/ noun a collection of similar 
devices O A bank of minicomputers process 
all the raw data. 
comment: Memory banks are used to ex- 
pand the main memory of a CPU (often 
above the addressing range of the CPU) by 
having a number of memory chips ar- 
ranged into banks. Each bank operates 
over the same address range but is select- 
ed independently by a special code. 



banker 



24 



Bankers Automated Clearing Serv- 
ices /,baerjk3z .oitameitid 'klianrj 
,S3:visiz/ noun full form of BACS 
bank Internet payment system 

/,baenk .mtanet 'peimant .sistam/ noun a 
protocol that enables bank payments to be 
made over the Internet and gives each finan- 
cial institution a unique identification 
number for the purposes of Internet transac- 
tions. Abbr BIPS 

banner /'baena/, banner advertisement 
/,baena 3d'v3itism3nt/, banner ad /'baena 
aed/ noun 1 . an image that carries an adver- 
tising slogan, logo or message and is dis- 
played on a web page 2. a heading or title ex- 
tending to the width of a page 
comment: A long, narrow strip is now the 
unofficial standard format for advertise- 
ments that appear on almost every com- 
mercial website on the Internet. Some ban- 
ner ads are images, others include anima- 
tion to attract the viewer's attention. If you 
click on a banner ad, you will usually jump 
to the advertiser's own site. If you would 
rather not see banner advertisements 
when you surf, you can install special soft- 
ware that blocks them. Websites normally 
charge advertisers according either to the 
number of times the banner ad is displayed 
(called the number of impressions) or the 
number of times that a user clicks on the ad 
(called the click-through rate). 

bar /bai/ noun a thick line or block of colour 
■ verb to stop someone from doing some- 
thing 

bar chart /'ba: tjait/ noun a graph on 
which values are represented as vertical or 
horizontal bars. Also called bar graph 
bar code /'bai kaod/ noun data represent- 
ed as a series of printed stripes of varying 
widths 
comment: Bar codes are found on most 
goods and their packages; the width and 
position of the stripes is sensed by a light 
pen or optical wand and provides informa- 
tion about the goods such as price and 
stock quantities. 

bar code reader /'ba: kaod ,ri:da/ noun 
an optical device that reads data from a bar 
code 

bar graph /'ba: gra:f/ noun same as bar 
chart 

bar graphics /'ba: .graefiks/ noun US 
same as bar code 

barndoor /bam'do:/ noun hinged metal 
shutters at the front of a studio spotlight used 
to shield or direct the light (film) 
barney /'ba:ni/ noun a piece of heavy cloth 
which is put over a film camera when record- 
ing sound in order to help prevent the noise of 
the camera being heard (film) 



barrel /'baeral/ noun a conducting post in a 

terminal 

barrel distortion /,baeral di'sto:J(a)n/ 

noun an optical lens distortion causing sides 
of objects to appear curved 
barrel printer /,baeral 'prmta/ noun a 
type of printer where characters are located 
around a rotating barrel 
barrier box /'baeria bt>ks/ noun a device 
that electrically isolates equipment from a 
telephone line to prevent damage 
baryta paper /ba'raita ,perpa/ noun a 
coated matt paper used to produce final high 
quality proofs before printing 
base /beis/ noun 1 . the lowest or first posi- 
tion 2. a collection of files used as a refer- 
ence, t) database 3. a place where a compa- 
ny has its main office or factory or a place 
where a businessman has his office O The 
company has its base in London and branch- 
es in all European countries. 4. an initial or 
original position 5. notation referring to a 
number system ■ verb 1 . to start to calculate 
something from a position O We based our 
calculations on the basic keyboarding rate. 
2. to set up a company or a person in a place 
O The European manager is based in our 
London office, (note: bases - basing - 
based) 

base 2 /'beis tu:/ noun the binary number 
system, using the two digits and 1 
base 8 /'beis eit/ noun the octal number 
system, using the eight digits 0-7 
base 10 /,beis 'ten/ noun the decimal 
number system, using the ten digits 0-9 
base 16 /,beis siks'tnn/ noun the hexa- 
decimal number system, using the ten digits 
0-9 and the six letters A - F 
baseband /'beisbaend/, base band /'beis 
baend/ noun 1 . the frequency range of a sig- 
nal before it is processed or transmitted O 
Voice baseband ranges from 20 Hz to 15 
KHz.. 2. digital signals transmitted without 
modulation 3. information modulated with a 
single carrier frequency 
base film /'beis film/ noun transparent 
material which bears the light sensitive emul- 
sion of a film or the magnetic oxide of mag- 
netic recording tape (film) 
base hardware /,beis 'ha:dwea/ noun 
the minimum hardware requirements that a 
particular software package needs in order to 
run 

base level synthesizer /,beis ,lev(a)l 
'sinOesaiza/ noun (on a sound card) a syn- 
thesiser that supports three melodic instru- 
ments and can play six notes simultaneously 
basic /'beisik/ adjective normal or from 
which everything starts O The basic architec- 
ture is the same for all models in this range. 



25 



beam 



BASIC /'beisik/ noun a high-level pro- 
gramming language for developing programs 
in a conversational way, providing an easy in- 
troduction to computer programming. Full 
form beginner's all-purpose symbolic in- 
struction code 

basically /'beisikli/ adverb seen from the 
point from which everything starts O The 
acoustic coupler is basically the same as a 
modem. 

basic control system satellite 

/,beisik k3n,tr3ul ,sist3m 'saetalait/ noun 
a system that runs dedicated programs or 
tasks for a central computer. It is controlled 
by using interrupt signals. Abbr BCS 
basic encoding rules /,beisik m 
'kaudirj ,ruilz/ plural noun full form of BER 
basic input/output operating sys- 
tem /,beisik .input ,aotput 'npareitirj 
,sist3m/ noun full form of BIOS 
basic rate access /.beisik reit aekses/ 
noun full form of BRA 
basis /'beisis/ noun the point or number 
from which calculations are made O We cal- 
culated keyboarding costs on the basis of 
5,500 keystrokes per hour. 
bass /beis/ noun, adjective low range of 
audible frequencies that make up a sound 
batch /baetJY noun 1. a group of items 
which are made at one time O The last batch 
of disk drives are faulty. 2. a group of docu- 
ments which are processed at the same time 
O today 's batch of orders 3. a group of tasks 
or amount of data to be processed as a single 
unit O We deal with the orders in batches of 
fifty. ■ verb 1 . to put data or tasks together in 
groups 2. to put items together in groups 
batch mode /'baet J maod/ noun a method 
of operating in which several tasks are speci- 
fied in advance and run without user inter- 
vention. Compare conversational mode 
batch number /'bast/ .nAmba/ noun a 
reference number attached to a batch 
batch processing /'baetj .prsusesirj/ 
noun a system of data processing where in- 
formation is collected into batches before be- 
ing processed by the computer in one ma- 
chine run 
comment: Batch processing is the opposite 
of interactive processing, where the user 
gives instructions and receives an immedi- 
ate response. 
BAT file extension /,baet fad ik 
'stenjan/ noun a standard three-letter file 
extension used in MS-DOS systems to signi- 
fy a batch file 

battery /'baet(3)ri/ noun a chemical device 
that produces electrical current 
battery backup /,baet(3)ri 'baekAp/ noun 
a battery to provide power to volatile storage 



devices to retain data after a computer has 
been switched off 

baud rate /'boid reit/ noun a measure of 
the number of signal changes transmitted per 
second O The baud rate of the binary signal 
was 300 bits per second. 
comment: Baud rate is often considered 
the same as bits per second, but in fact it 
depends on the protocol used and the error 
checking (300 baud is roughly equivalent 
to 30 characters per second using stand- 
ard error checking). 
bay /bei/ noun a space within a computer's 
casing where a disk drive is fitted. Also 
called drive bay 

bazooka /ba'zuika/ noun an adjustable 
pole used as a camera support in restricted lo- 
cations where a tripod is too big ( film) 
BBC abbr British Broadcasting Corporation 
(film) 

BBS /,bii bii 'es/ noun an information and 
message database accessible by modem and 
computer link. Full form bulletin board 
system 

bCC noun a feature of many electronic mail 
programs that allows a user to send one mes- 
sage to several users at a time but does not 
display this list to the recipients. Full form 
blind carbon copy. Also called blind copy 
receipt 

BCC 1 /,bii sii 'si:/ noun an error detection 
method for blocks of transmitted data. Full 
form block character check 
BCC 2 /,bii sii 'sii/ abbr Broadcasting Com- 
plaints Commission 

BCD /,bii sii 'dii/ noun a representation of 
single decimal digits as a pattern of four bi- 
nary digits O The BCD representation of dec- 
imal 8 is 1000. Full form binary coded dec- 
imal 

BCNF /,bii sii en 'ef/ noun » normal form 
BCPL /,bii sii pii 'el/ noun a high level pro- 
gramming language 

BCS abbr 1 . British Computer Society 2. 
basic control system satellite 
BCU noun a camera shot that is so close it 
only reveals part of the subject in the picture 
frame (film) Full form big close up 
beacon /'biikan/ verb a signal transmitted 
repeatedly by a device that is malfunctioning 
on a network 

beacon frame /'biikan freim/ noun a 
special frame within the FDDI protocol that 
is sent after a network break has occurred 
bead /biid/ noun a small section of a pro- 
gram that is used for a single task 
beam /biim/ noun a narrow set of light or 
electron rays O A beam of laser light is used 
in this printer to produce high-resolution 
graphics. 



beam diversity 



26 



beam diversity /'biim dai,v3isiti/ noun 
the process of using a single frequency com- 
munications band for two different sets of 
data 

beam splitter /'biim , splits/ noun an op- 
tical device to redirect part of a light beam 
beard /biad/ noun a blank section between 
bottom of a character and the type face limit 
bearding /'biardirj/ noun a fault that oc- 
curs when the electronic limits of a television 
system have been exceeded and is visible 
with marks between the horizontally adjacent 
light and dark areas of a television picture 
(film) 

Beaulieu /'bjuili/ noun a lightweight mo- 
tion picture camera that is popular with peo- 
ple making documentaries or news pro- 
grammes (film) 

beep /biip/ noun an audible warning noise 
O The printer will make a beep when it runs 
out of paper. ■ verb to make a beep O The 
computer beeped when the wrong key was 
hit. t) bleep 

begin /bi'gm/ verb to start O The company 
began to lose its market share. O He began to 
keyboard the changes to the customer ad- 
dress file, (note: you begin something or 
begin to do something or begin with some- 
thing. Note also: beginning - began - has 
begun) 

beginner's all-purpose symbolic in- 
struction code /bi.gmaz oil ,p3ipas sim 
,bt>lik m'strAkfan ,kaod/ noun full form of 
BASIC 

beginning /bi'gmirj/ noun the first part of 
something 

beginning of file/bi.gmirjav 'fail/ noun 
a character or symbol that shows the start of 
a valid section of data. Abbr bof 
beginning of information mark /bi 
,gmirj av ,mf3'meij(3)n ,maik/ noun full 
form of BIM 

behind-the-lens filter /bi,hamd 5i lenz 
'filta/ noun a gelatin filter which is able to 
cut out chosen colours when placed behind 
the camera lens and in front of the film (film) 
bel /bel/ noun a unit used when expressing 
ratio of signal power in logarithmic form (P 
bels = Log (A/B) where A and B are signal 
power) 

BEL noun bell character (equivalent to AS- 
CII code 7) 

bell character /'bel .kaenkta/, BEL noun 
a control code that causes a machine to pro- 
duce an audible signal, equivalent to ASCII 
code 7 

Bell-compatible modem /,bel kam 
,paetib(a)l 'maodem/ noun a modem that 
operates according to standards set down by 
AT&T 



bells and whistles /,belz and 'wis(a)lz/ 
plural noun advanced features or added ex- 
tras to an application or peripheral O This 
word-processor has all the bells and whistles 
you would expect - including page preview. 
below-the-fold /bi,lao da 'faold/ adjec- 
tive referring to the lower part of a webpage 
that is seen only by a user who scrolls down 
the page and that is therefore less commer- 
cially valuable. Compare above-the-fold 
below-the-line costs /bi,lao 6a lam 
'ktssts/ plural noun costs of crew and techni- 
cians used in making a TV programme (as 
opposed to scriptwriters, actors, etc., who are 
above-the-line costs) 

benchmark /'bent Jmaik/ noun 1 . a point 
in an index which is important, and can be 
used to compare with other figures 2. a pro- 
gram used to test the performance of soft- 
ware or hardware or a system O The maga- 
zine gave the new program 's benchmark test 
results. 

benchmarking /'bentjmaikip/ noun the 
testing of a system or program with a bench- 
mark 

bending /'bendirj/ noun distortion in vide- 
otape playback which is a result of defects in 
the tape or in the video machine itself (film) 
BER /,bii ii 'ai/ noun a standard method of 
encoding data that is stored in the ASN lan- 
guage, often used in libraries and other Inter- 
net data sites. Full form basic encoding 
rules 

Berkeley UNIX /,b3ikli 'juimks/ noun a 
version of the UNIX operating system devel- 
oped by the University of California, Berke- 
ley 

bespoke software /bi.spauk 'srrftwea/ 
noun software that has been written especial- 
ly for a customer's particular requirements 
best boy /,best 'bai/ noun the second in 
command on the electrical team on a film set 
best fit /,best 'fit/ noun 1. something 
which is the nearest match to a requirement 
2. a function that selects the smallest free 
space in main memory for a requested virtual 
page 

Betacam™ /'biitakaem/ noun a standard 
developed for video player and cameras 
Betacam SP /,biitakaem es "pi:/ noun a 
more accurate and sharper version of the Bet- 
acam system (film) Full form Betacam su- 
perior performance 

beta Site /'biita sait/ noun a company or 
person that tests new software before it is re- 
leased in a real environment to make sure it 
works correctly 

beta software /'biita ,sof(t)wea/ noun 
software that has not finished all its testing 
before release and so may still contain bugs 



beta test /'biita .test/ noun a second stage 
of tests performed on new software just be- 
fore it is due to be released O The application 
has passed the alpha tests and is just entering 
the beta test phase. 
The client was so eager to get his hands on the 
product that the managing director bypassed in- 
ternal testing and decided to let it go straight out 
to beta test.' [Computing] 

beta version /'biita ,v3i3n/ noun a ver- 
sion of a software application that is almost 
ready to be released O We'll try out the beta 
version on as many different PCs as possible 
to try and find all the bugs. 
bezel /'bez(a)l/ noun the front cover of a 
computer's casing or disk drive unit 
Bezier curve /'beziei k3iv/ noun a geo- 
metric curve with the overall shape defined 
by two midpoints, called control handles 
comment: Bezier curves are a feature of 
many high-end design software packages. 
They allow a designer to create smooth 
curves by defining a number of points. The 
PostScript page description language uses 
Bezier curves to define the shapes of char- 
acters during printing. 

BFI abbr British Film Institute 
BGP /,bi: d^ii 'pi:/ noun a protocol that al- 
lows routers to share routing information to 
allow each router to calculate the most effi- 
cient path for information. Full form border 
gateway protocol (note: This protocol is 
most often used between routers installed 
at Internet Service Providers (ISPs).) 
bias /'baias/ noun 1 . an electrical reference 
level 2. the deviation of statistical results 
from a reference level 3. a high frequency 
signal added to recorded information to min- 
imise noise and distortion (the high frequen- 
cy is removed on playback) 
biased /'baiast/ adjective which has a bias 
bibliographic /,biblia'graefik(a)l/, bibli- 
ographical adjective referring to books or to 
bibliographies 

bibliography /,bibli'Dgrafi/ noun 1. a list 
of documents and books which are relevant 
to a certain subject O He printed a bibliogra- 
phy at the end of each chapter. 2. a catalogue 
of books 

bid /bid/ verb (of a computer) to gain con- 
trol of a network in order to transmit data O 
The terminal had to bid three times before 
there was a gap in transmissions on the net- 
work. 

bi-directional /,bai dai'rekj(a)n(9)l/ ad- 
jective (operation or process) that can occur 
in forward and reverse directions O bi-direc- 
tional file transfer 

bifurcation /,baifa'keir(a)n/ noun a sys- 
tem where there are only two possible results 



27 binary tree 

O The result of a binary multiplication is a 
bifurcation: the result is either 1 or 0. 
big close up /,big 'kbus ,Ap/ noun full 
form of BCU 

bilinear filtering /bai,lmia 'filtanrj/ 
noun a method of removing unwanted image 
defects, particularly on a texture-mapped ob- 
ject, by looking at the four adjacent pixels 
that surround each pixel to check that there is 
no sudden change in colour 
billion /'biljan/ noun a number equal to one 
thousand million. Abbr bn 
BIM /,bi: ai 'em/ noun a symbol indicating 
the start of a data stream stored on a disk 
drive. Full form beginning of information 
mark 

bin /bin/ noun a tray used to hold a supply 
of paper ready to be fed into a printer 
binary /'bamari/ adjective referring to the 
number notation system which uses only the 
digits and 1 ■ noun same as binary digit 
binary bit /'bamari bit/ noun same as bi- 
nary digit 

binary Chop /'bamari t Jt>p/ noun same as 
binary search 

binary coded decimal /.bamari 
.kaodid 'desim(a)l/ noun full form of BCD 
binary digit /bamari 'didgit/ noun small- 
est single unit in binary notation, either a or 
a 1. Also called binary, binary bit, binary 
number, bit 

binary field /'bamari fiild/ noun a field in 
a database record that contains binary digits, 
often one capable of holding any informa- 
tion, including data, text, graphics images, 
voice and video 

binary large object /,bamari laid3 
'Dbdgekt/ noun a field in a database record 
that can contain a large quantity of binary da- 
ta, normally a bitmap image. Full form of 
blob 

binary look-up /,bamari 'lok Ap/ noun 
same as binary search 
binary number /,bamari 'nAmba/ noun 
same as binary digit 

binary search /'bamari s3itJV noun a 
search method for use on ordered lists of da- 
ta. Also called binary chop, binary look- 
up (note: The search key is compared with 
the data in the middle of the list and one half 
is discarded. This is repeated with the re- 
maining half until only the required data 
item is left.) 

binary system /'bamari .sistam/ noun 
the use of binary digits, or the data system 
that operates with binary digits 
binary tree /'bamari trii/ noun a data sys- 
tem where each item of data or node has only 
two branches. Also called btree 



binaural 



28 



binaural /bam'oiral/ adjective method of 
recording two audio channels 
binaural sound /bam'oirl saund/ noun a 
method of recording sound so that it gives the 
impression of stereophony when played 
back, t) Dolby Digital™ 
bind /bamd/ verb to glue or attach sheets of 
paper along their spine to form a book 
binder /'bamda/ noun 1. a program that 
converts object code into a form that can be 
executed 2. a company which specialises in 
binding books 3. a substance used to join the 
metallic oxide particles together and to the 
base film (film) 

Bindery /'bamdari/ noun a special data- 
base used in a Novell NetWare network oper- 
ating system to store user account, access and 
security details 

binding /'bamdirj/ noun 1. the action of 
putting a cover on a book 2. the cover of a 
book 

binding Offset /.bamdirj 'Dfset/ noun an 
extra wide margin on the inside of a printed 
page to prevent text being hidden during 
binding (note: It is the left margin on a right 
hand page, the right margin on a left hand 
page.) 

BIOS /'bams/ noun a set of system routines 
that interface between high-level program in- 
structions and the system peripherals to con- 
trol the input and output to various standard 
devices. Full form basic input/output op- 
erating system (note: This often includes 
controlling the screen, keyboard, and disk 
drives.) 

biosensor /'baiao.senss/ noun a device 
that allows electrical impulses from an or- 
ganism to be recorded O The nerve activity 
can be measured by attaching a biosensor to 
your arm. 

bipack /'baipaek/ noun (film) 1. two sec- 
tions of film that are run in contact through a 
motion picture camera in order to be printed 
as one 2. the camera which is used for this 
method of filming 

biphase /'baifeiz/ noun an electronic sig- 
nal that gives information about film speed 
and direction (film) 

bipolar /bai'paola/ adjective with two lev- 
els 

BIPS abbr bank Internet payment system 
birdseye /'b3idzei/ noun a reflector type 
of spotlight (film) 

bis adjective used to describe an extension 
of the V-standards that cover the features of 
modems providing error detection and cor- 
rection, tf CCITT, V series 
B-ISDN /,bii ,ai es dii 'en/ abbr broadband 
ISDN 



bistable /bai'steib(3)l/ adjective referring 
to a device or circuit that has two possible 
states, on and off 

bit /bit/ noun 1 . same as binary digit 2. the 
smallest unit of data that a system can handle 
bit blit /'bit blit/ noun same as blit 
bit block transfer /,bit blok 'traensf3i/ 
noun full form of blit 
BITC a£>£>r burned-in time code 
bit image /'bit ,imid3/ noun a collection 
of bits that represent the pixels that make up 
an image on screen or on a printer 
bitmap /'bitmaep/ noun 1 . an image whose 
individual pixels can be controlled by chang- 
ing the value of its stored bit O In Windows, 
every icon picture is stored as a small bitmap 
image, (note: One is on, zero is off. In col- 
our displays, more than one bit is used to 
provide control for the three colours red, 
green and blue.) 2. a binary representation in 
which each bit or set of bits corresponds to 
some object such as an image or font or to 
some condition 3. a file format for storing 
images in which data in the file represents the 
value of each pixel. Compare vector. Abbr 
bitmp 
'...microcomputers invariably use raster-scan 
cathode ray tube displays, and frequently use a 
bit-map to store graphic images' [Soft] 

bit-map /'bit maep/, bitmap /'bitmaep/ 
verb to define events or data using an array of 
single bits, which can be, e.g., an image or 
graphics or a table of devices in us (note: 
bitmapping - bitmapped) 
'...the expansion cards fit into the PC's expan- 
sion slot and convert bit-mapped screen images 
to video signals' [Publish] 

bit-mapped font /,bit maept 'font/ noun 
a font whose characters are made up of pat- 
terns of pixels 

bit-mapped graphics /,bit maept 
'graef iks/ plural noun images whose individ- 
ual pixels can be controlled by changing the 
value of stored bits (note: One is on, zero is 
off. In colour displays, more than one bit is 
used to provide control for the three colours 
red, green and blue.) 

bit-mapped register /,bit maept 
'red3ista/ noun a memory location that 
holds configuration information in a proces- 
sor in which each separate bit within the lo- 
cation has a different use or meaning (note: 
For example a register that refers to a 
mouse might be one byte (eight bits) wide 
and each bit could indicate whether a 
mouse button is up or down.) 
bitmp /'bitmaep/ abbr bit-map 
BitNet /'bitnet/ noun a network used to 
connect mostly academic sites and comput- 
ers and allows transfer of electronic mail and 



29 



blister pack 



listserver application (note: BitNet is similar 
to the Internet and is connected to allow the 
transfer of electronic mail to and from aca- 
demic users to other users on the Internet.) 
bit rate /'bit reit/ noun a measure of the 
number of bits transmitted per second 
bits per inch /.bits p3: 'mtJV noun full 
form of BPI 

bits per pixel /,bits p3i 'piks(s)I/ noun 
full form of BPP 

bits per second /.bits p3i 'seksnd/ noun 
a measure of the number of binary digits 
transmitted every second. Abbr bps 
bit Stream /'bit striim/ noun a binary data 
sequence that does not consist of separate, 
distinct character codes or groups 
biz /biz/ noun a type of newsgroup that con- 
tains business discussions and opportunities 
(note: For example 'biz. opportunities' con- 
tains messages from users that are offering 
ways of making money. Only the biz series 
of newsgroups are supposed to discuss 
commercial aspects: the rest of the news- 
groups are for technical or academic dis- 
cussion.) 

black and white /.blaek an 'wait/ noun 1 . 
the use of shades of grey to represent colours 
on a monitor or display 2. an image in which 
each pixel is either black or white with no 
shades of grey 

black level /'blaek ,lev(a)V noun a level of 
a video signal that represents absolutely no 
light: total blackness 

black list /'blaek list/ noun a list of goods 
or people or companies which have been 
blacked 

blacklist /'blaekhst/ verb to put goods or 
people or a company on a black list O His 
firm was blacklisted by the government. 
blackout /'blaekaut/, black-out /'blaek 
aot/ noun a complete loss of electrical pow- 
er. Compare brown-out 
black writer /'blaek .raita/ noun a printer 
in which toner sticks to the points hit by the 
laser beam when the image drum is scanned 
O A black writer produces sharp edges and 
graphics, but large areas of black are muddy. 
blank /blaerjk/ adjective empty or with 
nothing written on it ■ noun a space on a 
form which has to be completed O Fill in the 
blanks and insert the form into the OCR. 
blanking 1 /'blaerjkirj/ noun the process of 
preventing a television signal from reaching 
the scanning beam on its return trace 
blanking^ /'blaerjkin/ noun 1. a state in 
which a screen displays nothing, in between 
two images or during the picture beam fly- 
back 2. the short period of time when the pic- 
ture beam in a television picture either moves 
from right to left after each line (horizontal 



blanking) or from bottom to top after each 
field (vertical blanking) (film) 
blanking interval /'blaenkin .mtsval/ 
noun the period during which a screen dis- 
plays nothing, in between two images or dur- 
ing the picture beam flyback ■ the time taken 
for the scanning beam in a TV to return from 
the end of a picture at the bottom right of the 
screen to top left 

blanking pulse /'blaerjkin paIs/ noun the 
electrical signal used to start the blanking of 
a TV signal 

blast-through alphanumerics /.blaist 
9rui .aelfanjui'menks/ plural noun charac- 
ters that can be displayed on a videotext ter- 
minal when it is in graphics mode 
bleed /bliid/ noun 1 . a line of printing that 
runs off the edge of the paper 2. a badly ad- 
justed colour monitor in which colours of ad- 
joining pixels blend 

bleep /bli:p/ noun an audible warning noise 
O The printer will make a bleep when it runs 
out of paper. ■ verb to make a bleep. (> beep 
bleeper /'blkpa/ noun a device which 
bleeps (often used to mean radio pager) O 
The doctor's bleeper began to ring, and he 
went to the telephone. O He is in the factory 
somewhere - we'll try to find him on his 
bleeper. 

blessed folder /.blesid 'f sukte/ noun the 
Apple Mac System Folder that contains files 
loaded automatically when the Mac is 
switched on 

blimp /blimp/ noun a soundproofed film 
camera case which prevents camera noise be- 
ing detected by the microphone (film) 
blind carbon copy /.blamd .kaiban 
'kDpi/ noun full form of bcc 
blind certificate /.blamd sa'tifikat/ 
noun a means of tracking visitors to websites 
that identifies the user's system but not his or 
her name 

blind copy receipt /.blamd .ktrpin'siit/ 
noun same as bcc 

blind dialling /.blamd 'daiahrj/ noun the 
ability of a modem to dial out even if the line 
appears dead, used on certain private lines 
blink /blink/ noun the way a cursor flashes 
on and off to show you where you are posi- 
tioned on the screen or in a document 
blinking /'blirjkin/ noun a flashing effect 
caused by varying the intensity of a displayed 
character 

blip /blip/ noun a small mark on a tape or 
film counted to determine the position 
blister pack /'blista paek/ noun a type of 
packing where the item for sale is covered 
with a thin plastic sheet sealed to a card back- 
ing 



blit 



30 



blit /blit/ verb (in computer graphics) the 
act of moving a block of bits from one mem- 
ory location to another. Full form bit block 
transfer. Also called bit blit 
blitter /'bhta/ noun an electronic compo- 
nent designed to process or move a bit- 
mapped image from one area of memory to 
another O The new blitter chip speeds up the 
graphics display. 

blob /blob/ noun a field in a database record 
that can contain a large quantity of binary da- 
ta, usually a bitmap image. Full form binary 
large object 

block /blt>k/ noun 1. a series of items 
grouped together 2. a number of stored 
records treated as a single unit 3. a wide 
printed bar 4. a piece of metal from which a 
halftone or line drawing is printed ■ verb to 
stop something taking place O The system 
manager blocked his request for more CPU 
time. 

block capitals /,bk>k 'kaepit(a)lz/ plural 
noun capital letters, e.g. A,B,C O Write your 
name and address in block letters. Also 
called block letters 

block character check /,blDk 'kaenkta 
t Jek/ noun full form of BCC 1 
blocking factor /'bk>kirj .faskta/ noun 
the number of records in a block 
block letters /,blDk 'letaz/ plural noun 
same as block capitals 
blogging /'blDgirj/ noun the act of creating 
or maintaining a weblog 
'Over the past year, blogging has grown, in both 
importance and size. The original hardcore blog- 
ging community is still there, and still vociferous. 
But every month, thousands of others are trying 
their hand at this unique publishing form.' 
[The Guardian] 

blond /blond/ noun a film business name 
for a 20000 watt variable-beam floodlight 
{film) 

blooding /'blodirj/ noun {film) 1 . the appli- 
cation of a particular opaque ink, paint or 
tape 2. the process of using a triangular 
opaque patch when dealing with a photo- 
graphic sound-track to cover up noise caused 
by a join 

bloom /blu:m/ noun a bright spot on the 
screen of a faulty television 
blooming /'bluimin/ noun distortion of a 
picture on television due to a too high bright- 
ness control setting 

bloop /blu:p/ verb to pass a magnet over a 
tape to erase signals which are not needed 
blow /btau/ verb to program a PROM de- 
vice with data. Also called burn (note: blew 
- blown) 



blow-up /'blao Ap/ noun the enlargement 
of a picture from a 16mm to a 35mm film 
{film) 

blue packing shot /,blu: 'paekirj Jot/ 
noun a foreground action shot in front of a 
blue background in order to enable the direc- 
tor to mix the scene with another using a trav- 
elling matte or chroma key processes; the fi- 
nal picture appears with the blue background 
replaced (film) 

Bluetooth /'bluituiO/ a trade name for a 
short-range radio communications system 
that is designed to provide a simple way for 
computer, Internet and input devices to com- 
municate (note: For example a palm-top 
computer could transfer information to a 
mobile phone using a Bluetooth link. The 
technology was developed by a group of 
computer and telecommunications compa- 
nies that included Ericsson, IBM, Intel, No- 
kia and Toshiba.) 

blur /bl3i/ noun an image in which the edg- 
es or colours are not clear ■ verb to make the 
edges or colours of an image fuzzy O The im- 
age becomes blurred when you turn the focus 
knob, (note: blurring - blurred) 
BMP /,bii em "pi:/ noun a three-letter exten- 
sion to a filename that indicates that the file 
contains a bitmapped graphics image O This 
paint package lets you import BMP files. t> 
GIF, JPEG, TIFF 
bn /'biljan/ abbr billion 
BNC connector /,bi: en 'si: ka.nekta/ 
noun a cylindrical metal connector with a 
copper core that is at the end of coaxial cable 
and is used to connect cables together (note: 
It attaches by pushing and twisting the outer 
cylinder onto two locking pins.) 
BNC T-piece connector /,bi: en ,si: ti: 
piis k3,nekt3/ noun a T-shaped metal con- 
nector used to connect an adapter card to the 
ends of two sections of RG-58 'thin' coaxial 
cable, used in many Ethernet network instal- 
lations 

board /bo:d/ noun a flat insulation material 
on which electronic components are mounted 
and connected 

body /'bDdi/ noun 1. the main section of 
text in a document 2. the main part of a pro- 
gram 

bof, BOF abbr beginning of file 
boilerplate /'boilapleit/ noun a final doc- 
ument that has been put together using stand- 
ard sections of text held in a word-processor 
boilerplating /'boibpleitin/ noun the 
putting together of a final document out of 
various standard sections of text 
bold face /'bauld feis/ noun a thicker and 
darker form of a typeface 



31 



bottom up method 



bomb /bDm/ noun a routine in a program 
designed to crash the system or destroy data 
at a particular time ■ verb (of software) to 
fail (informal) O The program bombed, and 
we lost all the data. 

bond paper /'bond ,peipa/ noun a heavy 
grade writing paper 

book /buk/ noun 1 . a multimedia title. i> eb- 
ook (note: The name comes from the fact 
that most multimedia titles are arranged as 
a series of different pages, which together 
form a book.) 2. a set of sheets of paper at- 
tached together O They can print books up to 
96 pages. O The book is available in paper- 
back and hard cover. 

booklet /'boklat/ noun a small book with a 
paper cover 

bookmark /'bukmaik/ noun a code insert- 
ed at a particular point in a document that al- 
lows the user to move straight to that point at 
a later date 

book palette /'buk ,paebt/ noun a set of 
colours that is used in a particular multimedia 
application (note: Two different applications 
could use different palettes, and each must 
load its own palette otherwise the colours 
will appear corrupted.) 
Boolean algebra /.bmlian 'aeld3ibr3/ 
noun a set of rules that define, simplify and 
manipulate logical functions, based on state- 
ments which are true or false. i> AND, NOT 
function, OR. Also called Boolean logic 
Boolean logic /,buili3n 'lt>d3ik/ noun 
same as Boolean algebra 
boom /bu:m/ noun a long metal arm that al- 
lows the operator to position a microphone 
close to the sound source; also used to posi- 
tion a video camera 

boost /buist/ verb to make something in- 
crease O The extra hard disk will boost our 
storage capacity by 25MB. 
boot /buit/ verb to execute a set of instruc- 
tions automatically in order to reach a re- 
quired state 

boot block /'buit blok/ noun the first 
track, track 0, on a boot disk of an IBM-com- 
patible floppy disk. Also called boot record 
boot disk /'buit disk/ noun a special disk 
that contains a bootstrap program and the op- 
erating system software O After you switch 
on the computer, insert the boot disk. 
booting /'buitirj/ noun same as boot up 
bootleg /'buit.leg/ noun an illegal copy of 
recorded material 

BOOTP /,bii 3u au til "pi:/ noun an Inter- 
net protocol used by a diskless workstation to 
find out its IP address, then load its operating 
system from a central server. Full form boot- 
strap protocol. t> IP (note: This protocol al- 
lows a workstation to start up and load all its 



software over the network: Ordinarily, a 
workstation would load its operating system 
and software from an internal floppy or hard 
disk drive.) 

boot partition /,bu:t pa:'tij(3)n/ noun a 
partition on a hard disk that contains the 
bootstrap and operating system 
boot record /'buit .rekoid/ noun same as 
boot block 

bootstrap, bootstrap loader noun a set 
of instructions that are executed by the com- 
puter before a program is loaded, usually to 
load the operating system once the computer 
is switched on. Compare loader 
bootstrap protocol /,buitstraep 
'preotakDl/ noun full form of BOOTP 
boot up /,buit 'Ap/ noun automatic execu- 
tion of a set of instructions usually held in 
ROM when a computer is switched on. Also 
called booting 

border /'baids/ noun 1. an area around 
printed or displayed text 2. a thin boundary 
line around a button or field or a graphic im- 
age 

border Style /'boida ,stail/ noun an at- 
tribute that determines the type of border 
around a button or field, e.g. a single line, a 
shadow or a double line 
Borland™ a software company which has 
developed a wide range of programming lan- 
guages, database management systems and 
spreadsheet applications, including Turbo 
C++, Paradox, and QuatroPro 
borrow /'bDrao/ noun an operation in cer- 
tain arithmetic processes such as subtraction 
from a smaller number 
bot /bDt/ noun a robot utility program that 
helps a user or another application carry out 
a particular task - e.g. a search bot will help 
a user search the Internet by submitting the 
query to several engines at once; a link bot 
will check that all the hyperlinks on a website 
are correct 

bottom /'bDtam/ noun the lowest part or 
point of something □ bottom price lowest 
price □ bottom line last line on a balance 
sheet indicating profit or loss □ the boss is 
interested only in the bottom line he is only 
interested in the final profit □ bottom space 
blank lines at the bottom of a page of printed 
text 

bottom space /.butam 'speis/ noun 
blank lines at the bottom of a page of printed 
text 

bottom up method /.bDtam ap 
'me93d/, bottom up programming 
/'praograemirj/ noun a method in which low- 
level instructions are combined to form a 
high-level instruction, which can then be fur- 
ther combined 



bounce 



32 



bounce /baons/ noun 1. a multiple key 
contact caused by a faulty switch 2. an elec- 
tronic mail message that could not be correct- 
ly delivered and is returned to the sender 3. 
vertical film image distortion when being 
projected 

boundary /'baond(3)ri/ noun a line or 
marker that indicates the limits of something 
bounding box /'baondin bDks/ noun a 
rectangle that determines the shape and posi- 
tion of an image that has been placed in a 
document or on screen 
box /bDks/ noun 1 . a cardboard or wood or 
plastic container 2. a square of ruled lines 
round a text or illustration O The comments 
and quotations are printed in boxes. 
boxed /bDkst/ adjective put in a box or sold 
in a box 

box in /,bDks 'in/ verb to surround a section 
of text with ruled lines 
Boyce-Codd normal form /,bois kt>d 
'noimal ,foim/ noun » normal form. Abbr 
BCNF 

bozo bit /'baozau bit/ noun (in an Apple 
Macintosh system) an attribute bit that pre- 
vents a file being copied or moved 
BPI, bpi noun the number of bits that can be 
recorded per inch of recording medium. Full 
form bits per inch 

BPP /,bii pii "pi:/ noun the number of bits 
assigned to store the colour of each pixel. 
One bit provides black or white, four bits 
give 16 colour combinations, eight bits give 
256 colour combinations. Full form bits per 
pixel 

bps /,bii pii 'es/ abbr bits per second O 
Their transmission rate is 60,000 bits per 
second (bps) through a parallel connection. 
Bps /,bii pii 'es/ abbr bytes per second 
bps rate /,bii pii 'es reit/ noun the rate at 
which information is sent, equal to the 
number of bits transmitted or received per 
second 

BRA /,bii ai 'til noun a basic ISDN service 
that provides two data channels capable of 
carrying data at a rate of 64Kbps together 
with a signalling channel used to carry con- 
trol signals at 16Kbps. Full form basic rate 
access 

braces /'breisiz/ plural noun curly bracket 
characters ( { } ) used in some programming 
languages to enclose a routine 
bracket /'braekit/ noun a printing sign to 
show that an instruction or operation is to be 
processed separately 

bracketed /'braekitid/ adjective (charac- 
ters) joined together with small lines between 
serif and main part 



bracketing /'braekitirj/ noun the process 
of photographing the same scene with differ- 
ent exposures to make sure there is one good 
picture 

Braille /breil/ noun a system of writing us- 
ing raised dots on the paper to indicate let- 
ters, which allows a blind person to read by 
passing his fingers over the page □ Braille 
marks raised patterns on equipment or in 
books to permit identification by touch 
branch /braint JV noun 1 . a possible path or 
jump from one instruction to another 2. a line 
linking one or more devices to the main net- 
work O The faulty station is on this branch. 
■ verb to jump from one section of a pro- 
gram to another, often using a test or decision 
with two or more possible results that lead to 
two different points in the program 
comment: In BASIC, the instruction GOTO 
makes the system jump to the line indicat- 
ed; this is an unconditional branch. The in- 
struction IF. ..THEN is a conditional 
branch, because the jump will only take 
place if the condition is met. 

branching /'braintjin/ noun a decision 
with two or more possible results that lead to 
two different points in the program 
brand /braend/ noun a make of product, 
which can be recognised by a name or by a 
design O the number one brand of software 
brand new /.braend 'njui/ adjective quite 
new or very new 

breach /briit J/ noun a failure to carry out 
the terms of an agreement 
breach of warranty /.briitf sv worsnti/ 
noun the act of failing to do something which 
is a part of a contract 

breadboard /'bredboid/ noun a device 
that allows prototype electronic circuits to be 
constructed easily without permanent con- 
nections or soldering 

break /breik/ noun an action performed, or 
a key pressed, to stop the execution of a pro- 
gram ■ verb to decipher a difficult code O He 
finally broke the cipher system. 
break down /,breik 'daun/ verb to stop 
working because of mechanical failure O The 
modem has broken down. 
breakdown /'breik,daun/ noun the proc- 
ess of stopping work because of mechanical 
failure O We cannot communicate with our 
New York office because of the breakdown of 
the telex lines. 

breakout box /'breikaot bDks/ noun a 
device that displays the status of lines within 
an interface, cable or connector O The serial 
interface doesn't seem to be working - use 
the breakout box to see which signals are 
present. 



33 



broadcast message 



breakpoint /'breikpomt/ noun a symbol 
inserted into a program which stops its exe- 
cution at that point to allow registers, varia- 
bles and memory locations to be examined 
(note: Breakpoints are often used when de- 
bugging a program.) 

breathing /'briidirj/ noun a fault in which 
the image on screen continually comes in and 
out of focus; caused by buckling of the film 
during exposure or during high intensity pro- 
jection (film) 

breezeway /'briizwei/ noun a signal used 
to separate the colour information from the 
horizontal synchronising pulse in a television 
signal 

bricks-and-mortar /,bnks an 'mo:ta/ 
adjective referring to businesses that operate 
using buildings such as shops and warehous- 
es, as opposed to operating only or mainly 
via the Internet. Compare clicks-and-mor- 
tar 

bridge /brid3/ verb to use bridgeware to 
help transfer programs and data files to an- 
other system (note: A bridging product is 
available for companies with both genera- 
tions of machines.) ■ noun 1. a device that 
connects two networks together and allow in- 
formation to flow between them. i> router, 
brouter (note: Bridges function at the data 
link layer of the OSI network model.) 2. a 
process of ensuring that pieces of computer 
equipment match, so that power losses be- 
tween them are kept to a minimum 3. hard- 
ware or software that allows parts of an old 
system to be used on a new system O A 
bridging product is available for companies 
with both generations of machines. 
'Lotus Development and IMRS are jointly devel- 
oping a bridge linking their respective spread- 
sheet and client server reporting tools. It will al- 
low users of IMRS' Hyperion reporting tool to 
manipulate live data from Lotus Improv.' [Com- 
puting] 

bridgeware /'brid3wea/ noun hardware 
or software used to make the transfer from 
one computer system to another easier, by 
changing e.g. file format and translation 
Briefcase utility /'briifkeis ju:,tihti/ 
noun (in Windows) a special utility that al- 
lows you to keep files stored on a laptop and 
a desktop PC up to date 
brightness /'braitnas/ noun the intensity 
of the light emitted by an image on a screen 
O A control knob allows you to adjust bright- 
ness and contrast. 

brightness range /'brattnas remd3/ 
noun the variation in the intensity of the light 
emitted by something 

brightness setting /'braitnas ,setin/ 
noun TV brightness control position 



brilliance /'brtljons/ noun the luminance 
of an object as seen in a picture 

brilliant /'brtljant/ adjective (of light or 
colour) very bright and shining 

bring up /,brirj 'Ap/ verb to start a compu- 
ter system 

British Approvals Board for Tele- 
communications /,brttij 3,pruivalz 
boid foi .telikamkjumi'keiJXajnz/ noun 
full form of BABT 

British Standards Institute /.bnii.f 

'stasndadz ,tnstitju:t/ noun full form of 
BSI (UK) 

broad /broid/ noun a wide-angled flood- 
light (film) 

broadband /'broidbaend/ noun (in local 
area networks or communications) a trans- 
mission method that combines several chan- 
nels of data onto a carrier signal and can car- 
ry the data over long distances. Compare 
baseband. Also called wideband 
comment: The three most popular broad- 
band communication devices are ISDN, 
cable modems and ADSL, which is part of 
the wider DSL standard. Each country has 
different prevalent standards and pricing 
models. For example, ISDN provides a dig- 
ital link that can transfer data at the rate of 
64Kbps; it dials an access number and pro- 
vides a link when required. ADSL, in con- 
trast, provides a direct connection that ap- 
pears to be 'always on' using a network 
adapter to link the computer to the Internet 
provider. ADSL normally supports a trans- 
fer speed of up to 2Mbps. 

broadband communication device 

/,broidbaend ka^juini'ketJXajn di,vais/ 
noun a communication channel and device 
that allow a computer to connect to the Inter- 
net at a very high speed, often several thou- 
sand times faster than a dial-up modem con- 
nected to a telephone line 

broadband ISDN /,bro:dbaend ,ai es dii 
'en/ noun a high-speed data transfer service 
that allows data and voice to be transmitted 
over a wide area network. Abbr B-ISDN 

broadcast /'broidkaist/ noun 1. (in radio 
communications) a data transmission to 
many receivers 2. (in a network) a message 
or data sent to a group of users ■ verb to dis- 
tribute information over a wide area or to a 
large audience O He broadcast the latest 
news over the WAN. (note: broadcasts - 
broadcasting - broadcast) 

broadcast message /,bro:dkaist 
'mestd3/ noun a message sent to everyone 
on a network O Five minutes before we shut 
down the LAN, we send a broadcast message 
to all users. 



broadcast network 



34 



broadcast network /,broidkaist 
'netw3:k/ noun a network for sending data 
to a number of receivers 
broadcast quality /,broidkaist 
'kwDhti/ noun a quality of video image or 
signal that is the same as that used by profes- 
sional television stations O We can use your 
multimedia presentation as the advert on TV 
if it's of broadcast quality. 
broadsheet /'broidjiit/ noun an uncut 
sheet of paper or paper which has printing on 
one side only 

broadside /'broidsaid/ noun US a public- 
ity leaflet 

brochure /'braofs/ noun a publicity book- 
let O We sent off for a brochure about holi- 
days in Greece or about maintenance servic- 
es. 

brochure Site /'brso Ja salt/ noun a sim- 
ple, often one-page, website that advertises a 
company's products and gives its contact de- 
tails 

bromide /'braomaid/, bromide print 
/'braomaid print/ noun 1 . a positive photo- 
graphic print from a negative or the finished 
product from a phototypesetting machine O 
In 24 hours we had bromides ready to film. 2. 
a lithographic plate used for proofing 
brouter /'bruita/ noun a device that com- 
bines the functions of a router and bridge to 
connect networks together O The brouter 
provides dynamic routing and can bridge two 
local area networks. f> bridge, router 
brown-OUt /'braon aut/ noun a power fail- 
ure caused by a low voltage level rather than 
no voltage level 

browse /braoz/ verb 1 . to view data in a da- 
tabase or online system 2. to search through 
and access database material without permis- 
sion 

browse mode /'brauz maud/ noun a 
mode of operation in multimedia software 
that allows a user to move between pages in 
no fixed order 

browser /'braoza/ noun a software pro- 
gram that is used to navigate through web- 
pages stored on the Internet. A browser pro- 
gram asks the Internet server to send it a page 
of information, stores, decodes and displays 
the page, and will jump to other pages if you 
click on hyperlinks. f> HTML, Netscape, IE 
comment: A browser program asks the In- 
ternet server (called the HTTP server) to 
send it a page of information; this page is 
stored in the HTML layout language that is 
decoded by the browser and displayed on 
screen. The browser displays any hotspots 
and will jump to another page if the user 
clicks on a hyperlink. 



brush /brAjV noun a tool in paint package 
software that draws pixels on screen O The 
paint package lets you vary the width of the 
brush (in pixels) and the colour it produces. 
brush Style /'brAj stail/ noun the width 
and shape of the brush tool in a paint package 
O To fill in a big area, I select a wide, square 
brush style. 

brute /bruit/ noun a large 10,000 watt spot- 
light, generally an arc lamp (film) 
brute force method /,bruit fo:s 
'meOad/ noun a problem-solving method 
which depends on computer power rather 
than elegant programming techniques 
BS abbr backspace 

BSI /,bii es 'ai/ noun an organisation that 
monitors design and safety standards in the 
UK. Full form British Standards Institute 
BTL filter /,bii tii 'el ,filta/ noun same as 
behind-the-lens filter (film) 
btree /'bii trii/ noun same as binary tree 
bubble jet printer /,bAb(s)l d3et 
'prmta/ noun » ink-jet printer 
bubble memory /,bAb(a)l 'mem(3)ri/ 
noun a method of storing binary data using 
the magnetic properties of certain materials, 
allowing very large amounts of data to be 
stored in primary memory 
bubble pack /'bAb(a)l paek/ noun same as 
blister pack 

bubble sort /'bAb(3)l sort/ noun a sorting 
method which repeatedly exchanges various 
pairs of data items until they are in order 
bucket /'bAkit/ noun a storage area con- 
taining data for an application 
buckle switch /'bAk(a)l switJV noun an 
automatic circuit breaker in a film camera 
which is activated by a film jam and shuts off 
the motor to prevent the film tearing or buck- 
ling (film) 

buckling /'bAkhrj/ noun the distortion and 
bending of a film due to heat or dryness 
buffer /'bAfa/ noun 1 . a circuit that isolates 
and protects a system from damaging inputs 
from driven circuits or peripherals. f> driver 
2. a temporary storage area for data waiting 
to be processed ■ verb to use a temporary 
storage area to hold data until the processor 
or device is ready to deal with it 
comment: Buffers allow two parts of a com- 
puter system to work at different speeds, 
e.g. a high-speed central processing unit 
and a slower line printer. 
bug /bAg/ noun an error in a computer pro- 
gram which makes it run incorrectly 
(informal) 

buggy /'b\g'\J noun a small computer-con- 
trolled vehicle (note: The plural is bug- 
gies.) 



35 



business-to-consumer 



build /bild/ noun a particular version of a 
program O This is the latest build of the new 
software. 

building block /'bildirj b\okl noun a self- 
contained unit that can be joined to others to 
form a system 

buildup /'bildAp/ noun a blank tape insert- 
ed into a videotape or film sequence in order 
to leave spaces for scenes that have not yet 
been filmed (film) 

built-in /, bilt 'in/ adjective already includ- 
ed in a system O The built-in adapter card 
makes it fully IBM compatible. Opposite 
add-on 

built into /,bilt 'mta/ adjective (feature) 
that is already a physical part of a system O 
There are communications ports built into all 
modems. 

bulk /bAlk/ noun a large quantity of some- 
thing 

bulk eraser /,bAlk i'reiza/ noun the re- 
moval of recorded material on a magnetic 
tape or film by the repositioning of all iron di- 
oxide molecules (film) 

bulk update terminal /,b,\lk 'Apdeit 
l t3imm(3)l/ noun a device used by an infor- 
mation provider to prepare videotext pages 
off-line, then transmit them rapidly to the 
main computer 

bullet /'bulit/ noun a symbol, often a filled 
circle • or square ■, placed in front of a line 
of text and used to draw attention to a partic- 
ular line in a list 
'For a bullet chart use four to six bullet points and 
no more than six to eight words each' [Comput- 
ing] 

bu Meted /'bohtid/ adjective marked with a 

bullet in front of the line of text O a bulleted 

list 

bulletin board system /,boltm bo:d 

'sistam/ noun full form of BBS 
'The Council of European Professional Informat- 
ics Societies has instituted an experimental Bul- 
letin Board System based at the University of 
Wageningen.' [Computing] 

bullets /'buhts/ noun 1. a solid area of 
typeset tone indicating the required image in- 
tensity 2. a method of indicating an important 
section of text by the use of large dots on the 
page 

bundle /'bAnd(a)l/ noun 1 . a number of op- 
tic fibres gathered together 2. a package con- 
taining a computer together with software or 
accessories offered at a special price O The 
bundle now includes a PC with CD-rewriter, 
digital camera and scanner for just £599. ■ 
verb to market at a special price a package 
that contains a computer together with a 
range of software or accessories 



bundled software /,bAnd(a)ld 

'sDftwea/ noun software included in the 
price of a computer system 
bureau /'bjoarao/ noun 1. an office that 
specialises in keyboarding data or processing 
batches of data for other small companies O 
The company offers a number of bureau serv- 
ices, such as printing and data collection. 2. 
a company that specialises in typesetting 
from disks or outputting DTP or graphics 
files to bromide or film 
TMC has a colour output bureau that puts images 
onto the uncommon CD-ROM XA format.' 
[Computing] 

burn /b3in/ verb same as blow 
burned-in time code /,b3:nd m taim 
,kaod/ noun time code information included 
in the video signal as an image that is visible 
on any TV or monitor. Abbr BITC 
burner /'b3ina/ noun a device which burns 
in programs onto PROM chips or CD 
burn in /,b3in 'in/ verb 1. to mark a televi- 
sion or monitor screen after displaying a 
high-brightness image for too long 2. to write 
data into a PROM chip 3. to increase the ex- 
posure for a part of a photographic image 
burn-in /'b3in in/ noun 1. a heat test for 
electronic components 2. the addition of an 
image or title over the projected action (film) 
burn out /,b3in 'aut/ noun excess heat or 
incorrect use that causes an electronic circuit 
or device to fail 

burst /b3ist/ noun a short isolated sequence 
of transmitted signals 

burster /'b3ista/ noun a machine used to 
separate the sheets of continuous fanfold pa- 
per 

bus /bAs/ noun 1. a communication link 
consisting of a set of leads or wires which 
connects different parts of a computer hard- 
ware system, and over which data is transmit- 
ted and received by various circuits in the 
system. Also called highway 2. a central 
source of information that supplies several 
devices 

business computer /'bizms kam 
,pju:ta/ noun a powerful small computer 
which is programmed for special business 
tasks 

business package /'bizms ,paekid3/ 
noun same as business system 
business system /'bizms .sistam/ noun 
a set of programs adapted for business use, 
comprising e.g. payroll, invoicing and cus- 
tomers file 

business-to-business /.biznis ts 
'bizms/ adjective full form of B2B 
business-to-consumer /bizms ta kan 
'sjuima/ adjective full form of B2C 



bus network 



36 



bus network /'bAS ,netw3:k/ noun a net- 
work of computers where the machines are 
connected to a central bus unit which trans- 
mits the messages it receives 
busy /'bizi/ adjective 1. occupied in doing 
something or in working O When the busy 
line goes low, the printer will accept more 
data. 2. (of a signal) indicating that a device 
is not ready to receive data 3. distracting or 
detailed (background to a film shot) 
button /'bAt(3)n/ noun 1. a switch on a 
mouse or joystick that carries out an action O 
Use the mouse to move the cursor to the icon 
and start the application by pressing the 
mouse button. 2. a square shape displayed 
that will carry out a particular action if select- 
ed with a pointer or keyboard O There are 
two buttons at the bottom of the status win- 
dow, select the left button to cancel the oper- 
ation or the right to continue. 
button bar /'bAt(a)n bai/ noun a line of 
small buttons along the top of the screen, just 
below the menu bar, in many applications 
such as Microsoft Word, Works and Excel. 
Each button on the bar contains an icon that 
helps describe its function and is equipped 
with bubble-help. 

butt splice /'bAt splais/ noun a join in 
film or tape which has been taped together 



with the edges touching in order to prevent 
overlapping (film) 

buzz /bAz/ noun a sound like a loud hum ■ 
verb to make a loud hum 
buzzer /'bAZa/ noun an electrical device 
which makes a loud hum 
buzz track /'bAz trask/ noun the sound 
track of a test film which is used to position 
correctly the visual film in an optical sound 
reproduction system (film) 
buzzword /'bAZW3id/ noun a word which 
is popular among a certain group of people 
(informal) 

BVA abbr British Videogram Association 
(film) 

B/W, B and W a£>£>rblack-and-white 
bypass /'bai,pais/ noun an alternative 
route around a component or device, usually 
a faulty one, so that it is not used O There is 
an automatic bypass around any faulty 
equipment. 

byte /bait/ noun a group of usually eight 
bits or binary digits that a computer operates 
on as a single unit 

bytes per second /,baits p3i sekand/ 
noun the number of bytes that can be trans- 
mitted per second. Abbr Bps 



C 1 symbol the hexadecimal number equiva- 
lent to decimal 1 2 

C 2 noun a high level programming language 
developed mainly for writing structured sys- 
tems programs (note: The C language was 
originally developed for and with the UNIX 
operating system.) 

C++ /,si: pL\s 'plAs/ noun a high-level pro- 
gramming language based on its predecessor, 
C, but providing object-oriented program- 
ming functions 

Cable /'keib(3)l/ noun a flexible conducting 
electrical or optical link O The cable has the 
wrong connector for this printer. 
cable modem /,keib(a)l 'maudem/ noun 
a device that links a computer to the Internet 
via an existing cable television line. This sys- 
tem provides high speed access to the Inter- 
net by sharing the coaxial cable that is used to 
distribute cable television signals. 
Cabling /'keiblirj/ noun cable as a material 
O Using high-quality cabling will allow the 
user to achieve very high data transfer rates. 
'It has won a £500,000 contract to supply a struc- 
tured voice and data cabling system to the bank 
and its stockbrocking subsidiary.' [Computing] 

cache /kaeJV noun a section of memory 
used to store a temporary copy of selected 
data for faster access. Also called cache 
memory ■ verb to file or store in a cache O 
This CPU caches instructions so improves 
performance by 15 percent. 
cache memory /'kaej ,mem(3)ri/ noun 
same as cache 

CAD /kaed/ noun the use of a computer and 
graphics terminal to help a designer in his 
work O All our engineers design on CAD 
workstations. Full form computer-aided 
design, computer-assisted design 
'John Smith of CAD supplier CAD/CAM Limit- 
ed has moved into sales with responsibilities for 
the North of England. He was previously a tech- 
nical support specialist.' [Computing] 

CAD/CAM noun interaction between com- 
puters used for designing and those for man- 
ufacturing a product 
caddy /'kaedi/ noun » CD caddy 
CAE /,si: ei 'ii/ noun the use of a computer 
to help an engineer solve problems or calcu- 
late design or product specifications. Full 
form computer-aided engineering, com- 
puter-assisted engineering 



CAI /.si: ei 'ai/ noun the use of a computer 
to assist in teaching a subject. Full form 
computer-aided instruction, computer- 
assisted instruction 

CAL /,si: ei 'el/ noun the use of a computer 
to assist pupils to learn a subject. Full form 
computer-aided learning, computer-as- 
sisted learning 

calculate /'kaelkju.leit/ verb 1. to find the 
answer to a problem using numbers O The 
DP manager calculated the rate for key- 
boarding. 2. to estimate O I calculate that we 
have six months ' stock left. 

calculating machine /'kaelkjuleitirj ma 
Jim/ noun a machine which calculates 
calculation /.kaelkju'leiJXajn/ noun the 
answer to a problem in mathematics 
calculator /'kaelkjojetta/ noun an elec- 
tronic machine which works out the answers 
to numerical problems O My pocket calcula- 
tor needs a new battery. 
Calculator /'kaelkjujeita/ a software util- 
ity that is supplied with Windows, works just 
like a normal calculator and is started by dou- 
ble-clicking on the Calculator icon in the Ac- 
cessories group 

calibrate /'kaelibreit/ verbto adjust a mon- 
itor or joystick so that it is responding cor- 
rectly and accurately to the signals or move- 
ments 

Call /koil/ noun a conversation (between 
people or machines) on the telephone ■ verb 
to transfer control from a main program to a 
separate program or routine 
Callback /'koilbaek/ noun a security sys- 
tem that is used to reduce the risk of any un- 
authorised user connecting to a computer if 
dial-in networking is installed. With call- 
back, the communications software and mo- 
dem are used to dial the remote computer and 
enter a name and password. The remote com- 
puter then hangs up the telephone line and 
calls back on a preset telephone number. 
Abbr CB 

call discrimination /,ko:I di,sknmi 
'neij(3)n/ noun a feature of a modem that al- 
lows it to check if an incoming telephone call 
is from a fax machine, another computer with 
a modem or from a person 
Call diverter /'koi dai,v3it3/ noun a de- 
vice which, on receiving a telephone call, 
contacts another point and re-routes the call 



caller 38 

caller /'koria/ noun a person who tele- 
phones or requests a call 
call handler /'kail .haendb/ noun » han- 
dler 

callier effect /'kaelia i ,fekt/ noun the scat- 
tering of light as it passes through one or 
more lenses 

calligraphy /ka'hgrafi/ noun the art of 
handwriting 

Call in /,ka:l 'in/ verb to telephone to make 
contact O We ask the representatives to call 
in every Friday to report the weeks ' sales. 
Call logger /'koil ,lDga/ noun a device 
which keeps a record of telephone calls 
call scheduling /'ko:l Jedjuilirj/ noun 
(in a fax server) the process of arranging 
calls so that long-distance calls are made at 
off-peak times 

Call up /,koil 'Ap/ verb to ask for informa- 
tion from a backing store to be displayed O 
All the customers addresses were called up. 
CAM /.si: ei 'em/ noun the use of a compu- 
ter to control machinery or assist in a manu- 
facturing process. Full form computer-aid- 
ed manufacture, computer-assisted 
manufacturing 

Cambridge ring /,keimbrid3 'nrj/ noun 
a local area networking standard used for 
connecting several devices and computers to- 
gether in a ring with simple cable links 
camcorder /'kaemkaida/ noun a compact, 
portable video camera with built-in video 
cassette recorder and microphone; records 
onto VHS, S-VHS or Hi-8 format cassettes 
{film) 

cameo /'kaemiao/ noun 1 . reverse charac- 
ters, that is, white on a black background 2. a 
front-lit subject filmed in front of a dark 
background 

camera /'kaem(3)r3/ noun 1 . a photograph- 
ic device that transfers a scene onto a piece of 
film, usually via a lens 2. a device that trans- 
forms a scene into electronic signals that can 
be displayed on a television 
camera chain /'kaem(3)r3 tjein/ noun 
the pieces of equipment necessary to operate 
a television camera 

camera crew /'kaem(3)r3 kru:/ noun a 
group of people who man a TV camera 
camera exposure sheets /,kaem(3)r3 
ik'spatrja ,Ji:ts/ plural noun in animation 
photography, the frame by frame instruction 
sheet for the camera operator 
camera operator /'kaem(3)r3 .Dpareits/ 
noun the main camera technician who is in 
charge of the lighting and photography of a 
shot 



camera original /,kaem(3)r3 z'ndsmsV 
noun the original film in the camera which 
was used to photograph a scene 
camera ready copy /,kaem(3)r3 redi 
,kDpi/ noun the final text or graphics ready to 
be photographed before printing. Abbr CRC 
camera script /'kaem(3)r3 sknpt/ noun 
the script on which information of shots, 
lighting and sound are listed 
camera speed /'kaem(3)r3 spi:d/ noun 
the speed with which film moves through 
camera; rate is measured by frames per sec- 
ond, in feet, or metres per minute 
campus environment /.kaempas m 
'vairanmant/ noun a large area or location 
that has lots of users connected by several 
networks, such as a university or hospital 
campus network /.kaempas 'netw3:k/ 
noun a network that connects together the 
smaller local area networks in each depart- 
ment within a building or university site 
cancel /'kaensal/ verb to stop a process or 
instruction before it has been fully executed 
cancellation /,kaens3'leij(3)n/ noun the 
action of stopping a process which has been 
started 

candela /kaen'dkla/ noun the SI unit of 
measurement of light intensity 
canonical schema /ka.nonikl 'sknma/ 
noun a model of a database that is independ- 
ent of hardware or software available 
cans /kaenz/ plural noun headphones (film) 
capability ^ketpa'bilati/ noun being able 
to do something O resolution capabilities 
capable /'keip3b(3)l/ adjective able to do 
something O That is the highest speed that 
this printer is capable of. (note: a device is 
capable of something) 
capacitance /kae'paesitans/ noun the 
ability of a component to store electrical 
charge 

Capacitor /ka'paesita/ noun an electronic 
component that can store charge 
capacity /ka'paesiti/ noun 1. the amount 
which can be produced or amount of work 
which can be done O industrial or manufac- 
turing or production capacity 2. the amount 
of storage space available in a system or on a 
disk 

capitalisation /,kaeprt(3)lai 'zeij(a)n/, 
capitalization noun function of a word- 
processor to convert a line or block of text 
into capitals 

capitals /'kaepit(3)lz/, caps plural noun 
letters in their large form, A,B,C,D, etc., as 
opposed to lower-case letters, a,b,c,d, etc. O 
The word BASIC is always written in caps. 
caps lock /'kaeps lDk/ noun a key on a key- 
board that allows all characters to be entered 



39 



carrier wave 



as capitals O The LED lights up when caps 
lock is pressed. 

capstan /'kaepstan/ noun a spindle of a 
tape player or tape backup unit that keeps the 
tape pressed against the magnetic read/write 
head or pinch roller 

caption /'kaepjan/ noun a descriptive text 
that appears at the top of a window, in white 
text on a blue background 
caption generator /'kaepjsn 

,d3eri3reit3/ noun a computer or electronic 
device that allows a user to add titles or cap- 
tions to a video sequence 
capture /'kaept Ja/ verb 1 . to take data into 
a computer system 2. (in a Token-Ring net- 
work) to remove a token from the network in 
order to transmit data across the network. i> 
Token Ring network 3. to store the image 
currently displayed on screen in a file; useful 
when creating manuals about a software 
product O The software allows captured im- 
ages to be edited. O Scanners usually capture 
images at a resolution of 300 dots per inch 
(dpi). 

carbon /'kazban/ noun 1. carbon paper O 
You forgot to put a carbon in the typewriter. 
2. a carbon copy, a copy made with carbon 
paper O Give me the original, and file the 
carbon copy. i> NCR paper 
carbon copy /,ka:b3n 'kr>pi/ noun full 
form of cc 

carbonless /'kcubanlas/ adjective which 
makes a copy without using carbon paper □ 
carbonless paper paper that transfers writ- 
ing without carbon paper 
carbon microphone /,ka:b3n 
'maikrafaon/ noun a microphone that uses 
changes of resistance in carbon granules due 
to sound pressure to produce a signal 
carbon paper /'kazban ,peipa/ noun thin 
paper with a coating of ink on one side, used 
to make copies in a typewriter or printer 
carbon ribbon /.kaiban 'nban/ noun a 
thin plastic ribbon, coated with black ink, 
used in printers. Compare fibre ribbon 
carbon set /'kcuban set/ noun forms with 
carbon paper attached 

carbon tissue /,ka:b3n 'tiju:/ noun light 
sensitive material used to transfer an image to 
the printing plate of a photogravure process 
card /kaid/ noun 1 . a small piece of stiff pa- 
per or plastic 2. a punched card 3. a sheet of 
insulating material on which electronic com- 
ponents can be mounted 4. a single page 
within a HyperCard program; each card can 
have text, images, sound, video and buttons 
on it 
'A smart card carries an encryption chip, which 
codifies your ID and password prior to their being 
transmitted across a network.' [Computing] 



CardBus /'ka:dbAs/ a high-speed, up to 
33MHz, version of the original PCMCIA PC 
Card standard that allows 32-bits of data to 
be transferred in one operation compared to 
the 16-bit capability of the original PC Card 
standard 

cardinal number /,kaidm(3)l 'nAmba/ 
noun a positive whole number O 13, 19 and 
27 are cardinal numbers, -2.3 and 7.45 are 
not. 

cardioid response /,kaidbtd n'spDns/ 
noun the heart-shaped response curve of an 
antenna or microphone when a signal source 
is moved around it 

cardoid microphone /.kaidaid 
'maikraf son/ noun a highly sensitive micro- 
phone which is used to pick up sound in a 
specific area. It is not used for general noise 
recording, (film) 

card reader /'kaid ,ri:da/ noun a device 
which reads data from the magnetic strip on 
the back of a identity or credit card 
caret /'kaerat/ noun symbol ' A ' that is often 
used to mean the Control key 
caret mark /'kaerot maik/, caret sign 
/'kaent 'sain/ noun a proofreading symbol to 
indicate that something has to be inserted in 
the text 

carpal tunnel syndrome /,kaip(3)l 
'tAn(a)l .smdraom/ noun same as repeti- 
tive strain injury 

Carriage /'kaerid3/ noun the mechanical 
section of a printer that correctly feeds or 
moves the paper that is being printed 
carriage return /,kaend3 n't3:n/ noun a 
code or key to indicate the end of an input 
line and to move the cursor to the start of the 
next line. Abbr CR 

carriage return key /,kaend3 n't3in 
,kii/ noun a key that moves a cursor or print- 
head to the beginning of the next line on 
screen or in printing 

Carrier /'kaeria/ noun 1 . a device that holds 
a section of microfilm 2. a continuous high- 
frequency waveform that can be modulated 
by a signal 3. a substance that holds the ink 
for photocopying or printing processes 
carrier sense multiple access-colli- 
sion avoidance /,kaeria sens ,mAltip(3)l 
.aekses k3'lt3(3)n 3,void3ns/ noun full 
form of CSMA-CA 

carrier sense multiple access-colli- 
sion detection /.kaeria sens ,niAltip(3)l 
.aekses k3'li3(3)n di,tekj(3)n/ noun full 
form of CSMA-CD 

carrier telegraphy /.kaeris ta'legreti/ 
noun a system of transmitting telegraph sig- 
nals via a carrier signal 
Carrier wave /'kaeris weiv/ noun a wave- 
form used as a carrier 



carry 40 

carry /'kaeri/ verb to move (something) 
from one place to another O The fibre optic 
link carried all the data. 
cartridge /'kaitnd3/ noun a removable 
cassette, containing a disk or tape or program 
or data, usually stored in ROM 
cartridge paper /'kaitnd3 ,peipa/ noun 
good quality white paper for drawing or 
printing 

CAS /.si: ei 'es/ noun a standard developed 
by Intel and DCA to allow communication 
software to control a fax modems. Full form 
communicating applications specifica- 
tion 

cascading menu /kae.skeidirj 'menju:/ 
noun a secondary menu that is displayed to 
the side of the main pull-down menu 
cascading style sheet /kiu.skeidin 
'stail Jilt/ noun a method of describing the 
font, spacing and colour of text within a web- 
page and storing this information in a style 
sheet that can be applied to any text within 
the page. Abbr CSS 

cascading windows /kae.skeidirj 
'wmdaoz/ plural noun (in a GUI) multiple 
windows that are displayed overlapping so 
that only the title bar at the top of each win- 
dow is showing 

case /keis/ noun 1 . a protective container 
for a device or circuit 2. a programming com- 
mand that jumps to various points in a pro- 
gram depending on the result of a test 
case sensitive /,keis 'sensativ/ adjec- 
tive referring to a command or operation that 
will only work when the characters are en- 
tered in a particular case O The password is 
case sensitive. 

case sensitive search /,keis .sensstiv 
's3itJV noun a search function that succeeds 
only if both the search word and the case of 
the characters in the search word match 
casing /'keisirj/ noun a solid protective 
box in which a computer or delicate equip- 
ment is housed 

cassette /ka'set/ noun a hard container 
used to store and protect magnetic tape 
cassette recorder /ka'set n,ko:da/ 
noun a machine to transfer audio signals onto 
magnetic tape 

cassette tape /ka'set teip/ noun narrow 
reel of magnetic tape housed in a solid case 
for protection (note: Using cassette tape al- 
lows data to be stored for future retrieval. It 
is used instead of a disk system on small 
computers or as a slow, serial access, high- 
capacity back-up medium for large sys- 
tems.) 

cast /kaist/ noun 1 . (in a programming lan- 
guage) an instruction that converts data from 
one type to another O To convert the variable 



from an integer to a character type, use the 
cast command. 2. (in a multimedia presenta- 
tion or animation) each individual part of a 
multimedia presentation or animation. The 
members of a cast can be individual images, 
sound clips or text. 

cast-based animation /,ka:st beis 
,86111 'meif(3)n/ noun a type of animation in 
which everything is an object and has its de- 
fined movement, colour and shape, and the 
actions of each object are controlled by a 
script 

caster machine ^kaistama'rim/ noun a 
machine that produces metal type 
casting agent /,ka:stirj 'eKhjant/ noun a 
person who chooses the performers for a film 
or television production ( film) 
casting Off /'kaisttrj DtV noun the process 
of calculating the amount of space required 
to print text in a certain font 
cast member /'kaist .membs/ noun a 
single object, e.g. text, an image or an ani- 
mated object, within a cast used in a presen- 
tation 

cast Off /,kaist 'nil noun the amount of 
space required to print a text in a certain font 
■ verb to calculate the amount of space need- 
ed to print a text in a certain font 
CAT /kaet/ noun 1 . the use of a computer to 
demonstrate to and assist pupils in learning a 
skill. Full form computer-aided training, 
computer-assisted training 2. the use of a 
computer to test equipment or programs to 
find any faults. Full form computer-aided 
testing, computer-assisted testing 
catadiatropic lens /.kaetsaistrDpik 
'lenz/ noun a telephoto lens incorporating 
mirrors which are used to diminish the lens 
size (film) 

catalogue /'kaet(3)lDg/ noun a list of con- 
tents or items in order ■ verb to make a cat- 
alogue of items stored O All the terminals 
were catalogued, with their location, call 
sign and attribute table. 
cataloguer /'kaetalDgs/ noun a person 
who makes a catalogue 
catastrophe /ka'taestrafi/ noun a serious 
fault, error or breakdown of equipment, usu- 
ally leading to serious damage and shutdown 
of a system 

catastrophic error /.kaetastrofik era/ 
noun an error that causes a program to crash 
or files to be accidentally erased 
catastrophic failure /.kaetastrofik 
'feilja/ noun a complete system failure or 
crash 

cathode /'kaeOaod/ noun the negative elec- 
trical terminal of a device or battery. Oppo- 
site anode 



41 



CD-i digital imaging 



cathode ray tube /,kae9aud 'rei tju:b/ 

noun full form of CRT 
comment: Cathode ray tubes are used in 
traditional-style television sets, computer 
monitors and VDUs. A CRT consists of a 
vacuum tube, one end of which is flat and 
coated with phosphor, while the other end 
contains an electron beam source. Charac- 
ters or graphics are visible when the con- 
trollable electron beam strikes the phos- 
phor, causing it to glow. 

cathode-ray tube storage /.kaeSaud 
rei ,tju:b 'st3:rid3/ noun a cathode ray tube 
with a long-persistence phosphor screen 
coating that retains an image for a long time 
CATV noun a cable television system using 
a single aerial to pick up television signals 
and then distribute them over a wide area via 
cable. Full form community antenna tele- 
vision 

CAV /,sii ei ' vii/ noun a CD-ROM that spins 
at a constant speed. The size of each data 
frame on the disc varies so as to maintain a 
regular data throughput of one frame per sec- 
ond. Full form constant angular velocity 
CB 1 noun a cheap popular system of radio 
communications, usually between vehicles. 
Full form citizens band radio 
CB 2 abbr callback 

C band /'si: baend/ noun a microwave com- 
munications frequency range of 3.9 - 
6.2GHz 

CBI /"/ abbr computer-based instruction 
CBL/,sii bii 'el/ noun education or learning 
using special programs running on a compu- 
ter. Full form computer-based learning 
CBMS /,si: bii em 'es/ noun the use of a 
computer system to allow users to send and 
receive messages from other users, usually 
in-house. Full form computer-based mes- 
sage system. : BBS 

CBT/,siibii 'til/ noun the use of a computer 
system to train students. Full form compu- 
ter-based training 

CBX abbr computerised branch exchange 
CC /,si: "si:/ noun a feature of electronic mail 
software that allows you to send a copy of a 
message to another user. Full form carbon 
copy. f> bcc 

CCD abbr charge-coupled device 
CCIR 601 /,si: sii ai ai ,siks ao 'waii/ 
noun a recommended standard for defining 
digital video 

CCITT /.si: sii ai ti: 'til/ noun an interna- 
tional committee that defines communica- 
tions protocols and standards. Full form 
Comite Consultatif International Tele- 
phonique et Telegraphique 
CCR abbr camera cassette recorder. i> cam- 
corder 



CCTV /.si: si: ti: 'vi:/ abbr closed circuit 
television 

CCU abbr communications control unit 
CD 1 /,si:'di:/ noun a system instruction in 
MS-DOS and UNIX that moves you around 
a directory structure O Type in CD DOCS to 
move into the DOCS subdirectory. Also 
called CHDIR. Full form change directory 
CD 2 /,si:'di:/ abbr compact disc 
CD32/,si: di: ,03:ti 'tu:/ noun a unit with a 
processor and CD-ROM drive developed by 
Commodore that uses its Amiga computer 
CD-audio /,si: ,di: 'o:diao/ noun a stand- 
ard that defines how music can be stored in 
digital form, i.e. as a series of numbers, on a 
compact disc 

CD-bridge /,si: 'di: brid3/ noun an exten- 
sion to the CD-ROM XA standard that allows 
extra data to be added so that the disc can be 
read on a CD-i player 

CD caddy /,si: 'di: ,kaedi/ noun a flat plas- 
tic container that is used to hold a compact 
disc 

CD-DA/,si: ,di: ,di: 'ei/ ab/br compact disc- 
digital audio (note: also called Red Book 
audio) 

CD-E /,si: 'di: i:/ noun a format that allows 
data to be saved to and erased from a compact 
disc 

CD+G /,si: di: pks 'd3i:/, CD+Graphics 
/,si: di: pL\s 'graefiks/ noun a CD format 
that adds a text track to an audio disc - used 
to store song title information 
CD-i /, sii di: 'ai/ noun hardware and soft- 
ware standards that combine sound, data, 
video and text onto a compact disc and allow 
a user to interact with the software stored on 
a CD-ROM. The standard defines encoding, 
compression and display functions. 
CD-I /, sii 'di: ai/ noun set of enhancements 
to the normal CD-ROM standard, developed 
by Philips, and aimed for home use. The sys- 
tem uses its own special hardware console 
with speakers, joystick and a connection to a 
television screen to display the images. The 
special feature of CD-I is that it allows you to 
interact with what you see on the television 
screen and choose options or respond to 
questions or a game. 

CD-i digital audio /,si: di: ai ,did3it(3)l 
'o:di3u/ noun a format that enables a CD-i 
disc to record audio in digital format in one 
of four ways, either mono or stereo and at 
two different sample rates 
CD-i digital imaging /,si: di: ai 
,did3it(3)l 'imid3irj/ plural noun the com- 
pression method used to store images and 
video frames on a CD-i disc 



CD-i sector 



42 



CD-i sector /,sii dii 'ai ,sekta/nounaunit 
of storage on a CD-i disc that can store 2352 
bytes 

CD Player /,si: 'di: ,pleia/ noun a utility 
supplied with Windows that allows a user to 
play back audio CDs in the PC's CD-ROM 
drive 

CD quality /,si: 'di: ,kwt>liti/ adjective 
able to provide recording quality similar to a 
compact disc. The term normally refers to 
equipment that can store 16-bit samples at a 
sample rate of over 44,000 samples per sec- 
ond. O A sound card in a computer might 
have several modes of operation: low-quality 
for general use that does not use up too much 
memory and CD quality recording mode for 
final recordings. 

CD-R /.si: dii 'a:/ noun technology that al- 
lows a user to write data to and read from a 
CD-R disc. Full form compact disc re- 
cordable 

CD real time operating system 
/,si:di: .rial taim 'Dpareitirj .sistam/ noun 
full form of CDRTOS 

C: drive /'si: draiv/ noun the main hard 
disk drive, denoted by the letter C in many 
operating systems, including DOS, Windows 
and OS/2, f> floppy disk, hard disk 
comment: Usually, a PC has two or three 
disk drives within its casing. The conven- 
tion is to provide one floppy disk, called 'A': 
and one hard disk called 'C':. If you have a 
second floppy disk, this is called 'B': and a 
CD-ROM drive is usually 'D':. When talking 
about the different disk drives, you say 
'Drive A' for the floppy drive, but usually 
write 'A':. If you are using DOS, when your 
PC starts up it will usually show what's 
called the C-prompt (which looks like 'C:\> 
your screen); this means you are currently 
looking at the hard disk. If you want to 
change to drive A to read data from a flop- 
py disk, enter 'A': and press return. 

CD-ROM /,si: di: 'rom/ noun a small plas- 
tic disc that is used as a high capacity ROM 
storage device that can store 650Mb of data; 
data is stored in binary form as holes etched 
on the surface which are then read by a laser 
"Customers' images will be captured, digitised, 
and stored on optical disk or CD-ROM, and pro- 
duced if queries arise about responsibility for 
ATM transactions." [Computing] 

CD-ROM drive /,si: 'di: rom/ noun a me- 
chanical device that spins a compact disc and 
reads data stored on the surface of the disc 
using a tiny laser beam 
CD-ROM Extended Architecture /,si: 
,di: rom ik.stendid 'a:kitektra/ noun an 
extended CD-ROM format that defines how 
audio, images and data are stored on a CD- 
ROM disc. Abbr CD-ROM/XA 



CD-ROM Extensions /,si: 'di: mm/ plu- 
ral noun the software required to allow an op- 
erating system to access a CD-ROM drive 
CD-ROM mode 1 /,si: 'di: rom maud/ 
noun the standard, original method of storing 
data in the High Sierra file format 
CD-ROM mode 2 /,sii di: rom maud/ 
noun the higher-capacity storage format that 
stores data in the space used in mode 1 for er- 
ror correction 

CD-ROM player /,si: 'di: rom/ noun a 
disc drive that allows a computer to read data 
stored on a CD-ROM; the player uses a laser 
beam to read etched patterns on the surface of 
the CD-ROM that represent data bits 
CD-ROM Re-Writable/, si: di: romrei/ 
noun a disc technology that can read a stand- 
ard CD-ROM, write to a CD-R or write data 
many times to the same CD-R 
CD-ROM/XA abbrCD-ROM Extended Ar- 
chitecture 

CDRTOS /,si:di: a: ti: au 'es/ noun an op- 
erating system used to run a CD-i hardware 
platform 

CD-RW /,si: di: a: 'dAb(a)lju:/ noun a 
compact disc that can have its contents erased 
and something else recorded onto it many 
times 

C DS noun digital sound recorded on a film 
track (film) Full form cinema digital sound 
CDTV /,si: di: ti: 'vi:/ noun a CD-ROM 
standard developed by Commodore that 
combines audio, graphics and text. This 
standard is mainly intended as an interactive 
system for home use, with the player con- 
nected to a television and also able to play 
music CDs. 

CD-V /.si: 'di: vi:/ noun a format, now no 
longer used, for storing 5 minutes of video 
data on a 3-inch disc in analog form 
CD-video /,si: di: 'vidiau/ noun a compact 
disc used to store and play back video images 
CD-WO /,si: ,dAb(a)l ju: 'au/ noun a CD- 
ROM disc and drive technology that allows a 
user to write data to the disc once only. It is 
useful for storing archived documents or for 
testing a CD-ROM before it is duplicated. 
eel /sel/ noun a single frame in an animation 
sequence 

Cell /sel/ noun 1. a single function or 
number in a spreadsheet program 2. a single 
memory location, capable of storing a data 
word, accessed by an individual address 
cell address /'sel a,dres/ noun {in a 
spreadsheet) a code that identifies the posi- 
tion of a cell by row and column. The rows 
are normally numbered and the columns use 
the letters of the alphabet. 



cell phone /.maobail 'fson/ noun US a 
small, portable device that lets someone 
make and receive telephone calls. Same as 
mobile phone 
comment: Older cell phone standards 
transmitted the user's voice as an analog 
radio signal; current phones convert the 
voice to digital data and transmit this via a 
radio signal. New cell phones provide data 
and messaging services as well as basic 
telephone functions: some include built-in 
modems to provide dial-up access to the 
Internet, many allow text messages to be 
transmitted to other phone users and some 
incorporate an electronic diary, organiser 
and address book. Current cell phones 
transmit information using the GSM, PCS 
or GPRS standard and can provide basic 
Internet access using WAP and GPRS. 

Cellular /'seljola/ adjective clear plastic 
sheet used for animation and for overhead 
projectors 

cellular phone /.seljob 'faun/ noun 
same as mobile phone 
Celluloid /'seljobid/ noun cellulose ni- 
trate which was used as a film base in the past 
(film) f) acetate 

Centering /'sent arm/ noun the action of 
putting text in the centre of the screen O 
Centering of headings is easily done, using 
this function key. 

centi- /senti/ prefix meaning one hundred 
or one hundredth 

Centimetre /'sentimiita/ noun one hun- 
dredth of a metre 

central /'sentral/ adjective in the middle 
centralized /'sentralaizd/ adjective 
which is located in a central position 
central memory /.sentral 'mem(a)ri/ 
noun full form of CM 

central processing unit /,sentrsl 
.prausesirj 'jumit/, central processor 
/,sentr3l ,pr3o'ses3/ noun full form of CPU 
centre /'senta/ noun the point in the middle 
of something ■ verb 1 . to align the read/write 
head correctly on a magnetic disk or tape 2. 
to place a piece of text in the centre of the pa- 
per or display screen O Which key do you 
press to centre the heading? 
centre text /,senta 'tekst/ noun an option 
in a word-processing or DTP package that 
changes the formatting of a line of text so that 
is in the centre of the page or frame 
Centronics interface /sen'troniks 
,mt3feis/ noun a parallel printer interface 
devised by Centronics Inc 
Centronics port /sen'troniks ,poit/ 
noun a standard that defines the way in which 
a parallel printer port on a PC operates 



43 chaining 

CEPT Standard noun a videotex charac- 
ter standard defined by the Conference of Eu- 
ropean Post Telephone and Telegraph 
ceramic /sa'raemik/ adjective made from 
baked clay. f> capacitor 
CERN /s3in/ noun the research laboratory 
in Switzerland where the world wide web 
was originally invented. Full form Conseil 
Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire 
certificate /sa'tifikat/ noun a unique set 
of numbers that identifies a person or compa- 
ny and is used to prove the person's identity 
during network transmissions 
comment: A certificate is normally used to 
provide security over the Internet for se- 
cure e-mail or secure website transactions. 
A trusted company, such as VeriSign 
(www.verisign.com) or Thawte (www.thaw- 
te.com) issues the certificate once it is sat- 
isfied that the person or company is legiti- 
mate, authentic, and who they claim to be. 
The company can now use this certificate 
to prove its identity, create secure messag- 
es, or setup a secure website to accept 
payments online. 

certificate authority /sa'tifikat o: 
,9Driti/ noun an independent server or com- 
pany on the Internet that supplies or validates 
a special digital certificate to prove that an- 
other company is genuine (note: The certifi- 
cate authority issues a special encrypted 
number that complies with the X.509 stand- 
ard and is encrypted with a public-key en- 
cryption system.) 

certificate of approval /sa.trfikat sv a 
'pru:v(3)l/ noun a document showing that an 
item has been approved officially 
C-format /'si: ,fo:maet/ noun a popular, 
broadcast-quality videotape format that uses 
1-inch magnetic tape to store analog video 
recordings; often used before conversion to 
digital format (film) 

CGI /.si: d3i: 'ai/ noun a standard that de- 
fines how a webpage can call programs or 
scripts stored on an Internet server to carry 
out functions and exchange information with 
the program, e.g., to provide a search func- 
tion. Full form common gateway inter- 
face. r> Perl 

CGM /,si: d3i: 'em/ noun a device-inde- 
pendent file format that provides one method 
of storing an image as objects. Full form 
computer graphics metafile 
Chad /tjaed/ noun a waste material pro- 
duced from holes punched in tape or card 
Chain /t Jem/ noun 1 . a series of files or data 
items linked sequentially 2. a series of in- 
structions to be executed sequentially 
Chaining /'t J"einin/ noun the execution of a 
very large program by executing small seg- 



change 44 

merits of it at a time. This allows programs 
larger than memory capacity to be run. 
Change /t Jemc^/ verb to make something 
different; to use one thing instead of another 
change directory /'tjemd3 dai 
,rekt(3)ri/ noun full form of CD, CHDIR 
changeover cue /'tjeind3,3uv3 kju:/ 
noun visual warnings, usually circles or dots, 
towards the end of a reel of film to warn the 
operator to change from one projector to the 
other (film) 

Changer /'tjemd^al noun a device which 
changes one thing for another 
channel /'tjaen(a)17 noun 1. a physical 
connection between two points that allows 
data to be transmitted, e.g. a link between a 
CPU and a peripheral 2. a way in which in- 
formation or goods are passed from one place 
to another 3. a signal path for transporting in- 
formation between two points (communica- 
tions) 4. a term used to refer to an individual 
plane within an image that can store a matte 
or special effect or one part of the final pic- 
ture 5. a method of identifying individual 
tracks or instruments in a MIDI setup. There 
are 16 channel numbers and an instrument 
can be set to respond to the instructions on 
one particular channel; each channel also has 
a patch associated with it that defines the 
sound that is played. 6. a method of organis- 
ing cast members in a presentation. Each 
channel can hold a cast member, background 
or a special effect according to time - these 
are played back together to create the final 
presentation. ■ verb to send signals or data 
via a particular path 

Channelling /'tjaenshrj/ noun a protective 
pipe containing cables or wires 
chapter /'t [septa/ noun 1. a sequence of 
frames on a videodisc 2. a section of a book 
or document 

char /tja:/ noun (in programming) a data 
type which defines a variable as containing 
data that represents a character using the AS- 
CII code 

character /'kaenkta/ noun a graphical 
symbol which appears as a printed or dis- 
played mark such as one of the letters of the 
alphabet, a number or a punctuation mark 
Characteristic /.kaenkta'nstik/ noun 1. 
the value of exponent in a floating point 
number O The floating point number 1.345 x 
10 3 , has a characteristic of 3. 2. a measure- 
ment or property of a component ■ adjective 
which is typical or special O This fault is 
characteristic of this make and model of per- 
sonal computer. 

character set /'kaenkta set/ noun a list of 
all the characters that can be displayed or 
printed 



characters per inch /.kaenktsz p3ir 
'intJV plural noun the number of printed 
characters that fit within the space of one 
inch O You can select 10 or 12 cpi with the 
green button. Abbr cpi 

characters per second /.kaenktsz pa 
1 sekand/ noun the number of characters that 
are transmitted or printed per second 
Charge /tjaid^l noun 1 . a quantity of elec- 
tricity 2. the number of, excess of or lack of 
electrons in a material or component ■ verb 
to supply a device with an electric charge 
Chargeable /'tja:d33b(3)l/ adjective 
which can be charged 
'Compaq Computer and Duracell are developing 
a new type of standard-size re-chargeable battery 
for portable computers that lasts 40% longer than 
those now available.' [Computing] 

charge-coupled device /,tfa:d3 

,kAp(a)ld di'vais/ noun an electronic device 
operated by charge. Abbr CCD 
Chart /t Ja:t/ noun a diagram showing infor- 
mation as a series of lines or blocks 
Chassis /' faest/ noun a metal frame that 
houses the circuit boards together with the 
wiring and sockets required in a computer 
system or other equipment. i> rack 
Chat /tjcet/ verb to send and receive mes- 
sages, in real time, with other users on the In- 
ternet 

chat group /'tjaet gru:p/ noun a group of 
people, often with a common interest, who 
exchange messages online 
Chat room /'tj"aet ruim/ noun an area of a 
website where visitors can exchange messag- 
es with other visitors in real time. Special 
software displays the name of the visitor as 
he or she types in a message to all the other 
visitors, allowing them to 'talk' to each other. 
CHCP /,sii attj sii 'pii/ noun (in MS-DOS 
and OS/2 operating systems) a system com- 
mand that selects which code page to use 
CHDIR /,si: aitj di: ai 'ai/ abbr change di- 
rectory. [> CD 1 

cheapernet /'tfiipanet/ noun same as 
thin-Ethernet (informal) 
Check /t Jek/ noun 1 . the act of making sure 
that something is correct 2. examination O a 
routine check of the fire equipment O The au- 
ditors carried out checks on the company ac- 
counts. 3. US a mark on paper to show that 
something is correct O Make a check in the 
box marked 'R '. ■ verb 1 . to examine or to 
make sure that something is in good working 
order O The separate parts of the system were 
all checked for faults before being packaged. 
2. US to mark with a sign to show that some- 
thing is correct O Check the box marked 'R\ 
(note: The UK term is tick.) 



45 



CIF videophone 



'Four bits control three multiplexers within the 
function unit. The last bit is a check bit to read the 
block's output.' [Computing] 
Check box /'tjek bt>ks/ noun a small box 
displayed with a cross inside it if the option 
has been selected, or empty if the option is 
not selected O Select the option by moving 
the cursor to the check box and pressing the 
mouse button. 

check character /'tjek .kasnkta/ noun 
an additional character inserted into transmit- 
ted data to serve as an error detection check, 
its value being dependent on the text 
Check digit /'tjek ,did3it/ noun an addi- 
tional digit inserted into transmitted text to 
monitor and correct errors 
Checking /'tjekirj/ noun examination O 
The maintenance engineer found some de- 
fects whilst checking the equipment. 
Checkout /'tjekaut/ noun a place where 
you pay for the goods you have bought 
Checksum /tjek ,taut(3)l/, check total 
noun a program that checks that data re- 
trieved from memory is correct, summing it 
and comparing the sum with a stored value O 
The data must be corrupted if the checksum is 
different. 

Chemical /'kemik(a)l/ adjective referring 
to the interaction of substances □ chemical 
reaction interaction between two substances 
or elements ■ noun a product resulting from 
the interaction of other substances or ele- 
ments 

child process /'tjaild .prauses/, child 
program /'tjaild ,praograem/ noun a rou- 
tine or program called by another program 
which remains active while the second pro- 
gram runs 

Child window /'tjaild ,wmdao/ noun a 
window within a main window. The smaller 
window cannot be moved outside the bound- 
ary of the main window and is closed when 
the main window is closed. 
Chinese /tjai'niiz/ noun a camera move- 
ment which consists of a zoom out travel 
with a pan left or right (film) 
Chip /tjip/ noun a device consisting of a 
small piece of a crystal of a semiconductor 
onto which are etched or manufactured a 
number of components such as transistors, 
resistors and capacitors, which together per- 
form a function 

Chip set/,tjip 'set/ noun a set of chips that 
together will carry out a function 
CHKDSK /'tjekdisk/ noun {in MS-DOS) a 
system command that runs a check on the sta- 
tus of a disk drive and installed RAM 
choke /tjaok/ noun » Inductor 
Chooser™ /'tjuiza/ an operating system 
utility supplied with the Apple Macintosh 



that allows a user to select the type of printer, 
network and other peripherals that are con- 
nected 

chop /tjDp/ » binary search 
chord keying /'koid king/ noun the ac- 
tion of pressing two or more keys at the same 
time to perform a function 
comment: As an example, to access a sec- 
ond window, you may need to press control 
and F2; pressing shift and character delete 
keys at the same time will delete a line of 
text. 

chow's foot /'tjaoz fut/ noun a metal 
stand for a camera tripod (film) 
Chroma /'kraoma/ noun a measure of col- 
our hue and saturation. Also called chromi- 
nance 

chroma key /'kraoma ki:/ noun (in video) 
a special effect in which an object is photo- 
graphed against a normally blue background, 
which is then replaced with another image to 
give the impression that the object appears 
against the image. To give the appearance of 
flying, e.g., record a video sequence of a per- 
son against a blue background, then electron- 
ically replace this blue colour, the chroma 
key with footage of sky. i> colour key 
chromatic /kra'maettk/ adjective referring 
to colours 

chromaticity /,krauma'tisiti/ noun the 
quality of light according to its most promi- 
nent colour and purity 

chrominance /'kraommans/ noun same 
as chroma 

chrominance signal /'kraommans 
,stgn(a)l/ noun the section of a colour moni- 
tor signal containing colour hue and satura- 
tion information 

CIDR /,si: at di: 'a:/ noun a system of or- 
ganising IP addresses that is more compact 
and efficient than the older system, adding a 
slash and a new IP Prefix number that repre- 
sents a number of individual addresses. For 
example, the old system used an IP address 
such as '194.124.0.0' whereas CIDR would 
replace this with '194.124.0.0/12'. The IP 
Prefix number 12 represents 4,096 unique 
addresses, and the lower the number the more 
addresses are represented. 
CIE /,si: ai 'ii/ noun the international group 
that defines colour and illumination stand- 
ards. Full form Commission International 
de I'Eclalrage 

CIF /, si: ai 'ef/ abbr common intermediate 
format 

CIF videophone /.si: ai ef 'vidiaofaon/ 
noun an ISDN standard for video image 
transmission over a telephone link which dis- 
plays colour images at a resolution of 



CIM 



46 



352x288 pixels. This standard uses two 
ISDN B channels. 

CIM /,si: ai 'em/ noun 1. the coordinated 
use of microfilm for computer data storage 
and the method of reading the data. Full form 
computer input microfilm 2. the coordinat- 
ed use of computers in every aspect of design 
and manufacturing. Full form computer-in- 
tegrated manufacturing 
Cine- /smi/ prefix meaning moving pictures 
or film 

Cine camera /'smi ,kaem(3)r3/ noun a 
camera that records motion pictures onto a 
roll of film 

Cine film /'smi film/ noun normally refers 
to 8mm or 16mm photographic film used to 
record motion pictures with an optional 
sound track 

Cinema /'smima/ noun a building where 
films are shown to the public 
cinema digital sound /.smima 
'did3it(3)l saund/ noun full form of CDS 
Cinemascope™ /'smimaskaop/ noun 
the first wide-screen filming system to be ex- 
tensively used (film) 

cinematographer /.smtma'tDgrafa/ 
noun the person responsible for lighting and 
photography on a film set (film) 
cinematography /.smtma'tDgrafi/ noun 
(film) 1. motion picture photography 2. spe- 
cial effects giving impression of motion 
cine-orientated image /,smi .oirientid 
' imid3/ noun data or graphics on a microfilm 
where the image is at right angles to the long 
edge of the roll of film 
cine-oriented /'smi ,oirientid/ adjective 
(in a film or video clip) referring to an image 
that is oriented parallel to the outside edge of 
the medium 

Cine spool /'smi spuil/ noun a magnetic 
tape spool usually made of plastic and not 
more than 7 inches in width 
Cipher /'saifa/ noun a system that trans- 
forms a message into an unreadable form 
with a secret key O Always use a secure ci- 
pher when sending data over a telephone 
line, (note: The message can be read nor- 
mally after it has passed through the cipher 
a second time to decrypt it.) 
ciphertext /'saifatekst/ noun data output 
from a cipher. Opposite plaintext 
Circuit /'S3ikit/ noun a connection between 
the electronic components that perform a 
function 

Circuit board /'s3ikit bard/ noun an insu- 
lating board used to hold components which 
are then connected together electrically to 
form a circuit 
'The biggest shock was to open up the PC and 
find the motherboard smothered in patch wires 



(usually a sign that a design fault in the printed 
circuit board was rectified at the last minute).' 
[Computing] 

circuit diagram /'s3ikit .daiagraem/ 
noun a graphical description of a circuit O 
The CAD program will plot the circuit dia- 
gram rapidly. 

Circuitry /'S3ikitri/ noun a collection of 
circuits O The circuitry is still too complex. 
Circular /'s3ikjub/ adjective 1 . which goes 
round in a circle 2. sent to many people 
circularize /'s3ikjularaiz/ verb to send a 
circular to O The committee has agreed to 
circularise the members. O They circularised 
all their customers with a new list of prices. 

circular reference /,s3ikjob 

'ref(a)rans/ noun (in a spreadsheet) an er- 
ror condition that occurs when two equations 
in two cells reference each other 
Circulate /'s3:kju,leit/ verb A. to go round 
in a circle, and return to the first point 2. to 
send information to O They circulated a new 
list of prices to all their customers. 
circulating /'ssikjuleitirj/ adjective 
which is moving about freely 
comment: Circulating storage devices are 
not often used now, being slow (serial ac- 
cess) and bulky: typical devices are acous- 
tic or mercury delay lines. 

circulation /,s3ikju'leij(3)n/ noun 1. 
movement O The company is trying to im- 
prove the circulation of information between 
departments. 2. the number of copies sold O 
a specialised paper with a circulation of over 
10,000 O What is the circulation of this com- 
puter magazine ? 

Circumflex /'S3ikamfleks/ noun a printed 
accent (like a small V printed upside down) 
placed above a letter, which may change the 
pronunciation or distinguish the letter from 
others 

CIS /,sii ai 'es/ noun a scanner in which the 
detectors, a flat bar of light-sensitive diodes, 
touch the original, without any lens that 
might distort the image. Full form contact 
image sensor 

CISC /,si: aies 'si:/ noun a type of CPU de- 
sign whose instruction set contains a number 
of long, complex instructions that make pro- 
gram writing easier, but reduce execution 
speed. Full form complex instruction set 
computer. Compare RISC 
citizens band radio /,sitiz(3)ns baend 
'reidiao/ noun a cheap popular system of ra- 
dio communications, usually between vehi- 
cles. Also called CB radio 
Cladding /'kkedirj/ noun protective materi- 
al surrounding a conducting core O If the 
cladding is chipped, the fibre-optic cable will 
not function well. 



claim frame /'kleim freim/ noun (in an 
FDDI protocol network) a special frame that 
is used to determine which station will ini- 
tialise the network 

Clamp /klaemp/ verb to find the voltage of a 
signal 

Clamper /'klaempa/ noun a circuit which 
limits the level of a signal from a scanning 
head or other input device to a maximum be- 
fore this is converted to a digital value. Clam- 
pers are used to cut out noise and spikes. 
Clapper /'klaepa/ noun the mechanical part 
of a dot matrix printer that drives the printing 
needles onto the ribbon to print a character on 
the paper 

Clapperboard /'klaepabaid/ noun a board 
on which is written all relevant information 
to a shot in a film (film) 
Clarity /'klaenti/ noun being clear O The at- 
mospheric conditions affect the clarity of the 
signal. 

classification /,klaesifi'keij'(a)n/ noun a 
way of putting into classes 
Classify /'klaesifai/ verb to put into classes 
or under various headings O The diagnostic 
printouts have been classified under T for 
test results. 

class interval /.klais 'mt3v(a)I/ noun the 
range of values that can be contained in a 
class 

Claw /kloi/ noun a mechanism in a camera 
or projector which moves the film through 
contact with the holes in the edge of the film 
(film) 

Clean /klim/ adjective containing no errors 
O I'll have to start again - 1 just erased the 
only clean copy. ■ verb to make something 
clean 

clean copy /,kliin 'kepi/ noun a copy 
which is ready for keyboarding and does not 
have many changes to it 
Clear /klia/ adjective easily understood O 
The program manual is not clear on how to 
copy files. ■ verb 1 . to wipe out or erase or 
set to zero a computer file or variable or sec- 
tion of memory O Type CLS to clear the 
screen. 2. to release a communications link 
when transmissions have finished 
Clearance /'kharans/ noun authority to ac- 
cess a file O You do not have the required 
clearance for this processor. 

clear to send /,kha ta 'send/ noun full 
form of CTS 

Click /klik/ noun 1 . a short duration sound, 
often used to indicate that a key has been 
pressed 2. the act of pressing a mouse button 
or a key on a keyboard O You move through 
text and graphics with a click of the button. 



47 clip-art 

Click rate /'khk reit/ noun a figure repre- 
senting the number of times that a particular 
site in an Internet advertisement is visited, 
and calculated as a percentage of the number 
of times that the advertisement is viewed 
clicks-and-mortar /.kliks an 'maita/ 
noun referring to businesses that use both the 
Internet and physical shops to sell their prod- 
ucts. Compare bricks-and-mortar 
Click through /'khk 0rui/ noun the act of 
clicking on a banner advertisement and 
jumping to the advertiser's website 
click through rate /khk 9mi ,reit/ noun 
full form of CTR 

Client /'klaiant/ noun (in a network) a 
workstation or PC or terminal connected to a 
network that can send instructions to a server 
and display results 

client application /,klaiant ,aeph 
'keij(a)n/ noun an application that can ac- 
cept linked or embedded objects from a serv- 
er application or an application that is used in 
a client-server system 

client area /'klaiant ,earia/ noun (in a 
GUI) an area inside a window that can be 
used to display graphics or text 
client-server architecture /.klaiant 
,S3iva 'aikitektja/ noun a distribution of 
processing power in which a central server 
computer carries out the main tasks in re- 
sponse to instructions from terminals or 
workstations, the results being sent back 
across the network to be displayed on the ter- 
minal that sent the instruction. The client, i.e. 
the terminal or workstation, does not need to 
be able to directly access the data stored on 
the server, nor does it need to carry out a lot 
of processing. 

client-server network /.klaiant s3iva 
,netw3ik/ noun a method of organising a 
network in which one central dedicated com- 
puter, the server, looks after tasks such as se- 
curity, user accounts, printing and file shar- 
ing, while clients, the terminals or worksta- 
tions connected to the server, run standard 
applications 

client-side /'klaiant said/ adjective refer- 
ring to data or a program that runs on the cli- 
ent's computer rather than on the server, e.g. 
a JavaScript program runs on the user's web 
browser and is a client side application 
Clip /klip/ verb 1 . to select an area of an im- 
age that is smaller than the original 2. to re- 
move the peaks of a waveform O The voltage 
signal was clipped to prevent excess signal 
level. 

Clip-art /'klip ait/ noun a set of pre-drawn 
images or drawings that a user can incorpo- 
rate into a presentation or graphic O We have 



clipboard 48 

used some clip-art to enhance our presenta- 
tion. 

Clipboard /'klip,bo:d/ noun a temporary 
storage area for data O Copy the text to the 
clipboard, then paste it back into a new doc- 
ument. 

Clipper Chip /'khpa tjip/ noun an elec- 
tronic component, e.g. an integrated circuit, 
or chip, that was designed in accordance with 
the instructions of the US Government to 
provide a data encryption feature for comput- 
ers, Internet traffic, telephones, and televi- 
sion programmes. In the original scheme the 
US Government held the master key to the 
chip and so could decrypt and read any en- 
crypted messages. This angered many groups 
concerned with freedom of speech and the 
US Government has since redesigned the 
original scheme and suggested an alternative. 
Clipping /'klipirj/ noun the process of cut- 
ting off the outer edges of an image or the 
highest and lowest parts of a signal 
Clock /kltsk/ noun 1. a machine which 
shows the time O The micro has a built-in 
clock. 2. a circuit that generates pulses used 
to synchronise equipment 
Clock rate /'kink reit/ noun the number of 
pulses that a clock generates every second 
Clock speed /'kink spiid/ noun same as 
clock rate 

Clogging /'klDgirj/ noun the build up of ox- 
ide and binder on a playback head or tape re- 
cording which results in drop-outs (film) 
Clone /ktaun/ noun a computer or circuit 
that behaves in the same way as the original 
it was copied from O They have copied our 
new personal computer and brought out a 
cheaper clone. 
'On the desktop, the IBM/Motorola/Apple trium- 
virate is planning to energise a worldwide clone 
industry based on the PowerPC chip.' [Comput- 
ing] 
Close /ktauz/ verb to shut down access to a 
file or disk drive 

CLOSE /ktaoz/ noun (in a programming 
language) a command that means the pro- 
gram has finished accessing a particular file 
or device 

closed captioning /,ktauzd 'kaepramrj/ 
noun a system that transfers text information 
with a video signal, so that the text data can 
be decoded and displayed at the bottom of the 
television screen 

closed user group /.ktauzd Juiza 
'gruip/ noun full form of CUG 
Close file /'ktaus fail/ noun to execute a 
computer instruction to shut down access to a 
stored file 

close menu option /,ktauz 'menju: 
,DpJ(a)n/ noun a menu option, normally un- 



der the File menu, that will shut the docu- 
ment that is currently open, but will not exit 
the application. If you have not saved the 
document, the application will warn you be- 
fore it closes the document and give you the 
chance to save any changes. 
Close up /ktauz 'Ap/ verb to move pieces 
of type or typeset words closer together O If 
we close up the lines, we should save a page. 
Close-up /'ktaus Ap/ noun a photograph 
taken very close to the subject 
close-up lens /'ktaus Ap ,lenz/ noun an 
extra lens that permits the ordinary lens to fo- 
cus closer to the subject than normal 
close-up shot /'ktaus Ap ,Jt>t/ noun a 
camera shot very close to the subject 
CLS /,si: el 'es/ noun (in MS-DOS) a sys- 
tem command to clear the screen, leaving the 
system prompt and cursor at the top, left- 
hand corner of the screen 
Cluster /'ktasta/ noun 1 . one or more sec- 
tors on a hard disk that are used to store a file 
or part of a file 2. a number of terminals, sta- 
tions, devices or memory locations, grouped 
together in one place and controlled by a 
cluster controller 

CLUT /.si: el jui 'ti:/ noun a table of num- 
bers used in Windows and graphics programs 
to store the range of colours used in an image. 
Full form colour look-up table. : palette 
CLV /,sii el 'vii/ noun a disk technology in 
which the disk spins at different speeds ac- 
cording to the track that is being accessed. 
Full form constant linear velocity 
CM /,sii 'em/ noun an area of memory 
whose locations can be directly and immedi- 
ately addressed by the CPU. Full form cen- 
tral memory 

C-MAC /,si: em ei 'si:/ noun a new direct- 
broadcast TV standard using time division 
multiplexing for signals 
CMI abbr computer-managed instruction 
CMIP /,si: em ai 'pi:/ noun a protocol offi- 
cially adopted by the ISO that is used to carry 
network management information across a 
network. Full form common management 
information protocol 
CMIP over TCP /,si: em ai ,pi: auva ,ti: 
si: 'pi:/, CMIS over TCP full form of CMOT 
CMIS /,si: em ai 'es/ noun a powerful net- 
work management system. Full form com- 
mon management information specifica- 
tion 

CML abbr computer-managed learning 
CMOS /,si: em au 'pi:/ noun an integrated 
circuit design and construction method that 
uses a pair of complementary p- and n-type 
transistors. Full form complementary met- 
al oxide semiconductor 



49 



collaboration 



'Similarly, customers who do not rush to acquire 
CMOS companion processors for their main- 
frames will be rewarded with lower prices when 
they finally do migrate.' [Computergram] 
comment: The CMOS package uses very 
low power but is relatively slow and sensi- 
tive to static electricity as compared to TTL 
integrated circuits. Its main use is in porta- 
ble computers where battery power is be- 
ing used. 

CMOT /,si: era au 'ti:/ noun the use of 
CMIP and CMIS network management pro- 
tocols to manage gateways in a TCP/IP net- 
work. Full form CMIP over TCP, CMIS over 
TCP 

CMYK /.si: em wai 'kei/ noun (in graphics 
or DTP) a method of describing a colour by 
its four component colours. Full form cyan- 
magenta-yellow-black 
CNC /,sii en 'si:/ noun automatic operation 
of a machine by computer. Full form com- 
puter numeric control. : numerical con- 
trol 

coat /kaut/ verb to cover with a layer of liq- 
uid □ coated papers papers which have been 
covered with a layer of clay to make them 
shiny 

coating /'kautirj/ noun a material covering 
something O paper which has a coating of 
clay 

CO-axial cable /kauks/, coax noun a ca- 
ble made up of a central core, surrounded by 
an insulating layer then a second shielding 
conductor. Compare twisted-pair cable 
(note: Co-axial cable is used for high fre- 
quency, low loss applications including thin 
Ethernet network cabling and Arcnet net- 
work cabling.) 

COBOL /'kaubrjl/ noun a programming 
language mainly used in business applica- 
tions. Full form common ordinary busi- 
ness-oriented language 
cobweb site /'kDbweb sait/ noun a web- 
site that has not been updated for a long time 
code /kaud/ noun 1 . rules used to convert 
instructions or data from one form to another 
2. a sequence of computer instructions 3. a 
system of signs or numbers or letters which 
mean something ■ verb 1 . to convert instruc- 
tions or data into another form 2. to write a 
program in a programming language 
CODEC /'kaodek/ noun a device which en- 
codes a signal being sent or decodes a signal 
received. Full form coder/decoder 
COdepage /'kaudpeid3/ noun the defini- 
tion of the character that is produced by each 
key on the keyboard; in order to use your 
computer when typing in a different language 
you need to change the keyboard layout and 
the font that is used for the characters - both 
are defined by the codepage 



coder /'kauda/ noun a device which en- 
codes a signal 

coder/decoder /,kauda dn'kauda/ noun 
full form of CODEC 

coding /'kaudirj/ noun the act of putting a 
code on something 

COercivity /,kau3i 'siviti/ noun a magnetic 
field required to remove any flux saturation 
effects from a material 
coherent /kau 'hiarant/ad/ecf/Ve referring 
to waveforms which are all in phase 
coherent bundle /kau,hiarant 
'bAnd(a)l/ noun a number of optical fibres, 
grouped together so that they are all the same 
length and produce coherent signals from ei- 
ther end 

COi I /kail/ noun a number of turns of wire O 
An inductor is made from a coil of wire. 

coincidence circuit /kau,msid(a)ns 
's3ikit/, coincidence element /'elimant/ 
noun same as coincidence gate 
coincidence function /kau'msid(a)ns 
,f Arjkjan/ noun same as AND function 
coincidence gate/kau'msid(a)ns geit/, 
coincidence circuit /kau,msid(a)ns 
's3ikit/, coincidence element /kau 
,msid(a)ns 'elimant/ noun a gate that pro- 
duces a logical output depending on various 
input coincidences. An AND gate requires 
the coincidence in time of all logically true 
inputs. t> AND 

coincidence operation /kau 
'msid(a)ns ,DpareiJ(a)n/ noun same as 
AND operation 

cold /kauld/ adjective 1 . not hot O The ma- 
chines work badly in cold weather. 2. without 
being prepared 

cold boot /,kauld 'bu:t/ noun the act of 
switching on a computer, or the act of restart- 
ing a computer by switching it off and then 
on again. Compare warm boot 
coldboot /'kaoldbuit/ verb to switch on a 
computer, or to restart a computer by switch- 
ing it off and then on again. Compare warm- 
boot 

cold fault /'kauld t'oilt/ noun a computer 
fault or error that occurs as soon as it is 
switched on 

cold Standby /kauld 'staendbai/ noun a 
backup system that will allow the equipment 
to continue running but with the loss of any 
volatile data. Compare hot standby, warm 
standby 

cold Start /,kauld 'stent/ noun the act of 
switching on a computer or to run a program 
from its original start point 
collaboration /ka,laeba'reij"(a)n/ noun 
two or more people working together to pro- 
duce or use a multimedia application 



collate 



50 



collate /ka'leit/ verb 1 . to compare and put 
items in order 2. to put signatures in order for 
sewing and binding 

collator /ka'leita/ noun a machine which 
takes sheets or printed signatures and puts 
them in order for stapling or binding 
collision /k3'li3(3)n/ noun an event that 
occurs when two electrical signals meet and 
interfere with each other over a network, nor- 
mally causing an error 
co-location /,kao bu'keiJXajn/ noun an 
arrangement whereby a computer used as an 
Internet server is located at a specialist site 
that is designed to support and maintain serv- 
ers on behalf of their customers 
comment: If you want to set up a website, 
you might start by renting web space from 
your ISP or web hosting provider. If your 
website grows in popularity or requires 
complex or secure e-commerce facilities, 
you might find it effective to rent or pur- 
chase a server computer dedicated to 
serving your website - you could locate 
this server computer anywhere, for exam- 
ple in your office, but you would need to in- 
stall a high-speed link to the Internet and 
maintain the computer and its software. A 
more cost-effective solution is co-location: 
moving the server to a specialist site, often 
provided by an ISP, who takes on the job of 
supporting the high-speed link and the 
computer. 

Colon /'kaulDn/ noun a printing sign (:) 
which shows a break in a string of words 
colophon /'kDbfDn/ noun a design or 
symbol or company name, used on a printed 
item to show who are the publisher and the 
printer 

colorisation /,kAbrai'zeir(3)n/ noun an 
electronic process of adding colour to a vide- 
otape transfer of a black and white film to be 
transmitted on television (film) 
colour /'kAb/ noun a sensation sensed by 
the eye, due to its response to various fre- 
quencies of light 
'...as a minimum, a colour graphics adapter 
(CGA) is necessary, but for best quality of graph- 
ic presentation an enhanced graphics adapter 
(EGA) should be considered' [Micro Decision] 

colour balance /'kAb .baebns/ noun the 
adjustment of the red, green and blue primary 
colours to produce a pure white colour. When 
a colour monitor is configured, a colour sen- 
sor is placed on the screen and the red, green 
and blue electron gun settings are adjusted to 
produce a pure white colour. 
colour depth /'kAb dep9/ noun the 
number of different colours that can be dis- 
played by any single pixel in a display, which 
is determined by the number of colour bits in 
each pixel 



colour display /,kAb di'splei/ noun a 
display device able to represent characters or 
graphics in colour 

colour key /'kAb kii/ noun an image ma- 
nipulation technique used to superimpose 
one image on another. It is often used with 
two video sources to create special effects. 
One image is photographed against a col- 
oured background, the matte, when then has 
another image superimposed on it to produce 
a combined picture. r> chroma key 
colour look-up table /,kAb 'luk Ap 
,teib(a)l/ noun full form of CLUT 
colour monitor /,kAb 'momts/ noun a 
screen that has a demodulator that shows in- 
formation in colour O The colour monitor is 
great for games. 

colour palette /,kAb 'paebt/ noun the se- 
lection of colours that are currently being 
used in an image 

colour printer /,kAb 'prints/ noun a 
printer that can produce hard copy in colour 
colour saturation /,kAb .saetja 
'reij(3)n/ noun the purity of a colour signal 
colour separation /,kAb .sepa'reiJXajn/ 
noun the process of separating a colour im- 
age into its constituent colours in order to 
produce printing plates for colour printing. 
Full colour printing needs four-colour sepa- 
ration to produce four printing plates for the 
cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks that to- 
gether create a colour image. 
colour Standard /'kAb .stsendad/ noun 
one of three international standards, NTSC, 
PAL and SECAM, used to describe how col- 
our TV and video images are displayed and 
transmitted 

colour temperature /'kAb .tempntja/ 
noun the hue or shade of the colour white 
seen if pure carbon is heated to a particular 
temperature measured in Kelvin. The stand- 
ard for many TV and video systems is a col- 
our temperature of 6500 K, known as Illumi- 
nant D65. 

colour tool /'kAb tuil/ noun a utility or 
icon in a graphics or DTP application that al- 
lows the user to create custom colours by 
specifying the CMYK or RGB values and 
then draw or fill an area with this colour 
column /'kDbm/ noun 1. a series of char- 
acters, numbers or lines of text printed one 
under the other O to add up a column of fig- 
ures 2. a section of printed words in a news- 
paper or magazine 

columnar /ka'lAmna/ adjective in col- 
umns 

Com /kDm/ suffix a suffix that means that the 
Internet domain name is a company, usually 
one based in the USA O www.amazon.com is 



51 



common intermediate format 



the website address of the US version of the 
Amazon Internet bookshop. 
COM /.si: ao 'em/ noun 1. a standard de- 
fined by Microsoft to standardise the way an 
application can access an object. Full form 
Component Object Model (note: This is a 
rival standard to CORBA.) 2. the process of 
recording the output from a computer direct- 
ly onto microfilm. Full form computer out- 
put on microfilm 

COM1 /,kDm 'wAn/ noun a name used in 
PCs to represent the first serial port on the 
computer. There are normally two serial 
ports, COM1 and COM2, in a PC, although it 
can support four. Some PCs have a mouse 
plugged into the first serial port and the mo- 
dem plugged into the second port. i> AUX 
coma /'ksoma/ noun a lens aberration 
COMAL /'kaubtEl/ noun a structured pro- 
gramming language similar to BASIC. Full 
form common algorithmic language 
Comb filter /ksum 'filta/ noun an elec- 
tronic device used to separate the luma, Y, 
and chroma, C, signals from a composite vid- 
eo signal, t) S-Video, Y/C 
combination /,kDmbi'neiJ(3)n/ noun 
several things which are joined together; se- 
ries of numbers which open a lock 
combinational /,kDmbi'neiJ(3)nal/ ad- 
jective which combines a number of separate 
elements 

combine /kam'bam/ verb to join together 
combi player /'kDmbi ,pleia/ noun a 
hardware drive that can read two or more dif- 
ferent CD-ROM formats 
combo box /'krnnbao bDks/ noun a box 
that displays a number of different input and 
output objects 

COM file /'kDm fail/ noun (in operating 
systems for the PC) a file with the three-let- 
ter extension .com to its name that indicates 
that the file contains a machine code in bina- 
ry format and so can be executed by the oper- 
ating system. 

comic-strip oriented /,kDmik strip 
'oirientid/ adjective referring to a film im- 
age that is oriented at right angles to the outer 
edge of the film. Compare cine-oriented 
Comite Consultatif International 
Telephonique et Telegraphique noun 
full form of CCITT 

comma /'kmria/ noun a symbol (,) that is 
often used to separate data or variables or ar- 
guments 

command /ka'maznd/ noun 1. an electri- 
cal pulse or signal that will start or stop a 
process 2. a word or phrase which is recog- 
nised by a computer system and starts or ter- 
minates an action O interrupt command 



COMMAND.COM /ka'mamd kDm/ noun 
(in MS-DOS) a program file that contains the 
command interpreter for the operating sys- 
tem. This program is always resident in 
memory and recognises and translates sys- 
tem commands into actions. O MS-DOS will 
not work because you deleted the COM- 
MAND.COM fde by mistake. 

command line interface /ks.maind 

lain 'intafeis/ noun a user interface in which 
the user controls the operating system or pro- 
gram by typing in commands; e.g., DOS is a 
command line interface 
command line operating system /ko 
,ma:nd lam 'Dpareitirj .sistam/ noun a 
computer system software that is controlled 
by a user typing in commands, as in MS- 
DOS, rather than allowing a user to control 
the system through images 
command prompt /ka'maind prompt/ 
noun a symbol displayed by the operating 
system to indicate that a command is expect- 
ed 

comment /'kDment/ noun a helpful note 
in a program to guide the user O The lack of 
comments is annoying. 
commentary /'kt>m3nt(a)ri/ noun spoken 
information which describes a film 
comment field /'kDment fiild/ noun a 
section of a command line in an assembly 
language program that is not executed, but 
provides notes and comments 
commerce /'kmn3is/ » e-commerce 
commercial /ka'nwi J"(»l/ noun an adver- 
tising film on TV 

commercial Internet exchange /ko 
,m3ij(3)l 'intanet iks,tjemd3/ noun a con- 
nection point for commercial Internet service 
providers 

Commission International de 
I'Eclairage full form of CIE 
Commodore Dynamic Total Vision 
/,kDm3,doi dai,naemik ,taut(3)l 'vi3(a)n/ 
noun a CD-ROM standard developed by 
Commodore that combines audio, graphics 
and text; this standard is mainly intended as 
an interactive system for home use; the play- 
er connects to a television and can also play 
music CDs. Abbr CDTV 
common /'kDmon/ adjective 1 . which hap- 
pens very often O This is a common fault with 
this printer model. 2. belonging to several 
different people or programs or to everyone 
common algorithmic language 
/,kDiri3n ,aelg3ri5mik 'kerjgwid3/ noun 
full form of COMAL 

common gateway interface /,kDman 
'geitwei .mtafeis/ noun full form of CGI 
common intermediate format 
/.kDmon .intomkdiot 'fo:maet/ noun a 



common management 



52 



standard for video images that displays an 
image 352 pixels wide and 288 pixels high. 
Abbr CIF 

common management information 
protocol /,kDm3n ,maenid3m3nt ,inf3 
'meij(3)n .praotakDl/ noun full form of 
CMIP 

common management information 
specification ^kDman ^aenidsmant 
,mf3'meij(3)n ,spesifikeij(3)n/ noun full 
form of CM IS 

common ordinary business-orient- 
ed language /.kmrisn ,o:d(s)n(3)ri 
,bizms .oiriantid 'laengwid3/ noun full 
form of COBOL 

common real-time applications lan- 
guage /.kDman .rial taim ,aepli'keij(3)nz 
,laengwid3/ noun full form of CORAL 
common user access /.kDman ,ju:za 
'aekses/ noun full form of CUA 
communicate /ka'mjuini.keit/ verb to 
pass information to someone O He finds it 
impossible to communicate with his staff. 

communicating applications speci- 
fication /ka^juinikeitirj ,aeplikeij(3)nz 
,spesifi'keij(3)n/ noun full form of CAS 
communicating word processor Iks 

.mjumikeitirj 'w3id .prausesa/ noun a 
word processor workstation which is able to 
transmit and receive data 
communication /ka.mjuim'keiJXajn/ 
noun the passing of information O Commu- 
nication with the head office has been made 
easier by the telex. 

communications channel /ka,mju:ni 

'keij(3)nz ,tjaen(3)l/ noun a physical link 
over which data can be transmitted 
communications control unit /ko 
,mjuinikeij(3)nz kan'traul Juinit/ noun 
an electronic device that controls data trans- 
mission and routes in a network 
communications link /ks.mjinni 
'keij(a)nz link/ noun the physical path that 
joins a transmitter to a receiver 
communications network /ka.mjuim 
'keij(a)nz ,netw3ik/ noun a group of devic- 
es such as terminals and printers that are in- 
terconnected with a central computer, allow- 
ing the rapid and simple transfer of data 
communications package /ka.mjinni 
'keij(a)nz ,paekid3/ noun a package of soft- 
ware that allows a user to control a modem 
and use an online service 
communications protocol /ka.mjinni 
'keij(a)nz ,pr3ot3okDl/ noun the parame- 
ters that define how the transfer of informa- 
tion will be controlled O The communica- 
tions protocol for most dial-up online servic- 
es is eight-bit words, no stop bit and even 
parity. 



communications server /ka.mjumi 
'keij(a)nz ,S3iva/ noun a computer with a 
modem or fax card attached that allows users 
on a network to share the use of the modem 
communications software /ka.mjumi 
'keij(3)nz .sDt'twea/, communications 
package /k3,mju:ni'keij(3)nz ,paekid3/ 
noun software that allows a user to control a 
modem and use an online service 
community /ka'mjuiniti/ noun a group of 
people living or working in the same place □ 
the local business community the business 
people living and working in the area 
community antenna television /ko 
,mju:niti aen,tena ,teh'vi3(3)n/ noun a ca- 
ble television system using a single aerial to 
pick up television signals and then distribute 
them over a wide area via cable. Abbr CATV 
compact /kam'paekt/ adjective (thing) 
which does not take up much space 
compact disc /,kDinpaekt 'disk/ noun a 
small plastic disc that contains information 
such as audio signals or data in digital form 
that can be read by a laser beam. Abbr CD-I 
compact disc-digital audio 
/,kDmpaekt .disk ,did3it(3)l 'oidiau/ noun 
a standard that defines how music can be 
stored in digital form, i.e. as a series of num- 
bers, on a compact disc. Abbr CD-DA. Also 
called CD-audio 

compact disc erasable /.knmpaekt 
,disk i 'reiz3b(3)l/ noun a format that allows 
data to be saved to and erased from a compact 
disc. Abbr CD-E 

compact disc player /,kDmpaekt 'disk 
,plei3/ noun a machine that reads the digital 
data from a CD and converts it back to its 
original form 

compact disc ROM /,kDmpaekt ,disk 
'rom/ noun same as CD-ROM O The com- 
pact disc ROM can store as much data as a 
dozen hard disks. 

compact disc write once /.kmnpaekt 
disk ,rait 'waiis/ noun CD-ROM disc and 
drive technology that allows a user to write 
data to the disc once only. Full form CD-WO 
companding /kDm'paendirj/ noun two 
processes which reduce or compact data be- 
fore transmission or storage then restore 
packed data to its original form. Full form 
compressing and expanding 
compandor /krjm'paenda/ noun a device 
used for companding signals. Full form 
compressor/expander 
COMPAQ /'kDmpaek/ a US personal com- 
puter company, founded in 1983, that was the 
first manufacturer to produce a clone to the 
IBM PC 

comparability /,kDmp(3)r3'biliti/ noun 
being able to be compared (note: no plural) 



53 



compose 



□ pay comparability similar pay system in 
two different companies 
comparable /'kDmp(3)reb(3)l/ adjective 
which can be compared O The two sets of fig- 
ures are not comparable. 
comparator /kam'paerats/ noun a logical 
device whose output is true if there is a differ- 
ence between two inputs 
compare /kam'pea/ verb to check the dif- 
ferences between two pieces of information 
compare with /kam'pea wid/ verb to put 
two things together to see how they differ 
comparison /k3m'p3eris(3)n/ noun a way 
of comparing 

compatibility /karr^paeti'bihti/ noun the 

ability of two hardware or software devices 

to function together (note: Compatibility of 

hardware and software, which means that 

those of one manufacturer or organisation 

conform to the standards of another, allows 

programs and hardware to be interchanged 

without modification.) 

'The manufacturer claims that this card does not 

require special drivers on the host machine. . . and 

therefore has fewer compatibility problems.' 

[Computing] 

compatible /k3m'paetib(3)l/ adjective 

used to describe two hardware or software 

devices that function correctly together ■ 

noun a hardware or software device that 

functions correctly with other equipment O 

Buy an IBM PC or a compatible. 

'...this was the only piece of software I found 

that wouldn't work, but it does show that there is 

no such thing as a totally compatible PC clone' 

[Personal Computer World] 

compilation /,kDmpi'leiJ(3)n/ noun the 
translation of an encoded source program 
into machine readable code 
'This utility divides the compilation of software 
into pieces and performs the compile in parallel 
across available machines on the network.' 
[Computergram] 

compile /kam'pail/ verb to convert a high- 
level language program into a machine code 
program that can be executed by itself O 
compiling takes a long time with this old ver- 
sion 

compiler /kam.paila 'praugraem/, com- 
piler program noun a piece of software that 
converts an encoded program into a machine 
code program O The new compiler has an in- 
built editor. Compare interpreter 
complement /'kDmpliment/ noun an in- 
version of a binary digit O The complement is 
found by changing the Is to Os and Os to Is. 
■ verb to invert a binary digit 
complementary /,kt>mpli'ment(a)riy 
adjective (two things) that complete each 
other or go well together 



complementary colours 

/,kDpliment(3)ri 'kAlaz/ plural noun col- 
ours resulting from subtracting a specific col- 
our from white light, therefore the comple- 
mentary colour to red is 'minus red', which is 
cyan (blue-green) 

complementary metal oxide semi- 
conductor /,kDmpliment(3)ri ,met(a)l 
,t>ksaid 'semik3n,dAkt3/ noun full form of 
CMOS 

complementation /.kmnpliman 

'teij(3)n/ noun a number system used to rep- 
resent positive and negative numbers 
complete /kam'pliit/ verb to finish a task 
O When you have completed the keyboard- 
ing, pass the text through the spelling check- 
er. 

completion /k3m'pliij(3)n/ noun the 
point at which something is complete O 
Completion date for the new software pack- 
age is November 15th. 

complex /'kDmpleks/ adjective very com- 
plicated or difficult to understand O The com- 
plex mathematical formula was difficult to 
solve. 

complex instruction set computer 

/,kDmpleks in,strAkj3n ,set kam'pjuita/ 
noun full form of CISC 
complexity /kam'pleksiti/ noun being 
complicated 

compliant /kam'plaiant/ adjective that 
conforms to a particular set of standards O // 
you want to read PhotoCD compact discs in 
your computer you must be sure that the CD- 
ROM drive is PhotoCD or CD-ROM XA com- 
pliant. 

complicated /'kDmphkeitid/ adjective 
with many different parts or difficult to un- 
derstand O This program is very complicat- 
ed. 

component /kam'paonant/ noun 1. a 
piece of machinery or section which will be 
put into a final product 2. an electronic de- 
vice that produces an electrical signal 
Component Object Model /kam 
,p3on3nt 'Dbd3ekt ,mDd(3)l/ noun full 
form of COM 

component video /kam'paunant 
,vidi3u/ noun a method of transmitting video 
information, used in professional video sys- 
tems, that has separate signals for the lumi- 
nance and two chrominance channels to 
avoid interference 

COM port /'kern port/ noun same as 
COM1 

compose /kam'paoz/ verb to arrange the 
required type, in the correct order, prior to 
printing □ composing room room in a type- 
setters or in a newspaper, where the text is 
composed by compositors 



composite circuit 



54 



composite circuit /.kompazit 's3ikit/ 
noun an electronic circuit made up of a 
number of smaller circuits and components 
composite display /.kDmpazit di'splei/ 
noun a video display unit that accepts a sin- 
gle composite video signal and can display 
an infinite number of colours or shades of 
grey 

composite monitor /.kmnpazit 
'mDnita/ noun a colour monitor that receives 
one video signal from a graphics display 
adapter, which must then be electronically 
separated inside the monitor into the red, 
green and blue colour signals 
composite print /'kmnpazit print/ noun 
a copy of a film (called the print) that in- 
cludes both audio and visual effects (film) 
composite video /.kDmpazit 'vidiau/ 
noun a video signal that combines the colour 
signals and the monochrome signal into one 
single signal O Most TV set and video players 
expect a composite video feed. 

composite video signal /.knmpszit 

'vidiao ,sign(a)l/ noun a single television 
signal containing synchronising pulse and 
video signal in a modulated form 
composition /,kDmp3'ziJ(3)n/ noun the 
process of creating typeset text, either using 
metal type or by keyboarding on a computer 
typesetter □ composition size printing type 
size 

compositor /kam'pDzita/ noun a person 
who sets up the required type prior to printing 
compound device /.kmnpaund di'vais/ 
noun a Windows MCI multimedia device 
that requires a data file 
compound document /ktimpaond 
,dDkjum3nt/ noun a document that contains 
information created by several other applica- 
tions 

compound file /'kmnpaond fail/ noun a 
number of individual files grouped together 
in one file 

compound statement /.ktimpaond 
'steitmant/ noun a number of program in- 
structions in one line of program O The de- 
bugger cannot handle compound statements. 
compress /kam'pres/ verb to squeeze 
something to fit into a smaller space O Use 
the archiving program to compress thefde. 

compressed video /.kDmprest 'vidiau/ 
noun video signals that have been com- 
pressed to reduce the data rate required to 
transmit the information. Whereas a normal 
television picture is transmitted at around 
5090Mbits/second, a compressed video sig- 
nal can be transmitted at around one tenth of 
the data rate. 

compression /kam'prer^n/ noun the 
process of reducing the size of a file by en- 



coding the data in a more efficient form. For 
example, if the file contains five letter 'A's in 
line, which take up five bytes of space, the 
compression software could encode this to 
5A which takes two byes of space. 
compression ratio /k3m'prej(3)n 
,rei fiao/ noun a ratio of the size of an origi- 
nal, uncompressed file to the final, com- 
pressed file that has been more efficiently en- 
coded 

compressor /kam'presa/ noun 1. a pro- 
gram or device that provides data compres- 
sion 2. an electronic circuit which compress- 
es a signal 

comptometer /kDmp'tDmita/ noun a ma- 
chine which counts automatically 
CompuServe /'kDmpjuiS3iv/ an online 
service provider and information service 
computable /k3m'pju:t3b(3)l/ adjective 
which can be calculated 
computation /,kDmpju'teiJ(3)n/ noun a 
calculation 

computational /,kDmpjo'teir(3)n3l/ ad- 
jective referring to computation 
compute /kam'pjuit/ verb to calculate or 
to do calculations (especially when using a 
computer) O Connect charges were comput- 
ed on an hourly rate. 

computer /kam'pjuita/ noun a machine 
that receives or stores or processes data very 
quickly using a program kept in its memory 
computer- /kampjuita/ prefix referring to 
a computer 

computer-aided /kam.pjuits 'eidid/ ad- 
jective that uses a computer to make the work 
easier. Also called computer-assisted 
computer-aided design /kam.pjuitar 
,eidid di'zam/ noun full form of CAD 
computer-aided engineering /kom 
,pjuitar ,eidid l end3i'ni3nrj/nounuseof a 
computer to help an engineer solve problems 
or calculate design or product specifications. 
Full form of CAE 

computer-aided instruction /kom 
,pjuitar ,eidid m'strAkfan/ noun full form 
of CAI 

computer-aided learning /kam 
,pjuitar ,eidid 'l3imrj/ noun full form of 
CAL 

computer-aided manufacture /ksm 
,pjuitar ,eidid .maenju'faektja/ noun full 
form of CAM 

computer-aided testing /kam.pjuitar 
,eidid 'testirj/ noun full form of CAT 
computer-aided training /kam.pjuitar 
,eidid 'tremirj/ noun full form of CAT 
computer animation /k3m,pjuita ,asni 
'meij(3)n/ noun same as animation 



55 



computer-literate 



computer applications /kam.pjuita 

l aeph'keiJ(3)nz/ plural noun the tasks and 
uses that a computer can carry out in a partic- 
ular field or job 

computer-assisted /kam.pjuitar a 
'sistid/ adjective same as computer-aided 
computer-assisted design /kam 
,pju:t3r a.sistid di'zam/ noun full form of 
CAD 

computer-assisted engineering 
/k3m,pju:t3r 3,sistid ,end3i'ni3nrj/ noun 
full form of CAE 

computer-assisted instruction /karri 
,pju:tar 3,sistid m'strAkJan/ noun full 
form of CAI 

computer-assisted learning /kam 
,pju:t3r a,sistid 'kjinirj/ noun full form of 
CAL 

computer-assisted manufacture 
/k3m,pju:t3r a,sistid .maenjo'faektJV 
noun full form of CAM 
computer-assisted testing /kam 
,pju:t3r 3,sistid 'testirj/ noun full form of 
CAT 

computer-assisted training /karri 
,pju:t3r a.sistid 'tremirj/ nounfull form of 
CAT 

computer-based instruction /kam 
,pju:t3 beist m'strAkJXajn/ noun full form 
ofCBI 

computer-based learning /kam 
,pju:t3 beist m'strAkJXajn/ noun full form 
ofCBL 

computer-based message system 
/k3m,pju:t3 beist 'mesid3 ,sist3m/ noun 
full form of CBMS 

computer-based training /kam.pjuita 
beist 'tremirj/ noun full form of CBT 
computer code /kam'pjuita kaud/ noun 
a programming language that consists of 
commands in binary code that can be directly 
understood by the central processing unit, 
without the need for translation 
computer conferencing /kam,pju:ta 
'kDnf (a)ransirj/ noun the use of a number of 
computers or terminals connected together to 
allow a group of users to communicate 
computer crime /kam'pjuita kraim/ 
noun theft, fraud or other crimes involving 
computers 

computer dating /kam,pju:ta 'deitirj/ 
noun the use of a computer to match single 
people who may want to get married 
computer department /kam'pjuita di 
,paitmant/ noun a department in a company 
that manages the company's computers 
computer file /kam'pjuita fail/ noun a 
section of information on a computer, e.g. the 



payroll, list of addresses or customer ac- 
counts 

computer fraud /kam'pjuita froid/ 
noun the theft of data, dishonest use of data 
or other crimes involving computers 
computer generation /kam.pjuita 
,d3ena'rei J"(a)n/ noun any one in a series of 
classifications used to define the advances in 
the field of computing 
comment: The development of computers 
has been divided into a series of 'genera- 
tions'. The first generation consisted of 
computers constructed using valves and 
having limited storage. The second gener- 
ation of computers were constricted using 
transistors. The third generation used inte- 
grated circuits. The fourth generation, 
which includes the computers most often 
used at present, uses low-cost memory 
and IC packages. The fifth generation com- 
prises future computers using very fast 
processors, large memory, and allowing 
human input/output. 

computer graphics /kam.pjuita 
'graefiks/ plural noun information represent- 
ed graphically on a computer display 
computer graphics metafile /kam 
,pjuita ,graefiks 'metafail/ noun full form 
ofCGM 

computer illiterate /kam.pjuita i 
'litarat/ adjective unable to understand com- 
puter-related expressions or operations 
computer image processing /kom 
,pjuita 'imid3 ,pr30sesirj/ noun the analy- 
sis of information in an image, usually by 
electronic means or using a computer, also 
used for recognition of objects in an image 
computer input microfilm /kam 
,pjuita ,mpot 'maikraofilm/ noun full 
form of CIM 

computer-integrated manufacturing 
/k3m,pju:t3 ,mtigreitid .maenju 
'faekt jsrirj/ noun full form of CIM 
computerisation /k3m,pjuitarai 

'zeij(3)n/, computerization noun the proc- 
ess of introducing a computer system or of 
changing from a manual to a computer sys- 
tem O Computerisation of the financial sec- 
tor is proceeding very fast. 
computerise /kam'pjuitaraiz/, compu- 
terize verb to change from a manual system 
to one using computers O Our stock control 
has been completely computerised. 

computer literacy /kam.pjuits 
'ht(3)r3si/ noun understanding of the basic 
principles of computers, related expressions 
and concepts, and the ability to use comput- 
ers for programming or applications 
computer-literate /kam.pjuits 

'lit(3)ret/ adjective able to understand ex- 



computer-managed instruction 56 



pressions relating to computers and how to 
use a computer 

computer-managed instruction /ksm 
.pjuita ,maenid3d m'strAkfan/ noun the 
use of a computer to assist students in learn- 
ing a subject. Abbr CMI 
computer-managed learning /kam 
.pjuita ^aen^d 'l3inirj/ noun the use of a 
computer to teach students and assess their 
progress. Abbr CML 

computer network /kam^juita 
'netw3:k/ noun the shared use of a series of 
interconnected computers, peripherals and 
terminals 

computer numerical control /kom 

.pjuita nju: l menk(3)l kan'traul/ noun 

same as numerical control, full form of 

CNC 

computer operator /kam'pjuitar 

.Dpareita/ noun a person who operates a 

computer 

computer output on microfilm /kom 

.pjuitar ,aotput Dn 'maikraufilm/ noun 

full form of COM 

computer program /kam'pjuita 

^raograem/ noun a series of instructions to 

a computer, telling it to do a particular piece 

of work O The user cannot write a computer 

program with this system. 

computer programmer /kam.pjmts 
'prsograema/ noun a person who writes 
computer programs 

computer-readable /kam.pjuits 

'riid3b(3)l/ adjective which can be read and 
understood by a computer O computer-read- 
able codes 

computer science /kam.pjuita 'saians/ 
noun the scientific study of computers, the 
organisation of hardware and the develop- 
ment of software 

computer setting /ka'mpjuita .setirj/ 
noun the process of typesetting using a com- 
puterised typesetting machine 
computer virus /kam'pjuita .vairss/ 
noun a program which adds itself to an exe- 
cutable file and copies or spreads itself to 
other executable files each time an infected 
file is run. A virus can corrupt data, display a 
message or do nothing. 
computing /kam'pjuitirj/ adjective, noun 
referring to computers 
computing power /kam'pjuitirj ,paua/ 
noun a measure of the speed of a computer 
and its ability to perform calculations 
computing speed /kam'pjuitirj spiid/ 
noun the speed at which a computer calcu- 
lates 



CON /kDn/ noun (in IBM-PC compatible 
systems) a name used to identify the con- 
sole, i.e. the keyboard and monitor 
concatenate /kan'kaetaneit/ verb to join 
together two or more sets of data 
concatenation /k3n,kaet3'neij(3)n/ 
noun the joining together of two or more sets 
of data 

concatenation operator /kan.kaeta 
'neij(3)n .Dpareit a/ noun an instruction that 
joins two pieces of data or variables together 
concave lens /,kDnkeiv 'lenz/ noun a 
lens that is thinner in the centre than at the 
edges, bending light out 
conceal /kan'siil/ verb to hide information 
or graphics from a user, or not to display 
them O The hidden lines are concealed from 
view with this algorithm. 
concentrate /'kDnssntreit/ verb 1. to 
combine a number of lines or circuits or data 
to take up less space O The concentrated data 
was transmitted cheaply. 2. to focus a beam 
onto a narrow point 

concentrator /'kDnsantreits/ noun 1. (in 
a Token-Ring network) a device at the centre 
of a Token-Ring network, which provides a 
logical star topology in which nodes are con- 
nected to the concentrator, but which con- 
nects each arm of the star as a physical ring 
within the device 2. (in an FDDI network) a 
node which provides access for one or more 
stations to the network 3. (in an 10Base-T 
Ethernet network) the device at the centre of 
a star-topology lOBase-T Ethernet network 
that receives signals from one port and regen- 
erates them before sending them out to the 
other ports 4. (in general networking) a de- 
vice in which all the cables from nodes are 
interconnected 

conceptual model /kan.septjual 
'niDd(3)l/ noun a description of a database or 
program in terms of the data it contains and 
its relationships 

concertina fold /.konsa'tiins fsuld/ 
noun a method of folding continuous paper, 
one sheet in one direction, the next sheet in 
the opposite direction, allowing the paper to 
be fed into a printer continuously with no ac- 
tion on the part of the user. Same as accordi- 
on fold 

concurrency /kan'kArensi/ noun data or 
a resource that is accessed by more than one 
user or application at a time 
concurrent /kan'kArant/ adjective almost 
simultaneous (actions or sets) O Each con- 
current process has its own window. 
'The system uses parallel-processing technology 
to allow support for large numbers of concurrent 
users.' [Computing] 



57 



consecutively 



concurrently /kan'kArantli/ adverb run- 
ning at almost the same time. i> SISD, SIMD 
condenser lens /kan'densa lenz/ noun 
an optical device, usually made of glass, that 
concentrates a beam of light onto a certain 
area 

condition /k3n'dij(3)n/ verb to modify 
data that is to be transmitted so as to meet set 
parameters O Condition the raw data to a 
standard format. 

conditional /k3n'dij(3)n(3)l/ adjective 1. 
provided that certain things take place 2. re- 
ferring to a process that is dependent on the 
result of another 

conditional jump /kan'diJXa^mal 
d3Amp/ noun a programming instruction 
that provides ajump to a section of a program 
if a certain condition is met O The condition- 
al branch will select routine one if the re- 
sponse is yes and routine two if no. 
conduct /kan'dAkt/ verb to allow an elec- 
trical current to flow through a material O to 
conduct electricity 

conduction /kan'dAkJan/ noun the abili- 
ty of a material to conduct O The conduction 
of electricity by gold contacts. 
conductive /kan'dAktiv/ adjective refer- 
ring to the ability of a material to conduct 
conductor /kan'dAkta/ noun a substance 
such as a metal that conducts electricity O 
Copper is a good conductor of electricity. t> 
semiconductor 

conduit /'kDndjuit/ noun a protective pipe 
or channel for wires or cables O The cables 
from each terminal are channelled to the 
computer centre by metal conduit. 
cone /kaon/ noun the moving section in 
most loudspeakers 

conference /'kDnf(a)rans/ noun a meet- 
ing of people to discuss problems 
conferencing /'kt>nf(a)ransirj/ noun dis- 
cussion between remote users using comput- 
ers linked by a modem or a network 
'Small organisations and individuals find it con- 
venient to use online services, offering email, 
conferencing and information services.' [Com- 
puting] 

confidence /'kDnfid(a)ns/ noun feeling 
sure or being certain O The sales teams do 
not have much confidence in their manager. 
O The board has total confidence in the new 
system. 

confidence level /'kDnfid(a)ns ,lev(a)l/ 
noun the likelihood that a particular number 
will lie within a range of values 
confident /'kDnf id(a)nt/ adjective certain 
or sure O / am confident the sales will in- 
crease rapidly. O Are you confident the sales 
team is capable of handling this product? 



confidential /.kDnfi'denfal/ adjective se- 
cret O a confidential report on the new prod- 
uct 

CONFIG.SYS /kan'fig sis/ noun (in MS- 
DOS) a configuration text file that contains 
commands to set parameters and load driver 
software. This file is read automatically once 
the PC is switched on and the operating sys- 
tem has loaded. O If you add a new adapter 
card to your PC, you will have to add a new 
command to the CONFIG.SYS file. 
configuration /k3n,figj3'reij(3)n/ noun 
the way in which the hardware and software 
of a computer system are planned and set up 
'He said only Banyan Vines had the network con- 
figuration and administration capabilities re- 
quired for implementing an international busi- 
ness plan based on client-server computing.' 
[Computing] 
configure /kan'figa/ verb to select hard- 
ware, software and interconnections to make 
up a special system O This terminal has been 
configured to display graphics. 
configured-in /kan,figad 'ml adjective 
referring to a device whose configuration 
state indicates that it is ready and available 
for use 

confirm /kan'f3im/ verb action to indicate 
that you agree with a particular action O 
Click on the OK button to confirm that you 
want to delete all your files. 
conform /kan'faim/ verb to work accord- 
ing to set rules O The software will not run if 
it does not conform to the operating system 
standards. 

congestion /kan^est Jan/ noun a state 
that occurs when communication or process- 
ing demands are greater than the capacity of 
a system 

connect /ka'nekt/ verb to link together 
two points in a circuit or communications 
network 

connection /ka'nekTan/ noun a link or 
something which joins 
connectivity /.kmiek'tiviti/ noun the 
ability of a device to connect with other de- 
vices and transfer information 
connector /ka'nekt a/ noun a physical de- 
vice with a number of metal contacts that al- 
low devices to be easily linked together O 
The connector at the end of the cable will fit 
any standard serial port. 
consecutive /kan'sekjottv/ adjective 
following one after another O The computer 
ran three consecutive files. 
consecutively /ka'sekjottvhV adverb 
one after the other O The sections of the pro- 
gram run consecutively. 

Conseil Europeen pour la Recher- 
che Nucleaire noun full form of CERN 



consistency check 



58 



consistency check /kan'sistansi tjek/ 
noun a check to make sure that objects, data 
or items conform to their expected formats 
console /'kDnsaol/ noun a unit consisting 
of a keyboard, VDU, and usually a printer, 
which allows an operator to communicate 
with a computer system O The console con- 
sists of input device such as a keyboard, and 
an output device such as a printer or CRT. t) 
CON 

constant /'kDnstant/ noun an item of data 
whose value does not change. Opposite vari- 
able ■ adjective which does not change O 
The disk drive motor spins at a constant ve- 
locity. 

constant linear velocity /.ktmstant 
,lmia va'lDsiti/ noun full form of CLV 
constrain /kan'strem/ verb to set limits 
that define the maximum movement of an ob- 
ject on screen 

construct /kan'strAkt/ verb to build or to 
make (a device or a system) 
construction /kan'strAkfan/ noun the 
building or making of a system O Construc- 
tion of the prototype is advancing rapidly. 
consult /kan'sAlt/ verb to ask an expert for 
advice O He consulted the maintenance man- 
ager about the disk fault. 
consultancy /kan'sAltansi/ noun the act 
of giving specialist advice O a consultancy 
firm O He offers a consultancy service. 
consultant /kan'sAltant/ noun a special- 
ist who gives advice O They called in a com- 
puter consultant to advise them on the system 
design. 

consumables /kan'sju:mab(a)lz/ plural 
noun small cheap extra items required in the 
day-to-day running of a computer system, 
e.g. paper and printer ribbons O Put all the 
printer leads and paper with the other con- 
sumables. 

consumer market /kan'sjuima 
,maikit/ noun the potential market for a 
product that is based on the general public 
buying advertised products from a shop rath- 
er than a specialist or academic market 
consumption /kan'sAmpJan/ noun the 
act of buying or using goods or services 
(note: no plural) 

contact /'ktmtaekt/ noun the section of a 
switch or connector that provides an electri- 
cal path when it touches another conductor O 
The circuit is not working because the con- 
tact is dirty. ■ verb to try to call a user or de- 
vice in a network 

contact image sensor /.ktmtaekt 
'imid3 ,sensa/ noun full form of CIS 
contain /kan'tem/ verblo hold something 
inside O Each carton contains two computers 
and their peripherals. 



container /kan'tema/ noun 1. a box or 
bottle or can, etc. which can hold goods O 
The ink is sold in strong metal containers. O 
The container burst while it was being load- 
ed. 2. a very large metal case of a standard 
size for loading and carrying goods on 
trucks, trains and ships O container ship O 
container port O container terminal O to 
ship goods in containers 3. something that 
can be set to a value; e.g., a variable is a con- 
tainer, as is an object's colour or position or 
other properties 

containerisation /kan,temarai 

'zeij(a)n/, containerization noun the proc- 
ess of putting into containers, or carrying 
goods in containers 

containerize /kan'temaraiz/ verb to put 
goods into containers; to ship goods in con- 
tainers 

content /'kDntent/ noun information, ide- 
as, text, images or data that form a letter, doc- 
ument, web page, database or book 
content-addressable addressing 
/,kDntent a,dresab(a)l a'dresirj/ noun 
same as associative addressing 
contention /kan'tenjan/ noun a situation 
that occurs when two or more devices are try- 
ing to communicate with the same piece of 
equipment 

content provider /'kDntent pra,vaida/ 
noun a company that supplies information, 
e.g. text, news stories, images, video, soft- 
ware, for a publication in a website or other 
medium 

contents /'kDntents/ plural noun things 
contained or what is inside something O The 
contents of the bottle poured out onto the 
computer keyboard. 

context /'kDntekst/ noun words and 
phrases among which a word is used O The 
example shows how the word is used in con- 
text. 

context-sensitive /,kt>ntekst 'sensitiv/ 
adjective that relates to the particular context 
context-sensitive help /,kDntekst 
,sensitiv 'help/ noun a help message that 
gives useful information about the particular 
function or part of the program you are in 
rather than general information about the 
whole program 

context-switching /'kontekst ,switjirj/ 
noun a process in which several programs are 
loaded in memory, but only one at a time can 
be executed 
comment: Unlike a true multitasking sys- 
tem which can load several programs into 
memory and run several programs at once, 
context-switching only allows one program 
to be run at a time. 



59 



conversion 



contiguous 

which touches 



/kan'ttgjoas/ adjective 



'If you later edit the file again, some of the new 
data clusters will not be contiguous with the orig- 
inal clusters but spread around the disk.' [Com- 
puting] 

contiguous graphics /ksn.tigjiras 

'graeftks/ plural noun graphic cells or char- 
acters which touch each other O Most display 
units do not provide contiguous graphics: 
their characters have a small space on each 
side to improve legibility. 
contingency plan /k3n'tmd33nsi plaen/ 
noun a secondary plan that will be used if the 
first fails to work 

continual /kan'tmjual/ adjective which 
happens again and again O The continual 
system breakdowns have slowed down the 
processing. 

continually /kan'tmjuali/ adverb again 
and again 

continuation /kan.tinju'eiJXa^m/ noun 
the act of continuing 

continue /kan'tmjui/ verb to go on doing 
something or to do something which you 
were doing earlier 

continuity /.kDnti'njunti/ noun 1. a clear 
conduction path between two points 2. the 
process of checking that the details of one 
scene in a film continue into the next scene to 
be shown, even if the two have been shot at 
different times 

continuous /kan'tmjoas/ adjective with 
no end or with no breaks; which goes on 
without stopping 

continuously /kan'tmjuasli/ adverb 
without stopping O The printer overheated 
after working continuously for five hours. 
continuous tone /kan'tmjoas taon/ 
noun an image such as a photograph that uses 
all possible values of grey or colours, 
contouring /'kDntuanrj/ noun 1. (in a 
graphics application) a process that converts 
a wire-frame drawing into a solid-looking 
object by adding shadows and texture 2. (in a 
graphics application) a function that creates 
realistic-looking ground, e.g. in a virtual-re- 
ality system, or a surface 
contrast noun /'kDntraist/ 1. the differ- 
ence between black and white or between 
colours O The control allows you to adjust 
brightness and contrast. 2. a control knob on 
a display that alters the difference between 
black and white tones or between colours ■ 
verb /kan'traist/ to examine the differences 
between two sets of information O The old 
data was contrasted with the latest informa- 
tion. 



contrasting /kan'traistirj/ adjective 
which show a sharp difference O a cover de- 
sign in contrasting colours 

contrast setting /kDntraist .setirj/ 
noun TV contrast control position 
control /kan'traol/ verb to be in charge of 
something or to make sure that something is 
kept in check ■ noun 1 . the process of re- 
stricting or checking something or making 
sure that something is kept in check 2. condi- 
tional program statements 3. a key on a com- 
puter keyboard which sends a control charac- 
ter 4. power or being able to direct something 
O The company is under the control of three 
directors. O The family lost control of its 
business. 

controllable /kan'traulabta)!/ adjective 
which can be controlled 
controller /kan'traob/ noun a hardware 
or software device that controls a peripheral 
such as a printer, or that monitors and directs 
the data transmission over a local area net- 
work 
'...a printer's controller is the brains of the ma- 
chine. It translates the signals coming from your 
computer into printing instructions that result in a 
hard copy of your electronic document' [Publish] 
control panel /kan'traul ,paen(a)l/ noun 
1 . a panel with indicators and switches that 
allows an operator to monitor and control the 
actions of a computer or peripheral 2. a utili- 
ty that displays the user-definable options 
such as keyboard, country-code and type of 
mouse 

control unit /kan'traul Jumit/ noun the 
section of the CPU which selects and exe- 
cutes instructions 

conventional memory /Ron 

,venj(a)n(3)l 'mem(3)ri/ noun (in an IBM- 
PC compatible system) the random access 
memory region installed in a PC from up to 
640Kb. This area of memory can be directly 
controlled by MS-DOS. Compare high 
memory, expanded memory 
convergence /k3n'v3id33ns/ noun 1. the 
combination of two or more different tech- 
nologies producing a new technology. For 
example, fax machines are the product of the 
convergence of telephone, scanning and 
printing technologies. 2. (in a colour 
monitor) the accuracy with which the picture 
beam strikes the three colour dots that form 
each colour pixel ► (> picture beam, pixel 
conversational mode /,kDnva 
'seij(3)n(3)l maud/ noun a method of oper- 
ating that provides immediate responses to a 
user's input. i> interactive mode. Compare 
batch mode 

conversion /k3n'v3i.[(3)n/ noun a change 
from one system to another 



conversion tables 



60 



conversion tables /kan'v3:f(a)n 

,teib(3)lz/ plural noun a list of source codes 
or statements and their equivalent in another 
language or form O Conversion tables may 
be created and used in conjunction with the 
customer's data to convert it to our system 
codes. Also called translation tables 
convert /k3n'v3it/ verb to change one 
thing into another 

converter /kan'v3it3/ noun a device or 
program that translates data from one form to 
another O The converter allowed the old data 
to be used on the new system. 
convertibility /k3n,v3it3'bil3ti/ noun 
ability to be changed 

convertible /k3n'v3it3b(3)l/ adjective 
that can be converted 

COnvertor /kan'v3it3/ noun another spell- 
ing of converter 

convex lens /.kDnveks 'lenz/ noun a lens 
that is thicker in the centre than the edges, 
bending light in 

convey /kan'vei/ verb to carry or import 
information O The chart conveyed the sales 
problem graphically. 

conveyor /kan'veia/ noun a method of 
carrying paper using a moving belt 
COOkie /'kuki/ noun a tiny file that is stored 
on your computer when you connect to a re- 
mote Internet site using a browser. The cook- 
ie is used by the remote site to store informa- 
tion about your options which can then be 
read when you next visit the site. 
COOkie file /'kuki fail/ noun a file that con- 
tains the cookie data supplied by the remote 
Internet site 

cooperative processing /kau 
,t>p(3)r3tiv 'prsosesirj/ noun a system in 
which two or more computers in a distributed 
network can each execute a part of a program 
or work on a particular set of data 
coordinate /kao'oidmat/ verb to organise 
complex tasks, so that they fit together effi- 
ciently O She has to coordinate the keyboard- 
ing of several parts of a file in six different lo- 
cations. 

coordination /k3u,Didi'neiJ(3)n/ noun 
the process of organising complex tasks 
copperplate printing /.kopa.pleit 
' print irj/ noun a printing method that uses a 
copper plate on which the image is etched 
coprocessor /kao'praosess/ noun an ex- 
tra, specialised processor, e.g. an array or nu- 
merical processor, that can work with a main 
CPU to increase execution speed 
'Inmos is hiring designers to create highly inte- 
grated transputers and co-processors for diverse 
computer and telecoms systems.' [Computing] 
copy /'krjpi/ noun 1. a document which 
looks the same as another; duplicate of an 



original 2. a document ■ verbto make a sec- 
ond document which is like the first, or to du- 
plicate original data O He copied all the per- 
sonnel files at night and took them home. 
copy protect /,kt>pi prs'tekt/ noun a 
switch that prevents copies of a disk being 
made 

copy protection /'kDpi pra.tekfsn/ 
noun the act of preventing copies from being 
made O A hard disk may crash because of 
copy protection. 

copyright /'kDpirait/ verbto state the cop- 
yright of a written work by printing a copy- 
right notice and publishing the work ■ adjec- 
tive covered by the laws of copyright O It is 
illegal to take copies of a copyright work. 
copyrighted /'kDpiraitid/ adjective in 
copyright 

copy typing /'kt>pi .taipirj/ noun the 
process of typing documents from handwrit- 
ten originals, not from dictation (note: no 
plural) 

CORAL /'kDpi/ noun a computer program- 
ming language used in a real-time system. 
Full form common real-time applications 
language 

cord /koid/ noun a wire used to connect a 
device to a socket 

cordless telephone /,ko:dbs tehfaun/ 
noun a telephone which is not connected to a 
line by a cord, but which uses a radio link 
core /koi/ noun the central conducting sec- 
tion of a cable 

coresident /k3u'rezid(3)nt/ adjective re- 
ferring to two or more programs that are 
stored in the main memory at the same time 
corona /ka'rsona/ noun an electric dis- 
charge that is used to charge the toner within 
a laser printer 

corporate video /,ko:p(3)ret 'vidiau/ 
noun a video produced for internal training 
or as a publicity tool for a company and not 
intended to be broadcast 
correct /ka'rekt/ adjective accurate or 
right ■ verb to remove mistakes from some- 
thing 

correction /ka'rekj(3)n/ noun the process 
of making something correct; a change 
which makes something correct 
corrective maintenance /ka,rektiv 
'memtanans/ noun actions to trace, find and 
repair a fault after it has occurred 
correspond /.kDri'sptmd/ verb 1. □ to 
correspond with someone to write letters to 
someone 2. □ to correspond with some- 
thing to fit or to match something 
correspondence /.kDn'spondans/ noun 
1 . letters and messages sent from one person 
to another (note: no plural) □ business cor- 



61 



cnspener 



respondence letters concerned with a busi- 
ness □ to be in correspondence with some- 
one to write letters to someone and receive 
letters back 2. the way in which something 
fits in with something 

correspondent ^kDn'spDndant/ noun 
1 . a person who writes letters 2. a journalist 
who writes articles for a newspaper on spe- 
cialist subjects O the computer correspond- 
ent O the 'Times' business correspondent O 
He is the Paris correspondent of the 'Tele- 
graph '. 

corrupt /ka'rApt/ adjective that contains 
errors ■ verb to introduce errors into data or 
a program O Power loss during disk access 
can corrupt the data. 

cost per action /,kt>st p3i 'aekfsn/ full 
form of CPA 

CO.uk a domain name suffix that indicates a 
business based in the UK O The Peter Collin 
Publishing domain name is 'pcp.co.uk' r> do- 
main 

coulomb /'kuilrjm/ noun the SI unit of 
electrical charge 

count /kaunt/ verb 1 . to add figures togeth- 
er to make a total O He counted up the sales 
for the six months to December. 2. to include 
O Did you count the sales of software as part 
of the home sales figures? 
counter /'kaunta/ noun 1 . a device which 
counts O The loop will repeat itself until the 
counter reaches 100. 2. a register or variable 
whose contents are increased or decreased by 
a set amount every time an action occurs O 
The number of items changed are recorded 
with the counter. 

counting perforator /,kaontirj 
'paifareita/ noun a paper tape punch, used 
in typesetting, that keeps a record of the char- 
acters, their widths, etc., to allow justification 
operations 

country file /'kAntri fail/ noun a file with- 
in an operating system that defines the pa- 
rameters, e.g. character set and keyboard lay- 
out, for different countries 
couple /'kAp(a)l/ verb to join together O 
The two systems are coupled together. 
coupler /'kApb/ noun 1. a mechanical de- 
vice that is used to connect three or more 
conductors 2. a chemical that forms a dye 
when it reacts with another substance in a 
copying machine 

Courier /'kuria/ noun a fixed-space or 
monospace typeface 

courseware /'koiswea/ noun the soft- 
ware, manuals and video that make up a 
training package or CAL product 
coverage /'kAv(3)nd3/ noun the size of 
the potential audience capable of receiving a 
broadcast O the company had good media 



coverage for the launch of its new model □ 
press coverage, media coverage reports 
about something in the newspapers or on TV, 
etc. O the company had good media coverage 
for the launch of its new model 
cp noun a UNIX command to make a copy 
of a file 

CPA noun the cost of displaying a banner 
advertisement once to one visitor to a web- 
site. Full form cost per action. i> banner 
cpi /, sii pii 'ai/ abbr characters per inch 
CPM abbr critical path method 
cps /,sii pii 'es/ abbr characters per second 
CPU /,si: pii 'jui/ noun a group of circuits 
that performs the basic functions of a compu- 
ter. The CPU is made up of three parts, the 
control unit, the arithmetic and logic unit and 
the input/output unit. Full form central 
processing unit 

CR abbr 1 . card reader 2. carriage return 
crab /kraeb/ verb move a camera or micro- 
phone sideways (film) 

crane /krem/ noun a large camera stand 
which holds the camera operator and camera 
(film) t) dolly 

crash /kra;JV noun a failure of a component 
or a bug in a program during a run, which 
halts and prevents further use of the system ■ 
verb to come to an sudden stop (of a compu- 
ter or program) O The disk head has crashed 
and the data may have been lost. 
comment: It is sometimes possible to re- 
cover data from a crashed hard disk before 
reformatting, if the crash was caused by a 
bad sector on the disk rather than contact 
between the r/w head and disk surface. 

crash-protected /'kra?J pra.tektid/ ad- 
jective that uses a head protection or data cor- 
ruption protection system O If the disk is 
crash-protected, you will never lose your da- 
ta. 

crawl /krail/ noun a mechanical device that 
moves television or film titles down in front 
of a camera, to give the impression that they 
are moving up the screen 
crawling title ^kroilirj 'tart (3)1/ noun a 
line of titles moving across the screen (film) 
CRC abbr 1. cyclic redundancy check 2. 
camera ready copy 

create /kri'eit/ verb to make O A new file 
was created on disk to store the document. 
crew /krui/ noun a group of technical staff 
who work together (as on filming a TV pro- 
gramme, recording an outside broadcast, 
etc.) O the camera crew had to film all day in 
the snow 

crispener /'krisp(3)n3/ noun an electronic 
device used to sharpen the edges of objects in 
an image (film) 



critical error 



62 



critical error /,kntik(3)l 'era/ noun an er- 
ror that stops processing or crashes the com- 
puter 
critical fusion frequency /,kritik(a)l 

'fju:3(3)n .friikwansi/ noun (on a video, 
computer or film screen) the rate of display 
of frames of graphics or text that makes them 
appear flicker-free 

critical path analysis /,kntik(a)I 'pai9 

a.naebsis/ noun the definition of tasks or 

jobs and the time each requires arranged in 

order to achieve certain goals. Also called 

PERT - Program Evaluation and Review 

Techniques. 

'Surprisingly, critical path analysis and project 

management, frequently the next career step for 

engineers, did not seem to warrant a mention.' 

[Computing] 

critical path method /,kntik(a)l pai9 
,me93d/ noun the use of analysis and the 
projection of each critical step in a large 
project to help a management team. Abbr 
CPM 

CR/LF abbr carriage return/line feed 
crop /krDp/ verb 1. to reduce the size or 
margins of an image 2. to cut out a rectangu- 
lar section of an image 
crop mark /'krDp maik/ noun (in DTP 
software) one of the printed marks that show 
the edge of a page or image and allow it to be 
cut accurately 

cropping /'kropirj/ noun the removal of 
areas of artwork or of a photograph which are 
not needed O The photographs can be edited 
by cropping, sizing, touching up, etc. 
cross- /kros/ prefix running from one side 
to another 

cross-platform /,krt)s 'plaetfomi/ adjec- 
tive available for more than one type of com- 
puter or operating system 
cross-reference /,kros 'ref(3)r3ns/ 
noun a reference in a document to another 
part of the document ■ verb to make a refer- 
ence to another part of the document O The 
SI units are cross-referenced to the appendix. 
crosstalk /'krostaik/ noun interference 
between two communication cables or chan- 
nels 

CRT /,si: a: 'ti:/ noun a device used for dis- 
playing characters, figures or graphical infor- 
mation, similar to a TV set. Full form cath- 
ode ray tube 
comment: CRTs are used in television 
sets, computer monitors, and VDUs. A 
CRT consists of a vacuum tube, one end of 
which is flat and coated with phosphor, the 
other end containing an electron beam 
source. Characters or graphics are visible 
when the controllable electron beam 
strikes the phosphor, causing it to glow. 



cruncher, crunching noun » number 
cruncher, number crunching 
cryogenic memory /,krai3od3enik 
'mem(3)ri/ noun a storage medium operat- 
ing at very low temperatures of around 4°K to 
use the superconductive properties of a mate- 
rial 

cryptanalysis /.knpta'naebsis/ noun the 
study and methods of breaking ciphers 
cryptographic /.krtpta'graefik/ adjec- 
tive referring to cryptography 
cryptography /.krip'tDgrafi/ noun the 
study of encryption and decryption methods 
and techniques 

crystal /'kristal/ noun a small slice of 
quartz crystal which vibrates at a certain fre- 
quency, used as a very accurate clock signal 
for computer or other high precision timing 
applications 

crystal shutter printer /,krist(a)I , jAta 
'prints/ noun a page printer that uses a pow- 
erful light controlled by a liquid crystal dis- 
play to produce an image on a photo-sensi- 
tive drum 

CSMA-CA/,si: es em si: 'ei/ noun a meth- 
od of controlling access to a network not cov- 
ered by OSI standards, but used in AppleTalk 
networks. Full form carrier sense multiple 
access-collision avoidance 
CSMA-CD /,si: es em sii 'di:/ noun a net- 
work communications protocol that prevents 
two sources transmitting at the same time by 
waiting for a quiet moment, then attempting 
to transmit. It is used to control data trans- 
mission over an Ethernet network. Full form 
carrier sense multiple access-collision 
detection 

CSS abbr cascading style sheet 
CTM /.si: ti: 'em/ noun a method of charg- 
ing an advertiser for the display of a banner 
advertisement, where the price covers one 
thousand visitors clicking on the advertise- 
ment and jumping to the advertiser's own 
website. Full form click through per thou- 
sand 

CTR 1 /kan'traol/ noun the number of visi- 
tors who click on a banner advertisement on 
a website and jump to the advertiser's own 
website. Full form click through rate, f) 
CTM (note: A click through rate of just a few 
percent is common, and most advertisers 
have to pay per thousand impressions of 
their banner ad.) 

CTR 2 /kan'traol/, CTRL, Ctrl noun the 
control key, or a key on a computer terminal 
that sends a control character to the computer 
when pressed 

CTS /,si: ti: 'es/ noun an RS232C signal in- 
dicating that a line or device is ready for data 
transmission. Full form clear to send 



CU abbr control unit 

CUA noun a standard for a user interface, 
originally developed by IBM, now followed 
by most software developers. Full form com- 
mon user access 

Cue /kj ui/ noun 1 . a prompt or message dis- 
played on a screen to remind the user that an 
input is expected 2. a command or signal for 
a pre-planned event to commence (film) 
CUG /,sii ju: 'd^h/ noun entry to a database 
or bulletin board system that is restricted to 
certain known and registered users, usually 
by means of a password. Full form closed 
user group 

cumulative index /,kjuimjolativ 
'indeks/ noun an index made up from sever- 
al different indexes 

cumulative trauma disorder 
/,kjuimjol3tiv 'troima dis,oida/ noun 
same as repetitive strain injury 
Current /'kArant/ adjective referring to the 
present time ■ noun the movement of 
charge-carrying particles in a conductor 
comment: Mains electricity provides a 
240v AC supply at 50Hz in the UK and 
120vat60HzintheUSA. 

Cursor /'k3isa/ noun a marker on a display 
device which shows where the next character 
will appear 
'Probably the most exciting technology demon- 
strated was ScreenCam, which allows users to 
combine voice, cursor movement and on-screen 
activities into a movie which can be replayed.' 
[Computing] 

1 ... further quick cursor movements are available 
for editing by combining one of the arrow keys 
with the control function' [Personal 
Computer World] 

comment: Cursors can take several forms, 
including a square of bright light, a bright 
underline, or a flashing light. 

cursor resource /'k3isa n.zois/ noun an 
image that is displayed as a cursor (note: 
Programming languages and authoring 
tools normally provide a range of different 
cursor images that a developer can use, for 
example an egg-timer cursor when waiting 
or an arrow when pointing.) 
custom-built /'kAStam bilt/ adjective 
made specially for one customer 
custom colours /,kAStam 'kAbz/ plural 
noun a range of colours in a palette that are 
used by an image or application. i> system 
palette 

Customer /'kAStama/ noun a person who 
buys or uses a computer system or any pe- 
ripherals 

customise /'kAstamaiz/, customize 
verb to modify a system to the customer's re- 
quirements O We used customised computer 



63 cybercafe 

terminals, (note: customises - customis- 
ing - customised) 

Cut /kAt/ noun 1 . the process of removing a 
piece from a file 2. a piece removed from a 
file ■ verb to remove sections of text from a 
file to make it shorter (note: cutting - cut) 
cut and paste /,kAt an 'peist/ noun the 
action of taking a section of text or data from 
one point and inserting it at another, often 
used in word-processors and DTP packages 
for easy page editing 

cutaway shot /'kAta.wei Jot/ noun (film) 
1 . an action shot that is not part of the main 
action but is connected to it and occurs at the 
same time 2. a camera movement away from 
the principal interest in a television interview, 
the interviewee, to the interviewer 
Cut Off /,kAt 'rjf/ verb to remove part of 
something O Six metres of paper were cut off 
the reel. 

cutoff /'kAtof/ adjective point at which 
(something) stops 

cutoff frequency /'kAtof .friikwansi/ 
noun the frequency at which the response of 
a device drops off 

Cutter /'kAta/ noun a film editor who de- 
cides which scenes are to be kept and in 
which order, and which are to be discarded 
(film) 

cutting /'kAtirj/ noun the action of cutting 
cutting room /'kAtirj ruim/ noun a room 
in a film studio where the unedited film is cut 
and joined together 

CWP abbr communicating word processor 
cXML /si: eks em 'el/ nouna feature of the 
XML webpage markup language that pro- 
vides a standard way of producing pages 
about products for sale on an online shop 
(note: The new features allow designers to 
include information about the product being 
displayed and how it can be purchased by 
the viewer.) 

Cyan /'saian/ noun the complimentary col- 
our to red, which is blue-green (film) 
cyan-magenta-yellow-black /,saian 
magenta 'jelau/ noun full form of CMYK 
Cyber- /saiba/ prefix computers and infor- 
mation systems 

Cyber age /'saiba eid3/ noun the present 
age, considered as a period in which compu- 
ter technology and electronic communica- 
tions have become more important and more 
widely used 

cybercafe /' saiba ,kaefei/ noun a place 
that provides a shop with terminals connect- 
ed to the Internet as well as coffee and pas- 
tries 



cyberlaw 64 

cyberlaw /'satbabi/ noun the set of laws 
that relate to computers, information systems 
and networks, considered as a body 
cybernetics /.satba'nettks/ noun the 
study of the mechanics of human or electron- 
ic machine movements, and the way in which 
electronic devices can be made to work and 
imitate human actions 

Cyberspace /'saibaspeis/ noun the world 
in which computers and people interact, nor- 
mally via the Internet 

cybersquatting /'saiba.skwDtirj/ noun 
act by which someone registers a website ad- 
dress, normally a trademark or brand name, 
then tries to sell the name to the rightful own- 
er (note: Although not yet illegal in most 
countries, court cases almost always find in 
favour of the company trying to recover its 
name. For example if you registered the do- 
main name 'windows.com' then tried to sell 
this back to Microsoft Corp. you would be 
guilty of cybersquatting.) 
cyberterrorism /'saib3,teranz(a)nV 
noun terrorist activities that use the Internet 
to damage complex electronic systems or the 
data they contain 
'There were some instances of war-related hack- 
ing over the past few weeks, but nothing that 
would be considered cyberterrorism.' 
[The Guardian] 



cyberwoozling /'saib3,wu:z(a)lirj/ noun 
the practice of gathering data from the com- 
puter of a visitor to a website without his or 
her knowledge or authorisation 
Cycle /'satk(3)l/ noun 1 . the period of time 
when something leaves its original position 
and then returns to it 2. one completed oper- 
ation in a repeated process 
cyclic /'sikhk, 'saiklik/ adjective that is 
repeated regularly 

cyclic redundancy check /.sikhk n 
'dAndansi ,tjek/ noun an error detection 
check used in modem communications and 
many file transfer protocols that looks at one 
bit in every n bits and compares this with the 
original to see if an error has occurred in the 
last n bits. Abbr CRC 

cyclorama ^saiklao'raima/ noun a large, 
curved, white backdrop positioned at the 
back of a stage or set (film) 
cylinder /'silmda/ noun 1. a group of 
tracks on a disk 2. the tracks in a multi-disk 
device that can be accessed without moving 
the read/write head 

cylindrical /si'lindnk(3)l/ adjective 
shaped like a cylinder 

cypher /'saifa/ noun another spelling of ci- 
pher 



D1 videotape noun a 19mm videotape 
format used for professional, digital record- 
ings 

DA abbr desk accessory 
DAC /,di: ei 'sii/ noun a circuit that outputs 
an analog signal that is proportional to the in- 
put digital number, and so converts a digital 
input to an analog form O Speech is output 
from the computer via a D/A converter. Full 
form digital to analog converter. Also 
called D to A converter, d/a converter 
d/a converter /,dii tu ei k3n'v3ita/ noun 
same as DAC 

DAD noun a method of recording sound by 
converting and storing signals in a digital 
form on magnetic disk. Full form digital au- 
dio disk 

daemon /'dkman/ noun (in a UNIX sys- 
tem) a utility program that performs its job 
automatically without the knowledge of the 
user 

daisy Chain /'deizi t Jem/ noun a method 
of connecting equipment with a single cable 
passing from one machine or device to the 
next, rather than separate cables to each de- 
vice 

damage /'daemid3/ verb to harm O The 
faulty read/write head appears to have dam- 
aged the disks. 

DAO /,dii ei 'au/ noun a programming inter- 
face provided with many of Microsoft's data- 
base applications that allow the developer to 
access Jet or ODBC compatible data sources. 
Full form data access objects 
darkroom /'daikruim/ noun a special 
room with no light, where photographic film 
can be developed 

dark trace tube /,daik 'treis ,tjuib/ 
noun a CRT with a dark image on a bright 
background 

dash /daej/ noun a short line in printing 
DASH noun a sound tape recording system 
(film) Full form digital audio stationary 
head 

DAT /,di: ei 'til/ noun a compact cassette, 
smaller than an audio cassette, that provides 
a system of recording sound as digital infor- 
mation onto magnetic tape with very high- 
quality reproduction. Full form digital au- 
dio tape (note: It is also used as a high-ca- 
pacity tape backup system that can store 
1 .3 GB of data; sound is recorded at a sam- 



ple rate of either 32, 44.1 or 48 KHz to pro- 
vide up to two hours of CD-quality sound.) 
data /'deita/ noun a collection of facts 
made up of numbers, characters and sym- 
bols, stored on a computer in such a way that 
it can be processed by the computer 
comment: Data is different from informa- 
tion in that it is facts stored in machine- 
readable form. When the facts are proc- 
essed by the computer into a form that can 
be understood by people, the data be- 
comes information. 
data access objects /.deita 'aekses 
.Dbjekts/ plural noun full form of DAO 
data analysis /,deita a'naelasis/ noun the 
process of extracting information and results 
from data 

databank /'deitabaerjk/ noun 1. a large 
amount of data stored in a structured form 2. 
a store of personal records in a computer 
database /'dettabeis/ noun an integrated 
collection of files of data stored in a struc- 
tured form in a large memory, which can be 
accessed by one or more users at different 
terminals 
'This information could include hypertext refer- 
ences to information held within a computer da- 
tabase, or spreadsheet formulae.' [Computing] 

database administrator /.dettabeis od 
'mmtstretta/ noun full form of DBA 
database management system 

/,deit3bets 'maenid3m3nt .sistam/, data- 
base manager /,deit3beis 'm£enid33/ 
noun full form of DBMS 
database server /.deitabets S3iv3/ 
noun a piece of database management soft- 
ware that runs on a server computer on a net- 
work and is used in a client-server system 
(note: The user works with client software 
that formats and displays data that is re- 
trieved by the server software.) 
database system /'dettsbeis .sistam/ 
noun a series of programs that allows the 
user to create, modify, manage and use a da- 
tabase and that often includes features such 
as a report writer or graphical output of data 
data bus connector /.derta 'bAs ka 
,nekta/ noun full form of DB connector 
data capture /'deita ,kaept JV noun the 
act of obtaining data, either by keyboarding 
or scanning, or often automatically from a re- 
cording device or peripheral O In July this 
year it signed a two-year outsourcing and 



data carrier detect 



66 



disaster-recovery deal ... for the operation 
and management of its Birmingham-based 
data-capture facility. [Computing] 

data carrier detect /.deita .kaeria di 

'tekt/ noun full form of DCD 

data cleaning /'deits .kliinirj/ noun the 

process of removing errors from data 

data communications /,deita ka 

,mjuini'keij(3)nz/ noun the transmission 

and reception of data rather than speech or 

images 

data communications equipment 

/,deit3 k3 l mjuim'keij(3)nz i,kwipni3nt/ 

noun equipment, e.g. a modem, that receives 

or transmits data. Abbr DCE 

data compression /.deita kam 

'prej(a)n/ noun a means of reducing the size 

of blocks of data by removing spaces, empty 

sections and unused material 

data corruption /'derts ka,rApJ(3)n/ 

noun the introduction of errors into data 

through noise or faulty equipment O Data 

corruption occurs each time the motor is 

switched on. 

data delimiter /'delta dii.hmita/ noun a 

special symbol or character that marks the 

end of a file or data item 

data description language /,deita di 

'skripjan ,kerjgwid3/ noun full form of 

DDL 

data dictionary/directory /.deita 

,dikTsn(3)ri dai'rekt(3)ri/ noun full form of 

DD/D 

data element /'deita .ehmant/ noun 

same as data item 

data encryption /'delta m,knpj(3)n/ 

noun the process of encrypting data using a 

cipher system 

data encryption standard /,deita in 

'knpjan .staendad/ noun full form of DES 

data entry /,deit3 'entri/ noun a method 

of entering data into a system, usually using 

a keyboard but also direct from disks after 

data preparation 

data error /'delta ,era/ noun an error due 

to incorrect or illegal data 

data flow diagram /'delta flau 

.daiagraem/ noun full form of DFD 

data format /'deita .foimaet/ noun the set 

of rules defining the way in which data is 

stored or transmitted 

datagram /'deitagraem/ noun a packet of 

information in a packet switching system that 

contains its destination address and route 

data independence /.deita ,mdi 

'pendans/ noun a structure of a database 

which can be changed without affecting what 

the user sees 



data input /,deit3 'inpot/ noun data trans- 
ferred into a computer, from an I/O port or 
peripheral 

data input bus /,deita 'input ,bAs/ noun 
full form of DIB 1 

data integrity /,deit3 m'tegnti/ noun the 
state of data which has not been corrupted by 
damage or errors 

data item /'delta .aitam/ noun one unit of 
data, e.g. the quantity of items in stock, a per- 
son's name, age or occupation. Also called 
data element 

data link /'delta link/ noun a connection 
between two devices to allow the transmis- 
sion of data 

data link layer /'deits link ,leia/ noun the 
second layer in the ISO/OSI defined network 
that sends packets of data to the next link and 
deals with error correction (note: This layer 
is normally split into two further sub-layers, 
medium access control and logical link con- 
trol (LLC).) 

data management /'deits 

,maenid3m3nt/ noun maintenance and up- 
keep of a database 

data migration /.deita mai'greij(3)n/ 
noun the process of moving data between a 
high priority or on-line device to a low-prior- 
ity or off-line device 

data mining /'deits ,mamirj/ noun the 
task of searching a database in order to find 
previously unknown patterns and relation- 
ships within the data it contains, e.g. search- 
ing a retailer's database to find customers 
who share an interest in a particular activity 
'Both companies specialise in decision support, 
statistical analysis and data mining.' 
[The Guardian] 

data processing /,deita 'prausesirj/ 
noun the process of selecting and examining 
data in a computer to produce information in 
a special form. Abbr dp, DP 
data processing manager /.deits 
'praosesirj ,maenid33/ noun a person who 
runs a computer department 
data projector /'delta pra^ekta/ noun 
a device that uses three large coloured lights, 
red, green and blue, to project a colour image 
output from a computer onto a large screen 
data protection /'delta pra.tekfan/ 
noun the procedure of making sure that data 
is not copied by an unauthorised user 
Data Protection Act /,deita pra'tekfan 
,aekt/ noun a piece of legislation passed in 
1984 in the UK that requires any owner of a 
database that contains personal details to reg- 
ister 

data rate /'deita reit/ noun the maximum 
rate at which data is processed or transmitted 



67 



deadline 



in a synchronous system, usually equal to the 
system clock rate 

data security /'deita si.kjuanti/ noun 
protection of data against corruption or unau- 
thorised users 

dataset /'deitaset/ noun US same as mo- 
dem 

data storage /'deits ,sto:nd3/ noun a 
medium able to store data, especially in large 
quantities 

data Stream /'delta striim/ noun a set of 
data transmitted serially one bit or character 
at a time 

data Structure /'deita .strAktJV noun a 
number of related items that are treated as 
one by the computer (note: For example in 
an address book record, the name, ad- 
dress, and telephone number form sepa- 
rate entries that would be processed as one 
by the computer.) 

data tablet /'deits ,tsbbt/ noun » graph- 
ics tablet 

data terminal equipment /'deita 
,t3:mm(3)l i.kwrpmant/ noun full form of 
DTE 

data transfer rate /.deita traensf3i 
,reit/ noun the rate at which data is moved 
from one point to another 
data transmission /'deita traenz 
,mij(3)n/ noun the process of sending data 
from one location to another over a data link 
data type /'delta taip/ noun a category of 
data which can be stored in a register, e.g. a 
string or number 

data validation /'deita ,va3lideiJX3)n/ 
noun the process of checking data for errors 
and relevance in a situation 
data warehouse /'deita .weahaus/ noun 
a database used for analysing the overall 
strategy of a business rather than its routine 
operations 

date /deit/ verb to put a date on a document 
day /dei/ noun the period of work from 
morning to night □ to work an eight-hour 
day to spend eight hours at work each day □ 
day shift shift which works during the day- 
light hours such as from 8 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. 
dB abbr decibel 

DBA /,dii bii 'ei/ noun a person in charge of 
running and maintaining a database system. 
Full form database administrator 
DB connector /,dii bi: ka'nekta/ noun a 
D-shape connector normally with two rows 
of pins used to connect devices that transfer 
data O The most common DB connectors are 
DB-9, DB-25 and DB-50 with 9, 25 and 50 
connections respectively. Full form data bus 
connector 



DBMS/,di: biiem 'es/ noun a series of pro- 
grams that allow the user to create and modi- 
fy databases easily. Full form database 
management system. Also called data- 
base manager 

DBS abbr direct broadcast satellite 
DC abbr direct current 
DCA /,dii sii 'ei/ noun a document format 
defined by IBM that allows documents to be 
exchanged between computer systems. Full 
form document content architecture 
DCC /,dii sii 'sii/ noun a magnetic tape in a 
compact cassette box that is used to store 
computer data or audio signals in a digital 
format. Full form digital compact cassette 
DCD /,dii sii 'dii/ noun an RS232C signal 
from a modem to a computer indicating a car- 
rier is being received O The call is stopped if 
the software does not receive a DCD signal 
from the modem. Full form data carrier de- 
tect 

DCE abbr data communications equipment 
DCOM /'dii krjm/ noun an enhanced ver- 
sion of the COM specification that allows ap- 
plications to access objects over a network or 
over the Internet. Full form distributed 
component object model 
DCT abbr discrete cosine transform 
DD abbr double density 
DD/D /,dii dii 'dii/ noun a piece of software 
which gives a list of types and forms of data 
contained in a database. Full form data dic- 
tionary/directory 

DDE /,dii dii 'hi noun 1. the keying in of 
data directly onto disk. Full form direct data 
entry 2. a method in which two active pro- 
grams can exchange data, one program ask- 
ing the operating system to create a link be- 
tween the two programs. Full form dynamic 
data exchange 

DDL /,dii dii 'el/ noun a part of database 
system software which describes the struc- 
ture of the system and data O Many of DDL' s 
advantages come from the fact that it is a sec- 
ond generation language. Full form data de- 
scription language 

DDP /,dii dii 'pi:/ noun the process of deriv- 
ing information from data which is kept in 
different places. Full form distributed data 
processing 

DDR noun television transmission by satel- 
lite (film) Full form direct domestic recep- 
tion 

dead /ded/ adjective 1 . referring to a com- 
puter or piece of equipment that does not 
function 2. (room or space) that has no 
acoustical reverberation 
deadline /'dedlam/ noun date by which 
something has to be done O we've missed our 



dealer 



68 



October 1st deadline a to meet a deadline to 

finish something in time O we've missed our 
October 1st deadline 

dealer /'diila/ noun a person who buys and 
sells O Always buy hardware from a recog- 
nised dealer. 

de-bounce /dii 'bauns/ noun the process 
of preventing a single touch on a key from 
giving multiple key contact 
debug /dii'bAg/ verb to test a program and 
locate and correct any faults or errors O They 
spent weeks debugging the system. (NOTE: 
debugging - debugged) 
'Further questions, such as how you debug an ap- 
plication built from multi- sourced software to 
run on multisourced hardware, must be resolved 
at this stage.' [Computing] 

DEBUG /dii'bAg/ noun an MS-DOS soft- 
ware utility that allows a user to view the 
contents of binary files and assemble small 
assembly-language programs 
debugger /dii 'bAga/ noun a piece of soft- 
ware that helps a programmer find faults or 
errors in a program 

decade /'dekeid/ noun a set often items or 
events 

decay /di'kei/ noun the process of a sound 
signal fading away O With a short decay, it 
sounds very sharp. 

decentralised computer network /dii 

,sentra,laizd kam'pjuita/, decentralized 
computer network noun a network where 
the control is shared between several com- 
puters 

deci- /desi/ prefix one tenth of a number 
decibel /'desibel/ noun a unit for measur- 
ing the power of a sound or the strength of a 
signal. Abbr dB (note: The decibel scale is 
logarithmic.) 

decimal /'desim(a)l/ noun a correct to 
three places of decimals correct to three fig- 
ures after the decimal point (e.g. 3.485) 
decimalisation /,desim(a)lai 'zei JXa)n/, 
decimalization noun the process of chang- 
ing to a decimal system 
decimalise /'desim(a)laiz/ verb to change 
to a decimal system 

decimal point /,desim(3)l 'point/ noun a 
dot which indicates the division between the 
whole unit digits and the smaller (fractional) 
parts of a decimal number (such as 4.75) 
decimal system /'desim(3)I ,sistsnV 
noun a number system using the digits 0-9 
decimal tabbing /,desim(3)l 'taebin/ 
noun the process of adjusting a column of 
numbers so that the decimal points are verti- 
cally aligned 

decimal tab key /,desim(3)l 'taeb ,kii/ 
noun a key for entering decimal numbers, us- 



ing a word-processor, so that the decimal 
points are automatically vertically aligned 
decipher /di'satfa/ verb to convert an en- 
crypted or encoded message (ciphertext) 
into the original message (plaintext). Oppo- 
site encipher 

decode /dii'kaod/ verb to translate encod- 
ed data back to its original form (note: de- 
codes - decoding - decoded) 
decoder /dii'kauda/ noun a program or 
device used to convert data into another form 
decoding /di'kaodtrj/ noun the process of 
converting encoded data back into its original 
form 

decompression /,diikam'prer(a)n/ 
noun the process of expanding a compressed 
image or data file so that it can be viewed 
decrypt /dii 'knpt/ verb to convert encrypt- 
ed data back into its original form O Decryp- 
tion is done using hardware to increase 
speed. 

decryption /di:'kripj"(a)n/ noun the con- 
verting of encrypted data back into its origi- 
nal form O Decryption is done using hard- 
ware to increase speed. 
dedicated /'dedikeitid/ adjective refer- 
ring to a program, procedure or system that is 
reserved for a particular use O There 's only 
one dedicated graphics workstation in this 
network. 
'The PBX is changing from a dedicated proprie- 
tary hardware product into an open application 
software development platform.' [Computing] 

deep field /,diip 'f iild/ noun a lens or cam- 
era that has very close and very distant ob- 
jects in focus at the same time (film) t) deep 
focus 

deep fOCUS /,diip 'faukas/ noun a type of 
cinematography where objects at a great dis- 
tance and objects very close to the camera are 
all in focus (film) i> deep field 
de facto standard /,det ,faektau 
'staendad/ noun a design, method or system 
which is so widely used that it has become a 
standard but has not been officially recog- 
nised by any committee 
default /di'failt/ adjective a predefined 
course of action or value that is assumed un- 
less the operator alters it ■ noun a value that 
is used by a program if the user does not 
make any changes to the settings O An appli- 
cation may ask the user if he wants to install 
the application to the default, i.e. the C:\APP 
directory - the user can accept or change 
this. 

default palette /di,foilt 'pselat/ noun the 
range of colours used on a particular system 
if no other is specified (note: A user or ap- 
plication can often change the default pal- 



demand 



ette to create an individual range of col- 
ours.) 

default rate /di.fotlt 're it/ noun the baud 
rate in a modem that is used if no other is se- 
lected 

default response /di.fotlt n'sptms/ 
noun a value that is used if the user does not 
enter new data 

default value /di,fo:lt 'vaelju:/ noun a 

value which is automatically used by the 

computer if no other value has been specified 

O Screen width has a default value of 80. 

The default values of columns cannot be set in 

the database schema, so different applications 

can trash the database.' [Computing] 

defect /'diifekt/ noun something which is 
wrong or which stops a machine from work- 
ing properly O a computer defect or a defect 
in the computer 

defective /di'fektiv/ adjective faulty or 
not working properly O The machine broke 
down because of a defective cooling system. 
define /di 'fain/ verb 1 . to assign a value to 
a variable O All the variables were defined 
during initialisation. 2. to assign the charac- 
teristics of processes or data to something 
(note: defines - defining - defined) 
definition /,defi'niJ"(a)rV noun the ability 
of a screen to display fine detail 
deflect /di'flekt/ verb to change the direc- 
tion of an object or beam 
deflection yokes /di'flekj(3)n jsukz/ 
plural noun magnetic coils around a cathode 
ray tube used to control the position of the 
picture beam on the screen 
defOCUS /di'faokas/ verb to deliberately 
focus the lens at a point very close to the 
camera, leaving the background action out-of 
focus; usually used for special effects 
DEFRAG /'diifraeg/ noun a defragmenta- 
tion utility supplied with MS-DOS 
def rag mentation /,di:fraegmen 

'teij(3)n/ noun the reorganisation of files 
scattered across non-contiguous sectors on a 
hard disk 
comment: When a file is saved to disk, it is 
not always saved in adjacent sectors, in- 
creasing retrieval time. Defragmentation 
moves files back into adjacent sectors so 
that the read head does not have to move 
far across the disk, decreasing retrieval 
time and thus increasing performance. 

degradation /.degra'deiJXajn/ noun 1. 
the loss of picture or signal quality 2. the loss 
of processing capacity because of a malfunc- 
tion 

dejagging /dii'd3aegirj/ noun same as 
anti-aliasing 

DEL /del/ noun an MS-DOS command to 
delete a file O To delete all files with the ex- 



tension BAK, use the command DEL *.BAK. 
Full form delete 

delay /di'lei/ noun time when something is 
later than planned O There was a delay of 
thirty seconds before the printer started 
printing. ■ verb to cause something to have a 
delay 

delete /di 'lilt/ verb 1 . to cut out words in a 
document 2. to remove text, data or a file 
from a storage device O The word-processor 
allows us to delete the whole file by pressing 
this key. Full form of DEL (note: deletes - 
deleting - deleted) 
comment: When you delete a file, you are 
not actually erasing it but making its space 
on disk available for another file by instruct- 
ing the operating system to ignore the file 
by inserting a special code in the file head- 
er and deleting the entry from the directory. 

deletion /di'liij"(3)n/ noun 1. the making 
of a cut in a document O The editors asked 
the author to make several deletions in the 
last chapter. 2. a piece of text removed from 
a document 

delimited-field file /dii.limitdfiild 'fail/ 
noun a data file in which each field is sepa- 
rated by a special character, often a tab char- 
acter or comma, and each record is separated 
by a carriage return or a second special char- 
acter 

delimiter /dit'limita/ noun 1. a character 
or symbol used to indicate to a language or 
program the start or end of data or a record or 
information 2. the boundary between an in- 
struction and its argument 
delivery system /di,lrv(a)ri 'sistam/ 
noun the combination of hardware and soft- 
ware required to play a particular multimedia 
title 

delta frame /'delta ,freim/ noun a video 
frame that contains only the pixel informa- 
tion that has changed since the last frame of 
the sequence, used to save space when stor- 
ing video on disk 

delta YUV /.delta ,wai jui 'vi:/ noun full 
form of DYUV 

demagnetise, demagnetize verb to re- 
move stray or unwanted magnetic fields from 
a disk, tape or recording head (note: de- 
magnetises - demagnetising - demag- 
netised) 

demagnetiser, demagnetizer noun a de- 
vice which demagnetises a disk, tape or re- 
cording head O He used the demagnetiser to 
degauss the tape heads. 
demand /di'ma:nd/ noun asking for some- 
thing to be done ■ verb to ask for something 
and expect to get it O She demanded her 
money back. 



demand protocol architecture 



70 



demand protocol architecture /di 

,maind .preutakDl 'aikitektja/ noun full 
form of DPA 

demarcation /,diimai 'keij"(a)n/ noun the 
process of showing the difference between 
two areas 

demo /'demau/ noun same as demonstra- 
tion 

democratic network /.demakraetik 
'netw3ik/ noun a synchronised network in 
which each station has equal priority 
demodulation /dii,mDdju'leiJ(3)n/ noun 
the recovery of the original signal from a re- 
ceived modulated carrier wave 
demodulator /di'irrodjuleita/ noun a cir- 
cuit that recovers a signal from a modulated 
carrier wave 

demonstrate /'deman.streit/ verb to 
show how something works O He demon- 
strated the file management program. 
demonstration /,dem3n'streij"(3)n/ 

noun the act of showing how something 
works. Also called demo 
demultiplex /dii'mAltipleks/ verb to split 
one channel into the original signals that 
were combined at source 
demultiplexer /dii'irtAltipleksa/ noun a 
device that separates out the original multi- 
plexed signals from one channel 
denary notation /'dimari n3u,teij(3)n/ 
noun the number system in base ten, using 
the digits to 9 

denial-of-service attack /di,naial av 
'S3ivis 3,taek/ noun an illegal action in 
which a great deal of data is sent to a compu- 
ter system from many sources at the same in 
an attempt to overload the system and put it 
out of action 

dense index /,dens 'indeks/ noun a data- 
base index containing an address or entry for 
every item or entry in the database 
densiometer /,densi'Dmit3/ noun a pho- 
tographic device used to measure the density 
of a photograph 

density /'densiti/ noun 1. the amount of 
data that can be packed into a space 2. the 
amount of light that a photographic negative 
blocks 3. the darkness of a printed image or 
text 
'...diode lasers with shorter wavelengths will 
make doubling of the bit and track densities pos- 
sible' [Byte] 

comment: Scanner software produces var- 
ious shades of grey by using different den- 
sities or arrangements of black and white 
dots and/or different size dots. 
dependent /di 'pendant/ adjective which 
is variable because of a particular factor O A 
process that is dependent on the result of an- 
other process. 



deposit /di'pDzit/ noun 1. a thin layer of a 
substance which is put on a surface 2. a print- 
out of the contents of all or a selected area of 
memory ■ verb to coat a surface with a thin 
layer of a substance 

deposition /,dep3'zij(3)n/ noun a process 
by which a surface of a semiconductor is 
coated with a thin layer of a substance 
depth cueing /'dep9 .kjunrj/ noun (in 
graphics) a method of changing the hue and 
colour of an object to reflect its depth in a 
three-dimensional scene 
depth Of field /,dep9 av 'fiild/ noun the 
amount of a scene that will be in focus when 
photographed with a certain aperture setting 
depth of focus /,dep0 av 'faokas/ noun 
the position of film behind a camera lens that 
will result in a sharp image 
derive /di'raiv/ verb to come from a source 
O The results are derived from the raw data. 
(note: derives - deriving - derived) 
DES /,di: ii 'es/ noun a standard developed 
by the US Government for a high-security 
block data cipher system. Full form data en- 
cryption standard. Compare public key 
encryption 

descender /di'senda/ noun a part of a 
printed letter that is below the line 
de-scramble /di: 'skraemb(3)l/ verb to re- 
assemble an original message or signal from 
its scrambled form 

de-scrambler /di: 'skraembla/ noun a de- 
vice which changes a scrambled message 
back to its original, clear form 
describe /di'skratb/ verb to say what 
someone or something is like O The leaflet 
describes the services the company can offer. 
description /di'skripjan/ noun words 
which show what something is like 
descriptor /di'skripta/ noun a code used 
to identify a filename or program name or to 
pass code to a file 

design /di'zam/ noun the planning or 
drawing of a product before it is built or man- 
ufactured ■ verb to plan or to draw some- 
thing before it is built or manufactured O He 
designed a new chip factory. 
designer /di 'zama/ noun a person who de- 
signs O She is the designer of the new compu- 
ter. 

desk accessory /'desk 3k,ses3ri/ noun 
an add-in Apple Mac utility that enhances the 
system O We have installed several desk ac- 
cessories that help us manage our fonts. 
Abbr DA 

desktop /'desktop/ adjective able to be 
placed on a desk ■ noun a GUI workspace 
that is a graphical representation of a real-life 



71 



DHCP 



desktop, with icons for telephone, diary, cal- 
culator, filing cabinet 
comment: A desktop makes it easier for a 
new user to operate a computer, since he 
or she does not have to type in commands 
but instead can point at icons on the desk- 
top using a mouse. 

desktop background /.desktop 

'baekgraond/ noun a pattern or image that is 
displayed by Windows as a backdrop 
desktop icons /.desktop 'aikDnz/ plural 
noun icons that are displayed on the desktop 
desktop media /.desktop 'miidia/ plural 
noun a combination of presentation graphics, 
desktop publishing and multimedia (note: 
The term was originally used by Apple.) 
desktop publishing /.desktop 
'pAbltJirj/ noun full form of DTP 
'...desktop publishing or the ability to produce 
high-quality publications using a minicomputer, 
essentially boils down to combining words and 
images on pages' [Byte] 

Desktop taskbar /.desktop taiskbai/ 
noun a status bar that is normally displayed 
along the bottom of the screen in Windows 
95 

desktop video /.desktop 'vidiau/ noun 
full form of DTV 

despatch /di'spaetJV noun another spell- 
ing of dispatch 

de-spun antenna /,di spAn aen'tena/ 
noun a satellite aerial that always points to 
the same place on the earth 
DESQview™ noun software which pro- 
vides multitasking functionality for an MS- 
DOS system and allows more than one pro- 
gram to run at the same time 
destination /,destt'neij(3)n/ noun a 
place to which something is sent or to which 
something is going; location to which a data 
is sent 

destructive cursor /di.strAktiv 'k3:sa/ 
noun a cursor that erases the text as it moves 
over it O Reading the screen becomes diffi- 
cult without a destructive cursor. 

destructive read /di'strAktiv riid/ noun 
a read operation in which the stored data is 
erased as it is retrieved 
detail /'diiteil/ noun a small part of a de- 
scription ■ verb to list in detail O The cata- 
logue details the shipping arrangements for 
customers. 

detailed /'diitedd/ adjective in detail 
detect /di'tekt/ verb to sense something 
(usually something very slight) O The equip- 
ment can detect faint signals from the trans- 
ducer. 

detection /di'tekfan/ noun the process of 
detecting something O The detection of the 
cause of the fault is proving difficult. 



detector /di'tekt a/ noun a device which 
can detect 

determine /di't3:min/ verb to fix or to ar- 
range or to decide O to determine prices or 
quantities O conditions still to be determined 

Deutsche Industrienorm /.doitfa 

'mdustrii.noim/ noun full form of DIN 
develop /di'vebp/ verb 1. to plan and pro- 
duce O to develop a new product 2. to apply 
a chemical process to photographic film and 
paper to produce an image 
developing /di'vebpirj/ noun a method 
by which an invisible image in an exposed 
photographic film is made permanently visi- 
ble (film) 

development /di'velapmant/ noun the 
process of planning the production of a new 
product 

development software /divetopmant 
.sDftwea/ noun a suite of programs that 
helps a programmer write, edit, compile and 
debug new software 

device /di'vats/ noun a small useful ma- 
chine or piece of equipment 
'Users in remote locations can share ideas on the 
Liveboard through the use of a wireless pen-input 
device and network connections.' [Computing] 
device driver /di'vais .draiva/ noun 
same as driver 

device handler /di.vais 'haendls/ noun 
same as driver 

device independent bitmap /di.vais 
.indipendant 'bitmasp/ noun full form of 
DIB 2 

devise /di'vaiz/ verbto plan or build a sys- 
tem O They devised a cheap method to avoid 
the problem, (note: devises - devising - 
devised) 

Dewey decimal classification /,dju:i: 
,destm(3)l ,kla?sifi'keij(3)n/ nouna library 
cataloguing system using classes and sub- 
classes that are arranged in groups of ten 
DFD /.dii ef 'dii/ noun a diagram used to de- 
scribe the movement of data through a sys- 
tem. Full form data flow diagram 
DGIS /.dii d3ii ai 'es/ noun a standard 
graphics interface for video adapters, prima- 
rily used with the 340x0 range of graphics 
chips. Full form direct graphics interface 
standard 

DHCP /,di: si: eitf 'pi:/ noun an TCP/IP 
protocol that is used to assign an Internet ad- 
dress to workstations and servers that are 
nodes in a network. Full form dynamic host 
configuration protocol (note: A special 
server running DHCP software manages 
the process of assigning addresses. A cli- 
ent computer can then ask this server for 
the address of another node on the net- 
work.) 



Dhrystone benchmark 



72 



Dhrystone benchmark /.draistaon 
'bentjmaik/ noun a benchmarking system 
developed to try and measure and compare 
the performance of computers 
DIA/DCA /,di: at ei ,di: si: 'ei/ noun a 
standard method for the transmission and 
storage of documents, text and video over 
networks. It is part of the IBM SNA range of 
standards. Full form document inter- 
change architecture/document content 
architecture 

diagnosis /,dai3g'n30sis/ noun the proc- 
ess of finding of a fault or discovering the 
cause of a fault 

diagnostic aid /.daiagrrostik 'eid/ noun 
a hardware or software device that helps to 
find faults 

diagnostics /,dai3g'nDstiks/ plural noun 
functions or tests that help a user find faults 
in hardware or software 
diagonal cut /dai'a3g3n(3)l kAt/ noun a 
method of joining two pieces of film or mag- 
netic tape together by cutting the ends at an 
angle so making the join less obvious 
diagram /'daia.graem/ noun a drawing 
which shows something as a plan or a map 
diagrammatically /.daiagre'maetikli/ 
adverb using a diagram O The chart shows 
the sales pattern diagrammatically. 
dial /'daial/ verb to call a telephone number 
on a telephone O to dial a number 
'Customers will be able to choose a wide variety 
of telephony products, from basic auto-dial pro- 
grams to call-centre applications.' [Computing] 
dialect /'daialekt/ noun a slight variant of 
a standard language O This manufacturer's 
dialect of BASIC is a little different to the one 
I'm used to. 

dialling /'daiahrj/ noun the act of calling a 
telephone number. Abbr IDD (note: no plu- 
ral) 
'Customers will be able to choose a wide variety 
of telephony products, from basic auto-dial pro- 
grams to call-centre applications' [Computing] 
dialling code /'daialirj kaod/ noun a spe- 
cial series of numbers which you use to make 
a call to another town or country 
dialling tone /'daiahrj taon/ noun a 
sound made by a telephone that indicates that 
the telephone system is ready for a number to 
be dialled 

dialogue /'daiarrjg/, dialog noun conver- 
sation between people, or an instance of this 
dialup noun an online information service 
that is accessed by dialling into the central 
computer. Also called dial-up service 
dial-up service /,daial Ap 's3ivis/ noun 
same as dialup 

DIANE /dai'aen/ abbrdirect information ac- 
cess network for Europe 



diaphragm /'daiafraem/ noun 1. a thin 
flexible sheet that vibrates in response to 
sound waves to create an electrical signal, as 
in a microphone, or in response to electrical 
signals to create sound waves, as in a speaker 
2. a mechanical device in a camera that varies 
the aperture size 

diapositive /,dai3'pDzitiv/ noun a posi- 
tive transparency 

diary /'daiari/ noun a book in which you 
can write notes or appointments for each day 
of the week 

diary management /'daisri 

,ma3nid3m3nt/ noun a part of an office com- 
puter program, which records schedules and 
appointments 

diascope /'daiaskaop/ noun a slide pro- 
jector or device that projects slide images 
onto a screen 

DIB /,dii ai 'bi:/ noun 1. a bus used when 
transferring data from one section of a com- 
puter to another, as between memory and 
CPU. Full form data input bus 2. a file for- 
mat for a Windows graphics image that con- 
sists of a header, colour table and bitmap da- 
ta. Full form device independent bitmap 
(note: It can be in 1-, 4- 8- or 24-bit colour 
resolution.) 

dibit /'dibit/ noun a digit made up of two bi- 
nary bits 

dichotomising search /dai 

'kntamaizirj ,s3itJ7, dichotomizing 
search noun same as binary search 
dichroic /dai'krauik/ adjective referring 
to a chemical coating on the surface of a lens 
that reflects selectively different colours of 
light 

dichroic filter /dai.krauik 'flits/ noun a 
filter that allows certain wavelengths of light 
to pass and reflects back those that are not 
transmitted 

dichroic head /dai.krauik 'hed/ noun a 
coloured light source that is based on adjust- 
able dichroic filters, generally used with ros- 
trum cameras and enlargers 
dictate /dik'teit/ verb to say something to 
someone who then writes down your words □ 
dictating machine small tape recorder that is 
used to record notes or letters dictated by 
someone, which a secretary can play back 
and type out the text 

dictation /dik'teiJ(a)rV noun the act of 
dictating □ to take dictation to write down 
what someone is saying □ dictation speed 
number of words per minute which a secre- 
tary can write down in shorthand 
dictionary /'dikfanfajri/ noun 1. a book 
which lists words and meanings. i> spell- 
checker 2. a data management structure that 
allows files to be referenced and sorted. i> 



73 



digital multimeter 



spellchecker 3. a part of a spelling checker 
program consisting of a list of correctly spelt 
words against which the program checks a 
text (note: The plural is dictionaries.) 
dielectric /.daii'lektnk/ noun insulating 
material that allows an electric field to pass, 
but not an electric current 
differ /'difa/ verb not to be the same as 
something else O The two products differ 
considerably. 

difference /'dif(3)rens/ noun the way in 
which two things are not the same O differ- 
ences in price or price differences O What is 
the difference between these two products ? 
different /'dif(a)rant/ adjective not the 
same O Our product range is quite different 
in design from the Japanese models. 
differential /.difa'renfal/ adjective which 
shows a difference 

DIF file /'dif fail/ noun a file in a de facto 
standard that defines the way a spreadsheet, 
its formula and data are stored in a file 
diffraction /dl'fraekf(3)rV noun the bend- 
ing or spreading of sound waves, radio or 
light which is caused by contact with objects 
(film) 

diffraction lens /,difraekr(a)n 'lenz/ 
noun a lens which is used for special effects 
diffuse /di'fjuiz/ verb to move or insert 
something over an area or through a sub- 
stance O The smoke from the faulty machine 
rapidly diffused through the building. 
diffuser /dl'f ju:za/ noun transparent frost- 
ed gel or glass which is attached to lamps in 
order to soften lighting (film) 
diffusion /dl'fju:3(3)rV noun 1. a means 
of transferring doping materials into an inte- 
grated circuit substrate 2. light dispersion 
digipulse telephone /,did3ipAls 
'telifaon/ noun a push button telephone dial- 
ling method using coded pulses 
digit /'did3it/ noun a symbol or character 
that represents an integer that is smaller than 
the radix of the number base used O a phone 
number with eight digits or an eight-digit 
phone number 

digital /'did3it(3)l/ adjective which repre- 
sents data or physical quantities in numerical 
form, especially using a binary system in 
computer related devices 
'Xerox Parc's LCD breakthrough promises the 
digital equivalent of paper, by producing thin, 
low-cost flat displays with a 600dpi resolution.' 
[Computing] 

digital audio tape /,did3it(a)l 'oidisu 

,teip/ noun full form of DAT 

digital camera /,did3it(a)l 'kaem(3)ra/ 

noun a camera that uses a bank of CCD units 
to capture an image and store it digitally onto 



a miniature disk or in RAM in the camera's 
body 

digital cash /,dld3tt(3)l 'kaeJV noun a 
method of paying for goods over the Internet 
(note: There are several payment systems 
that use different models including a new 
bank account for each customer and an 
electronic purse that carries electronic to- 
kens paid for by a customer.) 
digital cassette /,did3it(3)lk3'set/ noun 
a high quality magnetic tape housed in a 
standard size cassette with write protect tabs 
and a standard format leader 
digital certificate /,did3it(a)l ss'tifikat/ 
noun » certificate 

digital channel /,did3tt(3)l 'trasn(a)l/ 
noun a communications path that can only 
transmit data as digital signals. i> ADC (note: 
Voice, image, or video signals have to be 
converted from analog to digital form before 
they can be transmitted over a digital chan- 
nel.) 

digital compact cassette /.did.-siti oil 
.kDmpaekt ka'set/ noun full form of DCC 
digital computer /,did3rt(a)l kam 
'pjuita/ noun a computer that processes data 
represented in discrete digital form 
digital data /,did3it(a)l 'deits/ noun data 
represented in numerical, especially binary, 
form 

digital display /,did3it(3)ldi'splei/ noun 
a video display unit that can only show a 
fixed number of colours or shades of grey 
digital divide /,did3it(3)l di'vaid/ noun 
the state of inequality that exists between 
people who have access to modern informa- 
tion technology and those who do not, since 
the former have many more opportunities 
open to them than the latter 
digital encryption standard 
/,did3it(3)l in'knpjan .staendad/ noun the 
standard for encrypting private key data, 
which uses 56-bit encryption 
digital light processing /,did3tt(9)l 
'lait .prausesirj/ noun full form of DLP 
digital logic /,did3it(a)l 'k)d3ik/ noun the 
process of applying Boolean algebra to hard- 
ware circuits 

digitally /'did3it(3)li/ adverb (quantity 
represented) in digital form O The machine 
takes digitally recorded data and generates 
an image. 

digital monitor /,did3it(3)l 'mtmita/ 
noun a monitor that can only show a fixed 
number of colours or shades of grey 
digital multimeter /,did3it(3)l 

'mAltimiita/ noun a multimeter that uses a 
digital readout to indicate voltage, current or 
impedance levels. Abbr DMM 



digital nonlinear editing 



74 



digital nonlinear editing /,did3it(a)l 
nrmjmia 'editig/ noun same as nonlinear 
video editing 

digital optical recording /,did3rt(3)l 
,r>ptik(a)l n'koidirj/ noun full form of DOR 
digital output /,did3it(a)l 'autput/ noun 
computer output in digital form 
digital plotter /,did3it(3)l 'ptota/ noun a 
plotter whose pen position is controllable in 
discrete steps, so that drawings in the compu- 
ter can be output graphically 
digital read-out /,did3it(a)I 'riidaut/ 
noun data displayed in numerical form, e.g. 
numbers on an LCD in a calculator 
digital representation /,did3it(a)l 
,reprizen'teij(3)n/ noun data or quantities 
represented using digits 
digital resolution /,did3it(a)l ,reza 
'luij(a)n/ noun 1. the smallest number that 
can be represented with one digit 2. the value 
assigned to the least significant bit of a word 
or number 

digital signal /,did3it(a)l 'sign(a)l/ noun 
an electrical signal that has only a number of 
possible states, as opposed to an analog sig- 
nal, which is continuously variable 
digital signal level one /,did3tt(a)l 
,sign(a)l ,lev(a)l 'wm/ noun full form of 
DS-1 

digital signal level zero /,did3rt(a)l 
,sign(a)l ,lev(a)l 'ziarao/ noun full form of 
DS-0 

digital signalling /,did3rt(a)l 'signalirj/ 
noun control and dialling codes sent down a 
telephone line in digital form 
digital signal processing /,did3it(a)l 
'sign(a)l ,praosesirj/ noun full form of DSP 
digital signature /,did3it(a)I 'signat Ja/ 
noun a unique identification code sent by a 
terminal or device in digital form 
digital speech /,did3rt(a)l 'spirt J7 noun 
» speech synthesis 

digital subscriber line /,did3rt(a)l sob 
'skraiba ,1am/ noun full form of DSL 
digital switching /,did3it(a)I 'switjirj/ 
noun the process of operating communica- 
tions connections and switches only by use of 
digital signals 

digital system /,did3it(a)l 'sistam/noun 
a system that deals with digital signals 
digital theatre system /,did3it(a)l 
'9iata .sistam/ noun full form of DTS 
digital to analog converter /,dKl;;ii (a)l 
ta .aenalDg kan'v3ita/ noun full form of 
DAC 

digital transmission system 
/,did3it(a)l traenz'mij(a)n .sistam/ noun 
communication achieved by converting ana- 
log signals to a digital form then modulating 



and transmitting this and finally converting 
the signal back to analog form at the receiver 
digital TV /,did3it(a)l tii'vi:/ noun a tele- 
vision that can receive and decode television 
images and audio sent as digital data, then 
displayed on a standard screen 
digital versatile disc /,did3it(a)l 
,v3isatail 'disk/ noun full form of DVD 
digital video /,did3rt(a)l 'vidiau/ noun a 
video recorded in digital form (note: The 
output from a video camera is converted to 
digital form using either a digital camera or 
a frame grabber. The digital output is then 
usually compressed before being proc- 
essed or transmitted or stored on video- 
tape.) 

digital videodisc / , d i el 3 1 1 1 1 1 

' vidiaudisk/ noun full form of DVD 
digital video effects /,did3it(a)I 'vidiau 
1 ,f ekts/ plural noun full form of DVE 
digital video interactive /,did3it(a)l 
.vidiau .mtar'aektiv/ noun full form of DV-I 
digital wallet /,did3it(a)l 'wnlit/ noun a 
feature of web browsers that contains a 
unique personal digital signature and allows 
the user to pay for goods at online shops in 
many different ways, including credit card or 
digital cash (note: A digital wallet makes it 
simpler and more secure to buy goods from 
online shops.) 

digitise /'did3i,taiz/, digitize verb to 
change analog movement or signals into a 
digital form that can be processed by com- 
puters O We can digitise your signature to al- 
low it to be printed with any laser printer. 
(note: digitises - digitising - digitised) 
'The contract covers fibre optic cable and Syn- 
chronous Digital Hierarchy transmission equip- 
ment to be used to digitize the telecommunica- 
tions network.' [Computergram] 

digitised photograph /,did3i,taizd 
,faota'gra:f/, digitized photograph noun 
an image or photograph that has been 
scanned to produce an analog signal which is 
then converted to digital form and stored or 
displayed on a computer 
digitiser, digitizer noun same as ADC 
digitising pad /'did3itaizirj ,paed/, digi- 
tising tablet, digitizing pad, digitizing 
tablet noun a sensitive surface that translates 
the position of a pen into numerical form, so 
that drawings can be entered into a computer 
digit place /'did3it pleis/, digit position 
/,did3it pa'zij(a)n/ noun the position of a 
digit within a number 

DIL /,dii ai 'el/ noun full form dual-in-line 
package, same as DIP 
DIM /,dii ai 'em/ noun software that allows 
a user to capture, store and index printed text 
in a digital form. Full form document im- 



75 



disassembler 



age management (note: It usually works in 
conjunction with a scanner and a storage 
medium such as a recordable CD-ROM.) 
dimension /dai 'menfan/ noun a measure- 
ment of size O The dimensions of the compu- 
ter are small enough for it to fit into a case. 
dimensioning /dai'menfsnirj/ noun the 
definition of the size of something, especially 
an array or matrix O Array dimensioning oc- 
curs at this line. 

dimmer /'dims/ noun an electronic or elec- 
trical device which reduces the brightness of 
lights (film) 

DIN /,dii ai 'en/ noun a German industry 
standards organisation known particularly 
for specifications for plugs and sockets. Full 
form Deutsche Industrienorm 
Dingbat™ /'dirjbaet/ noun a font that con- 
tains stars, bullets, symbols, images and 
drawings in place of characters O To insert a 
copyright symbol, use the Dingbat font. 
diode /'daiaod/ noun an electronic compo- 
nent that allows an electrical current to pass 
in one direction and not the other 
diopter /dai'Dpta/, dioptre noun a unit of 
measurement of the refractive power of a lens 
DIP /,dii ai "pi:/ noun 1. a standard layout 
for integrated circuit packages using two par- 
allel rows of connecting pins along each side. 
Full form dual-in-line package 2. software 
that allows a user to capture, store and index 
printed text in a digital form 
diplex /'dipleks/ noun the simultaneous 
transmission of two signals over the same 
line 

DIR /,di: ai 'ai/ noun a MS-DOS system 
command that displays a list of files stored on 
a disk. Full form directory 
direct /dai'rekt/ verb to manage or to or- 
ganise ■ adverb straight or with no third par- 
ty involved 

direct change-over /dai,rekt tjemd3 
,sova/ noun the process of switching from 
one computer to another in one go 
direct current /di,rekt 'kArant/ noun a 
constant value electric current that flows in 
one direction. Abbr DC 
direct data entry /dai.rekt ,deit3 'entri/ 
noun full form of DDE 1 
direct graphics interface standard 
/dai,rekt ,gra3fiks 'mtafeis ,staend3d/ 
noun full form of DGIS 
direct image /.dairekt 'imid3/ noun an 
image that is composed directly onto the 
screen rather than being composed off screen 
in memory before it is displayed 
direct information access network 
for Europe /dai,rekt ,mf3meij(3)n 
.aekses ,netw3ik fa 'juarap/ noun a pack- 



age of services offered over the Euronet net- 
work. Abbr DIANE 

direction /dai'rekfsn/ noun the process of 
organising or managing O He took over the 
direction of a software distribution group. 
(note: no plural in this meaning) 
directional /dai'rek[3n(3)l/ adjective 
which points in a certain direction 
directional antenna /dai,rekf(3)n(3)I 
aen'tena/ noun an aerial that transmits or re- 
ceives signals from a single direction 
directional pattern /dai,rekj(a)n(3)l 
'paetan/ noun a chart of the response of an 
aerial or microphone to signals from various 
directions 

directive /dai'rektiv/ noun a program- 
ming instruction used to control the language 
translator or compiler 
'.. .directives are very useful for selecting parts of 
the code for particular purposes' [Personal 
Computer World] 

directly /dai 'rektli/ adverb 1 . immediately 
2. straight or with no third party involved O 
We deal directly with the manufacturer, with- 
out using a wholesaler. 

direct memory access /dai,rekt 
'mem(3)ri ,aekses/ noun full form of DMA 
O direct memory access transfer between the 
main memory and the second processor 
directory /dai'rekt(3)ri/ noun 1 . a method 
of organising the files stored on a disk, into 
groups of files or further sub-directories O 
The disk directory shows file name, date and 
time of creation. 2. full form of DIR (note: 
The plural is directories.) 
comment: A directory is best imagined as a 
folder within a drawer of a filing cabinet: the 
folder can contain files or other folders. 
directory services /dai'rekt(a)ri 
,S3ivisiz/ noun a method of listing all the us- 
ers and resources linked to a network in a 
simple and easy-to-access way so that a user 
can locate another user by name rather than 
by a complex network address O With direc- 
tory services installed, it's much easier for 
our users to find and connect to the shared 
printers. 

directory website /d3,rekt(3)ri 
'websait/ noun a website that contains a list 
of other websites, usually organised into sec- 
tions and often with a search feature (note: 
Yahoo! (www.yahoo.com) is one of the best- 
known directories and lists over half a mil- 
lion websites.) 

disable /dis'eib(3)l/ verb to prevent a de- 
vice or function from operating O He disa- 
bled the keyboard to prevent anyone chang- 
ing the data. 

disassembler /.disa'sembta/ noun a 
piece of software that translates a machine 



disc 



76 



code program back into an assembly lan- 
guage form 

disc /disk/ noun another spelling of disk 
(note: a spelling used only in the context of 
the compact disc, videodisc, and digital 
videodisc) 

discard /dis'kaid/ verb to throw out some- 
thing which is not needed 
disclose /dis'kbuz/ verb to reveal details 
of something which were supposed to be se- 
cret 

disclosure /dis'kl3U33/ noun the act of 
telling details about something 
disconnect /,disk3'nekt/ verb to unplug 
or break a connection between two devices O 
Do not forget to disconnect the cable before 
moving the printer. 

discrete /di'skriit/ adjective referring to 
values, events, energy or data which occur in 
small individual units O The data word is 
made up of discrete bits. 

discrete cosine transform /di,skri:t 

'kaosam transform/ noun an algorithm 
used to encode and compress images. Abbr 
DCT 

discrete multi-tone /di.skriit mAlti 
,t3on/ noun full form of DMT 
discretionary /di'skref(a)n(3)ri/ adjec- 
tive which can be used if wanted or not used 
if not wanted 

discretionary hyphen /di 

,skrej(3)n(a)ri 'haif(3)n/ noun a marker 
within a word indicating a position where an 
end of line hyphen may be inserted if part of 
the word needs to be carried down to the next 
line 

discussion group /di'skAf(3)n gm:p/ 
noun a feature of a website that lets any visi- 
tor write and post a message on a particular 
subject, which is displayed to any other visi- 
tors, who can then add their comments in re- 
ply to the message 

dish aerial /'dij .earbl/ noun a circular 
concave directional aerial used to pick up 
long distance transmissions O We use a dish 
aerial to receive signals from the satellite. 
disjointed /dis'd3omtid/ adjective (set of 
information or data) that has no common 
subject 

disk /disk/ noun a flat circular plate coated 
with a substance that is capable of being 
magnetised. Data is stored on this by magnet- 
ising selective sections to represent binary 
digits, (note: The alternative spelling disc 
is used only in the context of the compact 
disc, videodisc, and digital videodisc) 

comment: The disk surface is divided into 

tracks that can be accessed individually; 

magnetic tapes cannot be accessed in this 

way. 



disk drive /'disk draiv/ noun a device that 
spins a magnetic disk and controls the posi- 
tion of the read/write head. Also called disk 
unit 

diskette /di'sket/ noun a light, flexible 
disk that can store data in a magnetic form, 
used in most personal computers 
diskless /'diskbs/ adjective which does 
not use disks for data storage O diskless sys- 
tem O They want to create a diskless worksta- 
tion. 

disk operating system /,disk 
'Dpareitirj ,sist3m/ noun full form of DOS 
disk unit /disk 'jumit/ noun same as disk 
drive 

disorderly close-down /dis.oidsli 
'kboz ,daon/ noun a system crash that did 
not provide enough warning to carry out an 
orderly close-down 

dispatch /di'spaetJV, despatch /di'spaet JV 
noun the action of sending material, informa- 
tion or messages to a location 
dispenser /di'spensa/ noun a device 
which gives out something □ cash dispenser 
device which gives money when a card is in- 
serted and special instructions keyed in 
dispersion /di'sp3if(3)n/ noun a logical 
function whose output is false if all inputs are 
true, and true if any input is false 
displacement /dis'pleismant/ noun an 
offset used in an indexed address 
display /di'splei/ noun a device on which 
information or images can be presented visu- 
ally 

display attribute /di'splei ,aetnbjuit/ 
noun a variable which defines the shape, size 
or colour of text or graphics displayed 
display colour /di'splei ,kAb/ noun the 
colour of characters in a videotext display 
system 

display cycle /di'splei ,saik(a)V noun 
the set of operations required to display an 
image on screen 

display format /di'splei .formaet/ noun 
the number of characters that can be dis- 
played on a screen, given as row and column 
lengths 

display mode /di'splei msud/ noun a 
way of referring to the character set to be 
used, usually graphics or alphanumerics 
display resolution /di.splei ,reza 
'lui j(a)n/ noun the number of pixels per unit 
area that a display can clearly show 
display screen /di'splei skriin/ noun the 
physical part of a VDU, terminal or monitor, 
which allows the user to see characters or 
graphics (note: It is usually a cathode ray 
tube, but sometimes LCD or LED displays 
are used.) 



77 



document 



display space /di'splei speis/ noun 
memory or the amount of screen available to 
show graphics or text 

dissolve /di'zrjlv/ noun a special effect 
that is used in presentation graphics software 
or multimedia to fade out one image and fade 
in the next 

distort /di 'start/ verb to introduce unwant- 
ed differences between a signal input and 
output from a device 

distortion /di'sto:J"(3)n/ noun unwanted 
differences in a signal before and after it has 
passed through a piece of equipment 
distribute /di'stnbjuit/ verb to send out 
data or information to users in a network or 
system (note: distributes - distributing - 
distributed) 

distributed component object mod- 
el /di,stnbjutid kam,paonant 'Dbd3ekt 
,mDd(a)l/ noun full form of DCOM 
distributed data processing /di 
,stnbjutid 'deita .prausestrj/ noun full 
form of DDP 

distributed processing /di.stnbjutid 
'prausestrj/ noun a technique to enable proc- 
essors or computers to share tasks amongst 
themselves most effectively, in which each 
processor completes allocated sub-tasks in- 
dependently and the results are then recom- 
bined 

distributed system /di.stnbjotid 
'sistam/ noun a computer system which uses 
more than one processor in different loca- 
tions, all connected to a central computer 
distribution /,distn'bjuiJXa)n/ noun the 
act of sending information out, especially via 
a network 

distributor /di'stnbjuta/ noun a company 
which sells goods for another company 
which manufactures them O He is the UK 
distributor for a Japanese software house. 
'CORBA sets out a standard for how objects in 
applications, repositories or class libraries should 
make requests and receive responses across a dis- 
tributed computing network' [Computing] 

dither /'dida/ verb 1. to create a curve or 
line that looks smoother by adding shaded 
pixels beside the pixels that make up the im- 
age 2. to create the appearance of a new col- 
our by a pattern of coloured pixels that ap- 
pear, to the eye, to combine and form a new, 
composite colour (e.g., a pattern of black and 
white dots will appear like grey) 
DIV noun digital satellite data transmission 
in place of a voice channel. Full form data in 
voice 

divergence /dat'v3id3ans/ noun the fail- 
ure of light or particle beams to meet at a cer- 
tain point 



diversity /dai'v3isiti/ noun coming from 
more than one source; being aimed at more 
than one use 

diverter /dai'v3ita/ noun a circuit or de- 
vice that redirects a message or signal from 
one path or route to another 
divide /di'vaid/ verb to cut or to split into 
parts O In the hyphenation program, long 
words are automatically divided at the end of 
lines. 

division /di'vi3(a)n/ noun the act of divid- 
ing numbers 

DLL/,dii el 'el/ noun a library of utility pro- 
grams that can be called from a main pro- 
gram. Full form dynamic link library 
DLP /,dii el 'pi:/ noun a method of project- 
ing an image using an electronic chip that 
contains thousands of tiny mirrors. Full form 
digital light processing 
DMA /,dii em 'ei/ noun a direct rapid link 
between a peripheral and a computer's main 
memory, which avoids accessing routines for 
each item of data read. Full form direct 
memory access 
'A 32-bit DMA controller, 16-bit video I/O ports 
and I/O filters complete the chip.' [Computing] 

DMM abbr digital multimeter 
DMT /,di: em 'ti:/ noun technology that 
uses digital signal processors to create sound 
signals that carry digital video, sound, image 
and data over cable at high speed. Full form 
discrete multi-tone 

DNS /,dii en 'es/ noun a distributed data- 
base used in an Internet system to map names 
to addresses. Full form domain name sys- 
tem (note: For example you can use the 
name 'www.bloomsbury.com' to locate the 
Bloomsbury Publishing website rather than 
a complex network address (called the IP 
address).) 

DOC noun equipment which provides a sig- 
nal that reinstates lost information on a vide- 
otape when it has been temporarily mis- 
placed (film) Full form drop-out compen- 
sator 

dock /dDk/ verb to connect a laptop compu- 
ter to a special docking station on a desk to 
give it the same resources as a normal desk- 
top 

docking station /'dDkin ,steij(a)n/, 
docking unit /'dDkirj juinit/ noun a spe- 
cial base unit that allows a laptop computer to 
be inserted into it and provide the same re- 
sources as a normal desktop, e.g. mains pow- 
er, a network adapter, connection to a full- 
size monitor and extra expansion ports 
document /'dDkjumant/ noun a piece of 
paper with writing on it ■ verb /'dDkju 
,ment/ to write a description of a process 



documentation 



78 



documentation /,dt>kjumen'tei.r(3)n/ 

noun 1 . all documents referring to something 
O Please send all documentation concerning 
the product. 2. the set of information, notes 
and diagrams that describe the function, use 
and operation of a piece of hardware or soft- 
ware 

document content architecture 
/,dDkjum3nt 'kDntent .aikitektJV noun 
full form of DCA 

document image management 
/,dDkjum3nt ,imid3 'maenid3m3nt/ noun 
full form of DIM 

document interchange architec- 
ture/document content architecture 
/,dt)kjum3nt ,mt3tjemd3 ,aikitektj3 
,dDkjum3nt 'ktmtent .aikitektja/ noun 
full form of DIA/DCA 

document object model /.dDkjumant 
,Dbd3ekt 'iriDd(3)l/ noun full form of DOM 
Dolby Digital™ /.dnlbi 'did3rt(a)I/ a 
trade name for a multichannel audio com- 
pression and transmission system that uses 
5.1 channels 

Dolby system™ /'dolbi .sistam/ a trade 
name for a system for reducing background 
noise for recordings 

dollar Sign /'dDb sain/ noun a printed or 
written character ($) used in some program- 
ming languages to identify a variable as a 
string type 

dolly /'drjli/ noun a moveable stand on 
which the camera is mounted in order to be 
able to follow the action (film) 
dolly pusher /'drjli .puja/ noun a grip 
who moves the dolly during filming 
dolly Shot /'dDli Jrjt/ noun a shot filmed 
while the camera is moving away from the 
action 

DOM /,dii 3u 'em/ noun a scheme that de- 
scribes how the different parts of a webpage, 
the text, images and hyperlinks, are repre- 
sented. Full form document object model 
comment: Each item is an object and has a 
set of attributes that defines how it is dis- 
played and managed by a web browser. 
Dynamic HTML (DHTML) uses DOM to 
change how a webpage is displayed by a 
user's web browser- currently, the Micro- 
soft and Netscape web browsers use dif- 
ferent DOM specifications. 
domain /dao'mem/ noun 1. an area or 
group of nodes in a network 2. part of the 
way of naming users on the Internet in which 
the domain name is the name of the service 
provider or company the user works for; in an 
electronic mail address, the domain name 
follows the '&' symbol O The Bloomsbury 
Publishing email address is 'gener- 
alSi.bloomshury.com' where 'general' is the 



user, 'bloomsbury' is the domain and 'com' 
is the domain type. 

domain name /dau'mem neim/ noun a 
unique name that identifies the location of an 
Internet server or computer on the Internet 
comment: The domain name 
'bloomsbury.com' is registered to the 
Bloomsbury Publishing website. The do- 
main name is in a convenient text format, 
but refers to a physical address that lo- 
cates the computer that stores the website 
for the domain name. This physical ad- 
dress is called the IP address and is in the 
format '194.33.322.22' -the domain name 
system (DNS) is used to translate the do- 
main name into its correct IP address. The 
domain name is made up of two or three 
parts, separated by a 'dot'. There are some 
global thematic suffixes such as .com 
(company) and .net (network) which are 
not restricted by country. For example, 
'bloomsbury.com' has the company name 
'bloomsbury' followed by the domain type 
'com' (for company). There are also coun- 
try suffixes such as '.au' for Australia, '.en' 
for China, '.uk' for the UK and '.de' for Ger- 
many, within which each country can have 
its own private system of domain names. 
Some of these might look the same as the 
global thematic suffixes (.net.uk, .org.uk, 
etc.), but are restricted to the UK, e.g. 
co.uk, .nhs.uk, .plc.uk and .ltd.uk. 

domain name registration /dsu.mem 
neim ,red3i'streij(3)n/ noun the registra- 
tion of a domain name with the relevant local 
registration office. i> DNS 
comment: Before you can use a domain 
name, you must check that it is available 
and then fill in an application form with your 
country's local registration office (your ISP 
will also be able to help). Domain name 
management is centred in the USA at the 
InterNIC organisation; you can also regis- 
ter a domain name directly with the Inter- 
NIC using its online order form (www.inter- 
nic.net). Once the domain name has been 
approved, it will be assigned a unique IP 
address that will be used by your ISP to 
modify the DNS to allow your website to be 
located by other users. 

domain name server /d3u,mem neim 
'S3iva/ noun a computer on the Internet that 
stores part or all of the domain name system 
database 

domain name system /dau'mem neim 
,sist3m/ noun full form of DNS 
domestic /da'mestik/ adjective referring 
to the home market or the market of the coun- 
try where the business is based O they pro- 
duce goods for the domestic market 

domestic satellite /da.mestik 

'saetalait/ noun a satellite used for television 
or radio transmission, rather than research or 
military applications 



79 



drag and drop 



dongle /'dDrjgl/ noun a coded circuit or 
chip that has to be present in a system before 
a piece of copyright software will run 
DOR /,di: ao 'a:/ noun the recording of sig- 
nals in binary form as small holes in the sur- 
face of an optical or compact disk which can 
then be read by laser. Full form digital opti- 
cal recording 

DOS Idas/ noun a section of the operating 
system software, that controls the disk and 
file access. Full form disk operating sys- 
tem 

dot /dDt/ noun a small round spot 
dot-matrix printer /,dDt 'meitnks 
.prmta/ noun a printer in which the charac- 
ters are made up by a series of closely spaced 
dots (note: The printer produces a page 
line by line. Dot-matrix printers can be used 
either for printing using a ribbon or for ther- 
mal or electrostatic printing.) 
dots per inch /,dntz p3ir 'mtJV plural 
noun a standard method used to describe the 
resolution capabilities of a page printer or 
scanner O Some laser printers offer high res- 
olution printing: 400 dots per inch. Abbr 
dpi., d.p.i. 

dotted-decimal-notation /,dotid 

'desim(3)l/ noun a method of writing a do- 
main name, email address or other IP net- 
work address using a decimal point, or full 
stop, to separate the numeric parts of the ad- 
dress (note: For example 
'www.bloomsbury.com' is the domain name 
that can be written in dotted-decimal-nota- 
tion as '133.223.33.22') 
double /'dAb(3)l/ adjective twice; twice as 
large; twice the size 

double density /,dAb(9)l 'densati/ noun 
a system to double the storage capacity of a 
disk drive by doubling the number of bits 
which can be put on the disk surface. Abbr 
DD 

double sideband /,dAb(a)l 'saidbaend/ 
noun a modulation technique whose frequen- 
cy spectrum contains two modulated signals 
above and below the unmodulated carrier fre- 
quency 

double sideband suppressed carri- 
er (DSBSC) /,dAb(a)l , saidbaend sa 
,presd 'kaeria/ noun a modulation technique 
that uses two modulated signal sidebands, 
but no carrier signal 

doublet /'dAblat/ noun a word made up of 
two bits. Also called dyad 
down /daon/ adjective, adverb referring to 
computers or programs that are temporarily 
not working O The computer system went 
down twice during the afternoon. Opposite 
up 



download /,daun'bod/ verb 1. to load a 
program or section of data from a remote 
computer via a telephone line O There is no 
charge for downloading public domain soft- 
ware from the BBS. Opposite upload 2. to 
send printer font data stored on a disk to a 
printer, where it will be stored in temporary 
memory or RAM 3. to retrieve a file from a 
remote computer or online system onto your 
local computer 
'The cards will also download the latest version 
of the network drivers from the server.' [Comput- 
ing] 
downloadable /daun'bud3b(3)l/ adjec- 
tive which can be downloaded 
downsize /'daonsaiz/ verb to move a 
company from a computer system based 
around a central mainframe computer to a 
networked environment, usually using PCs 
as workstations, in which the workstations 
are intelligent O Downsizing is more cost ef- 
fective and gives more processing power to 
the end-user, (note: downsizes -downsiz- 
ing - downsized) 

downtime /'daun taim/, down time noun 
a period of time during which a computer 
system is not working or usable. Opposite 
uptime 

downward /'daonwad/ adjective towards 
a lower position 
dp, DP abbr data processing 
DPA /,dii pii 'ei/ noun a technique of load- 
ing protocol stacks in memory only if they 
are required for a particular session. Full 
form demand protocol architecture 
dpi. /,dii pii 'ail, d.p.i abbr dots per inch O 
a 300 d.p.i. black and white A4 monitor O a 
300 dpi image scanner. 
comment: 300 d.p.i. is the normal industry 
standard for a laser printer. 
DPM /,dii pii 'em/ abbr data processing 
manager 

draft /draift/ noun a rough copy of a docu- 
ment before errors have been corrected ■ 
verb to make a rough copy or drawing O He 
drafted out the details of the program on a 
piece of paper. 

drag /draeg/ verb to move a mouse while 
holding the button down, so moving an im- 
age or icon on screen O You can enlarge a 
frame by clicking inside its border and drag- 
ging to the position wanted, (note: drag- 
ging - dragged) 
'...press the mouse button and drag the mouse: 
this produces a dotted rectangle on the screen; 
you can easily enlarge the frame by dragging 
from any of the eight black rectangles round the 
border, showing that it is selected' [Desktop Pub- 
lishing] 
drag and drop /,draeg an 'drop/ verb to 
drag a section of text or icon or object onto 



drag image 80 

another program icon which starts this pro- 
gram and inserts the data O Drag and drop 
the document icon onto the word-processor 
icon and the system will start the program 
and load the document. 
drag image /'draeg ,imid3/ noun the cur- 
sor, icon or outline image that is displayed 
when you drag an object across the screen 
drain /drem/ noun an electrical current pro- 
vided by a battery or power supply; connec- 
tion to a FET ■ verb to remove or decrease 
power or energy from a device such as a bat- 
tery 

DRAM /'dii raem/ abbr dynamic random ac- 
cess memory 

draw direct /,droi dai'rekt/ noun the 
process of drawing an object directly to the 
screen rather than to an off-screen memory 
buffer 

drawing program /'dranrj .praugraem/ 
noun a piece of software that allows the user 
to draw and design on screen 
drawing tool /'dronrj tuil/ noun any one 
of a range of functions in a paint program that 
allows the user to draw (note: Usually dis- 
played as icons in a toolbar, the drawing 
tools might include a circle-draw, line-draw 
and freehand drawing tool.) 
D-region /dii 'riid33n/ noun a section of 
the ionosphere 50-90km above the earth's 
surface O The D-region is the main cause of 
attenuation in transmitted radio signals. 
drill-down /,dnl 'daun/ verb to work back- 
wards and look at the individual items and 
formulae that produced the final result 
drive /draiv/ noun a part of a computer 
which operates a disk ■ verb to make some- 
thing such as a disk work O The disk is driven 
by a motor. 

drive bay /'draiv bei/ noun same as bay 
drive letters /'draiv ,letaz/ noun a system 
of letters to identify the different drives that 
are fitted to the PC 

driver /'draiva/ noun a piece of software 
that sits between Windows and a peripheral 
and translates the instructions from Windows 
into a form that the peripheral can under- 
stand. Also called device driver, device 
handler 

DRO /,dii air 'au/ noun a form of storage 
medium that loses its data after it has been 
read. Full form destructive readout 
drop-down list box /.drop daun list/ 
noun a list of options for an entry that ap- 
pears when you move the cursor to the entry 
field 

drop-down menu /.drop daon 'menjui/ 
noun a menu that appears below a menu title 
when it is selected 



drop in /,drop 'in/ noun a small piece of 
dirt on a disk or tape surface, which does not 
allow data to be recorded on that section 
drop Out /,drDp 'aot/ noun 1. the failure of 
a small piece of tape or disk to be correctly 
magnetised for the accurate storage of data 2. 
a short signal loss in a magnetic recording 
system caused by faults in the magnetic me- 
dium or failure in head-to-tape contact 
drum /drAm/ noun 1 . an early type of mag- 
netic computer storage 2. helical scan video 
tape head assembly 3. a rotatable cylinder 
around which film passes in order to ensure 
steady movement in a photographic sound re- 
producer 

DS-0 /,dii es 'ziarau/ noun one single cir- 
cuit in a high-speed T-l data transmission 
line, capable of transmitting information in 
8-bit frames at a rate of 8,000 frames per sec- 
ond, equal to 64 Kbits/second. Full form dig- 
ital signal level zero 

DS-1 /,dii es ' WAn/ noun a standard that de- 
fines the way data is formatted and transmit- 
ted over a T-l line. Full form digital signal 
level one 

DSE abibrdata switching exchange 
DSL /,dii es 'el/ noun a system of transmit- 
ting data at high speed over standard tele- 
phone copper wire. Full form digital sub- 
scriber line 
comment: One of the most popular DSL 
implementations is the ADSL (asymmetric 
digital subscriber line) scheme that pro- 
vides a permanent, high-speed connection 
to the Internet over standard telephone 
lines. 

DSP /,dii es "pi:/ noun a special integrated 
circuit used to manipulate digital signals. 
Full form digital signal processing 
D-SUB connector /,di; SAb ka'nekta/ 
noun a video connector commonly used on 
PC monitors to carry all the video signals in 
one cable 

DTC noun a videotape recording system 
which provides two sets of time code infor- 
mation used when editing (film) Full form 
dual time code. : time code 
DTE /,dii til 'ii/ noun a device at which a 
communications path starts or finishes. Full 
form data terminal equipment 
DTMF /,dii til em 'ef/ noun a method of di- 
alling in a telephone system in which each 
number on the telephone handset generates 
two tones. Each row and column of the tele- 
phone number grid generates a different tone, 
so each number will send one tone for the 
corresponding column and another for the 
row. Full form dual tone multi-frequency. 
Compare pulse-dialling (note: If you press 



81 



DVD-video 



number '5' it will send the tone for row two 
and for column two.) 

D to A converter /,dii to ,ei kan'v3it3/ 
noun full form digital to analog converter. 
» DAC 

DTP /,dii til 'pii/ noun the design, layout 
and printing of documents using special soft- 
ware, a desktop computer and a printer. Full 
form desktop publishing 
DTS /,dii til 'es/ noun a multichannel audio 
system. Full form digital theatre system 
DTV /,dii til 'vii/ noun a combination of 
special software and extra hardware that al- 
lows a user to edit video on a PC. Full form 
desktop video (note: The hardware con- 
nects the PC to a video recorder or camera 
and captures the video frames. The soft- 
ware can then be used to cut individual 
frames and rearrange the sequence.) 
D-type connector /,di: taip ka'nekta/ 
noun a connector that is shaped like an elon- 
gated letter D, which prevents the connector 
from being plugged in upside down O The se- 
rial port on a PC uses a 9-pin D-type connec- 
tor. 

dual /'djuial/ adjective using two or a pair 
dual-in-line package /.djuisl m lam 
'paekid3/ noun full form of DIL, DIP 
dual-scan display /.djuial skaen di 
'splei/ noun a colour LCD screen that up- 
dates the image on screen in two passes 
dual tone multi-frequency /,dju:al 
taon ,mAlti 'friikwansi/ noun full form of 
DTMF 

dub /dAb/ verb to add sound effects to an 
animation, multimedia presentation, film or 
video (note: dubbing - dubbed) 
dubbing /'dAbirj/ noun 1. the process of 
putting together two or more sound records 
into one combined recording 2. the process 
of moving a sound recording from one inter- 
mediary to another; e.g. from photographic 
film to magnetic tape 3. the process of mak- 
ing a copy, e.g., making a showreel from a 
group of videotapes 4. the method of record- 
ing new dialogue which is used instead of the 
original version 

duct /dAkt/ noun a pipe containing cables, 
providing a tidy and protective surrounding 
for a group of cables 

dumb terminal /,dAm 't3imm(3)l/ noun 
a peripheral that can only transmit and re- 
ceive data from a computer, but is not capable 
of processing data. Compare smart terminal 
dummy /'dAmi/ noun an imitation product 
used to test the reaction of potential custom- 
ers to its design 

dump /dAmp/ noun 1 . data which has been 
copied from one device to another for storage 
2. the transferring of data to a disk for storage 



3. US a printout of the contents of all or se- 
lected data in memory 

duotone /'djuiaotaon/ noun two-colour 
reproduction of an image or photograph us- 
ing only black and either sepia or yellow 
(film) 

duplex /'djuipleks/ noun 1. the simultane- 
ous transmission of two signals on one line. 
Also called simultaneous transmission 2. 
a photographic paper that is light sensitive on 
both sides 

duplicate noun /'djuiphkat/ a copy ■ 
verb /'djuiphkeit/ to copy 
duplicating /'djuiphkeitirj/ noun copy- 
ing 

duplication /,dju:pli'keij(3)n/ noun the 
copying of documents 

duplicator /'djuiphkeita/ noun a ma- 
chine which produces multiple copies from a 
master 

durable /'djo3r3b(3)l/ adjective which 
will not be destroyed easily O durable car- 
tridge 

duration /dju'reij(a)n7 noun the length of 
time for which something lasts 
dustcover /'dAstkAva/ noun a protective 
cover for a machine 

duty-rated /'djuiti .reitid/ adjective re- 
ferring to the maximum number of opera- 
tions that a device can perform in a set time 
to a certain specification 
DUV noun data transmission in a frequency 
range or channel lower than that of a human 
voice. Full form data under voice 
DVD /,dii vii 'di:/ noun a way of storing 
over 17Gb of data on a CD-ROM type disc. 
Full form digital versatile disc, digital vid- 
eodisc 

DVD-RAM /,dii vii 'di: raem/ noun a DVD 
disc drive that allows a user to write, erase 
and rewrite data onto a DVD disc 
DVD-ROM /,dii vii 'di: rom/ noun a DVD 
disc drive that can read a DVD disc and pro- 
vides data transfer rates equal to a standard 
nine-times CD-ROM 

DVD+RW /,di: vii dii pLvs ai 'dAb(a)l jui/ 
noun a type of rewritable DVD disc that al- 
lows a user to store data on the disc (note: 
The DVD disc offers much greater storage 
capacity than a standard compact disc of 
similar size. This standard was developed 
by Hewlett-Packard, Philips and Sony and 
has a capacity of 3GB per side.) 
DVD-video /,dii vii ,dii 'vidiau/ noun a 
standard that defines how full-length films 
can be compressed and stored on a DVD disc 
and played back on a dedicated player at- 
tached to a television set or viewed on a com- 
puter fitted with a DVD drive 



DVE 82 

DVE /,dii vii 'ii/ noun special effects carried 
out by a PC on a video sequence; e.g., a fade 
between two sequences or a dissolve. Full 
form digital video effects 
DV-I /,dii vii 'ai/ noun a system that defines 
how video and audio signals should be com- 
pressed and displayed on a computer. Full 
form digital video interactive 
DVI connector /,di: vii 'ai ka.nekta/ 
noun a connector on a monitor or graphics 
equipment for video signals (note: DVI-D 
supports digital video signals, DVI-I sup- 
ports both analog and digital signals.) 
Dvorak keyboard /,dvoiraek 'kiiboid/ 
noun a keyboard layout that is more efficient 
to use than a normal QWERTY keyboard 
layout 

dyad /'daiaed/ noun same as doublet 
dye-polymer recording /,dai polima 
n.koidirj/ noun (in optical disks) recording 
method which creates minute changes in a 
thin layer of dye embedded in the plastic op- 
tical disk (note: Dye-polymer recording has 
one big advantage - that the data stored on 
the optical disk using this method can be 
erased.) 

dye-sublimation printer /dai s,\bli 
,meij(3)n 'prints/ noun a high-quality col- 
our printer that produces images by squirting 
tiny drops of coloured ink onto paper O The 



new dye-sublimation printer can produce 
colour images at a resolution of 300 dpi. 
dynamic /dai'naemik/ adjective referring 
to data which can change with time 
dynamically redefinable character 
set /dai,naemikli riidi,fain3b(3)l 'kaenkta 
,set/ noun a computer or videotext character 
set that can be changed when required 
dynamic data exchange /dai,naemik 
'deita iks,tjemd3/ noun full form of DDE 
dynamic host configuration proto- 
col /dai,naemik haust k3n,figjo'reiJ(3)n 
.prautakDl/ noun full form of DHCP 
dynamic link library /dai,naemik 'lirjk 
.laibrari/ noun full form of DLL 
dynamic multiplexing /dai,naemik 
'mAltipleksirj/ noun a multiplexing method 
which allocates time segments to signals ac- 
cording to demand 

dynamic random access memory 
/dai,naemik ,raend3m ,aekses 'mem(3)ri/ 
noun abbr DRAM 

DYUV /,dii wai jui 'vii/ noun a digital vid- 
eo encoding technique in which luminance of 
a pixel is calculated by the RGB input signal, 
Y0.6G + 0.3R + O.lBabbr of. Full form del- 
ta YUV (note: From the value of Y it is pos- 
sible to calculate the values of U and V as 
UR-Y; VB-Y.) 



EAN noun a numbering system for bar 
codes, the European version of UPC. Full 
form European Article Number 
EAPROM /,i: ei 'pi: ,rDm/ noun a version 
of EAROM which can be programmed. Full 
form electrically alterable programmable 
read-only memory 

early token release /, 3ili 'taukann.lhs/ 
noun (in a Token-Ring or FDDI network) 
system that allows two tokens to be present 
on a ring network, useful when traffic is very 
busy 

EAROM /,i: 'ei .rom/ noun a read-only 
memory chip whose contents can be pro- 
grammed by applying a certain voltage to a 
write pin, and can be erased by light or a re- 
verse voltage. Full form electrically altera- 
ble read-only memory 
earth /3i9/ noun a connection in a circuit 
representing zero potential O All loose wires 
should be tied to earth. ■ verb to connect an 
electrical device to the earth O All appliances 
must be earthed, (note: US English is 
ground) 

EAX abbr electronic automatic exchange 
EBCDIC /,i: bi: si: di: ai 'si:/ noun an 8-bit 
binary character coding system used mainly 
on IBM computers, in which each number 
represents a different character or symbol. It 
is similar to the ASCII system. Full form ex- 
tended binary coded decimal inter- 
change code 

ebook /'i:buk/ noun an electronic version 
of a book, in which the text and any pictures 
are stored in a file format that can then be dis- 
played using special software on a PC or lap- 
top screen or on a dedicated portable or hand- 
held device or PDA. Also called electronic 
book 

EBR 1 /,i: bi: 'a:/ noun the process of re- 
cording the output from a computer directly 
onto microfilm using an electron beam. Full 
form electron beam recording 
EBR 2 /,i: bi: 'a:/ noun a transfer system of 
high quality videotape to film 
e-business /'i: .biznas/ noun A. a compa- 
ny that does business on the Internet 2. busi- 
ness activity that is carried out using the In- 
ternet 

echo /'ekau/ noun the return of a signal 
back to the source from which it was trans- 
mitted (note: The plural is echoes.) ■ verb 



to return a received signal along the same 
transmission path (note: echoes -echoing 
- echoed) 

ECL / i: si: 'el/ noun a high-speed logic cir- 
cuit design using the emitters of the transis- 
tors as output connections to other stages. 
Full form emitter-coupled logic 
EC MA abbr European Computer Manufac- 
turers Association 

e-COmmerce /'i: ,kDm3:s/ noun the proc- 
ess of buying and selling products on the In- 
ternet. Also called electronic commerce 
EDAC /,i: di: ei 'si:/ noun a forward error 
correction system for data communications. 
Full form error detection and correction 
edge detection /'ed3 di,tekj(3)n/ noun 
an algorithm and routines used in image rec- 
ognition to define the edges of an object 
EDI /,i: di: 'ai/ noun a system of sending or- 
ders, paying invoices or transferring compa- 
ny information over a network or telephone 
line using an email system. Full form elec- 
tronic data interchange (note: EDI is of- 
ten used to send instructions to pay money 
directly from one company to another, or 
from one bank to a company.) 
edit /'edit/ verb to change, correct and mod- 
ify text or programs 

edit decision list /,edit di'si3(3)n ,list/ 
noun a method of editing video in which the 
operator defines the points where he or she 
would like the video to be edited and then this 
list of actions is used in an on-line edit suite 
to carry out the edits automatically. Abbr 
EDL 

edition /i'dij(3)n/ noun all the copies of a 
book or newspaper printed at one time O The 
second edition has had some changes to the 
text. O Did you see the late edition of the 
evening paper? 

editorial /,edi't3:ri3l/ adjective referring 
to an editor or to editing ■ noun a main arti- 
cle in a newspaper, written by the editor 
'The Smartbook authoring system is a software 
product that integrates text and fractally com- 
pressed images, using any word-processor line 
editor' [Computing] 

editorial processing centre 

/,edito:ri3l 'prausestrj ,sent3/ noun a 
number of small publishers that share a sin- 
gle computer to provide cheaper computing 
power 



edit window 



84 



edit window /'edit .windau/ noun the 
area of the screen in which the user can dis- 
play and edit text or graphics 
EDL abbr edit decision list 
EDLIN /,i: di: el ai 'en/ noun an MS-DOS 
system utility that allows a user to make 
changes to a file on a line-by-line basis 
EDO memory /,i: di: au 'mem(a)ri/ noun 
memory technology that provides better per- 
formance by being able to find and read data 
from a memory location in one operation. 
Full form extended data output memory 
(note: It can also store the last piece of data 
that was saved to memory in a cache ready 
to be read back from memory.) 
EDP /,ii dii 'pi:/ noun data processing using 
computers and electronic devices. Full form 
electronic data processing 
EDS/,i: di: 'es/ noun a disk drive using a re- 
movable disk pack as opposed to a fixed disk. 
Full form exchangeable disk storage 
EDTV /,i: di: ti: 'vi:/ noun an enhancement 
to the NTSC standard for television transmis- 
sion that offers higher definition and a wide 
aspect ratio. Full form extended-definition 
television (note: EDTV normally has an 
aspect ratio of 4:3; if greater than this it is 
called EDTV-wide.) 

educational /,edju'keij(3)n3l/ adjective 
referring to education; which is used to teach 
educational TV /,edju:keij3nj(3)l ti: 
'vi:/ noun a television programme that is in 
some way educational 

edutainment /.edju'temmant/ noun 
software that is a cross between entertain- 
ment or games software and educational 
products 

EEMS /,i: i: em 'es/ noun a development of 
EMS that is a standard method of expanding 
the main memory fitted into an IBM PC. Full 
form enhanced expanded memory spec- 
ification, t) EMS 

EEPROM abbr electrically erasable pro- 
grammable read-only memory 
EEROM abbr electrically erasable read- 
only memory 

effective /I'fektrv/ adjective which can be 
used to produce a certain result 
effective aperture /i.fektiv 'aepatJV 
noun 1 . the received signal power at the out- 
put of an aerial 2. the amount of light allowed 
through a lens' aperture after taking into ac- 
count camera faults and lens defects. i> diffu- 
sion 

effects track /I'fekts traek/ noun a sound 
track which only contains the audio effects 
(film) 



efficiency /i'fij(3)nsi/ noun working well 
O He is doubtful about the efficiency of the 
new networking system. 
efficient /i 'f ij(a)nt/ adjective which works 
well O The program is highly efficient at sort- 
ing files. 

efficiently /i'fif(8)ntli/ adverb in an effi- 
cient way O The word-processing package 
has produced a series of labelled letters very 
efficiently. 

EFT /,i: ef 'ti:/ noun a system in which com- 
puters are used to transmit money to and 
from banks. Full form electronic funds 
transfer 

EFTPOS /,i: ef ,ti: pi: su 'es/ noun a ter- 
minal at a POS that is linked to a central com- 
puter which automatically transfers money 
from the customer's account to the shop's. 
Full form electronic funds transfer point- 
of-sale 
'Alphameric has extended its range specifically 
for the hospitality market and has developed an 
eftpos package which allows most credit and deb- 
it cards to be processed.' [Computing] 

EHF noun radio frequencies between 

30GHz and 300GHz. Full form extremely 

high frequency 

El noun the sensitivity of a photographic 

emulsion (film) Full form exposure index. i> 

ASA 

EIA abbr Electronics Industry Association 

8-bit sample /,eit bit 'staendad/ noun a 

single sample of an analogue signal which is 

stored as an 8-bit number, meaning that it can 

detect 256 possible levels. i> 16-bit sample, 

24-bit sample 

eight-inch disk /,eit mtj 'disk/, 8-inch 

disk noun a high-capacity floppy disk which 

is eight inches in diameter 

eighty-column screen /,etti 'kolam 

skrnn/, 80-column screen noun a screen 

that can display eighty characters horizontal- 

iy 

eighty-track disk /,eiti traek disk/, 80- 
track disk noun a disk formatted to contain 
eighty tracks 

EIS /,i: ai 'es/ noun easy-to-use software 
providing information to a manager or exec- 
utive about his or her company O The EIS 
software is very easy to use. Full form exec- 
utive information system 
EISA /,i: ai es 'ei/ noun a group of PC man- 
ufacturers who formed an association to pro- 
mote a 32-bit expansion bus standard as a ri- 
val to the MCA bus standard from IBM. Full 
form Electronics Industry Standards As- 
sociation 
comment: The EISA expansion bus stand- 
ard is backwards compatible with the older 
ISA standard of expansion cards, but also 



85 



electron gun 



features 32-bit data path and allows bus 

mastering. 
either-or operation /.aids 'o: 
,Dp3reiJ(3)n/ noun a logical function that 
produces a true output if any input is true 
elapsed time A.kepst 'taim/ noun the 
time taken by the user to carry out a task on a 
computer 

elastic banding A'laestik baendirj/ noun 
a method of defining the limits of an image 
on a computer screen by stretching a bound- 
ary around it 

elastic buffer A.kestik 'bAfa/ noun a 
buffer size that changes according to demand 
electret microphone /i.lektrat 
'maikrafaun/ noun a reliable, cheap, small 
and low noise microphone (film) 
electric /t'lektnk/ adjective worked by 
electricity 

electrical A'lektnk(3)l/ adjective refer- 
ring to electricity O The engineers are trying 
to repair an electrical fault. 
electrically /i'lektnk(a)li/ adverb refer- 
ring to electricity O an electrically-powered 
motor 

electrically alterable programmable 
read-only memory /i,lektnkli 
,0ilt3r3B(3)l ,pr3ugraem3b(3)l ,ri:d ,aunli 
'mem(3)ri/ noun full form of EAPROM 
electrically alterable read-only 
memory /i,lektnkli ,o:ltaraB(a)l ,riid 
.aunli 'mem(3)ri/ noun full form of EAROM 
electrically erasable programmable 
read-only memory A.lektnkli i 
,reiz3b(3)l ,preogra3m3b(3)l ,riid ,aunli 
'mem(3)ri/ noun a ROM storage chip which 
can be programmed and erased using an elec- 
trical signal. Abbr EEPROM 
electrically erasable read-only 
memory A.lektnkli i,reizab(3)l ,riid 
.aunli 'mem(3)ri/ noun an EAROM memory 
chip whose contents can be programmed by 
applying a certain voltage to a write pin, and 
can be erased by light or a reverse voltage. 
Abbr EEROM 

electrician /i,lek'trij(3)n/ noun the per- 
son on a set who is responsible for the light- 
ing equipment (film) 

electricity /i,lek'trisiti/ noun an electric 
current used to provide light or heat or power 
O The electricity was cut off, and the comput- 
ers crashed. 

electrode A'lektraud/ noun part of an 
electric circuit or device that collects, con- 
trols or emits electrons 
electrographic printer A 

Jektraograefik 'prints/ noun same as elec- 
trostatic printer 

electroluminescence /,elektr3u,luimi 
'nes(a)ns/ noun light emitted from a phos- 



phor dot when it is struck by an electron or 
charged particle 

electroluminescent /.elektrao.luimi 
'nes(a)nt/ adjective capable of emitting light 
due to electroluminescence O The screen 
coating is electroluminescent. 

electroluminescing /,elektr3o,luimi 
'nesirj/ adjective emitting light due to elec- 
troluminescence 

electromagnet /i.lektrau'maegnat/ noun 
a device that consists of a core and a coil of 
wire that produces a magnetic field when 
current is passed through the coil 
electromagnetic A.lektraumaeg'netik/ 
adjective generating a magnetic field or mag- 
netic effect when supplied with electrical 
power 

electromagnetically /i.lektraomaeg 
'netik(3)li/ adverb working due to electro- 
magnetic effects 

electromagnetic interference A 
Jektrsumaegnetik ^nta'fiarans/ noun full 
form of EMI 

electromagnetic radiation A 
Jektraomaegnetik ,reidi'eij(3)n/ noun an 
energy wave consisting of electric and/or 
magnetic fields 

electromechanical switching A 
,lektr3umekaenik(3)l 'switjirj/ noun the 
connection of two paths by an electrically op- 
erated switch or relay 

electromotive flow A.lektroomaotiv 
'flau/ noun the force of a circuit or system 
which makes the current flow. The unit of 
electromotive flow is the volt, (film) 
electromotive force A.lektroomaotiv 
'fois/ noun the difference in electrical poten- 
tial across a source of electric current. Abbr 
EMF 

electron A'lek,trDn/ noun an elementary 
particle with an elementary negative charge 
O the electron beam draws the image on the 
inside of a CRT screen 
electron beam A'lek.tron biim/ noun a 
narrow, focused stream of electrons moving 
at high speed in the same direction, often in a 
vacuum O The electron beam draws the im- 
age on the inside of a CRT screen. 

electron beam recording A.lektron 
,biim n'koidirj/ noun full form of EBR 
electron flow A'lektron flsu/ noun the 
movement of electrons from one point to an- 
other, causing an electrical current 
electron gun A'lektron gAn/ noun a part 
of a CRT that produces a beam of electrons. 
Also called gun 
comment: Black and white monitors have a 
single beam electron gun, while colour 
monitors contain three, one for each prima- 
ry colour (red, green and blue) used. 



electronic 



86 



electronic /.elek'tronik/ adjective refer- 
ring to something which is controlled by or 
controls electron flow 
'...electronic mail is a system which allows com- 
puter users to send information to each other via 
a central computer' [Which PC?] 
' . . .electronic publishing will be used for printing 
on paper, but it can be applied equally to data 
storage on a database, transmission via telecom- 
munications or for use with visual presentation 
media such as AV slides or television' 
[Electronic Publishing & Print Show] 

electronically /.elek'tronikli/ adverb re- 
ferring to operations using electronic meth- 
ods O The text is electronically transmitted to 
an outside typesetter. 

Electronic ArtS™/,elektrDmk 'aits/ the 
largest publisher of interactive software in- 
cluding console games, PC and Macintosh ti- 
tles 

electronic blackboard /.elektromk 
'blaekboid/ noun a means of transmitting 
handwritten text and diagrams over a tele- 
phone line 

electronic book /.elektromk 'buk/ noun 
same as ebook 

electronic commerce /.elektromk 
'kDrri3is/ noun same as e-commerce 
electronic compositor /.elektromk 
kam'pDzita/ noun a computer that allows a 
user to easily arrange text on screen before it 
is electronically typeset 
electronic data interchange 
/,elektrDmk 'deita .mtat J"emd3/ noun full 
form of EDI 

electronic data processing 
/,elektrDntk 'deita .prausesirj/ noun full 
form of EDP 

electronic filing /.elektromk 'failirj/ 
noun a system of storage of documents 
which can be easily retrieved 
electronic funds transfer /.elektromk 
'fAndz ,traensf3i/ noun full form of EFT 
electronic funds transfer point-of- 
sale /.elektromk , fAndz ,traensf3i .point 
sv 'seil/ noun full form of EFTPOS 
electronic mail /.ehktronik 'meil/ noun 
same as email 

electronic pen /.elektromk 'pen/ noun 
1 . a light pen or wand 2. a stylus used to draw 
on a graphics tablet ► also called electronic 
stylus 

electronic point-of-sale /.elektromk 
.point av 'seil/ noun full form of EPOS 
electronic publishing /.elektromk 
'pAbliJirj/ noun 1. the use of desktop pub- 
lishing packages and laser printers to pro- 
duce printed matter 2. the process of using 
computers to write and display information, 
as in viewdata 



electronics /.elek'troniks/ noun the ap- 
plication of knowledge of electrons and their 
properties to manufactured products such as 
computers and telephones O the electronics 
industry 

Electronics Industry Standards As- 
sociation /.elektromks .mdastri 
'staendodz o,soosieij(3)n/ noun full form 
of EISA 

electronic Stylus /.elektromk 'staibs/ 
noun same as electronic pen 
electronic traffic /.elektromk 'traefik/ 
noun data transmitted in the form of elec- 
tronic pulses 

electronic viewfinder /.elektromk 
'vjuifaindo/ noun a miniature cathode ray 
tube in a television or video camera, that al- 
lows the camera operator to see the images 
being recorded 

electrophotographic /.elektroo.faoto 
'graefik/ adjective referring to a printing 
technique used in many laser printers in 
which a laser beam creates an image on a 
charged drum (note: The drum then attracts 
particles of fine black toner to the charged 
areas and transfers the image to paper 
which is then passed near a heater to melt 
the toner onto the paper.) 
electro printing /i.lektreu 'prmtin/ 
noun transferring sound from an original 
magnetic track directly to the final copy of 
the film; this avoids the use of an optical 
sound track (film) 

electrostatic /i.lektroo'staetik/ adjective 
referring to devices using the properties of 
static electrical charge 

electrostatically /i.lektrau'stastikli/ ad- 
verb using properties of static charge 
electrostatic printer /i.lektraustaetik 
'prints/ noun a type of printer which forms 
an image on the paper by charging certain re- 
gions to provide character shapes and other 
images and using ink with an opposite charge 
which sticks to the paper where required. 
Also called electrographic printer 
elegant programming /.ehgant ,prsu 
'graemin/ noun the writing of well-struc- 
tured programs using the minimum number 
of instructions 

element /'elimant/ noun 1 . a small part of 
an object which is made up of many similar 
parts 2. one number or cell of a matrix or ar- 
ray 3. a coil of resistive wire to which an 
electric current is applied to generate heat 4. 
a substance in which all the atoms have the 
same number of electrons and charge 
elementary /,eli'ment(3)ri/ adjective 
made of many similar small sections or ob- 
jects 



87 



emulator 



elevator /'eltveita/ noun a small, square 
indicator displayed within a scroll bar that in- 
dicates where you are within a long docu- 
ment or image O The user can scroll through 
the image or text by dragging the elevator up 
or down the scroll bar. 

ELF noun communications frequencies of 
less than 100Hz. Full form extremely low 
frequency 

eliminate /I'ltmi.neit/ verb to remove 
something completely O Using a computer 
should eliminate all possibility of error in the 
address system. 

elimination /i,limi'neij"(3)n/ noun the re- 
moving of something completely 
'...pointing with the cursor and pressing the joy- 
stick button eliminates use of the keyboard al- 
most entirely' [Soft] 
elite /i ' lilt/ noun a typewriter typeface 
ellipse /i'hps/ noun something oval 
shaped, like an elongated circle 
ellipsoidal spotlight /i,lipsoid(3)l 
'spDtlait/ noun a spotlight with a sharp 
beam produced by a spherical lens (film) 
elliptical cutting /i,liptik(a)l 'kAtirj/, el- 
liptical editing /i,liptik(a)l 'editirj/ noun a 
film editing process which eliminates much 
of the action (film) 

elliptical orbit /i,lrptik(a)l 'o:bit/ noun 
the path of a satellite around the earth that is 
in the shape of an ellipse 
ELT abbr electronic typewriter 
em /em/ noun a measure equal to the width 
of the letter 'm' in a particular font 
email /'i: meil/, e-mail noun a system of 
sending messages to and receiving messages 
from other users on a network. Also called 
electronic mail 

email-enabled application /.iimeil in 
,eib(3)ld ,aepli'keij(3)n/ noun a software 
application, e.g. a word-processor or spread- 
sheet, that includes a direct link to an email 
application to allow a user to send the current 
document as an email (note: In Microsoft 
applications, there is a Send option under 
the File menu that allows a user to send the 
document using email.) 
embedded code /im,bedid 'kaod/ noun 
sections or routines written in machine code, 
inserted into a high-level program to speed 
up or perform a special function 
embedded command /im,bedid ko 
'momdV noun a printer control command, 
e.g. one indicating that text should be in ital- 
ics, inserted into text and used by a word- 
processor when text formatting 
embedded object /tm,bedid ab'd3ekt/ 
noun a feature of Windows OLE that allows 
a file or object, e.g. an image, to be included 
within another document or file 



embedding /im'bedirj/ noun (in Win- 
dows) the act of dragging an object and drop- 
ping it into a document or file so that is in- 
cluded within the document 
emboldening /im'bDld(3)n/ noun the 
process of making a word print in bold type 
em dash /'em da; J/ noun a line as long as 
an em, used to link two words or parts of 
words 

EMF abbr electromotive force 
EMI /,ii em 'ai/ noun corruption of data due 
to nearby electrically generated magnetic 
fields. Full form electromagnetic interfer- 
ence 

emission /I'miJXajn/ noun the sending out 
of a signal or radiation, etc. O the emission of 
the electron beam O The receiver picked up 
the radio emission. 
emit /I'mit/ verb to send out 
emitter /I'mtta/ noun a connection to a bi- 
polar transistor 

emitter-coupled logic /i.mita 
,kAp(a)ld 'lDd3ik7 noun full form of ECL 
EMMY noun the annual prize given by the 
National Academy of Television, Arts and 
Sciences for the most outstanding artistic 
work in each area of film and television (film) 
emphasis /'emfasis/ noun 1. a filter that 
helps cut down the background noise and so 
boost a signal 2. a special effects function in 
a paint program that will increase the value of 
a range of colours so that they appear brighter 
(note: The plural is emphases.) 
EMS /,ii em 'es/ noun a standard in an IBM 
PC that defines extra memory added above 
the 640 Kb limit of conventional memory. 
Full form expanded memory specifica- 
tion (note: This memory could only be 
used by specially written programs.) 
emulate /'emju,leit/ verb to copy or be- 
have like something else O Some laser print- 
ers are able to emulate the more popular of- 
fice printers, (note: emulates -emulating - 
emulated) 
'...some application programs do not have the 
right drivers for a laser printer, so look out for la- 
ser printers which are able to emulate the more 
popular office printers' [Publish] 

emulation /,emju'leij(3)n/ noun behav- 
iour by one computer or printer which is ex- 
actly the same as another and which allows 
the same programs to be run and the same 
data to be processed 

emulator /'emjoleita/ noun a piece of 

software or hardware that allows a machine 

to behave like another 

'...for an authentic retro coding experience, 

download an emulator and turn your computer 

into a virtual BBC Micro.' [The Guardian] 



emulsion 



88 



emulsion A 'iriAlJan/ noun a light-sensitive 
coating on photographic film or paper 
emulsion laser storage A,mAir(a)n 
'leiza ,stoind3/ noun a digital storage tech- 
nique using a laser to expose light-sensitive 
material 

en /en/ noun a unit of measure equal to half 
the width of an em 

enable An'eib(a)l/ verb 1. to allow some- 
thing to happen O A spooling program ena- 
bles editing work to be carried out while 
printing is going on. 2. to use an electronic 
signal to start a process or access a function 
on a chip or circuit (note: enables - ena- 
bling - enabled) 

enabled An'eib(a)ld/ adjective referring to 
a function or menu item that is available to 
the user O If an option on a menu appears in 
grey text rather than black, this indicates that 
these are not enabled and that you cannot use 
the option. 

encapsulated An'kaepsjoleitid/ adjec- 
tive referring to something contained within 
another thing 

encapsulated PostScript An 
.kaepsjoleitid 'paustskript/ noun a Post- 
Script facility providing commands that de- 
scribe an image or page contained within a 
file that can be placed within a graphics or 
DTP program. Abbr EPS 
encapsulated PostScript file An 
.kaepsjoleitid 'paustskript .fail/ noun a 
file that contains encapsulated PostScript in- 
structions. Abbr EPSF 
encapsulation An'kaepsjoleiJXa)n/ noun 
(in a network) a system of sending a frame of 
data in one format within a frame of another 
format 

encipher /m'saifa/ verb to convert plain- 
text into a secure coded form by means of a 
cipher system O Our competitors cannot un- 
derstand our files - they have all been enci- 
phered. Opposite decipher 
enclose An'klauz/ verb to surround with 
something; to put something inside some- 
thing else 

enclosure An'klau3a/ noun a protective 
casing for equipment 

encode An'kaod/ verb to apply the rules of 
a code to a program or data (note: encodes 
- encoding - encoded) 
encoder An'kauda/ noun a device that can 
translate data from one format to another 
encoding An'kaodirj/ noun the translation 
of a message or text according to a coding 
system 

encrypt An'kript/ verb to convert plaintext 
to a secure coded form, using a cipher system 
O The encrypted text can be sent along ordi- 



nary telephone lines, and no one will be able 
to understand it. 

encryption An'knpjan/ noun the conver- 
sion of plaintext to a secure coded form by 
means of a cipher system 
end /end/ noun a statement or character to 
indicate the last word of a source file ■ verb 
to finish or to stop something 
en dash /'em daeJV noun a line as long as 
an en, used to link two words or parts of 
words 

ending /'endirj/ noun 1 . the action of com- 
ing to an end or of stopping something 2. the 
end part of something 
endless /'endbs/ adjective with no end 
end of address /,end av a'dres/ noun a 
transmitted code which indicates that address 
data has been sent. Abbr EOA 
end of block /,end av 'btok/ noun a code 
which shows that the last byte of a block of 
data has been sent through a communications 
link. Abbr EOB 

end Of data /,end av 'delta/ noun a code 
which shows that the end of a stored data file 
has been reached. Abbr EOD 
end of document /,end av 'dDkjumant/ 
noun same as end of file 
end Of file /,end av 'fail/ noun a marker 
after the last record in a file. Also called end 
of document. Abbr EOF 
end Of job /,end av 'd3Db/ noun a code 
used in batch processing to show that a job 
has been finished. Abbr EOJ 
end of message /,end av 'mesid3/ noun 
a code used to separate the last character of 
one message from the first of another mes- 
sage. Abbr EOM 

end of record /,end av 'rekaid/ noun a 
code used to show the end of a record. Abbr 
EOR 

end Of text /,end av 'tekst/ noun a code 
sent after last character of text. Abbr EOT, 
ETX 

end of transmission /,end av traenz 
'mij(a)n/ noun a sequence of characters in- 
dicating that all the data from a terminal or 
peripheral has been transmitted. Abbr EOT 
end user /,end 'juiza/ noun a person who 
will use the device, program or product O 
The company is creating a computer with a 
specific end user in mind. 
energy-saving /'enad3i .seivirj/ adjec- 
tive which saves energy O The company is in- 
troducing energy-saving measures. 
Energy Star /'enad3i stai/ noun a stand- 
ard and logo on a monitor, computer or other 
electrical device indicating that the product 
has been specially designed to save electrici- 
ty 



89 



epidiascope 



ENG abbr electronic news gathering 
engaged tone /m'geid3d taun/ noun the 
sound made by a telephone showing that the 
number dialled is busy 
engine /'end3in/ noun a part of a software 
package that carries out a particular function 
O A search engine is the part of a multimedia 
title that lets a user search for text in a multi- 
media book. 

enhance An'hcuns/ verb to make better or 
clearer 

enhanced-definition television An 
,hamst ,defmij(3)n ,teh'vi3(3)n/ noun 
full form of EDTV 

enhanced dot matrix /m.hamst ,dnt 
'meitriks/ noun a clearer character or graph- 
ics printout using smaller dots and more dots 
per inch than standard dot matrix 
enhanced expanded memory speci- 
fication /m,ha:nst ik.spaendid 'mem(3)ri 
,spesifiketj(3)n/ noun full form of EEMS 
enhanced parallel port /m,ha:nst 
'paerelel ,po:t/ noun full form of EPP 
enhanced small device interface An 
,hainst smoil di'vais .mtsfeis/ noun full 
form of ESDI 

enhancement /m'hamsmant/ noun an 
add-on facility which improves the output or 
performance of equipment 
enlarge An'laid3/ verb to make (a photo- 
graph) larger 

enlargement An'laidsmant/ noun 1. the 
process of making something larger; a larger 
version of a photograph 2. a larger version of 
a photograph O An enlargement of the photo- 
graph was used to provide better detail. t> 
blow-up 

enlargement printing Anlaidsmant 
.print irj/ noun optical printing that enlarges 
a small frame area, e.g. 16mm to 35mm 
ENQ abbr enquiry 

enquiry An'kwairi/ noun 1. a request for 
data or information from a device or database 
2. an act of accessing data in a computer 
memory without changing the data. Abbr 
ENQ 

ensure An' Joa/ verb to make sure O Push- 
ing the write-protect tab will ensure that the 
data on the disk cannot be erased. 
enter /'ents/ verb to type in information on 
a terminal or keyboard, tf carriage return 
key 

entering /'entanrj/ noun the act of typing 
in data or writing items in a record 
enter key /'enta ki:/ noun a key pressed to 
indicate the end of an input or line of text 
enterprise network /'entapraiz 
,netw3:k/ noun a network which connects 
all the workstations or terminals or comput- 



ers in a company (note: It can be within one 
building or link several buildings in different 
countries.) 

enterprise software /'entspraiz 
,sr>ftwe3/ noun computer software that is 
designed to integrate and automate all of a 
company's functions 

entity /'enttti/ noun a subject to which the 
data stored in a file or database refers (note: 
The plural is entities.) 
entry /'entri/ noun 1 . a single record or data 
about one action or object in a database or li- 
brary (note: The plural is entries.) 2. a place 
where you can enter 

entry point /'entri point/ noun the ad- 
dress from which a program or subroutine is 
to be executed 

enumerated typeA.njuimareitid 'taip/ 
noun data storage or classification using 
numbers to represent chosen convenient la- 
bels 
comment: If 'man', 'horse', 'dog', 'cat' are 
the items of data, stored by the machine 
simply as 0, 1, 2, 3, they can still be re- 
ferred to in the program as man, horse etc. 
to make it easier for the user to recognise 
them. 

envelope /'envabup/ noun 1. a transmit- 
ted packet of data containing error-detection 
and control information 2. (in multimedia) 
the shape of the decay curve of a sound 3. (in 
email) the data which contains a mail mes- 
sage with the destination address information 
4. a paper packet that contains a letter 
envelope feeder /'envalaop .fiida/ noun 
a special add-on to a printer used to print on 
an envelope instead of a sheet of paper 
environment An'varrenmant/ noun 1. 
the condition in a computer system of all the 
registers and memory locations 2. surround- 
ings or physical conditions 3. the imaginary 
space in which a user works when using a 
computer. This can be changed to suit the us- 
er's needs - by defining its characteristics 
such as colour or wallpaper and by setting up 
a printer, keyboard and fonts. 
EOA abbr end of address 
EOB abbr end of block 
EOD /,u 3u 'di:/ abbr end of data 
EOF abbr end of file 
EOJ abbr end of job 
EOM abbr end of message 
EOR abbr end of record 
EOT abbr end of text 

epidiascope /,epi'dai3sk3op/ noun an 
optical projector which mixes the function of 
a diascope (a transparency projector) with 
that of an episcope 



episcope 



90 



episcope /'episkaop/ noun a projector 
that can display opaque material, such as 
photographs, and documents onto a screen 
epitaxial layer /.epi'taeksisl ,leia/ noun a 
very thin layer of material or doped semicon- 
ductor deposited onto a substrate base 
epitaxy /'epitaekis/ noun a method of de- 
positing very thin layers of materials onto a 
base, for use in chip manufacture 
EPOS /'iipDs/ noun a system that uses a 
computer terminal at a point-of-sale site for 
electronic funds transfer or stock control as 
well as matters such as product identifica- 
tion. Full form electronic point-of-sale 
EPP /,ii pi: 'pi:/ noun a standard that de- 
fines the way data can be transferred at high 
speed through a parallel port connector. Full 
form enhanced parallel port 
EPR noun a system which ensures consist- 
ent frame-frame steadiness in telecine trans- 
fer (film) Full form electronic pin registra- 
tion 

EPROM /,i: 'pi: ,rom/ abbr erasable pro- 
grammable read-only memory 
EPS abbr encapsulated PostScript 
EPSF abbr encapsulated PostScript file 
equal /'nkwal/ adjective exactly the same 
■ verb to be the same as O Production this 
month has equalled our best month ever. 
equalisation /.kkwalai'zeiran/, equali- 
zation noun the process of making a signal 
equal (to preset values) 
equaliser /'kkwalaiza/, equalizer noun a 
device which changes the amplitude of vari- 
ous parts of a signal according to preset val- 
ues 

equalize /'i:kw3,laiz/ verb to make equal 
(to preset values) O The received signal was 
equalised to an optimum shape. 
equally /'hkwali/ adverb in the same way 
O They were both equally responsible for the 
successful launch of the new system. 
equate A'kweit/ verb to be the same as or 
to make the same as O The variable was 
equated to the input data. 
equator /t'kweita/ noun an imaginary line 
running round the middle of the earth 
equatorial orbit /,ekw3,to:ri3l 'o:bit/ 
noun a satellite flight path that follows the 
earth's equator 

equip A'kwip/ verb to provide with ma- 
chinery or equipment 

equipment /I'kwipmant/ noun machin- 
ery and furniture required to make a factory 
or office work O office equipment or business 
equipment 

equipment failure /I'kwipmant .feilja/ 
noun a hardware fault, rather than a software 
fault 



equivalence /t'kwivatans/ noun 1. being 
equivalent 2. a logical operation that is true if 
all the inputs are the same 
comment: Output is 1 if both inputs are 1 or 
if both are 0; if the two inputs are different, 
the output is 0. 
erasable /i'reiz3b(3)l/ adjective which 
can be erased 

erasable memory /i,reizab(3)l 
'mem(3)ri/ noun same as erasable storage 
erasable read-only memory /i 
,reiz3b(3)l ,ri:d ,aunli 'mem(3)ri/ noun full 
form of E ROM 

erasable storage /i,reiz3b(9)l 'sto:nd3/ 
noun 1 . a storage medium which can be re- 
used 2. temporary storage ► also called 
erasable memory 

erase /I'reiz/ verb 1 . to set all the digits in 
a storage area to zero 2. to remove any signal 
from a magnetic medium (note: erases - 
erasing - erased) 

eraser /I'reiza/ noun a device that erases 
the contents of something, e.g. a device using 
UV light to erase an EPROM 
eraser tool A'reiza tu:l/ noun (in a graph- 
ics program) function that allows areas of an 
image to be erased, or set to the background 
colour. Also called erase 
E RCC noun memory which checks and cor- 
rects errors. Full form error checking and 
correcting 

ergonomics /,3:g3'nDmiks/ noun the sci- 
ence of designing software or hardware so 
that it is comfortable and safe to use 
ergonomist /3:'gDn3mist/ noun a scien- 
tist who studies people at work and tries to 
improve their working conditions 
EROM /'i: rom/ noun full form erasable 
read-only memory, same as EAROM 
erratum /e'ra:t3m/ noun a correction on a 
separate slip of paper to an error or omission 
from a document (note: The plural is erra- 
ta.) 

error /'era/ noun a mistake due to a human 
operator 
'...syntax errors, like omitting a bracket, will 
produce an error message from the compiler' 
[Personal Computer World] 

error detection /'era di,tekf(a)n/ noun 
the process of using special hardware or soft- 
ware to detect errors in a data entry or trans- 
mission, then usually to ask for retransmis- 
sion 

error detection and correction /.era 
di,tekj3n an ka'rekjsn/ noun full form of 
EDAC 

error handling /'era .haendlirj/ noun 
same as exception handling 
error logging /'era .lDgirj/ noun the proc- 
ess of recording errors that have occurred O 



91 



exchangeable 



Features of the program include error log- 
ging. 

error message /'era ,mesid3/ noun a re- 
port displayed to the user saying that an error 
has occurred 

error rate /'era reit/ noun 1 . the number of 
errors that occur within a certain time 2. the 
number of corrupt bits of data in relation to 
the total transmission length 
ESC /t'skeip/ noun 1. same as escape 
code 2. same as escape key 
escape code A'skeip kaod/ noun a trans- 
mitted code sequence which informs the re- 
ceiver that all following characters represent 
control actions. Also called ESC 
escape key A'skeip kii/ noun a key on a 
keyboard which allows the user to enter es- 
cape codes to control the computer's basic 
modes or actions. Also called ESC, Esc key 
escapement A'skeipmant/ noun a preset 
vertical movement of a sheet of paper in a 
printer 

Esc key A 'skeip kii/ noun same as escape 
key 

ESDI noun an interface standard between a 
CPU and peripherals such as disk drives. Full 
form enhanced small device interface. : 
SCSI 

ESS abbr electronic switching system 
establish A'staebliJV verb 1. to discover 
and prove something O They established 
which component was faulty. 2. to define the 
use or value of something 
establishing shot A'staebhjin Jot/ 
noun an atmospheric long shot that establish- 
es the main location of the film or pro- 
gramme and is generally used in the opening 
scene (film) 

etch /et J/ verb to use an acid to remove se- 
lected layers of metal from a metal printing 
plate or printed circuit board 
etch type /'et J taip/ noun type for printing 
produced from an etched plate 
Ethernet /'iiBanet/ noun a standard, IEEE 
802.3, defining the protocol and signalling 
method of a local area network 
comment: Ethernet has several implemen- 
tations: 10Base5 is a bus-based topology 
running over coaxial cable; 10BaseT uses 
unshielded-twisted-pair cable in a star- 
based topology; Ethernet normally has a 
data transmission rate of 10Mbps. 
ETV abbr educational TV 
Euronet™ /'joarsonet/ noun a telephone 
connected network, covering the EC coun- 
tries, that provides access to each country's 
scientific and economic information 
European Article Number /Joara 
,piian ,aitik(3)l 'nAmba/ noun full form of 
EAN 



evaluate A'vaeljueit/ verb 1 . to calculate a 
value or a quantity 2. to test or try or look at 
a product before buying it 
evaluation /i,vaelju'eij(3)n/ noun the ac- 
tion of calculating a value or a quantity 
evaluation copy A,vaelju'eiJ(3)n ,kDpi/ 
noun a demonstration version of a software 
product that allows a user to try the main 
functions of a software product before buy- 
ing it 

evaluative abstract /i,vaelju3tiv 
'aebstraekt/ noun a library abstract that con- 
tains details of the value and usefulness of the 
document 

event A 'vent/ noun an action or activity 
event-driven A'vent ,dnv(3)n/ adjective 
referring to a computer program or process in 
which each step of the execution relies on ex- 
ternal actions 
'Forthcoming language extensions will include 
object-oriented features, including classes with 
full inheritance, as well as event-driven program- 
ming.' [Computing] 

event handler A'vent .haendls/ noun a 
routine that responds to an event or message 
within an object-oriented programming envi- 
ronment O If a user clicks the mouse button 
this generates a message which can be acted 
upon by the event handler. 
ewallet /'ii,wDtat/, e-wallet /'ii .wolit/ 
noun a feature of web browsers that allows a 
user to store personal details about his or her 
credit card, bank account or other ways of 
paying for goods on the Internet 
except Ak'sept/ preposition, conjunction 
not including O All the text has been key- 
boarded, except the last ten pages. 
exception Ak'sepjan/ noun something 
which is different from all others in the same 
category 

exceptional /tk'sepj3n(3)l/ adjective not 
usual or different 

exception handling Ak'sepJ(3)n 
,haendhn/ noun routines and procedures that 
diagnose and correct errors or minimise the 
effects of errors, so that a system will run 
when an error is detected. Also called error 
handling, error management 
excess Ak'ses/ noun too much of some- 
thing 

excessive Ak'sesiv/ adjective too much 
or too large O The program used an excessive 
amount of memory to accomplish the job. 
exchange Aks'tjemd3/ noun the giving 
of one thing for another ■ verb to swap data 
between two locations (note: exchanges - 
exchanging - exchanged) 
exchangeable Aks'tJ"emd33b(3)l/ adjec- 
tive which can be exchanged 



exchangeable disk storage 



92 



exchangeable disk storage /iks 
,tjemd33b(3)l disk 'stoind3/ noun full 
form of EDS 

exclamation mark /,ekskb'meij(3)n 
maik/ noun a printed or written sign (!), 
which shows surprise 

exclude /ik'skluid/ verb to keep out or not 
to include 

excluding Ak'skluidirj/ preposition not 
including 

exclusion /ik'sklui3(3)n/ noun 1. the act 
of not including 2. restriction of access to a 
system 

exclusive /ik'skluisiv/ adjective which 
excludes 

exe /'eksi/ noun an extension to a filename 
which indicates that the file is a program and 
can be executed directly by the operating sys- 
tem O In DOS, to start a program type in its 
EXE file name. 

executable file /'eksi,kju:t3b(3)l fail/ 
noun a file that contains a program rather 
than data 
executable form /'eksi,kju:t3b(3)l 

foim/ noun a program translated or compiled 
into a machine code form that a processor can 
execute 

execute /'eksi,kjuit/ verb to run or carry 
out a computer program or process (note: 
executes - executing - executed) 
execution /,eksi'kju:J"(a)n/ noun the 
process of carrying out a computer program 
or process 

execution time /,eksi'kjuij(3)n ,taim/ 
noun 1 . the time taken to run or carry out a 
program or series of instructions 2. the time 
taken for one execution cycle 
executive information system Ag 
.zekjutiv mf3'meij(3)n .sistam/ noun full 
form of EIS 

exhaustive search Ag'zoistiv s3itJV 
noun a search through every record in a data- 
base 

EXIT /'eksit/ noun an MS-DOS system 
command to stop and leave a child process 
and return to the parent process 
expand Ak'spaend/ verb to make larger O 
If you want to hold so much data, you will 
have to expand the disk capacity. 
expandable /ik'spaend3b(3)l/ adjective 
which can be expanded 
expanded memory Ak,spaendid 
'mem(3)ri/ noun an extra RAM memory fit- 
ted to a computer that is located at an address 
above 1 Mb 

expanded memory specification Ak 
.spaendid 'mem(3)ri ,spesifikeij(3)n/ 
noun full form of EMS 



expansion Ak'spaenfan/ noun an increase 
in computing power or storage size 
expansion board /ik'spaenfan bo:d/ 
noun a printed circuit board connected to a 
system to increase its functions or perform- 
ance. Also called expansion card 
expansion card Ak'spaenr(a)n kaid/ 
noun same as expansion board 
expansion slot/ik'spaenJXajn slDt/ noun 
a connector inside a computer into which an 
expansion board can be plugged O Insert the 
board in the expansion slot. 
expert /'eksp3it/ noun a person who 
knows a lot about something O He is a com- 
puter expert. 

expert system /'eksp3it ,sist3m/ noun » 
IKBS 

expiration /,eksp3'reij(3)n/ noun coming 
to an end o expiration date 1. last date at 
which photographic film or paper can be 
used with good results 2. date when a compu- 
ter file is no longer protected from deletion 
by the operating system 
expire Ak'spaia/ verb to come to an end or 
to be no longer valid 

explicit reference Ak.sphsit 

'ref(3)rans/ noun (within a program or 
script) a way of identifying a particular ob- 
ject, e.g. a field or button, by a unique name 
Explorer™ /ik'sploira/ a program sup- 
plied with Windows 95 that lets you manage 
all the files stored on a disk 
exponent Ak'spaonant/ noun a number 
indicating the power to which a base a 
number is to be raised 

exponentiation /,eksp3,nenji'eij(3)n/ 
noun the raising of a base number to a certain 
power 

export Ak'spoit/ verb to save data in a dif- 
ferent file format from the default 
expose Ak'spaoz/ verb to allow light to 
reach photographic film or paper to form an 
image 

exposure /ik'spai^a/ noun the process of 
letting light fall on a photographic film to 
form an image 

exposure end point Ak.spatrjs 'end 
,pomt/ noun the quantity of light required to 
produce a certain image density 
exposure index Ak'spai^a ,mdeks/ 
noun the sensitivity of a photographic emul- 
sion 

exposure latitude Ak'spais3a 

.ketitjuid/ noun the extent to which film can 
be over-exposed or under-exposed and still 
provide a clear picture 

exposure meter Ak'spatrja ,mi:t3/noun 
a device for measuring the light intensity on 
or reflected by a scene which is to be filmed 



93 



e-zine 



express /ik'spres/ verb to state or to de- 
scribe O Express the formula in its simplest 
form. 

expression Ak'spreJ(3)n/ noun 1. a 
mathematical formula or relationship 2. the 
definition of a value or variable in a program 
extend /ik'stend/ verb to make longer 
extended binary coded decimal in- 
terchange code /tk,stendid .bamari 
,kaodid ,desim(3)l 'mt3tjemd3 ,kaud/ 
noun full form of EBCDIC 
extended character set /tk,stendid 
'kaenkta ,set/ noun a set of 128 special 
characters that includes accents, graphics and 
symbols 

extended data output memory /ik 
,stendid ,deita 'aotpot ,mem(d)ri/ noun 
full form of EDO memory 
extended-definition television /ik 
,stendid ,defmij(3)n ,teli'vi3(3)n/ noun 
full form of EDTV 

extended graphics array /tk,stendid 
'graef iks a.rei/ noun full form of XGA 
extended memory Ak,stendid 
'mem(3)ri/ noun (in an IBM PC) the most 
popular standard method of adding extra 
memory above 1 Mb which can be used di- 
rectly by many operating systems or pro- 
grams 

extensible /ik'stensib(a)V adjective 
which can be extended 
extensible hypertext markup lan- 
guage /ik,stensib(3)l .haipatekst 
'maikAp ,laerjgwid3/ noun full form of 
XHTML 

extensible markup language /ik 
,stenstb(3)l 'maikAp JaerjgwidV noun full 
form of XML 

extension Ak'stenTan/ noun the process 
of making something longer; something add- 
ed to something else to make it longer 
extent /ik'stent/ noun the number of pages 
in a printed document, such as a book O By 
adding the appendix, we will increase the 
page extent to 256. 

external Ak'st3in(3)l/ adjective outside a 
program or device 

external device /ik,st3in(3)l di'vais/ 
noun 1. an item of hardware, e.g. a terminal 
or printer, which is attached to a main com- 
puter 2. any device that allows communica- 
tions between the computer and itself but 



which is not directly operated by the main 
computer 

external disk drive /ik,st3in(a)l 'disk , 
draiv/ noun a device not built into the com- 
puter but added to increase its storage capa- 
bilities 

extra /'ekstra/ noun an item which is addi- 
tional to a software or hardware package O 
The mouse and cabling are sold as extras. 
extract /ik ' straekt/ verb to remove req uired 
data or information from a database O We can 
extract the files required for typesetting. 
extranet /'ekstranet/ noun an intranet that 
has a connection to the public Internet and al- 
lows users to gain access via the Internet 
(note: It is often used to provide access to 
people in the company who are working 
away from the office. Most intranets do not 
allow access via the public Internet and in- 
clude security measures that protect 
against hackers and unauthorised users.) 
extrapolation Ak, straps' lei J"(a)rV noun 
the process of predicting future quantities or 
trends by the analysis of current and past data 
eyeball /'aiboil/ noun a user of the Internet 
who visits a particular website or uses a par- 
ticular product (slang) 
eye candy /'ai .kaendi/ noun the decora- 
tive elements on a computer screen or a web 
page that are intended to make it attractive to 
look at (informal) 

eye-dropper /'ai ,drDpa/ noun a tool in a 
graphics software application that allows a 
user to click on a pixel in an image and select 
the colour of the pixel 

eye-lighting /'ai .laitirj/ noun the process 
of illuminating a close shot in order to pro- 
duce a small highlight reflection on the ac- 
tor's eyeball which causes the eye to sparkle 
(film) 

eyepiece /'aipiis/ noun a camera view- 
finder 

eyepiece lens /'aipiis lens/ nouna lens in 
the viewfinder of a camera through which the 
cameraman looks 

eye-Strain /'ai strem/ noun pain in the 

eyes, caused by looking at bright lights or at 

a VDU for too long 

' . . .to minimize eye-strain, it is vital to have good 

lighting conditions with this LCD system' 

{Personal Computer World] 

e-zine /'i: ziirV noun a website that models 
its contents and layout a printed magazine 



F symbol the hexadecimal number equiva- 
lent to decimal number 15 
face /feis/ noun same as typeface 
facility /fa'siliti/ noun 1. a mechanism or 
means allowing something to being done, es- 
pecially easily O We offer facilities for 
processing a customer's own disks. (NOTE: 
The plural is facilities.) 2. a single large 
building (US) O We have opened our new 
data processing facility. 3. a communications 
path between two or more locations, with no 
ancillary line equipment 
facsimile /faek'simili/ noun an exact copy 
of an original 

facsimile character generator /Tick 
.simili 'kaerikta .cljenareita/ noun a means 
of displaying characters on a computer 
screen by copying preprogrammed images 
from memory 

facsimile transmission /tek'simili 
traenz,mij(3)n/ noun full form of fax 
FACT noun an organisation that prevents il- 
legal copying of film and TV material (film) 
Full form Federation Against Copyright 
Theft 

factor /'faekta/ noun 1 . something which is 
important or which has an influence on 
something else 2. any number in a multipli- 
cation that is the operand 
factorise /'faektaraiz/, factorize verb to 
break down a number into two whole num- 
bers which when multiplied will give the 
original number O When factorised, 15 gives 
the factors 1, 15 or 3, 5. (note: factorises - 
factorising - factorised) 
factory /'faekt(3)ri/ noun a building where 
products are manufactured O computer fac- 
tory 

fade /feid/ verb (of a radio or electrical 
signal) to become less strong (note: fades - 
fading - faded) 

fade in /,feid 'in/ noun 1. an image that 
starts with a blank screen that gradually 
shows the image 2. a sound that starts inaudi- 
bly and gradually increases in volume 
fade out /,f eid 'aut/ noun 1 . an image that 
gradually changes to a blank screen 2. a 
sound that gradually decreases in volume un- 
til it is inaudible ■ verb to decrease in vol- 
ume gradually 



fader /'feida/ noun an instrument which 
brightens or darkens the picture, or decreases 
or increases the audio levels (film) 
fader shutter, fading shutter noun a 
shutter with two blades in a film camera; an 
adjustable opening can be used to vary the 
exposure for fade or dissolve effects 
fading /'feidirj/ noun 1. a variation in 
strength of radio and television broadcast sig- 
nals 2. the process of becoming less dark O 
When fading occurs turn the density dial on 
the printer to full black. 
fail /fed"/ verb not to do something which 
should be done O The company failed to car- 
ry out routine maintenance of its equipment. 
fail safe system /'feil seif .sistam/ noun 
a system which has a predetermined state it 
will go to if a main program or device fails, 
so avoiding the total catastrophe that a com- 
plete system shutdown would produce 
'The DTI is publishing a new code of best prac- 
tice which covers hardware reliability and fail- 
safe software systems.' [Computing] 

failure /'feilja/ noun the process of break- 
ing down or stopping; not doing something 
which should be done 

failure rate /'feiljs reit/ noun the number 
of occurrences of a particular type of failure 
within a specified period of time 
fall back routines /'foil baek ru:,timz/ 
plural noun routines that are called or proce- 
dures which are executed by a user when a 
machine or system has failed 
fall-Off /'foil nil noun a gradual decrease in 
brightness from the centre of a screen to the 
edges (film) 

FAM abbr fast access memory 
family /'faem(3)h7 noun 1 . a range of differ- 
ent designs of a particular typeface 2. a range 
of machines from one manufacturer that are 
compatible with other products in the same 
line from the same manufacturer 
fan /faen/ noun 1 . a mechanism which circu- 
lates air for cooling O If the fan fails, the sys- 
tem will rapidly overheat. 2. a spread of data 
items or devices ■ verb 1 . to cool a device by 
blowing air over it 2. to spread out a series of 
items or devices 
'Intel is investigating other options to solve the 
Pentium system overheating problems, including 
selling the chip with its own miniature fan.' 
[Computing] 



95 



feature 



' . . . a filtered fan maintains positive air pressure 
within the cabinet, to keep dust and dirt from en- 
tering' [Personal Computer World] 

fanfold /'faenfaold/ noun same as accordi- 
on fold 

FAQ /faek, ,ef ei 'kjui/ noun a webpage or 
help file that contains common questions and 
their answers related to a particular subject 
fascia plate /'fetja pleit/ noun the front 
panel on a device O The fascia plate on the 
disk drive of this model is smaller than those 
on other models. 

fast /faist/ adjective 1 . which moves quick- 
ly; which works quickly; (storage or periph- 
eral device) that performs its functions very 
rapidly O fast program execution 2. (photo- 
graphic lens) with a very wide aperture; high- 
ly light-sensitive photographic film 
fast access memory /,fa:st .aekses 
'mem(3)ri/ noun abbr FAM 
FAT /,ef ei 'tii/ noun (in a PC operating 
system) a data file stored on disk that con- 
tains the names of each file stored on the 
disk, together with its starting sector posi- 
tion, date and size. Full form file allocation 
table 

fatal error /,feit(a)l 'era/ noun a fault in a 
program or device that causes the system to 
crash 

FatBitS /'fatbits/ a MacPaint option which 
allows a user to edit an image one pixel at a 
time 

father file /'faida fail/ noun a backup of 
the previous version of a file. i> grandfather 
file, son file 

fault /foilt/ noun a situation in which some- 
thing has gone wrong with software or hard- 
ware, causing it to malfunction O The techni- 
cal staff are trying to correct a programming 
fault, t) bug, error 

fault detection /'foilt di,tekT(3)n/ noun 
an automatic process which logically or 
mathematically determines that a fault exists 
in a circuit 

fault diagnosis /'failt ,dai3gri3osis/ 
noun a process by which the cause of a fault 
is located 

fault tolerance /'foilt .trjbrans/ noun the 
ability of a system to continue functioning 
even when a fault has occurred 
fault-tolerant /,fo:lt 'trjbrant/ adjective 
referring to a system or device that is able to 
continue functioning even when a fault oc- 
curs O They market a highly successful range 
of fault-tolerant minis. 

faulty /'foilti/ adjective which does not 

work properly O There must he a faulty piece 

of equipment in the system. 

'Hampshire fire brigade is investing £2 million in 

a command and control system based on the new 



SeriesFT fault-tolerant Unix machine from Mo- 
torola.' [Computing] 

'... before fault-tolerant systems, users had to rely 
on cold standby fault tolerance is usually associ- 
ated with a system's reliability' [Computer 
News] 

fax /faeks/, FAX noun a method of sending 
and receiving images in digital form over a 
telephone or radio link (informal) O We will 
send a fax of the design plan. Full form f ac- 
simile transmission 

fax card /'faeks kaid/, fax adapter /faeks 
a'daepta/, fax board /faeks baid/ noun an 
adapter card which plugs into an expansion 
slot and allows a computer to send or receive 
fax data 

FCB area of memory (used by the operating 
system) that contains information about the 
files in use or those stored on a disk drive. 
Full form file control block 
FCC (film) abbr US Federal Communica- 
tions Commission ■ noun in the printing of 
film, a control cue device based on the elec- 
tronic counting of the amount of frames mov- 
ing through the machine. Full form frame 
count cueing 

fd, FD abbr A. full duplex 2. floppy disk 
FDC /,ef dii 'si:/ noun a combination of 
hardware and software devices that control 
and manage the read/write operations of a 
disk drive from a computer. Full form floppy 
disk controller 
FDD abbr floppy disk drive 
FDDI /,ef dii dii 'ai/ noun an ANSI standard 
for high-speed networks which use fibre op- 
tic cable in a dual ring topology, transmitting 
data at 100 Mbps. Full form fibre distribut- 
ed data interface 

FDDI II /,ef dii di: ai 'tu:/ noun an en- 
hanced ANSI standard for high-speed net- 
works that uses fibre optic cable and trans- 
mits data at 100 Mbps but can also allocate 
part of the bandwidth to a 64 Kbits/second 
analog channel for audio or video data. Full 
form fibre distributed data interface II 
FDISK /'ef disk/ noun an MS-DOS system 
utility that configures the partitions on a hard 
disk 

fdx, FDX abbr full duplex 
feasibility /,fi:za'biliti/ noun the likeli- 
hood that something will or can be done O 
He has been asked to report on the feasibility 
of a project. 

feasibility study /.fiizs'bihti ,stAdi/ 
noun an examination and report into the use- 
fulness and cost of a new product that is be- 
ing considered for purchase 
feature /'fiitJV noun a special function or 
ability or design of hardware or software 



feature film 



96 



feature film /'fiitja film/ noun a commer- 
cial, full-length film production to be shown 
in a cinema; usually ninety minutes in length 
FED abbr field emission display 
Federation Against Copyright Theft 
/.feda.reiJXa)!! a.genst ,kDpi'rait 8eft/ 
noun full form of FACT 
FEDS /,ef ii dii 'es/ noun a magnetic disk 
storage system that contains some removable 
disks such as floppy disks and some fixed or 
hard disk drives. Full form fixed and ex- 
changeable disk storage 
feed /fi:d/ noun a device which puts some- 
thing such as paper into and through a ma- 
chine such as a printer or photocopier ■ verb 
to put something such as paper into and 
through a machine such as a printer or photo- 
copier O This paper should be manually fed 
into the printer, (note: feeding - fed) 
feedback /'fiidbaek/ noun 1. information 
from one source which can be used to modify 
something or provide a constructive criticism 
of something O We are getting customer 
feedback on the new system. 2. part of an out- 
put signal that is fed back to the input and 
amplified 

feeder /'f iida/ noun 1 . a channel that car- 
ries signals from one point to another 2. a 
mechanism that automatically inserts the pa- 
per into a printer 

feed horn /'fiid ham/ noun a microwave 
channelling device used to direct transmitted 
signals 

feevee /,fii 'vii/ noun US pay cable, form 
of cable TV where the viewer pays an extra 
fee for extra channels (informal) 
feint /feint/ noun very light lines on writing 
paper 

female connector /.fiimeil ka'nekta/ 
noun a connector with female sockets 
FEP /,ef ii 'pi:/ noun a processor placed be- 
tween an input source and the central compu- 
ter, whose function is to preprocess received 
data to relieve the workload of the main com- 
puter. Full form front-end processor 
ferric oxide /,fenk 'oksaid/, ferrite 
/'ferait/ noun iron oxide used as a tape or 
disk coating that can be magnetised to store 
data or signals 

ferromagnetic /.fersomaeg'netik/ adjec- 
tive (material) that has a high magnetic per- 
meability 

FET /,ef ii 'til/ noun an electronic device 
that can act as a variable current flow control. 
Full form field effect transistor (note: An 
external signal varies the resistance of the 
device and current flow by changing the 
width of a conducting channel by means of 
a field. It has three terminals: source, gate 
and drain.) 



fibre distributed data interface 

/,faiba di,stnbjotid 'deita .intafeis/ noun 

full form of FDDI 

fibre distributed data interface II 

/,faiba di,stnbjotid ,deita ,mt3feis 'tu:/ 
noun full form of FDDI II 
fibre Ethernet /,faiba 'iiBanet/ noun a 
high-speed network that uses optical fibre to 
link one node to another in a point-to-point 
topology 

fibre optic cable /,faiba ,t>ptik 
'keib(3)l/, fibre optic connection /,faiba 
,r>ptik ka'nekjan/ noun a bundle of fine 
strands of glass or plastic protected by a sur- 
rounding material, used for transmission of 
light signals that carry data at very high 
speeds 

fibre optics /,faiba 'Dptiks/ plural noun 
the use of thin strands of glass or plastic that 
can transmit light signals at the speed of light 
(note: The light or laser signal is pulsed or 
modulated to represent data being transmit- 
ted.) 

fibre ribbon /,faib3 'riban/ noun a fabric- 
based ribbon used in printers 
fidelity /f I'dehti/ noun the ability of an au- 
dio system to reproduce sound correctly. i> hi 
fi 

field /fiild/ noun 1 . an area of force and en- 
ergy distribution, caused by magnetic or elec- 
tric energy sources 2. a section containing 
particular data items in a record O The em- 
ployee record has a field for age. 3. a section 
of an image that is available after the light has 
passed through the camera and lens. Abbr 
FED 

field blanking /'fiild .blaerjkirj/ noun an 
interval when television signal field synchro- 
nizing pulses are transmitted 
field effect transistor /fiild i'fekt trasn 
'zista/ noun full form of FET 
field emission display /,fiild i'mij(3)n 
di , splei/ noun 1 . a method of producing thin, 
flat displays for laptop computers in which a 
miniature colour CRT is located at each pixel 
point. Abbr FED 2. a method of building up 
a picture on a television screen 
field engineer /,fiild ,end3i'ni3/ noun an 
engineer who does not work at one single 
company, but travels between customers car- 
rying out maintenance on their computers 
field fly back /,fi:ld 'flai ,baek/ noun the 
return of electron beam to the top left hand 
corner of a screen 

field frequency /'fiild ,friikw3nsi/ noun 
the number of field scans per second 
field label /'fiild ,leib(3)l/ noun a series of 
characters used to identify a field or its loca- 
tion. Also called field name 



97 



file validation 



field length /'fiild lerjG/ noun the number 
of characters that a field can contain 
field marker /'fiild .maika/ noun a code 
used to indicate the end of one field and the 
start of the next. Also called field separator 
field name /'fiild neim/ noun same as 
field label 

field programmable device /,fi:ld 
,pr3ugraem3b(3)l di'vais/ noun same as 
PLA 

field programming /'fiild 

.praograemirj/ noun the writing of data into 
a PROM 

field separator /'fiild .sepsreita/ noun 
same as field marker 

field Strength /'fiild strerjB/ noun the am- 
plitude of the magnetic or electric field at one 
point in that field 

field Sweep /'fiild swiip/ noun a vertical 
electron beam movement over a television 
screen 

field sync pulse / fiikl 'strjk ,pa1s/ noun 
a pulse in a TV signal that makes sure that the 
receiver's field sweep is in sync 
FIF /,ef ai 'ef/ noun a file format used to 
store graphics images which have been high- 
ly compressed using fractals. Full form frac- 
tal image format 

FIFO /'faifao/ noun a storage read/write 
method in which the first item stored is the 
first read. Full form first in first out 
fifth generation computer /,fif() 
,d3en3reij(3)n kam'pj uit 3/ noun a compu- 
ter belonging to the next stage of computer 
system design using fast VLSI circuits and 
powerful programming languages to allow 
human interaction 

figure /'figa/ noun 1. a printed number 2. a 
printed line illustration in a book O See figure 
10 for a chart of ASCII codes. 
file /fail/ noun 1. documents kept for refer- 
ence 2. a section of data on a computer, e.g. 
payroll, address list or customer accounts, in 
the form of individual records which may 
contain data, characters, digits or graphics 
'The first problem was solved by configuring a 
Windows swap file, which I hadn't done before 
because my 4Mb 486 had never been overload- 
ed.' [Computing] 

'...the lost file, while inaccessible without a file- 
recovery utility, remains on disk until new infor- 
mation writes over it' [Publish] 

file allocation table /.fail ,aeb'keij(3)n 
,tetb(3)l/ noun full form of FAT 
file attribute /'fail ,aetribjuit/p/ura/ noun 
a set of data stored with each file which con- 
trols particular functions or aspects of the file 
such as read-only, archived or system file 
file deletion /'fail di,liij(3)n/ noun the 
process of erasing a file from storage 



file format /'fail .foimaet/ noun a way in 
which data is stored in a file 
file management /'fad .maemdsmant/, 
file management system /'fail 
,maenid3m3nt .sistam/ noun a section of a 
DOS that allocates disk space to files, keep- 
ing track of the sections and their sector ad- 
dresses 

file manager /'fail ^aenKfja/ noun a sec- 
tion of a disk operating system that allocates 
disk space to files, keeping track of the file 
sections if it has to be split and their sector 
addresses 

filename /'failneim/ noun a unique identi- 
fication code allocated to a program 
'...when the filename is entered at the prompt, 
the operating system looks in the file and exe- 
cutes any instructions stored there' [PC User] 

filename extension /'failneim ik 
,stenj(3)n/ noun an additional three-charac- 
ter name that is used together with a filena- 
me, indicating the type or use of the file 
file-recovery utility /.fail n'kAv(3)ri jui 
,t ilit i/ noun a piece of software which allows 
files that have been accidentally deleted or 
damaged to be read again O A lost file cannot 
be found without a file-recovery utility. 
file security /'fail st.kjoariti/ noun hard- 
ware or software organisation of a computer 
system to protect users' files from unauthor- 
ised access 

file server /'fail ,S3iva/ noun a computer 
connected to a network which runs a network 
operating system software to manage user ac- 
counts, file sharing and printer sharing 
file Sharing /'fail Jeann/ noun a facility 
allowing one file to be used by two or more 
users or programs in a network, often using 
file locking 

file Storage /'fail ,stDind3/ noun a physi- 
cal means of preserving data in a file, e.g. a 
disk drive 

file Structure /'fad ,strAktJa/ noun a way 
in which a data file is organised 
file transfer /'fad ,traensf3i/ noun the 
process of moving a file from one area of 
memory to another or to another storage de- 
vice or between computers 
file transfer protocol /,fad 'traensf3i 
.prsutakDl/ noun full form of FTP 
file type /'fail taip/ noun a method of clas- 
sifying what a file contains O Files with the 
extension exe are file types that contain pro- 
gram code. 

file update /'fad ,Apdeit/ noun 1. the re- 
cent changes or transactions to a file 2. a new 
version of software which is sent to users of 
an existing version 

file validation /'fail ,vaehdeij(3)n/ noun 
the process of checking that a file is correct 



filing 98 

filing /'failirj/ noun 1 . the process of putting 
documents in order 2. documents which have 
to be put in order 

filing system /'failirj ,sistanV noun 1. a 
way of putting documents in order for refer- 
ence 2. a piece of software which organises 
files 

fill /fil/ verb 1 . to make something full O The 
screen was filled with flickering images. 2. to 
put characters into gaps in a field so that there 
are no spaces left 3. to draw an enclosed area 
in one colour or shading 
fill light /'fil lait/, filler /'fib/, fill-in light 
/fil in lait/ noun an additional studio lamp 
used to provide extra light in shadows (film) 
film /film/ noun 1. a transparent strip of 
plastic, coated with a light-sensitive com- 
pound and used to produce photographs with 
the aid of a camera 2. a projection at high 
speed of a series of still images that creates 
the impression of movement ■ verb to ex- 
pose a photographic film to light by means of 
a camera, and so to produce images O film 
advance 1 . lever on a camera used to wind 
on a roll of film to the next frame 2. the dis- 
tance a phototypesetting machine has to 
move prior to the next line to be set 
film assembly /'film a.sembhV noun the 
correct arrangement of photographs or nega- 
tives prior to the production of a printing 
plate 

film base /'film beis/ noun thin transpar- 
ent roll of plastic used as a supporting mate- 
rial for photographic film 
film Chain /'film t Jem/ noun all the neces- 
sary equipment needed when showing film or 
slides on television, such as a projector, TV 
camera and synchroniser 
film gate /'film geit/ noun the alliance of 
the aperture and pressure plates in a camera 
or a projector to guide the film through, and 
to also ensure the correct focal distance be- 
tween the film and the lens 
film gauge /'film geicfj/ noun the diame- 
ter of different types of cinematographic film 
filming /'filmirj/ noun the shooting of a 
cinema film or TV film O Filming will start 
next week if the weather is fine. 

film optical scanning device for in- 
put into computers /.film ,Dptik(a)l 
,skaenirj di,vais fa ,mput ,mta ksm 
'pjuitaz/ noun full form of FOSDIC 
film pickup /'film .pikvvp/ noun the trans- 
mission of a motion picture film by television 
by electronically scanning each frame 
film projector /'slaid pra^ekta/, slide 
projector noun a mechanical device that dis- 
plays films or slides on a screen 
film recorder /'film n.koida/ noun a de- 
vice that produces a 35 mm slide from a com- 



puter image (note: A film recorder can pro- 
duce slides at very high resolution, normally 
around 3,000 lines, by regenerating the im- 
age on an internal screen.) 
filmsetting /'filir^setirj/ noun the process 
of photocomposition 

film speed /'film spiid/ noun the light 
sensitivity of photographic film, as deter- 
mined by ASA or DIN 
film Strip /'film strip/ noun a set of related 
images on a reel of film, usually for educa- 
tional purposes 

filter /'filta/ noun 1. an electronic circuit 
that allows certain frequencies to pass while 
stopping others 2. an option in a software ap- 
plication that allows it to import or export a 
particular foreign file type O Most graphics 
packages have import filters that will decode 
TIFF, BMP and PCX file formats. 3. optical 
coloured glass, which stops certain frequen- 
cies of light 4. a pattern of binary digits used 
to select various bits from a binary word. A 
one in the filter retains that bit in the source 
word. ■ verb 1. to remove unwanted ele- 
ments from a signal or file 2. to select various 
bits from a word O Filter the top three bits of 
the video attribute word. 3. to select various 
records from a database file O We filtered the 
data to select those customers based in New 
York. 

final /'fam(3)l/ adjective last or coming at 
the end of a period O to keyboard the final 
data files 

final cut /'fam(3)l kAt/ noun (film) 1. the 
original negative when it has been altered to 
conform with the workprint 2. the final ver- 
sion of the edited film on which the sound 
track can now be placed 
final trial composite /,fam(3)l .traial 
'knmpazit/ noun a film containing audio 
and visual effects; this is the final and ap- 
proved version of all former trial composites 
(film) 

find /famd/ verb to get something back 
which has been lost O It took a lot of time to 
find the faulty chip. ■ noun a command to lo- 
cate a piece of information 
find and replace /,famd an n'pleis/ 
noun a feature on a word-processor that al- 
lows certain words or sections of text to be 
located and replaced with others 
Finder /'famda/ a trade name for a graphi- 
cal user interface to an Apple Mac allowing a 
user to view files and folders and start appli- 
cations using a mouse 

fine /fain/ adjective excellent or of very 
high quality 

fine-tune /,fam 'tjuin/ verb to adjust by 
small amounts the features or parameters of 
hardware or software to improve perform- 



99 



flatbed scanner 



ance O Fine-tuning improved the speed by 
ten per cent. 

finger /'f irjga/ noun a software program on 
the Internet that will retrieve information 
about a user based on his or her email address 
finish /'fmiJV noun 1. the final appearance 
of something O The product has an attractive 
finish. 2. the end of a process or function ■ 
verb 1. to do something or to make some- 
thing completely O The order was finished in 
time. 2. to come to an end O The contract is 
due to finish next month. 
finished /'fmijt/ adjective which has been 
completed 

firewall /'faiawoil/ noun a hardware or 
software security system between a server or 
intranet and the public Internet that allows in- 
formation to pass out to the Internet but 
checks any incoming data before passing it 
on to the private server O We have installed a 
firewall in our intranet to prevent hackers ac- 
cessing company data via the Internet link. 
Firewire /'faiawaia/ a trade name for a 
high-speed serial interface developed by the 
Apple Computer Corporation and used to 
link devices such as a digital camera with the 
computer, t) USB 

firmware /'f3imwe3/ noun a computer 
program or data that is permanently stored in 
a hardware memory chip, e.g. a ROM or 
EPROM. Compare hardware, software 
first generation computer /,f3ist 
,d3en3reij(3)n kauj'pjuita/ noun an origi- 
nal computer made with valve-based elec- 
tronic technology, started around 1951 
first generation image /,f3ist 
,d3en3reij(3)n 'imid3/ noun a master copy 
of an original image, text or document 
first grip /,f3ist 'grip/ noun on a film set, 
the principal stagehand who is responsible 
for the other stagehands (film) Also called 
key grip 

first in first out /,f3ist m ,f3ist aut/ 
noun full form of FIFO 
first party release /,f3:st ,pa:ti ri'liis/ 
noun the ending of a telephone connection as 
soon as either party puts his phone down or 
disconnects his modem 
fisheye lens /,fijei 'lenz/ noun an ex- 
tremely wide angle photographic lens that 
has a field of view of 180 degrees and pro- 
duces a distorted circular image 
fit /fit/ verb to plot or calculate a curve that 
most closely approximates a number of 
points or data (note: fitting - fitted) 
fix /fiks/ verb 1 . to make something perma- 
nent or to attach something permanently O 
The computer is fixed to the workstation. 2. 
to mend O The technicians are trying to fix 
the switchboard. 



fixed and exchangeable disk stor- 
age /,fikst an iks,tjeind33b(3)l 'disk 
,stDind3/ noun full form of FEDS 
fixed disk /,fikst 'disk/ noun a magnetic 
disk which cannot be removed from the disk 
drive 

fixed-frequency monitor /.fikst 
.friikwansi 'irronita/ noun a monitor that 
can only accept one frequency and type of 
video signal 

flag /flaeg/ noun 1 . a way of showing the 
end of field or of indicating something spe- 
cial in a database O If the result is zero, the 
zero flag is set. 2. a method of reporting the 
status of a register after a mathematical or 
logical operation 3. a square or rectangular 
opaque sheet which is used to stop light from 
the camera lens hitting places where it is not 
needed on the set ■ verb to attract the atten- 
tion of a program while it is running to pro- 
vide a result, report an action or indicate 
something special (note: flagging - flagged) 
flagging /'fkegirj/ noun 1. the process of 
putting an indicator against an item so that it 
can be found later 2. distortion in a television 
picture which is created by timing mistakes 
in a video tape recorder's playback signal 
flame /fleim/ verb send a rude or angry In- 
ternet message to a user (note: flames - 
flaming -flamed) 

flare /flea/ noun 1 . an error in which disper- 
sion of light in a lens undesirably brightens 
the dark areas of an image 2. areas of film 
that have been exposed to light on account of 
the camera not being fully light proof 
flared /flead/ adjective image with unwant- 
ed bright spots or lines due to internal lens or 
camera reflections 

flash /flaeJV verbto switch a light on and off 
flashing /'flaejirj/ noun a signal sent over a 
telephone line to get the attention of an oper- 
ator or user 

flash ROM /'flaej rDm/ noun an electronic 
memory component that contains data that 
can normally only be read, but that does al- 
low new data to be stored in the memory us- 
ing a special electrical signal 
flat /flaet/ adjective 1. smooth (surface) 2. 
fixed or not changing 3. lacking contrast (in 
an image or photograph) 
flatbed /'flaet ,bed/ adjective referring to a 
printing or scanning machine that holds the 
paper or image on a flat surface while 
processing O Scanners are either flatbed 
models or platen type, paper-fed models. 
flatbed scanner /,flaetbed 'skaena/ noun 
a device with a flat sheet of glass on which 
artwork is placed and a scan head that moves 
below the glass and converts the image into a 
graphics file 



flat file 



100 



flat file /'flaet fail/ noun a two-dimensional 
file of data items 

flat file database /.flaet fad 'deitobeis/ 
noun a database program that can only ac- 
cess data stored in one file at a time, not al- 
lowing relational data 

flat screen /'flaet skriin/ noun a display 
monitor that has been manufactured with a 
flat, square-edged front to the monitor 
flex /fleks/ noun a wire or cable used to con- 
nect an appliance to the mains electricity sup- 
ply (note: no plural: for one item, say a 
piece of flex) 

flexibility /.fleksi'biliti/ noun the ability 
of hardware or software to adapt to various 
conditions or tasks 

flexible /'fleksib(o)l/ adjective which can 
be altered or changed 

flexible machining system 
/,fleksib(o)l mo'Jnnin .sistom/ noun full 
form of FMS 1 

flexible manufacturing system 
/,fleksib(o)l .maenjo'faektronrj ,sist3m/ 
noun full form of FMS 2 
flicker /'fhko/ noun 1. a computer graphic 
image whose brightness varies rapidly at a 
visible rate because of a low image refresh 
rate or signal corruption 2. a random varia- 
tion of brightness in a television picture 3. an 
effect that occurs when a frame from a vide- 
odisc is frozen and two different pictures are 
displayed alternately at high speed due to the 
incorrect field matching 4. a very short inter- 
ruption in a film which is caused by a fault in 
the film projector or by a slow film projector 
■ verb 1 . to move very slightly O The image 
flickers when the printer is switched on. 2. to 
vary in brightness rapidly and visibly be- 
cause of a low image refresh rate or signal 
corruption 

flicker-free /'fhka fri:/ adjective referring 
to a display that does not flicker 
'A CRT (cathode ray tube) monitor paints the 
screen from top to bottom, and is usually consid- 
ered 'flicker free' if it refreshes the image 75 
times a second, or more' [The Guardian] 

flier /'f lata/ noun a small advertising leaflet 
designed to encourage customers to ask for 
more information about a product or service 
flight Simulator /'flait ,simjoleito/ noun 
a computer program which allows a user to 
pilot a plane, showing a realistic control pan- 
el and moving scenes, used either as a train- 
ing programme or a computer game 
flip-flop /'flip flop/ noun an electronic cir- 
cuit or chip whose output can be one of two 
states determined by one or two inputs, and 
which can be used to store one bit of digital 
data. Abbr FF 



float /flaut/ noun (film) 1 . the slow shake of 
an image up and down due to faulty synchro- 
nisation 2. overlapping images in multiple 
exposure rostrum camera work 3. part of a 
studio set which can easily be moved into or 
out of position 

floating /'flootirj/ adjective referring to a 
character which is separate from the charac- 
ter it should be attached to 
floating point notation /.fbotirj point 
noo'teif(o)n/ noun a numerical notation in 
which a fractional number is represented 
with a point after the first digit and a power, 
so that any number can be stored in a stand- 
ard form 

floating point unit /,flootin point 
'juinit/ noun a specialised CPU that can 
process floating point numbers very rapidly 
O The floating point unit speeds up the 
processing of the graphics software. Abbr 
FPU. Also called floating point processor 
floating window /,flootin 'wmdoo/ 
noun a window that can be moved anywhere 
on screen 

flood /fUd/, floodlight /'fUdlait/ noun a 
lamp which gives a wide range of light (film) 
flooding /'f lAdin/ noun a rapid, reliable but 
not very efficient means of routing packet- 
switched data, in which each node sends the 
data received to each of its neighbours 
flood track /'fLvd traek/ noun the sound 
track on a photographic film which is not 
used for sound and reveals the standard max- 
imum width of a picture area (film) 
floppy disk /,flt>pi 'disk/, floppy /'flopi/ 
noun a secondary storage device in the form 
of a flat, circular flexible disk onto which 
data can be stored in a magnetic form. Abbr 
FD (note: The plural of floppy is floppies.) 
comment: Floppy disks are available in 
various sizes: the commonest are 3.5 inch, 
5.25 inch and 8 inch. The size refers to the 
diameter of the disk inside the sleeve. 
floppy disk controller /.flrjpi 'disk kon 
,troob/ noun full form of FDC 
floppy disk drive /,fk>pi 'disk ,draiv/ 
noun a disk drive for floppy disks. Abbr 
FDD. Also called floppy disk unit 
flow /floo/ noun a regular movement O Au- 
tomatic text flow across pages. ■ verb to 
move smoothly O Work is flowing normally 
again after the breakdown of the printer. 
flowchart /'fbotjait/ noun a diagram 
showing the arrangement of various work 
processes as a series of stages 
flow control /'floo kon,trool/ noun man- 
agement of the flow of data into queues and 
buffers, to prevent heavy traffic 
flow text /,floo 'tekst/ verb to insert text 
into a page format in a DTP system (note: 



101 



font 



The text fills all the space around pictures, 
and between set margins.) 
fluctuate /'flAktJueit/ verb to move up 
and down O The electric current fluctuates 
between 1 Amp and 1.3 Amp. 
fluctuating /'flAktjoeitirj/ adjective mov- 
ing up and down O fluctuating signal 
strength 

fluctuation /,flAkt Ju'ei J"(3)n/ noun an up 
and down movement O Voltage fluctuations 
can affect the functioning of the computer 
system. 

fluid head /'flund hed/ noun a camera 
head for a tripod which possesses smooth pan 
and tilt facilities (film) 

flush /flAjV verbto clear or erase all the con- 
tents of a queue, buffer, file or section of 
memory ■ adjective level or in line with 
something 

fluting /'fluit irj/ noun twisting and bending 
of film edges created by humidity or by 
winding the film too tightly around a spool 
(film) 

flutter /'flAta/ noun the occurrence of fluc- 
tuations of tape speed due to mechanical or 
circuit problems, causing signal distortion O 
Wow and flutter and common faults on cheap 
tape recorders. 

flux /flAks/ noun 1. a measure of magnetic 
field strength 2. the amount of reflected light 
from an object 

flux density /'fLvks .densati/ noun the in- 
tensity of a magnetic flux 
fly /flai/ verb to move (through the air) 
flyback /'f laibaek/ noun an electron picture 
beam return from the end of a scan to the be- 
ginning of the next. Also called line flyback 
FM verb a method of changing the frequency 
of one signal according to another. Full form 
frequency modulation 
comment: FM is often used as a method of 
representing data through changes in the 
frequency of a signal (the carrier), and as a 
method of carrying data over fibre-optic or 
telephone cables (e.g. many modem 
standards use FM to transmit data). 

FMS /,ef em 'es/ noun 1 . CNC or control of 
a machine by a computer. Full form flexible 
machining system 2. the use of CNC ma- 
chines, robots and other automated devices in 
manufacturing. Full form flexible manufac- 
turing system 

FM synthesiser /,ef em 'smBa.saizs/ 
noun a device or other means for creating 
sounds by combining base signals of differ- 
ent frequencies (note: Sound cards using 
an FM synthesiser create sounds of a pi- 
ano, drum or guitar by combining different 
frequencies at different levels to recreate 



the complex sound of a musical instru- 
ment.) 

FNP abbr front-end processor 
f-number /'ef ,nAmb3/ noun a measure- 
ment of the amount of light that an optical 
lens can collect, measured as the ratio of fo- 
cal length to maximum aperture 
FO abbr fibre optics 

focal length /,t'3ok(3)l 'lerj9/ noun the 
distance between the centre of an optical lens 
and the focusing plane, when the lens is fo- 
cused at infinity 

focal plane /'fauk(3)l plem/ noun a plane 
through the main focus of a camera lens 
which is at right angles to its optical axis 
(film) 

fOCUS /'faokas/ noun 1. a particular win- 
dow or field that is currently ready to accept 
a user's command O In Windows, the object 
that currently has the user's focus has a dot- 
ted line around it. 2. an image or beam that is 
clear and well defined ■ verb 1. to adjust a 
monitor so that the image that is displayed on 
the screen is sharp and clear 2. to adjust the 
focal length of a lens or beam deflection sys- 
tem so that the image or beam is clear and 
well defined O The camera is focused on the 
foreground. O They adjusted the lens position 
so that the beam focused correctly. 
fog /fDg/ noun an effect on photographic 
material which has been accidentally ex- 
posed to unwanted light, causing a loss of 
picture contrast 

fog filter /'fog ,f ilta/ noun a filter placed in 
front of the camera lens that diffuses the light 
to produce a softer image; also used to create 
the impression of fog (film) 
fogging /'fogirj/ noun a graphic effect that 
is used to simulate atmospheric fog or haze, 
used to make a three-dimensional scene more 
realistic. Also called haze 
folder /'f solda/ noun a group of files stored 
together under a name. f> directory 
folding machine /.faoldin majim/ 
noun a machine which automatically folds 
sheets of paper 

folio /'fsoliau/ noun a page with a number, 
especially two facing pages in an account 
book which have the same number 
follow focus /,fDbo 'f sokas/ verb to keep 
an object in focus even if it is moving away 
from the camera (film) 

follow spot /'friao spot/ noun a very 
strong spotlight which follows a performer 
(film) 

font /font/ noun a set of characters all of the 

same style, size and typeface. Also called 

fount 

'Word Assistant is designed to help wordprocess- 

ing users produce better- looking documents. It 



foobar 



102 



has style templates and forms providing 25 Tru- 
eType fonts, 100 clip-art images and two font 
utility programs.' [Computing] 
'...laser printers store fonts in several ways: as 
resident, cartridge and downloadable fonts' 
[Desktop Publishing Today] 

foobar /'f uibai/ noun a term used by pro- 
grammers to refer to whatever is being dis- 
cussed O If a programmer is explaining how 
a graphic program works, he might refer to 
an example graphic file that stores the image 
as foobar.gif - it does not really exist but is 
just an example. 

foolscap I'i udskaep/ noun a large size of 
writing paper, longer than A4 (note: no plu- 
ral) □ a foolscap envelope large envelope 
which takes foolscap paper 
foot /f ot/ noun 1 . the bottom part of some- 
thing O He signed his name at the foot of the 
letter. 2. a measurement of length (= 30cm) O 
The table is six feet long. O My office is ten 
feet by twelve. 3. a measurement of length of 
film which represents a certain number of 
frames, e.g.: one foot contains 72 frames for 
Super 8, 40 for 16mm and 16 for 35mm (film) 
(note: The plural is feet for (a) and (c). 
There is no plural for (b). In measurements, 
foot is usually written ft or ' after figures: 
10ft; 10'.) 

footage /'fottd3/ noun a measurement of 
film length in metres or feet (film) 
footer /'fota/, footing /'fotirj/ noun a mes- 
sage at the bottom of all the pages in a printed 
document, e.g. the page number 
footnote I'i ot .naot/ noun a note at the bot- 
tom of a page, referring to the text above it, 
usually using a superior number as a refer- 
ence 

footprint /'fot .print/ noun 1. the area cov- 
ered by a transmitting device such as a satel- 
lite or antenna 2. the area that a computer 
takes up on a desk 
'...signals from satellites in orbit 36,000km 
above the earth don't care very much whether 
you are close to an exchange or not. ...as long as 
you have a dish within their footprint.' 
[The Guardian] 

force /fois/ noun strength ■ verb to make 
someone do something O Competition has 
forced the company to lower its prices. 

forced page break /,fo:st peid3 ,breik/ 
noun an embedded code which indicates a 
new page start 

foreground I'i oigraond/ noun 1 . the front 
part of an illustration, as opposed to the back- 
ground 2. a high-priority task done by a com- 
puter 3. the area in a shot which is closest to 
the camera 4. an image displayed in front of 
another image in a video clip. For example, 
Windows Movie Player displays an object in 



a high score channel in front of an object in a 
low score channel. Compare background 
'This brighter - but still anti-glare - type of 
screen is especially useful for people using col- 
ourful graphic applications, where both the back- 
ground and foreground are visually important.' 
[Computing] 

foreground colour /,foigraund 'kAla/ 
noun the colour of characters and text dis- 
played on a screen 

foreground mode /'foigraond maud/ 
plural noun in a computer system in which 
two modes for program execution are possi- 
ble, the mode that is for interactive user pro- 
grams. Compare background mode 
forelengthen /foi'lerjOan/ noun to create 
an illusion of depth by using a wide angle 
lens on a camera 

foreshorten /foi'Jbitan/ verb to create an 
illusion that all objects are very close togeth- 
er by using a long (telephoto) lens on a cam- 
era 

forest /'t'Drist/ noun a number of intercon- 
nected data structure trees 
fork /foik/ noun (in an Apple Mac) a folder 
that contains system files and information 
about a file or application 
form /form/ noun 1 . a preprinted document 
with blank spaces where information can be 
entered O It's been easy to train the opera- 
tors to use the new software since its display 
looks like the existing printed forms. 2. a 
graphical display that looks like an existing 
printed form and is used to enter data into a 
database 3. a page of computer stationery 4. 
a complete plate or block of type, ready for 
printing ■ verb to create a shape; to construct 
O The system is formed of five separate mod- 
ules. 

format I'i oimaet/ noun 1 . a specific method 
of arranging text or data 2. the precise syntax 
of instructions and arguments 3. the size and 
shape of a book O The printer can deal with 
all formats up to quarto. 4. the way of arrang- 
ing a TV programme ■ verb to arrange text 
as it will appear in printed form on paper O 
Style sheets are used to format documents. 
'As an increasing amount of information within 
businesses is generated in wordprocessed format, 
text retrieval tools are becoming a highly attrac- 
tive pragmatic solution.' [Computing] 

formatter /'foimaeta/ noun a piece of hard- 
ware or software that arranges text or data ac- 
cording to certain rules 
formula /'foimjuta/ noun a set of mathe- 
matical rules applied to solve a problem 
(note: The plural is formulae.) 
formula translator /'foimjata traens 
.leita/ noun full form of FORTRAN 



103 



frame 



FORTH /fo:8/ noun a programming lan- 
guage mainly used in control applications 
FORTRAN /'foitraen/ noun a program- 
ming language developed in the first place 
for scientific use. Full form formula trans- 
lator 

forty-track disk /,fo:ti traek 'disk/ noun 
a floppy disk formatted to contain forty 
tracks of data 

forum /'foiram/ noun an Internet discus- 
sion group for people who share a special in- 
terest in something 

forward /'f o:wad/ adjective moving in ad- 
vance or in front ■ verb to send an email 
message that you have received on to another 
user O / did not know the answer to the ques- 
tion, so I have forwarded your message to my 
colleague. 

for your information lis ,jo:r .mfa 
'meij(3)n/ noun full form of FYI 
FOSDIC /,ef au es dii ai 'si:/ noun a stor- 
age device for computer data using micro- 
film. Full form film optical scanning de- 
vice for input into computers 
fount /font/ noun same as font 
fourcc /,fo: si: 'si:/, four-character code 
/,fo: .kaenkta 'kaud/ noun a method of 
identifying the type of data within a RIFF file 
4GL abbr fourth generation language 
Fourier series /'furia ,si3ri:z/ noun a 
mathematical representation of waveforms 
by a combination of fundamental and har- 
monic components of a frequency 
fourth generation computer /,fo:9 
,d3en3reij(3)n kam'pj u:t 3/ noun a compu- 
ter using technology using LSI circuits, de- 
veloped around 1970 and still in current use 
fourth generation language /,fo:9 
,d3en3reij(3)n 'laerjgwid3/ noun a compu- 
ter language that is user-friendly and has 
been designed with the nonexpert in mind. 
Abbr 4GL 

four-track recorder /,fo; trak n'ka:d3/ 
noun a tape recorder that is able to record and 
play back four independent audio tracks at 
once 

FP abbr front projection (film) 
f ps noun 1 . the number of individual frames 
of a video sequence that can be displayed 
each second to give the impression of move- 
ment. Full form frames per second. i> 
MPEG 2. the speed of single frames of a mo- 
tion picture through a projector or camera 
every second 3. the number of television pic- 
ture frames transmitted per second 
comment: To give the impression of 
smooth continuous video (also called full- 
motion video), a computer needs to display 
at least 25 separate frames each second. If 
the frames are small, there is less data to 



update; however if the frame is large - e.g. 
filling a large window - then the computer 
has to update the hundreds of thousands 
of pixels that make up each image 25 times 
per second. To do this needs a fast graph- 
ics adapter or special video display hard- 
ware 

FPU abbr floating point unit 
FQDN /,ef kju: di: 'en/ noun a complete 
domain name that can be used to identify a 
server as well as the host, e.g. 
bloomsbury.com. Full form fully qualified 
domain name 

fractal /'fraekt(3)l/ noun a geometric shape 
that repeats itself within itself and always ap- 
pears the same, however much you magnify 
the image 

fractal compression /,fraekt(3)l kam 
'prej(a)n/ noun a technique used to com- 
press images 

fractal image format /,fraekt(3)l 'imid3 
,f o:maet/ noun full form of FIF 
fraction /'fraekfan/ noun 1. a part of a 
whole unit, expressed as one figure above an- 
other, e.g. 1/4, 1/2, or a figure after a decimal 
point, e.g. 25. 2. a mantissa of a floating point 
number. Also called fractional part 
fragment /'feegmant/ noun a piece of in- 
formation that has had to be split up into sev- 
eral smaller units of information before being 
sent over the Internet. The receiver will re-as- 
semble these units into the correct order. 
fragmentation /,fraegman'teif(3)n/ 
noun 1. (in main memory) memory alloca- 
tion to a number of files, which has resulted 
in many small, free sections or fragments that 
are too small to be of any use, but waste a lot 
of space 2. (on a disk drive) a situation with 
files stored scattered across non-contiguous 
sectors on a hard disk 
comment: When a file is saved to disk, it is 
not always saved in adjacent sectors. This 
will increase the retrieval time. Defragmen- 
tation moves files back into adjacent sec- 
tors so that the read head does not have to 
move far across the disk, so it increases 
performance. 

frame /freim/ noun 1 . a space on magnetic 
tape for one character code 2. a packet of 
transmitted data including control and route 
information 3. (in animation, film or video) 
one single image within a sequence of differ- 
ent images that together show movement or 
animation. Each frame is normally slightly 
different from the previous one to give the 
impression of movement. 4. (in an HTML 
webpage) a set of commands that allow the 
main window of a browser to be split into 
separate sections, each of which can be 
scrolled independently. This allows lots of 
information to be presented clearly. f> HTML 



frame-based animation 



104 



5. (in communications) a standard unit of in- 
formation that contains a header with the des- 
tination address and sender's address fol- 
lowed by the information and a trailer that 
contains error detection information 6. a 
movable, resizable box that holds text or an 
image 7. one screen of data 8. one individual 
shot in a film or the area it occupies in the 
camera lens 9. one complete image displayed 
on a television screen (in the US this is made 
up of 525 lines, in the UK it is 625 lines) 
frame-based animation /,freim beisd 
,aeni'meij(3)n/ noun a series of screens dis- 
played in quick succession, each one slightly 
different, that gives the impression of move- 
ment 

frame buffer /'freim ,bAfa/ noun a sec- 
tion of memory used to store an image before 
it is displayed on screen 
frame grabber /'freim ,graeb3/ noun a 
high speed digital sampling circuit that stores 
a TV picture in memory so that it can then be 
processed by a computer. Also called grab- 
ber 
'...the frame grabber is distinguished by its abil- 
ity to acquire a TV image in a single frame inter- 
val' [Electronics & Wireless World] 

frame index /'freim ,mdeks/ noun a 
counter used by the Microsoft Movie Player 
software that identifies the current frame of 
the video 

frames per second /,freimz pa 
'sekand/ noun full form of fps 
framework /'freimw3ik/ noun the basic 
structure of a database, process or program O 
The program framework was designed first. 
framing /'freimin/ noun 1. the positioning 
of a camera's field of view for a required im- 
age 2. the synchronisation of time division 
multiplexed frames of data 
framing bit /'freimin bit/ noun a sync bit 
or transmitted bit used to synchronise devices 
framing code /'freimirj kaod/ noun a 
method of synchronizing a receiver with a 
broadcast teletext stream of data 
free /frii/ adjective available for use or not 
currently being used ■ verb to erase, remove 
or back up programs or files to provide space 
in memory 

freedom /'friidam/ noun being free to do 
something without restriction 
freedom of information /.friidam sv 
infa'meiJXajn/ noun the opportunity and 
ability to examine computer records, ei- 
ther(referring to government activities or 
about individuals) 

freeware /'friiwea/ noun software that is 
in the public domain and can be used by any- 
one without having to pay 
freeze /friiz/ verb same as hang. » crash 



freeze frame /'friiz freim/ noun a video 
sequence stopped so that only one frame is 
displayed 

frequency /'friikwansi/ noun a number of 
cycles or periods of a regular waveform that 
are repeated per second (note: The plural is 
frequencies.) 

frequency equaliser /'Mikwansi 
.iikwalaiza/ noun a device that changes the 
amplitude of various frequency components 
of a signal according to preset values 
frequency modulation /.friikwsnsi 
rriDdju'lei .[(3)n/ noun full form of FM 
frequent /'friikwant/ adjective which 
comes or goes or takes place often 
frequently /'f riikwantli/ adverb often 
frequently asked questions 
/,fri:kw3nt(3)li aiskd 'kwestjanz/ plural 
noun common questions and their answers 
relating to a particular subject that are con- 
tained in a document O The website has a 
section for FAQ about the new disk drive. 
Abbr FAQ 

friction feed /'fnkf(a)n f i:d/ noun a print- 
er mechanism where the paper is advanced 
by holding it between two rollers (as opposed 
to tractor feed) 

friendly front end /,frendli ,frAnt 'end/ 
noun the design of the display of a program 
that is easy to use and understand 
front /fr Ant/ noun part of something which 
faces away from the back O The disks are in- 
serted in slots in the front of the terminal. 
front end /,f rAnt 'end/ adjective 1 . located 
at the start or most important point of a cir- 
cuit or network 2. the visible part of an appli- 
cation that is seen by a user and is used to 
view and work with information O The pro- 
gram is very easy to use thanks to the uncom- 
plicated front-end. 

front-end processor /.frAnt end 
'preusesa/ noun full form of FEP 
FSAA abbr full scene anti-aliasing 
FSK abbr frequency shift keying 
FTP /,ef ti: 'pi:/ noun an TCP/IP standard 
for transferring files between computers; it is 
a file sharing protocol that operates at layers 
5, 6 and 7 of an OSI model network. Full 
form file transfer protocol 
full /fol/ adjective 1 . with as much inside as 
possible O The disk is full, so the material 
will have to be stored on another disk. 2. 
complete or including everything 
'.. .transmitter and receiver can be operated inde- 
pendently, making full duplex communication 
possible' [Electronics & Power] 
full adder /,fol 'aeda/ noun a binary addi- 
tion circuit which can produce the sum of two 
inputs, and can also accept a carry input, pro- 
ducing a carry output if necessary 



105 FYI 



full duplex /,fol 'djuipleks/ noun data 
transmission down a channel in two direc- 
tions simultaneously. Abbr fd, FD, fdx 
full-motion video /,M ,m3uf(a)n 
'vidiau/ noun » f ps 

full-motion video adapter /,ful 
,m3oJ(3)n 'vidiau 3,daept3/ noun a compu- 
ter fitted with a digitising card that is fast 
enough to capture and display moving video 
images, at a rate of 25 or 30 frames per sec- 
ond 

full scene anti-aliasing /,fol si:n ,aenti 
'eiliasirj/ noun a method of anti-aliasing a 
complete frame of a video or animation rath- 
er than just one object, which requires pow- 
erful graphics hardware. Abbr FSAA 
full-screen /,fol 'skriin/ adjective refer- 
ring to a program display that uses all the 
available screen, and is not displayed within 
a window 

fully /'foli/ adverb completely 
fully qualified domain name /,fuli 
,kwDhfaid dau 'mem ,neim/ noun full form 
of FQDN 

function /'fArjkfan/ noun 1. a mathemati- 
cal formula in which a result is dependent 
upon several other numbers 2. a sequence of 
computer program instructions in a main pro- 
gram that perform a certain task 3. a special 
feature available on a computer or word- 
processor O The word-processor had a spell- 
ing-checker function but no built-in text-edit- 
ing function. ■ verb to operate or perform 
correctly O The new system has not func- 
tioned properly since it was installed. 
functional /'fArjkj3n(3)l/ adjective which 
refers to the way something works 



functional diagram /.I'ArjkJYajnal 
'daiagraem/ noun a drawing of the internal 
workings and processes of a machine or 
piece of software 

functional specification /,fArjkJ"(a)nal 
,spesifi'keij(3)n/ noun a specification 
which defines the results which a program is 
expected to produce 

function key /'f AinkTan kii/ noun one of 
several special keys placed along the top of a 
PC keyboard that have different uses accord- 
ing to different applications O Tags can be al- 
located to function keys. 
comment: Function keys often form a sep- 
arate group of keys on the keyboard, and 
have specific functions attached to them. 
They may be labelled F1, F2, and so on. 
Most applications use the F1 key to display 
help information and Alt-F4 to quit an appli- 
cation 
fuse /fjuiz/ noun an electrical protection 
device consisting of a small piece of metal, 
which will melt when too much power passes 
through it 

fusion /'fju:3(3)n/ noun the process of 
combining two hardware devices or pro- 
grams or chemical substances to create a sin- 
gle form 

fuzzy logic /,fAzi 'h^ik/, fuzzy theory 
/,f Azi 'Giari/ noun a type of logic applied to 
computer programming, which tries to repli- 
cate the reasoning methods of the human 
brain 

FYI /,ef wai 'ai/ noun a document file that 
contains general background information re- 
lated to the Internet or the TCP/IP protocols. 
Full form for your information. f> RFC 
(note: Specific technical information is nor- 
mally contained in RFC documents.) 



G abbr giga- 
comment: In computing G refers to 2 30 , 
equal to 1,073,741,824. 

gain /gem/ noun 1. an increase or enlarge- 
ment 2. an amount by which a signal ampli- 
tude is changed as it passes through a circuit, 
usually given as a ratio of output to input am- 
plitude. Opposite attenuation 
galactic noise /ga'laektik noiz/ noun 
random electrical noise which originates 
from planets and stars in space 
galley proofs /'gaeli pruifs/ plural noun 
proofs in the form of long pieces of text, not 
divided into pages, printed on long pieces of 
paper 

game /geim/ noun something which is 
played for enjoyment or relaxation 
game console /'geim ,kDns3ol/ noun a 
dedicated computer that is used primarily to 
play games, designed to connect to a televi- 
sion set rather than a monitor and usually 
controlled using a gamepad rather than a key- 
board and mouse. Also called games con- 
sole 

gamepad /'geimpaed/ noun a device held 
in the hand to control a computer game 
game port /'geim port/ noun a connection 
that allows a joystick to be plugged into a 
computer 

gamma /'gaema/ noun 1 . a unit of magnetic 
intensity 2. a measurement of the degree of 
contrast in a television picture. For television 
cameras and receivers, the measurement is 
found from the input and output voltage and 
the light input or output. 3. a measure of the 
contrast of a film emulsion 
ganged /gaerjd/ adjective referring to me- 
chanically linked devices that are operated by 
a single action 

gap /gaep/ noun 1 . a space between record- 
ed data 2. a space between a read head and 
the magnetic medium 3. a method of radio 
communications using a carrier signal that is 
switched on and off, as in a telegraphic sys- 
tem 

garbage /'gaibid3/ noun 1 . a radio inter- 
ference from adjacent channels 2. data or in- 
formation that is no longer required because 
it is out of date or contains errors 
garbage in garbage out /,gaibid3 m 
,ga:bid3 'aot/ noun full form of GIGO 



gas discharge display /,gaes dis 

,tja:d3 di'splei/, gas plasma display 

/,gaes .plaezma di'splei/ noun a flat, light- 
weight display screen that is made of two flat 
pieces of glass covered with a grid of conduc- 
tors, separated by a thin layer of a gas which 
luminesces when one point of the grid is se- 
lected by two electric signals. Also called 
plasma display 
comment: Mainly used in modern portable 
computer displays, but the definition is not 
as good as in cathode ray tube displays. 

gate /geit/ noun 1. a logical electronic 
switch whose output depends on the states of 
the inputs and the type of logical function im- 
plemented 2. a mechanical film or slide 
frame aligner in a camera or projector 3. the 
aperture in which the frame is exposed or 
projected 

gateway /'geitwei/ noun 1. a device that 
links two dissimilar networks O We use a 
gateway to link the LAN to WAN. 2. a soft- 
ware protocol translation device that allows 
users working in one network to access an- 
other 3. a piece of software that allows email 
messages to be sent via a different route or to 
another network O To send messages by fax 
instead of across the network, you'll need to 
install a fax gateway. 

gateway page /'geitwei peid3/ noun the 
first webpage that a visitor to a website sees 
and the one that contains the key words and 
phrases that enable a search engine to find it 
gauge /geid3/ noun 1. a device which 
measures thickness or width 2. a film or tape 
diameter, usually described in millimetres ■ 
verb to measure the thickness or width of 
something 

gauss /gaus/ noun a unit of magnetic in- 
duction 

gauze /goiz/ noun a material which is 
transparent or translucent and is used for spe- 
cial effects (film) 
Gb abbr gigabit 
GB abbr gigabyte 
G Dl abbr graphics device interface 
gel /d3el/ noun a translucent sheet of col- 
oured plastic used to alter the colour charac- 
teristics of the source of light (film) 
gelatin filter /'d3el ,filta/, gel filter noun 
a sheet of coloured gelatin which is used with 



a camera to alter the colour of the source light 
(film) 

gender changer /'f^enda ,tjemd33/ 
noun a device for changing a female connec- 
tion to a male or vice versa (informal) 
general /'d3en(3)ral/ adjective A. ordinary 
or not special 2. dealing with everything 
general packet radio service 
/,d3en(3)r3l ,paekit 'reidiau ,s3ivis/ noun 
full form of GPRS 

general protection fault /,d3en(3)r3l 
pre'tekfsn ,f oilt/ noun full form of GPF 
general purpose interface bus 
/,d3en(3)r3l ,p3ip3s 'mtafeis ,bAs/ noun 
full form of GPIB 

generate /'d3en3,reit/ verb to use soft- 
ware or a device to produce codes or a pro- 
gram automatically O to generate an image 
from digitally recorded data 
generation /,d3en3'reij"(3)n/ noun 1. the 
process of producing data or software or pro- 
grams using a computer O The computer is 
used in the generation of graphic images. 2. 
the state or age of the technology used in the 
design of a system 3. the distance between a 
file and the original version, used when mak- 
ing backups O The father file is a first gener- 
ation backup. 

generation loss /,d3en3'reij(3)n Ids/ 
noun degradation of signal quality with each 
successive recording of a video or audio sig- 
nal 

generator /'d3en3,reit3/ noun a device 
which generates electricity O The computer 
centre has its own independent generator, in 
case of mains power failure. 
generator lock /'d3en3,reit3 lt>k/ noun a 
device that synchronises the timing signals of 
two video signals from different sources so 
that they can be successfully combined or 
mixed. Also called genlock (note: It is often 
used to synchronise the output of a compu- 
ter's display adapter with an external video 
source when using the computer to create 
overlays or titling.) 

generic /d33'nenk/ adjective that is com- 
patible with a whole family of hardware or 
software devices from one manufacturer 
genlock /'d3enlt)k7 noun same as genera- 
tor lock 

genuine /'d3enjutn/ adjective real or cor- 
rect O Authentication allows the system to 
recognise that a sender's message is genuine. 

geometric distortion /.dsiia.metnk di 
'st3:J(3)n/ noun linear distortion of a televi- 
sion picture, which can be caused by video 
tape speed fluctuations 
geometry processing /dsii'mnatri 
,pr3osesirj/ noun a process required to cal- 
culate the x, y and z coordinates of a three-di- 



107 gigabyte 

mensional object that is to be displayed on 
screen O Geometry processing is usually car- 
ried out by the CPU or by a specialised 
graphics processor. 

geostationary orbit 

/ l d3i:3usteiJ(3)n(3)ri 'a:bit/ noun a satel- 
lite which moves at the same velocity as the 
earth, so remains above the same area of the 
earth's surface, and appears stationary when 
viewed from earth 

geostationary satellite /,d3i:su 
,stetjn(3)ri .saeta'lait/ noun a satellite 
which moves at the same velocity as the 
earth, so remains above the same area of the 
earth's surface, and appears stationary when 
viewed from the earth 

geotargeting /.dsiiau'taigitirj/ noun a 
method of analysing what a visitor to your 
website is viewing or doing and deducing his 
or her location, then displaying custom con- 
tent or advertisements accordingly O If a 
website visitor searches for the weather in 
Seattle, the intelligent geotargeting software 
displays banner advertisements from taxi 
companies in Seattle. 

germanium /d3i'remi3m/ noun a semi- 
conductor material, used as a substrate in 
some transistors instead of silicon 
get /get/ noun an instruction to obtain a 
record from a file or database 
GET method /'get .meBad/ noun (in 
HTML for CGI access) a method of transfer- 
ring information between a webpage, which 
uses the HTML form GET command, and a 
server-based application 
ghost /gaust/ noun 1. a menu item dis- 
played in grey and not currently available 2. 
an effect on a television image in which a 
weaker copy of the picture is displayed to one 
side of the main image, caused by signal re- 
flections 

ghosting /'gaostirj/ noun hazy double im- 
ages appearing in a picture (film) 
GHz abbr gigahertz 

GIF /gitV a trade name for a graphics file for- 
mat of a file containing a bit-mapped image. 
Full form graphics interface format 
GIF file /,d3ii ai 'ef fail/ noun graphics file 
format of a file containing a bit-mapped im- 
age 

giga- /gigs/ prefix one thousand million. 
Abbr G 
comment: In computing giga refers to 2 30 , 
which is equal to 1 ,073,741 ,824. 
gigabit /'gigabit/ noun a unit of capacity 
of a computer local area network, equal to 
one megabyte of computer information or 
1,073,741,824 bits. Abbr Gb 
gigabyte /'gigabait/ noun 10 9 bytes. Abbr 
GB 



gigaflop 108 

gigaflop /'gigaflop/ noun one thousand 
million floating-point operations per second 
gigahertz /'gigalwits/ noun a frequency 
of one thousand million cycles per second. 
Abbr GHz 

GIGO /'gaigau/ noun the principle that the 
accuracy and quality of information that is 
output depends on the quality of the input. 
Full form garbage in garbage out 
comment: GIGO is sometimes taken to 
mean 'garbage in gospel out': i.e. that 
whatever wrong information is put into a 
computer, people will always believe that 
the output results are true. 
GINO /,d3ii ai en 'au/ noun a graphical 
control routine written in FORTRAN. Full 
form graphical input output 
GKS/,d3i: kei 'es/ noun a standard for soft- 
ware command and functions describing 
graphical input/output to provide the same 
functions, etc. on any type of hardware. Full 
form graphics kernel system 
glare /glea/ noun very bright light reflec- 
tions, especially on a VDU screen O The 
glare from the screen makes my eyes hurt. 
glitch /glit J/ noun anything which causes 
the sudden unexpected failure of a computer 
or equipment (informal) 
'The programmer was upgrading a verification 
system at Visa's UK data centre when his work 
triggered a software glitch causing hundreds of 
valid cards to be rejected for several hours.' 
[Computing] 
global /'gbub(3)l/ adjective covering eve- 
rything 
'fn an attempt to bring order to an electronic 
Tower of Babel, pharmaceutical giant Rhone- 
Poulenc has assembled an X.400-based global 
messaging network and a patchwork directory 
system that will be used until a single email sys- 
tem is deployed worldwide.' [Computing] 
global backup /,gbub(a)l 'baekAp/ noun 
1 . a backup of all data stored on all nodes or 
workstations connected to a network 2. a 
backup of all files on a hard disk or file server 
global system for mobile communi- 
cations /,gl3ob(3)l ,stst3m fa ,m3obatl 
k3,mjuini'keij(3)nz/ noun full form of 
GSM 

glossy /'glDsi/ adjective shiny (paper) O 
The illustrations are printed on glossy art pa- 
per. ■ noun a the glossies expensive maga- 
zines (informal) 

GND /,d3i: en 'dii/ abbr ground 
go ahead /,gao a'hed/ noun a signal to in- 
dicate that a receiver or device is ready to ac- 
cept information 

goal /gaol/ noun 1 . an aim or what you are 
trying to do 2. the final state reached when a 
task has been finished or has produced satis- 
factory results 



gobo /'gaobao/ noun a moveable opaque 
shield which is used to hide light between a 
lamp and a camera lens (film) 
gold contact /,gaold 'knntaekt/ noun an 
electrical contact, usually for low-level sig- 
nals, that is coated with gold to reduce the 
electrical resistance 

golf-ball /'golf boil/ noun a metal ball with 
characters on its surface, which produces 
printed characters by striking a ribbon onto 
paper 

Google /'guig(a)l/ a trade name for a pop- 
ular search engine 

GOSIP /'gDSip/ noun a set of standards de- 
fined by the US Government to ensure that 
computers and communications systems can 
interact. Full form Government Open Sys- 
tems Interconnect Profile 
GOSUB /'gaosAb/ noun a programming 
command which executes a routine then re- 
turns to the following instruction 
GOTO /'gaotui/ noun a programming com- 
mand which instructs a jump to another point 
or routine in the program O GOTO 105 in- 
structs a jump to line 105. 
comment: GOTO statements are frowned 
upon by software experts since their use 
discourages set, structured programming 
techniques. 

go to black /,gao ta 'blaek/ verb to fade 
gradually from an image to a dark or empty 
screen 

Gouraud Shading /'gu:rau .Jeidtrj/ 
noun shading within a three-dimensional 
scene created by a mathematical equation 
that is applied to each side of each object and 
produces a gradual change in colour to give 
the impression of light and shade 
Government Open Systems Inter- 
connect Profile /,gAv(a)nmant ,aupan 
.sistam 'mtakanekt .praofail/ noun full 
form of GOSIP 

GPF /,d3i: pii 'ef/ noun an error condition 
that occurs in Microsoft Windows and causes 
an application to crash, usually caused by in- 
sufficient memory, by using an incompatible 
peripheral or device driver or by an error in a 
software program. Full form general pro- 
tection fault 

GPIB /,d3i: pii ai 'bii/ noun a standard for 
an interface bus between a computer and lab- 
oratory equipment. Full form general pur- 
pose interface bus 

GPRS/,d3ii pi: a: 'es/ noun a standard sys- 
tem for wireless radio and mobile telephone 
communications that is due to replace the ex- 
isting GSM system. Full form general 
packet radio service (note: GPRS sup- 
ports high-speed data transfer rates of up to 



109 



graphics file 



150Kbps compared to the GSM limit of 
9.6Kbps.) 

grab /graeb/ verb to take something and 
hold it 
' . . . sometimes a program can grab all the availa- 
ble memory, even if it is not going to use it' 
[Byte] 
grabber /'graba/ noun same as frame 
grabber 

graceful degradation /,greisf(a)l 
,degr3'deij(3)n/ noun the process of allow- 
ing some parts of a system to continue to 
function after a part has broken down 
grade /greid/ noun a level or rank O a top- 
grade computer expert 
grading /'greidirj/ noun 1. the process of 
choosing the colour and density printing val- 
ues needed for each scene on a negative 2. (in 
the editing of videotapes) the process of 
matching colour balance between shots 
graduated /'grad3ueitid/ adjective 
which has a scale or measurements marked 
on it 

graduated filter /,grad3ueitid 'filta/ 
noun a coloured filter which has a colour on 
edge and gradually fades into a clear filter on 
the other side of the filter (film) 
grain /grem/ noun the molecular make-up 
of film emulsion. Fine grain film has very 
small particles that provide a very sharp, 
clear image. 

graininess /'greinmas/ noun a collection 
of visible silver particles which create a gran- 
ular effect on a film's picture; the more visi- 
ble the particles are, the grainier the picture 
grammage /'gramid3/ noun the weight of 
paper, calculated as grams per square metre 
(note: usually shown as gsm: 80 gsm pa- 
per) 

grammar /'grama/ noun a set of rules for 
the correct use of a language 
grammar checker /'grama ,t Jeks/ noun 
a software utility used to check a document 
or letter to make sure it is grammatically cor- 
rect 

grammatical error /gra,maetik(3)l 'era/ 
noun an incorrect use of a computer pro- 
gramming language syntax 
grandfather file /'granfaioa fail/ noun 
the third most recent version of a backed up 
file, after father and son files 
granularity ^granjo'kenti/ noun the size 
of memory segments in a virtual memory 
system 

graph /graif/ noun a diagram showing the 
relationship between two or more variables 
as a line or series of points 
graphic /'grafik/ adjective referring to 
representation of information in the form of 
pictures or plots instead of by text 



graphical /'grafikl/ adjective referring to 
something represented by graphics 
graphical input output /,grafikl input 
'autput/ noun full form of GINO 
graphically /'grafikli/ adverb by using 
pictures O The sales figures are graphically 
represented as a pie chart. 

graphical user interface /,grafikl 
'ju:za .mtafeis/ noun full form of GUI 
graphic data /'grafik ,deita/ noun stored 
data that represents graphical information 
when displayed on a screen 
graphic display /'grafik di,plei/ noun a 
computer screen able to present graphical in- 
formation 

graphic display resolution /'grafik di 
,splei ,rez3luij(3)n/ noun the number of 
pixels that a computer is able to display on 
the screen 

graphic language /'grafik ,la2rjgwid3/ 
noun a computer programming language 
with inbuilt commands that are useful when 
displaying graphics 

graphic object /,grafik 't)bd3ekt/ noun 
a small graphic image imported from another 
drawing application and placed on a page 
(note: In most DTP, paint or drawing pack- 
ages, the object can be moved, sized and 
positioned independently from the other el- 
ements on the page.) 

graphics /'grafiks/ noun pictures or lines 
which can be drawn on paper or on a screen 
to represent information O graphics output 
such as bar charts, pie charts, line drawings, 
etc. 

graphics accelerator /'grafiks ok 
,sebreit3/ noun a card that fits inside a com- 
puter and uses a dedicated processor chip to 
speed up the action of drawing lines and im- 
ages on the screen 

graphics adapter /'grafiks a.daepta/ 
noun an electronic device, usually on an ex- 
pansion card, in a computer that converts 
software commands into electrical signals 
that display graphics on a connected monitor 
O The new graphics adapter is capable of 
displaying higher resolution graphics. 

graphics character /'grafiks .kaenkta/ 
noun a preprogrammed shape that can be dis- 
played on a non-graphical screen instead of a 
character, used extensively in videotext sys- 
tems to display simple pictures 
graphics coprocessor /'grafiks kso 
,praoses3/ noun same as graphics proces- 
sor 

graphics file /'grafiks fail/ noun a bina- 
ry file which contains data describing an im- 
age O There are many standards for graphics 
files including TIFF, IMG and EPS. 



graphics file format 



110 



graphics file format /'graefiks fail 
.foimaet/ noun a method in which data de- 
scribing an image is stored 
graphics interface format /.graefiks 
'intafeis ,fo:maet/ noun full form of GIF 
graphics kernel system /.graefiks 
'k3in(3)l ,sist3m/ noun full form of GKS 
graphics library /graefiks ,laibr(a)rV 
noun a number of routines stored in a library 
file that can be added to any user program to 
simplify the task of writing graphics pro- 
grams 

graphics light pen /.graefiks 'lait ,pen/ 
noun a high-accuracy light pen used for 
drawing onto a graphics display screen 
graphics mode /'graefiks maud/ noun a 
videotext terminal whose displayed charac- 
ters are taken from a range of graphics char- 
acters instead of text 

graphics overlay card /.graefiks 
'auvalei ,ka:d/ noun an expansion card for a 
PC or Apple Mac that combines generated 
text or images with an external video source 
graphics pad /'graefiks paed/ noun same 
as graphics tablet 

graphics primitive /,graefiks 'pnmitiv/ 
noun a basic shape such as an arc, line or 
filled square that is used to create other 
shapes or objects 

graphics printer /'graefiks .prints/ noun 
a printer capable of printing bit-mapped im- 
ages 

graphics processor /'graefiks 
,prauses3/ noun a secondary processor used 
to speed up the display of graphics O This 
graphics adapter has a graphics coprocessor 
fitted and is much faster. Also called graph- 
ics coprocessor (note: It calculates the 
position of pixels that form a line or shape 
and display graphic lines or shapes.) 
graphics software /'graefiks .softwea/ 
noun prewritten routines which perform 
standard graphics commands such as line 
drawing and plotting that can be called from 
within a program to simplify program writ- 
ing 

graphics tablet /'graefiks ,taebbt/ noun 
a flat device which allows a user to input 
graphical information into a computer by 
drawing on its surface O It is much easier to 
draw accurately with a graphics tablet than 
with a mouse. Also called graphics pad 
graphics terminal /'graefiks 

l t3imm(3)l/ noun a special terminal with a 
high-resolution graphic display and graphics 
tablet or other input device 
graphics VDU /.graefiks ,vii dii 'jui/ 
noun a special VDU which can display high- 
resolution or colour graphics as well as text 



gray scale /'grei skeil/ noun US another 
spelling of grey scale 
greeked /griikd/ adjective (in a DTP pro- 
gram) referring to a font with a point size too 
small to display accurately, shown as a line 
rather than individual characters 
Green Book /,griin 'buk/ noun a formal 
specification for CD-i standard published by 
Philips 

gremlin /'gremlin/ noun an unexplained 
fault in a system (informal) 
grey scale /'grei skeil/ noun 1 . the shades 
of grey used to measure the correct exposure 
when filming 2. the shades which are pro- 
duced from displaying what should be colour 
information on a monochrome monitor 
(note: The US spelling is gray scale.) 
grid /grid/ noun a system of numbered 
squares used to help when drawing 
grip /grip/ verb to hold something tightly O 
In friction feed, the paper is gripped by the 
rollers. 

ground /graond/ noun an electrical circuit 
connection to earth or to a point with a zero 
voltage level. Abbr GND (note: ground is 
more common in US English; the British 
English is earth) 

ground glass /,graond 'glais/ noun a 
translucent sheet of glass (which has been 
etched on one side) on which an image is 
seen in a film camera's viewfinder (film) 
group /gruip/ noun 1. a set of computer 
records containing related information 2. a 
six-character word used in telegraphic com- 
munications 3. (in a GUI) a collection of 
icons, of files or programs displayed together 
in a window O All the icons in this group are 
to do with painting. 4. (in a network a col- 
lection of users conveniently identified by 
one name O The group ACCOUNTS contains 
all the users who work in the accounts de- 
partment. 5. a collection of objects that can 
be moved or resized as a single object; (in a 
GUI) collection of icons of files or programs 
displayed together in a window O All the 
icons in this group are to do with painting. 6. 
a single communications channel made up 
from a number of others that have been mul- 
tiplexed together ■ verb to bring several 
things together 

groupware /'gruipwes/ noun software 
specially written to be used by a group of 
people connected to a network and help them 
carry out a particular task (note: It provides 
useful functions such as a diary or email 
that can be accessed by all users.) 
gsm, g/m 2 noun a way of showing the 
weight of paper used in printing O The book 
is printed on 70 gsm coated paper. Full form 
grams per square metre (per sheet 



111 G/V 



GSM /,d3ii es 'em/ noun a popular system 
used for wireless cellular telephone commu- 
nications throughout Europe, Asia and parts 
of North America. Full form global system 
for mobile communications. : GPRS 
comment: The GSM system allows eight 
calls to share the same radio frequency 
and carries the digital data that represents 
voice signals transmitted by each user's 
telephone. The main drawback of GSM is 
that it does not offer very fast data transfer 
rates which has become more important as 
users want to access the Internet and read 
email via a mobile telephone connection. 
GSM provides data transfer at up to 
9.6Kbps, but it is due to be replaced by the 
GPRS system that can support high-speed 
data transfer at up to 150Kbps. 
guarantee /.gaeran'ti:/ noun a legal docu- 
ment promising that a machine will work 
properly or that an item is of good quality O 
The system is still under guarantee and will 
be repaired free of charge. 
guard band /'gaid baend/ noun 1. a sec- 
tion of magnetic tape between two channels 
recorded on the same tape 2. the frequency 
gap between two communication bands to 
prevent data corruption due to interference 
between each other 

guarding /'gaidirj/ noun the process of 
joining a single sheet to a book or magazine 
GUI /'gu:i/ noun an interface between an op- 
erating system or program and the user that 
uses graphics or icons to represent functions 
or files and allow the software to be control- 
led more easily. Full form graphical user 
interface. Compare command line inter- 
face 



comment: GUIs normally use a combina- 
tion of windows, icons, and a mouse to 
control the operating system. In many 
GUIs, such as Microsoft Windows and the 
Apple Mac System, you can control all the 
functions of the operating system just using 
the mouse. Icons represent programs and 
files; instead of entering the file name, you 
select it by moving a pointer with a mouse. 
guide bar /'gaid bai/ noun a special line in 
a bar code that shows either the start or the 
finish of the code O The standard guide bars 
are two thin lines that are a little longer than 
the coding lines. 

guide path /'gaid pai9/ noun in audio and 
video recorders, the posts and mechanical 
guides that ensure that the tape follows the 
correct path (film) 

guide track /'gaid traek/ noun a sound 
track of low quality which is recorded with 
the picture only as a guide for post synchro- 
nisation (film) 

guillotine /'gibtiin/ noun an office ma- 
chine for cutting paper 
gulp /gAlp/ noun a group of words, usually 
two bytes. (> byte, nybble 
gun /gAn/ noun same as electron gun 
gun microphone /,gAn 'maikrefaon/ 
noun a highly directional microphone, also 
called a rifle microphone, often mounted on 
a rifle stock that allows it to be easily aimed 
at the source of the sound (film) 
gutter /'gAta/ noun (in a DTP system) a 
blank space or inner margin between two fac- 
ing pages 

G/V noun the process of establishing a film 
or video shot (film) Full form general view 



H 



hack /haek/ verb 1 . to experiment and ex- 
plore computer software and hardware 2. to 
break into a computer system for criminal 
purposes 

hacker /'haeka/ noun a person who hacks 
'The two were also charged with offences under 
the Computer Misuse Act and found guilty of the 
very actions upon which every hacker is intent.' 
[Computing] 

hair in the gate /.hear in da 'geit/ noun 
hair-shaped particles visible on the edge of 
film images after the development process 
(film) 

hairline rule /'healam ru:l/ noun (in a 
DTP system) a very thin line 
halation /ha'lei J"(a)n/ noun a photographic 
effect seen as a dark region with a very bright 
surround, caused by pointing the camera into 
the light 

half /haif/ noun one of two equal parts O 
Half the data was lost in transmission. 
half duplex /,haif 'djinpleks/ noun full 
form of HD 

half-intensity /,haif m'tensiti/ adjective 
referring to a character or graphics display at 
half the usual display brightness 
halftone /'ha:ftaon/ adjective 1. continu- 
ous shading of a printed area 2. grey shade 
half way between white and black ■ noun a 
photograph or image that originally had con- 
tinuous tones, displayed or printed by a com- 
puter using groups of dots to represent the 
tones 

halide /'heilaid/ noun a silver compound 
that is used to provide a light-sensitive coat- 
ing on photographic film and paper 
Hall effect /'hail i ,f ekt/ noun a description 
of the effect of a magnetic field on electron 
flow 

halo /'heilau/ noun a photographic effect 
seen as a dark region with a very bright line 
around it, caused by pointing the camera into 
the light 

halt /hoilt/ noun a computer instruction to 
stop a CPU carrying out any further instruc- 
tions until restarted, or until the program is 
restarted, usually by external means, e.g. a re- 
set button ■ verb to stop O Hitting CTRL S 
will halt the program. 

Hamming code /'haemin kaud/ noun a 
coding system that uses check bits and 
checksums to detect and correct errors in 



transmitted data, mainly used in teletext sys- 
tems 

hand-held /'haend held/ adjective which 
can be held in the hand 
'A year ago the hand-held computer business re- 
sembled that of PCs a decade ago, with a large 
number of incompatible models, often software 
incompatible and using proprietary displays, op- 
erating systems and storage media.' [Computing] 

hand-held computer /,haend held kam 
'pjuita/, hand-held programmable 

/,1132nd held 'praugra2mab(a)l/ noun a very 
small computer which can be held in the 
hand, useful for basic information input, 
when a terminal is not available 
hand-held scanner /,haend held 
'skaena/ noun a device that is held in your 
hand and contains a row of photo-electric 
cells which, when moved over an image, con- 
vert it into data which can be manipulated by 
a computer 

H & J /,eitj and 'd3ei/ noun the process of 
justifying lines to a set width, splitting the 
long words correctly at the end of each line. 
Full form hyphenation and justification 
handle /'haend(a)l/ noun 1. (in program- 
ming) number used to identify an active file 
within the program that is accessing the file 
2. (in a GUI) a small square displayed that 
can be dragged to change the shape of a win- 
dow or graphical object O To stretch the box 
in the DTP program, select it once to display 
the handles then drag one handle to change 
its shape. 

handler /'haendla/ noun a part of an oper- 
ating system software or a special software 
routine which controls a device or function O 
The scanner handler routines are supplied on 
disk. t> driver 

hand Off /'haend DtV noun the process of 
passing control of a communications channel 
from one transmitter to another 
handset /'haendset/ noun a telephone re- 
ceiver, with both microphone and loudspeak- 
er. : acoustic coupler 
handshake /'haen(d),Jeik/, handshak- 
ing noun a set of standardised signals be- 
tween two devices to make sure that the sys- 
tem is working correctly, the equipment is 
compatible and data transfer is correct (note: 
Signals would include ready to receive, 
ready to transmit and data OK.) 



113 



hardware reliability 



handwriting /'hasndraitirj/ noun words 
written by hand O the new PDA has excellent 
handwriting recognition 

handwriting recognition /'haendraitirj 
,rek3gnij(3)n/ noun software that is capable 
of recognising handwritten text and convert- 
ing it into ASCII characters O The new PDA 
has excellent handwriting recognition. 
handwritten /,ha2nd'rit(3)n/ adjective 
written by hand, using a pen or pencil, not 
typed O The author sent in two hundred pag- 
es of handwritten manuscript. 
'...all acquisition, data reduction, processing, 
and memory circuitry is contained in the single 
hand-held unit' [Byte] 

'A year ago the hand-held computer business re- 
sembled that of PCs a decade ago, with a large 
number of incompatible models, often software 
incompatible and using proprietary displays, op- 
erating systems and storage media' [Computing] 
'...if a line is free, the device waits another 
400ms before reserving the line with a quick 
handshake process' [Practical Computing] 

handy talkies /,haendi 'toikis/ plural 
noun full form of HT 

hang /hasrj/ verb to enter an endless loop 
and not respond to further instruction (note: 
hung) 

hangover /'hasrpova/ noun 1. a sudden 
tone change on a document that is transmit- 
ted over a fax machine as a gradual change, 
caused by equipment faults 2. an effect on a 
TV screen where the previous image can still 
be seen when the next image appears 
hang up /,haerj 'Ap/ verb to cut off a com- 
munications line 

hangup /'haerjAp/ noun a sudden stop of a 
working program, often caused by the CPU 
executing an illegal instruction or entering an 
endless loop 

hard /haid/ adjective 1 . referring to parts of 
a computer system that cannot be pro- 
grammed or altered 2. high contrast (photo- 
graphic paper or film) 

hardbound /'haidbaond/ adjective (of a 
book) with a hard cased cover, as opposed to 
a paperback 

hard copy /,haid 'kDpi/ noun a printed 
document or copy of information contained 
in a computer or system, in a form that is 
readable. f> soft copy 

hardcover /'haidkAva/ noun, adjective 
version of a book with a cased binding (as 
opposed to paperback) O We printed 4,000 
copies of the hardcover edition, and 10,000 
of the paperback. 

hard disk /,haid 'disk/ noun a rigid mag- 
netic disk that is able to store many times 
more data than a floppy disk, and usually 
cannot be removed from the disk drive 



hard disk drive /,ha:d 'disk ,draiv/ noun 
a unit used to store and retrieve data from a 
spinning hard disk on the commands of a 
computer. Abbr HDD. Also called hard 
drive 

hard drive /'haid draiv/ noun same as 
hard disk drive 

hard error /,ha:d 'era/ noun an error 
which is permanent in a system 
hard hyphen /,ha:d 'haif (a)n/ noun a hy- 
phen which is always in a word, even if the 
word is not split (as in co-administrator). f> 
discretionary hyphen 
hard reset /,haid 'riiset/ noun a switch 
that generates an electrical signal to reset the 
CPU and all devices, equivalent to turning a 
computer off and back on again 
hard return /,haid n't3:n/ noun a code in 
a word-processing document that indicates 
the end of a paragraph or its characteristics 
hard-sectoring /,ha:d 'sektanrj/ noun a 
method of permanently formatting a disk, 
where each track is split into sectors, some- 
times preformatted by a series of punched 
holes around the central hub, where each 
hole marks the start of sector 
hardware /'hcnd.wea/ noun 1. the physi- 
cal units, components, integrated circuits, 
disks and mechanisms that make up a com- 
puter or its peripherals 2. equipment used on 
set or location 
'Seuqent's Platform division will focus on hard- 
ware and software manufacture, procurement and 
marketing, with the Enterprise division concen- 
trating on services and client-server implementa- 
tion.' [Computing] 

hardware compatibility /.haidwea 
karr^pasta'biliti/ noun architecture of two 
different computers that allows one to run the 
programs of the other without changing any 
device drivers or memory locations, or the 
ability of one to use the add-on boards of the 
other 

hardware configuration /.haidwea 
k3n,figJ3'reiJ(3)n/ noun a way in which the 
hardware of a computer system is connected 
together 

hardware graphics cursor /.haidwea 
'graefiks ,k3is3/ noun an electronic compo- 
nent that is used to calculate the position on 
screen of a pointer, according to the move- 
ment of a mouse, and display the pointer 
hardware platform /'haidwea 
.plaetf oim/ noun the standard of a particular 
computer such as IBM PC or Apple Mac 
hardware reliability /.haidwea n.laia 
'bihti/ noun the ability of a piece of hard- 
ware to function normally over a period of 
time 



hardwired connection 



114 



hardwired connection /.haidwaiad ka 
'nekj(3)n/ noun 1. a permanent phone line 
connection, rather than a plug and socket 2. a 
logical function or program, which is built 
into the hardware, using electronic devices, 
such as gates, rather than in software 
harmonic /hai'mrmik/ noun frequency of 
an order of magnitude greater or smaller than 
a fundamental 

harmonic distortion /.haimtmik di 
'sto:J(3)n/ noun unwanted harmonics pro- 
duced by a non-linear circuit from an input 
signal 

harmonic telephone ringer 
/,ha:mDnik 'telifaun ,nrp/ noun a tele- 
phone that will only detect a certain range of 
ringing frequencies, this allows many tele- 
phones on a single line to be rung individual- 

iy 

hash /haeJV verb to produce a unique 
number derived from the entry itself, for each 
entry in a database 

hashmark /'hae JYnaik/, hash mark /'haej 
maik/ noun a printed sign ( # ) used as a hard 
copy marker or as an indicator. Also called 
hash 
comment: The US term is pound sign. In 
US usage # means number; #32 = number 
32 (e.g. a flat number in a postal address, 
paragraph number in a text). 
hazard /'haezad/ noun a fault in hardware 
due to incorrect signal timing 
haze /heiz/ noun same as fogging 
haze filter /'heiz .filta/, haze-cutting fil- 
ter /,heiz .kAtirj 'filta/ noun a lens filter 
which cuts out ultraviolet light and reduces 
haziness (film) 

HCI abbrhoat controller interface 
HD /,eit J 'di:/ noun data transmission in one 
direction only, over a bidirectional channel. 
Full form half duplex 
HDD abbr hard disk drive 
HDLC abbr high-level data link control 
HDTV abbr high definition television 
HDX. abbr half duplex 
head /hed/ noun 1 . data that indicates the 
start address of a list of items stored in mem- 
ory 2. a top edge of a book or of a page 3. the 
start of a reel of recording tape 4. the top part 
of a device, network or body 5. an adjustable 
mounting for a camera on its tripod 6. the 
start of a reel of photographic film or record- 
ing tape ■ verb to be the first item of data in 
a list O The queue was headed by my file. 
head end /'hed end/ noun interconnection 
equipment between an antenna and a cable 
television network 

header /'heda/ noun 1 . (in a local area net- 
work) a packet of data that is sent before a 
transmission to provide information on desti- 



nation and routing 2. information at the be- 
ginning of a list of data relating to the rest of 
the data 3. a section of words at the top of a 
page of a document, giving e.g. the title, au- 
thor's name or page number. Also called 
heading. : footer 

heading /'hedirj/ noun 1 . the title or name 
of a document or file 2. a header or section of 
words at the top of each page of a document. 
Also called headline 3. the title for a page 
within a multimedia book 
headlife /'hedlaif/ noun the length of time 
that a video or tape head can work before be- 
ing serviced or replaced 
headline /'hedlam/ noun same as head- 
ing 

head wheel /'hed will/ noun a wheel that 
keeps video tape in contact with the head 
headword /'hedw3id/ noun the main entry 
word in a printed dictionary 
heap /hiip/ noun a temporary data storage 
area that allows random access. Compare 
stack 

heat-absorbing filter /,hi:t ab.zoibirj 
'filts/, heat filter /'hi:t ,f ilts/ noun a filter 
that is able to reflect or absorb infrared radi- 
ation; used in projectors to reduce the amount 
of heat on a film 

heat-Sink /'hiit sink/ noun a metal device 
used to conduct heat away from an electronic 
component to prevent damage 
helical scan /,hehk(3)l 'skaen/ noun a 
method of storing data on magnetic tape in 
which the write head stores data in diagonal 
strips rather than parallel with the tape edge 
so using the tape area more efficiently and al- 
lowing more data to be recorded. It is used 
most often in video tape recorders. 
helios noise /'hiilirjs noiz/ noun noise 
originating from the sun that is picked up by 
an earth- based antenna when it points in the 
direction of the sun 

help /help/ noun 1 . anything which makes it 
easier to do something O He finds his word- 
processor a great help in the office. 2. a func- 
tion in a program or system that provides use- 
ful information about the program in use O 
Hit the HELP key if you want information 
about what to do next. 
comment: Most software applications for 
IBM PCs have standardised the use of the 
F1 function key to display help text explain- 
ing how something can be done. 
help desk /'help desk/ noun a service that 
provides technical help and support for peo- 
ple using a computer package or network 
helper application /'helps 

,aeplikeij(3)n/ noun software which works 
with a web browser to increase the function- 
ality of the browser O To view Adobe Acrobat 



115 



high fidelity 



pages in your web browser you will need to 
get the Adobe helper application. 
help screen /'help skriin/ noun a display 
of information about a program or function 
hertz /b.3its/ noun an SI unit of frequency, 
defined as the number of cycles per second of 
time. Abbr Hz 
comment: Hertz rate is the frequency at 
which mains electricity is supplied to the 
consumer . The hertz rate in the US and 
Canada is 60; in Europe it is 50. 
heterogeneous network 

/,het3r3od3i:ni3s 'netw3ik/ noun a compu- 
ter network joining computers of many dif- 
ferent types and makes 
heuristic /hjoa'nstik/ adjective which 
learns from past experiences O A heuristic 
program learns from its previous actions and 
decisions. 

Hewlett Packard /.hewbt 'paekaid/ 
manufacturer of computers, test equipment 
and printers. Abbr HP 

Hewlett Packard Graphics Lan- 
guage /.hewbt ,paeka:d 'graefiks 
,laerjgwid3/ a standard set of commands used 
to describe graphics. Abbr HPGL 
Hewlett Packard Interface Bus 
/,hewbt ,paeka:d 'mtafeis bAs/ a standard 
method of interfacing peripheral devices or 
test equipment and computers. Abbr HPIB 
Hewlett Packard LaserJet /,hewbt 
.paekaid 'leizad3et/ a trade name for a laser 
printer manufactured by Hewlett Packard 
that uses its PCL language to describe a page. 
Also called LaserJet 

Hewlett Packard Printer Control 
Language /.hewbt ,paeko.id .prmta kan 
'traol ,laerjgwid3/ a standard set of com- 
mands developed by Hewlett Packard to al- 
low a software application to control a laser 
printer's functions. Abbr HP-PCL 
HF noun a radio communications range of 
frequencies between 3 MHz and 30 MHz. 
Full form high frequency 
HFS /,eitj ef 'es/ noun (in an Apple Mac 
system) a method used to store and organise 
files on a disk. Full form hierarchical filing 
system 

Hi-8 /,hai 'eit/ noun a video cassette tape 
format that uses 8mm wide tape; mostly used 
in camcorders 

hidden /'hid(3)n/ adjective which cannot 
be seen 

hidden files /'hid(3)n failz/ plural noun 
important system files which are not dis- 
played in a directory listing and cannot nor- 
mally be read by a user O It allows users to 
backup or restore hidden files independently. 

hidden line algorithm /,hid(3)n lam 

'aelg3n5(3)m/ noun a mathematical formula 



that removes hidden lines from a two-dimen- 
sional computer image of a 3-D object 
hierarchical classification /hais 
,ra:kik(3)l ,klaesifi'keij(3)n/ noun a library 
classification system where the list of sub- 
jects is divided down into more and more se- 
lective subsets 

hierarchical communications sys- 
tem /,hai3ra:kik(3)l k3,mjuini'keij(3)nz 
,sist3m/ noun a network in which each 
branch has a number of separate minor 
branches dividing from it 
hierarchical computer network 
/,hai3ra:kik(3)l kam'pjuita ,netw3ik/ 
noun a method of allocating control and 
processing functions in a network to the com- 
puters which are most suited to the task 
hierarchical database /,haiara:kik(3)l 
'deitabeis/ noun a database in which 
records can be related to each other in a de- 
fined structure 

hierarchical directory /,haiara:kik(3)l 
dai'rekt(3)ri/ noun a directory listing of 
files on a disk, showing the main directory 
and its files, branches and any sub-directories 
hierarchical filing system 

/,hai3ra:kik(3)l 'fariirj ,sist3m/ noun full 
form of HFS 

hierarchical routing /,hai3raikik(3)l 
'ruitirj/ noun a method of directing network 
traffic over a complex network by breaking 
down the structure of the network into sepa- 
rate levels, each level being responsible for 
directing traffic within its area O The Internet 
has a three-level hierarchical routing system 
in which the backbones can direct traffic from 
one Mid-level to another, the mid-levels can 
direct traffic from one server site to another 
and each server site can direct traffic inter- 
nally. 

hierarchical vector quantisation 

/,hai3ra:kik(3)l 'vekts ,kwDntaizeiJ(3)n/ 
noun full form of HVQ 
hi fi, hifi noun the accurate reproduction of 
audio signals by equipment such as a record 
player and amplifier. Full form high fidelity 
high /hai/ adjective large or very great 
high definition television /,hai 
,defmij(3)n 'teli,vi3(3)n/ noun a broadcast 
television standard that displays images at a 
different aspect ratio and with much better 
definition than existing television sets. Abbr 
HDTV (note: There are six standards: all 
display 1 6:9 aspect ratio images, three sup- 
port a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, three 
support 1280x720.) 

high fidelity /,hai fi'debti/ noun very 
good quality sound, usually stereo sound re- 
corded in 16 bits at a sample rate of 44.1 KHz 



high fidelity system 



116 



high fidelity system /,hai fi'deliti 
.sistam/ noun high-quality equipment for 
playing records or compact discs or tapes or 
for listening to the radio (tape recorder, turn- 
table, amplifier and speakers). i> hi fi 
high-level data link control /,hai 
,lev(3)l ,deit3 lirjk kan'traol/ noun an ISO 
standard that provides a link-layer protocol 
and defines how data is formatted before be- 
ing transmitted over a synchronous network. 
Abbr HLDLC 

high-level language /,hai ,lev(a)l 
'laerjgwid3/, high-level programming lan- 
guage /,hai ,lev(3)l ^raograemirj 
'laerjgwid3/ noun a computer programming 
language which is easy to learn and allows 
the user to write programs using words and 
commands that are easy to understand and 
look like English words. Abbr HLL (note: 
The program is then translated into ma- 
chine code, with one HLL instruction often 
representing more than one machine code 
instruction.) 

highlight /'hailait/ verb 1 . to make part of 
the text stand out from the rest O The head- 
ings are highlighted in bold. 2. to select an 
object or text by dragging the pointer across 
it; when text is highlighted it normally ap- 
pears inverted (white on a black background) 
high memory /,hai 'mem(3)ri/ noun (in 
an IBM PC) a memory area between 640 Kb 
and 1 Mb 

high memory area /,hai 'mem(3)ri 
.earia/ noun (in an IBM PC) the first 64 Kb 
of extended memory above 1 Mb that can be 
used by MS-DOS programs. Abbr HMA 
high performance filing system /,hai 
p3,fo:m3ns 'failirj .sistam/ noun full form 
of HPFS 

high-resolution /,hai ,rez3'luij(3)n/, 
high-res /,hai 'rez/ noun the ability to dis- 
play or detect a very large number of pixels 
per unit area. Also called hi-res 
high resolution graphics /,hai 
,rez3lu:J(3)n 'graefiks/ noun full form of 
HRG 

high Sierra specification /,hai si.era 
,spesifi'keij(3)n/ noun an industry standard 
method of storing data on a CD-ROM disc 
high-spec /,hai 'spek/ plural noun having 
a high specification O High-spec cabling 
needs to be very carefully handled. 

high specification /,hai ,spesifi 
'keij(a)n/ noun a high degree of accuracy or 
a large number of features 
high-speed /'hai spiid/ adjective which 
operates faster than normal data transmission 
or processing 

high-tech /hai 'tek/ adjective technologi- 
cally advanced 



highway /'haiwei/ noun same as bus 
hi-res /,hai 'reiz/ noun same as high-res- 
olution 

hiss /his/ noun high-frequency noise mixed 
with a signal 

histogram /'histagraem/ noun a graph on 
which values are represented as vertical or 
horizontal bars 

history /'hist(3)ri/ noun a feature of some 
applications that keeps a log of the actions a 
user has carried out, the places within a hy- 
pertext document visited or the sites on the 
Internet explored 

hit /hit/ noun a successful match or search 
of a database ■ verb to press a key O To save 
the text, hit ESCAPE S. (note: hitting - hit) 
HLDLC abbr high-level data link control 
HLL abbr high-level language 
HMA abbr high memory area 
HMI abbr human- machine interface 
HMS time format /,eitr ,em ,es taim 
'foimaet/ noun a system used by MCI to ex- 
press time in hours, minutes and seconds - 
normally used only for videodisc devices. i> 
MCI 

hold /haold/ noun synchronisation timing 
pulse for a television time base signal 
comment: The hold feature keeps the pic- 
ture steady and central on the screen. 
Some televisions have horizontal and ver- 
tical hold controls to allow the picture to be 
moved and set up according to various 
conditions. 
holdup /'hDldAp/ noun 1. a time period 
over which power will be supplied by a UPS 
2. a pause in a program or device due to a 
malfunction 

hole /haol/ noun a punched gap in a 
punched paper tape or card, representing data 
hologram /'hDta^raem/ noun an imagi- 
nary three-dimensional image produced by 
the interference pattern when a part of a co- 
herent light source, e.g. a laser, is reflected 
from an object and mixed with the main 
beam 

holograph /'holagraif/ noun a handwrit- 
ten manuscript, as written by the author using 
a pen or pencil, but not typed 
holographic image /.Iwbgraefik 
' imid3/ noun a hologram of a three-dimen- 
sional object 

holographic storage /,htibgraefik 
'stoirid3/ noun storage of data as a holo- 
graphic image which is then read by a bank 
of photocells and a laser (note: This is a 
storage medium with massive storage po- 
tential.) 

holography /rro'lDgrafi/ noun the science 
and study of holograms and their manufac- 
ture 



home /haom/ noun 1 . a place where a per- 
son lives 2. a starting point or the initial point 
home banking /,haom 'baerjkirj/ noun a 
method of examining and carrying out bank 
transactions in the user's home via a terminal 
and modem 

home computer /,haom kam'pjuita/ 
noun a microcomputer designed for home 
use, whose applications might include teach- 
ing, games, personal finance and word- 
processing 

home consumption /,haom kan 
's Amp Jan/ noun the use of something in the 
home 

home key /'haom kii/ noun a key on an 
IBM PC keyboard that moves the cursor to 
the beginning of a line of text 
home page /'haom peidg/ noun the open- 
ing page of a website 

homing /'haomirj/ noun location of the 
source of a transmitted signal or data item 
homogeneous computer network 
^haomaoxfjiinias kam'pjuita ,netw3ik/ 
noun a network made up of similar machines 
that are compatible or from the same manu- 
facturer 

homogeneous multiplexing 

/,haomaud3iinias 'mAlt^pleksirj/ noun a 
switching multiplexer system in which all the 
channels contain data using the same proto- 
col and transmission rate 
hood /hud/ noun a cover which protects 
something 

hook /hok/ noun a point in a program at 
which a programmer can insert test code or 
debugging code 

hooking /'hukirj/ noun distortion of a vid- 
eo picture caused by tape head timing errors 
hop /hDp/ noun the path taken by a packet 
of data as it moves from one server or router 
to another 

hopper /'hDpa/ noun a device which holds 
punched cards and feeds them into the reader 
horizontal /,hDn'zDnt(a)l/ adjective lying 
flat or going from side to side, not up and 
down 

horizontal blanking period 
/,hDrizDnt(a)l 'blaerjkirj .piariad/ noun the 
time taken for the picture beam in a monitor 
to return to the start of the next line from the 
end of the previous line 
horizontal scan frequency 
/,hDrizDnt(a)l 'skaen .friikwansi/ noun the 
number of lines on a video display that are re- 
freshed each second 

horizontal scrollbar /,ht>nzt>nt(a)l 
'skraolba:/ noun (in a GUI) a bar along the 
bottom of a window that indicates that the 
page is wider than the window (note: A user 



117 hotspot 

can move horizontally across the page by 
dragging the indicator bar on the scrollbar.) 
horizontal scrolling /,hDnzrjnt(a)l 
'skrauhrj/ noun the process of moving 
across a page, horizontally 
horn /ham/ noun a directional radio device 
with a wider open end leading to a narrow 
section, used for the reception and transmis- 
sion of radio waves 

host /haost/ noun, adjective to provide 
storage space on a server computer where a 
user can store files or data, often used to store 
the files required for a website O We chose 
this company to host our website because it 
has reliable server computers and high- 
speed connection to the Internet. 
'...you select fonts manually or through com- 
mands sent from the host computer along with the 
text' [Byte] 
host address /'haost a,dres/ noun same 
as Internet address 

host computer /,haust kam'pjuita/ 
noun 1 . the main controlling computer in a 
multi-user or distributed system 2. a compu- 
ter used to write and debug software for an- 
other computer, often using a cross compiler 
3. a computer in a network that provides spe- 
cial services or programming languages to all 
users 
'...you select fonts manually or through com- 
mands sent from the host computer along with the 
text' [Byte] 

hosting service provider /'haustin 
,s3:vis pra, vaida/ noun same as host serv- 
ice 

host name /'haust ,neim/ noun a name 
given to a website on the Internet 
host number /'haost ,riAmba/ noun same 
as Internet address 

host service /'haust , S3i vis/ noun a com- 
pany that provides connections to the Internet 
and storage space on its computers which can 
store the files for a user's website O We rent 
storage space on this host service provider's 
server for our company website. t> ISP. Also 
called hosting service provider 
hot key /'hDt kii/ noun a special key or key 
combination which starts a process or acti- 
vates a program 

hot plugging /'ht>t .plAgirj/ noun a fea- 
ture of a computer that allows a device or pe- 
ripheral to be plugged in or connected while 
the computer is working O This server sup- 
port hot plugging so I can plug in this net- 
work card and the operating system software 
will automatically detect and alter its config- 
uration. Also called hot swapping 
hotspot /'hDtspDt/ noun 1. a special area 
on an image or display that does something 
when the cursor is moved onto it O The im- 



hot standby 118 

age of the trumpet is a hotspot and will play 
a sound when you move the pointer over it. 2. 
a region of high brightness on a film or dis- 
play screen 

hot Standby /,ht>t 'staendbai/ noun a 
piece of hardware that is kept operational at 
all times and is used as backup in case of sys- 
tem failure. Compare cold standby, warm 
standby 

hot swapping /'hist .swDpirj/ noun same 
as hot plugging 

hotword /'hDtw3id/ noun a word within 
displayed text that does something when the 
cursor is moved onto it or it is selected 
house /haoz/ noun a company, especially a 
publishing company O One of the biggest 
software houses in the US ■ verb to put a de- 
vice in a case O The disc is housed in a solid 
plastic case. 

housekeeping /'haos,ki:pirj/ noun tasks 
that have to be regularly carried out to main- 
tain a computer system, e.g. checking back- 
ups and deleting unwanted files 
houselights /'haoslaits/ plural noun stu- 
dio lighting, or lights illuminating where the 
audience is seated (film) 
housing /'haozirj/ noun a solid case O The 
computer housing was damaged when it fell 
on the floor. 

howler /'haub/ noun 1 . a buzzer which in- 
dicates to a telephone exchange operator that 
a user's telephone handset is not on the re- 
ceiver 2. a very bad and obvious mistake O 
What a howler, no wonder your program 
won 't work. 

HP abbr Hewlett Packard 
HPFS /,eitj pi: ef 'es/ noun (in an OS/2 
operating system) a method of storing file 
information that is faster and more flexible 
than MS-DOS FAT. Full form high per- 
formance filing system 
HPGL abbr Hewlett Packard Graphics Lan- 
guage 

HPIB abbr Hewlett Packard Interface Bus 
HP-PCL/,eitJ ,pii ,pi: sii 'el/ abbr Hewlett 
Packard Printer Control Language 
HRG /,eit J a: 'd3i:/ noun the ability to dis- 
play a large number of pixels per unit area. 
Full form high resolution graphics 
HSV a£>£>r hue, saturation and value 
HT plural noun small portable transceivers. 
Full form handy talkies 
HTML/,eitJtii em 'el/ noun a series of spe- 
cial codes that define the typeface and style 
that should be used when displaying the text 
and also allow hypertext links to other parts 
of the document or to other documents O 
HTML is used to create documents for the 



World Wide Web. Full form hypertext 
markup language 

HTTP /,eitj ti: ti: 'pi:/ noun a series of 
commands used by a browser to ask an Inter- 
net web server for information about a web- 
page. Full form hypertext transfer proto- 
col 

HTTPd /,eitj ti: ti: pi: 'di:/ noun a server 
software that carries sends webpage files to a 
client in response to a request from a user's 
web browser O When you type a website ad- 
dress into your web browser, this sends a re- 
quest to the HTTPd server software that re- 
plies with the HTML code of a formatted 
webpage. Full form hypertext transfer pro- 
tocol daemon 

hub /hAb/ noun 1 . the central part of a disk, 
usually with a hole and ring which the disk 
drive grips to spin the disk 2. (in a star-topol- 
ogy network) the central ring or wiring cabi- 
net where all circuits meet and form an elec- 
trical path for signals 3. a continuous audible 
sound of low frequency 
hue /hju:/ noun the colour of an image or 
pixel 

hue, saturation and intensity /,hju: 
,saetj3reij(3)n and m'tensiti/ noun a 
method of defining a colour through its three 
properties. Abbr HSI. Also called hue, satu- 
ration and brightness, hue, saturation 
and level (note: Hue is colour defined by 
its the wavelength; saturation refers to the 
purity of the colour (where at zero satura- 
tion the colour appears white and full satu- 
ration is pure colour); and intensity, bright- 
ness and level refer to the amount of white.) 
hue, saturation and value /,hju: 
,saetj3reij(3)n and 'vselju:/ noun same as 
hue, saturation and intensity, abbr HSV 
Huffman code /'hAfman kaod/ noun a 
data compression code in which frequent 
characters occupy less bit space than less fre- 
quent ones 

huge model /,hju:d3 'mt>d(3)l/ noun (in 
programming) the memory model of an Intel 
processor that allows data and program code 
to exceed 64Kb, but the total of both must be 
less than 1Mb 

hum /hAm/ noun a low frequency electrical 
noise or interference on a signal 
human-computer interface /,hju:m3n 
k3m,pju:t3 'intafeis/ noun abbr HMI. same 
as human-machine interface 
human-machine interface /,hju:m3n 
m3,Ji:n 'mtafeis/ noun facilities provided 
to improve the interaction between a user and 
a computer system. Abbr HMI. Also called 
human-computer interface 
hum bars /'hAm ba:z/ plural noun slow- 
moving horizontal bars on a television pic- 



119 



Hz 



ture which are created by the input of an un- 
desirable mains hum into the video signal 
hung » hang 

hunting /'hAntirj/ noun 1. the process of 
searching out a data record in a file 2. low- 
frequency instability of sound or picture cre- 
ated by cyclic variations in tape or film trans- 
port speed 

H VQ /,eit J vi: 'kj u:/ noun a video compres- 
sion standard which allows colour video im- 
ages to be transmitted in a bandwidth of 1 12 
Kbps. Full form hierarchical vector quan- 
tisation 

hybrid circuit /.haibrid 'S3ikit/ noun the 
connection of a number of different electron- 
ic components such as integrated circuits, 
transistors, resistors and capacitors in a small 
package, which since the components are not 
contained in their own protective packages, 
requires far less space than the individual dis- 
crete components 

HyperCard /'haipakaid/ a trade name for 
a database system controlled by HyperTalk 
programming language, used to produce hy- 
pertext documents 

hyperlink /'haipalirjk/ noun a word or im- 
age or button in a webpage or multimedia ti- 
tle that moves the user to another page when 
clicked 

hypermedia /'haipamiidia/ noun a hyper- 
text system that is capable of displaying im- 
ages and sound 

HyperTalk /'haipatoik/ a trade name for a 
programming language used to control a Hy- 
perCard database 

HyperTerminal /'haipa.taimm^)!/ noun 
a communications program that is included 



with Windows 95 and allows a user to call a 
remote computer via a modem and transfer 
files 

hypertext /'harpstekst/ noun 1. a multi- 
media system of organising information in 
which certain words in a document link to 
other documents and display the text when 
the word is selected O In this hypertext page, 
click once on the word 'computer' and it will 
tell you what a computer is. 2. a way of link- 
ing one word or image on an Internet page to 
another page in which clicking on certain 
words or images moves the user directly to 
the relevant new page 

hypertext markup language 
/,haip3tekst 'maikAp ,laerjgwid3/ noun 
full form of HTML 

hypertext transfer protocol 
/,haip3tekst 'traensf3i ,pr3ot3kDl/ noun 
full form of HTTP 

hypertext transfer protocol daemon 
/,haip3tekst 'traensfa: ,pr3ot3kDl 
,di:m3n/ noun full form of HTTPd 
hyphen /'haif(3)n/ noun a printing sign (-) 
to show that a word has been split 
hyphenated /'haifaneitid/ adjective writ- 
ten with a hyphen O The word 'high-level' is 
usually hyphenated. 

hyphenation /,haitVneir(3)n/ noun the 
splitting of a word at the end of a line, when 
the word is too long to fit 
hyphenation and justification /haifs 
,naij(3)n an ,d3Astifi'keiJ(3)n/ noun full 
form of H & J O An American hyphenation 
and justification program will not work with 
British English spellings. 
Hz abbr hertz 



1750 /,ai ,sev(3)n fai 'su/ noun a video 
processor chip developed by Intel and used to 
compress and decompress digital video se- 
quences 

IAB /,ai ei 'bii/ noun 1. an independent 
committee that is responsible for the design, 
engineering and management of the Internet. 
Full form Internet Activities Board 2. a 
group that monitors and manages the devel- 
opment of the Internet. Full form Internet 
Architecture Board 

IAM /,ai ei 'em/ noun memory storage that 
has an access time between that of main 
memory and a disk based system. Full form 
intermediate access memory 
IAN A abbr Internet Assigned Numbers Au- 
thority 

I-beam /'ai biim/ noun a cursor shaped like 
the letter T used in a GUI to edit text or in- 
dicate text operations 

IBM /,ai bii 'em/ the largest computer com- 
pany in the world, which developed the first 
PC based on the Intel processor. Full form In- 
ternational Business Machines 
IBM-compatible /,ai bi: em kam 
'paetib(3)l/ adjective referring to a personal 
computer that has hardware and software 
compatible with the IBM PC regardless of 
which Intel processor it uses (note: IBM- 
compatible computers feature an ISA, EISA 
or MCA expansion bus.) 
IC abbr integrated circuit 
ICE noun a communication system (devel- 
oped by the BBC) which transmits data in the 
field blanking period. Full form insertion 
communication equipment 
ICMP /,ai cii em "pi:/ noun an extension to 
the Internet Protocol that provides error de- 
tection and control messages O The Internet 
command 'ping ' uses ICMP to test if a named 
node is working correctly. Full form Internet 
control message protocol. : IP, PING 
icon /'aikDn/, ikon noun a graphic symbol 
or small picture displayed on screen, used in 
an interactive computer system to provide an 
easy way of identifying a function O The icon 
for the graphics program is a small picture of 
a palette. 
'Despite (or because of?) the swap file, loading 
was slow and the hourglass icon of the mouse 
pointer frequently returned to the arrow symbol 
well before loading was complete.' [Computing] 



icon resource /'aikon n ,zo:s/ noun a file 
that contains the bitmap image of an icon, 
used by a programmer when writing an appli- 
cation 

ICQ a software program developed by Mira- 
bilis that supports instant messaging and al- 
lows two or more users to send messages to 
each other via the Internet that are instantly 
displayed on the other person's screen (note: 
pronounced 'l-seek-you') 
ID abbr 1 . identification 2. identifier 
l-D abbr Internet-draft 
IDA abbr integrated digital access 
IDD abbr international direct dialling 
IDE /,ai dii 'ii/ noun a popular standard for 
a hard disk drive controller unit that allows 
data transfer rates up to 4.1MBps and can 
support two hard disk drives on each control- 
ler; enhanced versions of the IDE standard 
provide more flexibility and speed (also 
known as AT Attachment - ATA - interface) 
O IDE drives are fitted to most home PCs. 
Full form integrated drive electronics, in- 
tegrated device electronics. : ATA, SCSI 
ideal /ai'dial/ adjective perfect or very 
good for something 

ideal format /ai.dial 'foimaet/ noun a 
standard large format for photographic nega- 
tives, used mainly in professional equipment 
identical /ai'dentik(3)l/ adjective exactly 
the same O The two systems use identical 
software. 

identification /ai,dentifi'keij(3)n/ noun 
a procedure used by a host computer to estab- 
lish the identity and nature of the calling 
computer or user. This could be for security 
and access restriction purposes or to provide 
transmission protocol information. 
identification character /ai,dentifi 
'keij(3)n .kaenkta/ noun a single character 
sent to a host computer to establish the iden- 
tity and location of a remote computer or ter- 
minal 

identifier /ai 'dentifaia/ noun a set of char- 
acters used to distinguish between different 
blocks of data or files. Abbr ID 
identify /ai'denti,fai/ verb to establish 
who someone is or what something is O The 
user has to identify himself to the system by 
using a password before access is allowed. 
identity /ai'dentiti/ noun who someone or 
what something is 



121 



image buffer 



idiot tape /'idiat teip/ noun a tape con- 
taining unformatted text, which cannot be 
typeset until formatting data, such as justifi- 
cation, line width, and page size, has been 
added by a computer 

idle /'aid(a)l/ adjective referring to a ma- 
chine, telephone line or device which is not 
being used, but is ready and waiting to be 
used 

IE abbr Internet Explorer 
IEC connector /,ai ii 'si: ka,nekt3/ noun 
a standard for a three-pin connector used on 
sockets that carry mains electricity to the 
computer O All PCs have a male IEC con- 
nector and use a mains lead with a female 
IEC connector. 

IEEE abbr US Institute of Electrical and 
Electronic Engineers 

IESG noun a group that reviews Internet 
standards and manages the IETF. Full form 
Internet Engineering Steering Group 
IETF /,ai i: til 'ef/ noun a committee that is 
part of the IAB and determines Internet 
standards. Full form Internet Engineering 
Task Force. i> IAB 
if /if/ abbr intermediate frequency 
IFF /,ai ef 'ef/ noun 1. a standard for com- 
pressed files stored on a CD-i. Full form in- 
ternational file format 2. a standard that de- 
fines how palette data is stored in an Amiga 
and some graphics programs. Full form in- 
terchange file format 
IF Statement /'if ,steitni3nt/ noun a com- 
puter programming statement meaning do an 
action IF a condition is true, and usually fol- 
lowed by THEN 

IGMP /,ai d3ii em "pi:/ noun a standard that 
helps manage how data is transferred during 
an IP Multicast operation in which one server 
computer sends each packet of data to several 
destinations at the same time. Full form In- 
ternet group management protocol 
(note: This is useful when broadcasting a 
lot of data to several different recipients. 
The IGMP standard is defined in 
RFC1112.) 

ignore /ig'no:/ verb not to recognise or not 
to do what someone says O This command 
instructs the computer to ignore all punctua- 
tion. 

IGP /,ai d3ii 'pii/ noun a protocol that dis- 
tributes information to gateways, i.e. routers, 
within a particular network. Full form interi- 
or gateway protocol 
ML abbr integrated injection logic 
IIS a piece of web server software developed 
by Microsoft. Full form Internet Informa- 
tion Server 

IKBS /,ai kei bii 'em/ noun software that 
applies the knowledge, advice and rules de- 



fined by an expert in a particular field to a us- 
er's data to help solve a problem. Full form 
intelligent knowledge-based system. 
Also called expert system 
ikon /'aikDn/ noun another spelling of icon 
ILF abbr infra- low frequency 
ILL abbr inter-library loan 
illegal /i'li:g(3)l/ adjective which is against 
the law 

illegally /I'liigali/ adverb against the law or 
against rules O The company has been ille- 
gally copying copyright software. 

illegal operation /i,li:g(a)l .Dps 
'reij(3)n/ noun an instruction or process that 
does not follow the computer system's proto- 
col or language syntax 
illegible A 'led3ib(3)l/ad/ecf/Ve which can- 
not be read O If the manuscript is illegible, 
send it back to the author to have it typed. 
illiterate /i'lit(3)r3t/ adjective (person) 
who cannot read 
'...three years ago the number of people who 
were computer illiterate was much higher than to- 
day' [Minicomputer News] 

illuminance /I'luimmans/ noun a meas- 
urement of the amount of light that strikes a 
surface, measured in lux 
illuminate /I'luimmeit/ verb to shine a 
light on something O The screen is illuminat- 
ed by a low-power light. 

illumination /i,lu:mi'neij"(a)iiy noun 
lighting 

illustrate /'ils.strert/ verb to add pictures 
to a text O The book is illustrated in colour. O 
The manual is illustrated with charts and pic- 
tures of the networking connections. 
illustration /,ila'streij(a)n/ noun a pic- 
ture (in a book) O The book has twenty-five 
pages of full-colour illustrations. 
IMA /,ai em 'ei/ noun a professional organ- 
isation that covers subjects including author- 
ing languages, formats and intellectual prop- 
erty. Full form Interactive Multimedia As- 
sociation ■ abbr International MIDI 
Association 

iMac /,ai 'maek/ a personal computer devel- 
oped by Apple Computer Corporation 
image /'imid3/ noun 1. an exact duplicate 
of an area of memory 2. a copy of an original 
picture or design 3. a projected picture that is 
shown when light is shone through a photo- 
graph film 4. a picture displayed on a screen 
or monitor 

image area /'imid3 .earia/ noun a region 
of microfilm or display screen on which 
characters or designs can be displayed 
image buffer /'imid3 ,bAf3/ noun an area 
of memory that is used to build up an image 
before it is transferred to screen 



image compression 



122 



image compression /'imid3 kam 

,prej"(a)n/ noun the process of compressing 
the data that forms an image 
image degradation /'mml., 

,degradeiJXa)n/ noun the loss of picture 
contrast and quality due to signal distortion 
or bad copying of a video signal 
image editing /'imid3 ,editin/ noun the 
process of altering or adjusting an image us- 
ing a paint package or special image editing 
program 

image editor /'imid3 ,edita/ noun a piece 
of software that allows a user to edit, change 
or create a bitmap image 

image enhancement /'imid3 m 

.hainsmant/ noun the process of adjusting 
parts of an image using special image 
processing software to change the brightness 
or sharpness of an image 
imagemap /'imid3ma3p/ noun a graphic 
image that has areas of the image defined as 
hyperlink hotspots that link to another web- 
page 

image processing /'imid3 ,praosesirj/ 
noun the analysis of information contained in 
an image, usually by electronic means or us- 
ing a computer which provides the analysis 
or recognition of objects in the image 
image processing software /'imids 
,prausesirj ,sDftwea/ noun software that al- 
lows a user to adjust contrast, colour or 
brightness levels or apply special effects to a 
bitmap image 

image processor /'imid3 ,prausesa/ 
noun an electronic or computer system used 
for image processing, and to extract informa- 
tion from the image 
'The Max FX also acts as a server to a growing 
number of printers, including a Varityper 5300 
with emerald raster image processor and a Canon 
CLC 500 colour photocopier.' [Computing] 

image retention /'imid3 ri.tenfan/ noun 
the time taken for a TV image to disappear 
after it has been displayed, caused by long 
persistence phosphor 

image scanner /'imid3 .skaena/ noun an 
input device which converts documents or 
drawings or photographs into a digitised, ma- 
chine-readable form 

image sensor /'imid3 ,sensa/ noun a 
photoelectric device which produces a signal 
related to the amount of light falling on it 
image setter /'imid3 ,seta/ noun a type- 
setting device which can process a PostScript 
page and produce a high-resolution output 
image stability /'imid3 sta.bihti/ noun 
the ability of a display screen to provide a 
flicker-free picture 



image storage space /,imid3 'sto:nd3 
,speis/ noun a region of memory in which a 
digitised image is stored 
image table /'imid3 ,teib(a)V noun each 
of two bit-mapped tables used to control in- 
put and output devices or processes 
imaging /'imid3irj/ noun a technique for 
creating pictures on a screen, in medicine 
used to provide pictures of sections of the 
body, using scanners attached to computers 
imaging system /,miid3irj 'sistam/ 
noun equipment and software used to cap- 
ture, digitise and compress video or still im- 
ages 

IMAP /'aimaep/ noun a standard that defines 
how email messages can be accessed and 
read over a network. Full form Internet 
message access protocol. : POP 3, 
SMTP 
comment: This standard (currently at ver- 
sion four) provides an alternative to the 
common POP 3 standard. The IMAP 
standard stores a user's messages on a 
shared server (e.g. at your ISP) and allows 
a user to connect from any computer and 
read, send or manage messages. In con- 
trast, the POP 3 protocol downloads all 
messages from a shared server onto the 
user's computer. This makes it very difficult 
for a user to access messages from a dif- 
ferent computer, e.g. if you are travelling. 
Regardless of whether IMAP or POP 3 is 
used to read messages, the SMTP proto- 
col is normally used to send messages. 

IMAX noun a wide-screen motion picture 
system using 70 mm film and having a frame 
size of 70 multiplied by 46 mm 
immunity /I'mjuiniti/ noun » interfer- 
ence 

impact /'impaekt/ noun the act of hitting or 
striking something 
'Lexmark is shipping the Wheelwriter family of 
typewriters that can be connected to a PC using 
the parallel printer port, making it act like a PC 
impact printer.' [Computing] 

impairment scale /im'peamant skeil/ 
noun the scale of the loss of quality in sound 
or picture reproduction in both film and vid- 
eo. Scale 5 is negligible loss and scale 1 is un- 
acceptable. 

impedance /im'piid(a)ns/ noun a meas- 
urement of the effect an electrical circuit or 
cable has on signal current magnitude and 
phase when a steady voltage is applied. f> 
ohm 
comment: Network cables need to have 
the correct impedance for the type of net- 
work card installed. 10BaseT unshielded 
twisted-pair cable normally has an imped- 
ance between 100 and105 ohms, while 
10Base2 coaxial cable has an impedance 
of 50 ohms. 



123 



incorrect 



impedance mismatch /im'pi:d(a)ns 

.mismaet JV noun a situation where the im- 
pedance of the transmission or receiving end 
of a system does not match the other, result- 
ing in loss of signal power 
implant Am'plaint/ verb to fix deeply into 
something; to bond one substance into anoth- 
er chemically O The dopant is implanted into 
the substrate. 

implement /'implement/ verb to carry out 
or to put something into action 
implementation /,impliman l teij'(3)n/ 
noun a version of something that works O 
The latest implementation of the software 
runs much faster. 

import /im'poit/ verb 1 . to bring goods into 
a country to resell 2. to bring something in 
from outside a system O You can import im- 
ages from the CAD package into the DTP 
program. 3. to convert a file stored in one for- 
mat to the default format used by a program 
O Select import if you want to open a TIFF 
graphics file. 
'At the moment, Acrobat supports only the send- 
ing and viewing of documents. There are legal 
implications associated with allowing users to 
edit documents in the style of the original appli- 
cation, without having the tool itself on their 
desks, and there is no import facility back into ap- 
plications.' [Computing] 

importation /,imp3i'teij(3)n/ noun the 
act of importing. Compare export 
' . . . text and graphics importation from other sys- 
tems is possible' [Publish] 
'At the moment, Acrobat supports only the send- 
ing and viewing of documents. There are legal 
implications associated with allowing users to 
edit documents in the style of the original appli- 
cation, without having the tool itself on their 
desks, and there is no import facility back into ap- 
plications' [Computing] 

impression /im'prej"(3)n/ noun the 
number of books or documents printed all on 
the same printrun 
impression cylinder /im'pref(s)n 

.silmda/ noun a roller in a printing press that 

presses the sheets of paper against the inked 

type 

imprint /'imprint/ noun the publisher's or 

printer's name which appears on the title 

page or in the bibliographical details of a 

book 

imprint position /'imprint p3,zif(3)n/ 

noun on a sheet of paper, place where the 

next letter or symbol is to be printed 

impulse /'impAls/ noun a voltage pulse 

which lasts a very short time 

impulsive /im'pAlsiv/ adjective lasting a 

very short time 

IMS abbr information management system 



inaccuracy /m'aekjuresi/ noun a mistake 
or error O The bibliography is full of inaccu- 
racies. 

inaccurate /m'aekjuret/ adjective not cor- 
rect or wrong O He entered an inaccurate 
password. 

inactive /m'aektiv/ adjective not working 
or not running 

inactive window /m,aektiv 'wmdao/ 
noun (in a GUI) a window still displayed, but 
not currently being used 
in-band signalling /,m basnd 
'sign(3)lirj/ noun data transmission in which 
the signal carrying the data is within the 
bandwidth of the cable or transmission media 
In Box /'mbDks/ noun a feature of the Win- 
dows messaging system that can gather to- 
gether a user's electronic messages including 
mail sent over the network, fax messages and 
mail sent over the Internet 
inbuilt /'mbilt/ adjective referring to a fea- 
ture or device included in a system O This 
software has inbuilt error correction. 

in camera process /,m ,kaem(3)r3 
'prauses/ noun a type of film processing 
which takes place inside the camera 
incandescence / l tnksen'des(3)ns/ noun 
the generation of light by heating a wire in an 
inert gas (as in a light bulb) 
incandescent /,inkaen'des(a)nt/ adjec- 
tive shining because of heat produced in an 
inert gas 

incandescent lighting 

/,inkaendes(3)nt 'laitirj/ noun a light using 
heated tungsten, gas-filled bulbs or tubes in- 
stead of bulbs with carbon arcs 
incident /'insid(a)nt/ noun light that is re- 
flected from an object (film) 
in-circuit emulator /,m ,s3tkit 
'emjoleita/ noun a circuit that emulates a 
device or integrated circuit and is inserted 
into a new or faulty circuit to test if it is work- 
ing correctly O This in-circuit emulator is 
used to test the floppy disk controller by em- 
ulating a disk drive. 

inclined orbit /in,klamd 'oibit/ noun or- 
bit that is not polar or equatorial 
inclusive /m'kluisiv/ adjective which 
counts something in with other things O 
Prices are inclusive of VAT. 
incoming /'mkAmirj/ adjective which is 
coming in from outside 
incompatible /,inkam'paetib(3)l/ adjec- 
tive which cannot work together O They tried 
to link the two systems, but found they were 
incompatible. 

incorrect /.mks'rekt/ adjective not cor- 
rect or with mistakes O The input data was 
incorrect, so the output was also incorrect. 



incorrectly 124 

incorrectly /.mka'rektli/ adverb not cor- 
rectly or with mistakes O The data was incor- 
rectly keyboarded. 

increment /'irjkrimant/ noun 1. the addi- 
tion of a set number, usually one, to a regis- 
ter, often for counting purposes O An incre- 
ment is added to the counter each time a 
pulse is detected. 2. the value of the number 
added to a register O Increase the increment 
to three. ■ verb 1 . to add something or to in- 
crease a number O The counter is increment- 
ed each time an instruction is executed. 2. to 
move forward to the next location 
incremental backup /,inknment(3)l 
'baekAp/ noun a backup procedure that only 
backs up the files that have changed since the 
last backup 

incremental plotter /,mknment(3)l 
'prata/ noun a graphical output device that 
can only move in small steps, with input data 
representing the difference between present 
position and the position required, so draw- 
ing lines and curves as a series of short 
straight lines 

indent noun /'indent/ a space or series of 
spaces from the left margin, when starting a 
line of text ■ verb /m'dent/ to start a line of 
text with a space in from the left margin O 
The first line of the paragraph is indented two 
spaces. 

indentation /,mden'teij(3)n/ noun the 
process of leaving a space at the beginning of 
a line of text 

Indeo /'mdiau/ a trade name for video soft- 
ware technology developed by Intel that al- 
lows a computer to store and play back com- 
pressed video sequences using software com- 
pression techniques 

independent /,mdi 'pendant/ adjective 
free or not controlled by anyone 
independently /.mdi'pendantli/ adverb 
freely or without being controlled or without 
being connected O In spooling, the printer is 
acting independently of the keyboard. 
index /'mdeks/ noun 1 . a list of items in a 
computer memory, usually arranged alpha- 
betically 2. the address to be used that is the 
result of an offset value added to a start loca- 
tion, tf indexed addressing 3. a list of terms 
classified into groups or put in alphabetical 
order 4. an alphabetical list printed, usually 
at the back of a book, giving references to 
items in the main part of the book 5. a list of 
subjects and contents of a book in alphabeti- 
cal order (usually at the back of a book) 6. 
guide marks along the edge of a piece of film 
or strip of microfilm ■ verb to put marks 
against items so that they will be selected and 
sorted to form an index 



indexed address /,mdeksd a'dres/ 
noun the address of the location to be ac- 
cessed, which is found in an index register 
indexed addressing /,mdeksd o 
'dresirj/ noun an addressing mode, in which 
the storage location to be accessed is made up 
of a start address and an offset value, which 
is then added to it to give the address to be 
used 

indexed sequential access method 
/, mdeks si,kwens3l 'aekses ,me93d/ noun 
a data retrieval method using a list containing 
the address of each stored record, where the 
list is searched, then the record is retrieved 
from the address in the list. Abbr ISAM 
index.html /,mdeks dot ,eitj tii em 'el/ 
noun a filename that is used to store the text 
and HTML formatting commands for the 
home page on a website 
indexing /'mdeksirj/ noun 1. the use of in- 
dexed addressing in software or a computer 
2. the process of building and sorting a list of 
records 3. the process of writing an index for 
a book 

index page /'mdeks peid3/ noun 1. a 
page of a multimedia book that lists all the 
other pages within the book and allows a user 
to locate other pages or areas of interest 2. the 
initial opening webpage of a site on the Inter- 
net or on a company's intranet 
index register /'mdeks ,red3ista/ noun a 
computer address register that is added to a 
reference address to provide the location to 
be accessed. Abbr IR 
indicate /'mdi,keit/ verb to show 
indication /.mdi'kei r(3)n/ noun a sign or 
something which shows 
indicator /'mdi,keit3/ noun something 
which shows the state of a process, usually a 
light or buzzer 

indirect /.indai'rekt/ adjectivenot direct 
induce /m'djuis/ verb to generate an elec- 
trical current in a coil of wire by electromag- 
netic effects 

inductance /m'dAktans/ noun a measure- 
ment of the amount of energy a device can 
store in its magnetic field 
induction /m'dAkfan/ noun the genera- 
tion of an electrical current by electromag- 
netic effects from a nearby source 
inductive coordination /m,dAktiv kau 
,oidi'neiJ(3)n/ noun agreement between 
electrical power suppliers and communica- 
tion providers on methods of reducing in- 
duced interference 

inductor /m'dAkta/ noun an electrical 
component consisting of a coil of wire used 
to introduce inductance effects into a circuit 
by storing energy in its magnetic field 



125 



infrared 



Industry Standard Architecture 

/,md3stri ,staencbd 'aiki.tekt Ja/ noun full 

form of ISA 

inequality operator /.mi'kwDliti 

,Dp3reit3/ noun a symbol used to indicate 
that two variables or quantities are not equal 
O The C programming language uses the 
symbol '!= ' as its inequality operator. 
inert /i'n3it/ adjective (chemical substance 
or gas) that does not react with other chemi- 
cals 

infect /in'fekt/ verb to contaminate a com- 
puter system with a virus that is capable of 
damaging its programs or data 
infected computer /m,fektid kam 
'pj uita/ noun a computer that carries a virus 
program 

inference /'inf(3)rans/ noun 1. a deduc- 
tion of results from data according to certain 
rules 2. a method of deducing a result about 
confidential information concerning an indi- 
vidual by using various data related to groups 
of people 

inferior figure /m.fiaria 'figs/ noun any 
one of the smaller numbers or characters that 
are printed slightly below normal characters, 
used in mathematical and chemical formulae. 
i> subscript, superscript (note: used with 
figures and letters: C0 2 ) 
INF file /,ai en 'ef fail/ noun a configura- 
tion file supplied by a hardware manufacturer 
to allow Windows to correctly install the de- 
vice 

infinite /'mfmat/ adjective with no end 
infinity /m'f miti/ noun 1 . a space or quan- 
tity that never ends 2. the distance of an ob- 
ject from a viewer where beams of light from 
the object would be seen to be parallel, i.e. 
very far away 3. a distance setting on a cam- 
era lens beyond which all images are in focus 
informatics /.mfoi 'maetiks/ noun the sci- 
ence and study of ways and means of infor- 
mation processing and transmission 
information /,infa'meif(a)n/ noun 1. 
knowledge presented to a person in a form 
which can be understood 2. data that has 
been processed or arranged to provide facts 
which have a meaning 
information content /,inf3'meif(a)n 
,kDntent/ noun a measurement of the 
amount of information conveyed by the 
transmission of a symbol or character, often 
measured in shannons 

information flow control /.mfa 
'meij(3)n flau kan.trool/ noun the regula- 
tion of access to particular information 
information input /,inf3'meif(a)n 
,mput/ noun information received from an 
input device 



information management system 

/,mf3meij(3)n 'maenidsmant .sistam/ 
noun a computer program that allows infor- 
mation to be easily stored, retrieved, 
searched and updated. Abbr IMS 
information network /,mf3meij(3)n 
,netw3ik/ noun a number of databases 
linked together, usually using telephone lines 
and modems, allowing a large amount of data 
to be accessed by a wider number of users 
information output /,inf3meif(3)n 
'autput/ noun a display of information on an 
output device 

information processing 

/,mf3meij(3)n 'preusesirj/ noun same as 
data processing 

information provider /,mf3'meij(3)n 
pre , vaida/ noun a company or user who pro- 
vides an information source for use in a vid- 
eotext system, e.g. a company providing 
weather information or stock market reports. 
Abbr ip 

information retrieval /,inf3meif(a)n n 
'triiv(3)l/ noun the process of locating quan- 
tities of data stored in a database and produc- 
ing useful information from the data. Abbr IR 
information storage /,mf3meif(3)n 
'sto:rid3/ noun the process of storing data in 
a form which allows it to be processed at a 
later date 

information storage and retrieval 
/ l mf3meiJ(3)n ,stoind3 an n'tri:v(3)l/ 
noun techniques involved in storing informa- 
tion and retrieving data from a store. Abbr 
ISR 

information structure /,inf9'meir(a)n 
.strAktJV noun same as data structure 
information system /,inf9'meif(a)n 
,sist3m/ noun a computer system which pro- 
vides information according to a user's re- 
quests 

information technology 

/ l mf3meiJ(3)n tek'nDbd3i/ noun the tech- 
nology involved in acquiring, storing, 
processing, and distributing information by 
electronic means, including radio, TV, tele- 
phone and computers. Abbr IT 
information theory /,inf9'meif(a)n 
,6i3ri/ noun the body of formulae and math- 
ematics concerned with data transmission 
equipment and signals 
infra- /mfre/ prefix meaning below or less 
than. Abbr ILF 

infra-low frequency /.infra bu 
'friikwansi/ noun a range of audio frequen- 
cies between 300Hz-3KHz. Abbr ILF 
infrared /.infra 'red/ noun the section of 
the electromagnetic radiation spectrum ex- 
tending from visible red to microwaves 



infra-red link 



126 



infra-red link /,mfr3 red 'lirjk/ noun a 
system that allows two computers or a com- 
puter and a printer to exchange information 
using an infrared light beam to carry the data 
infrasonic frequency /^nfrasrmik 
'friikwansi/ noun a sound wave frequency 
that is in the range below that audible by the 
human ear 

infrastructure /'mfra.strAkt JV noun ba- 
sic structure or basic services 
infringement /m'frindsmant/ noun the 
act of breaking the law or a rule 
inherit /m'hent/ verb (in object-oriented 
programming) to acquire the characteristics 
of another class or data type 
inheritance /m'hent(a)ns/ noun (in ob- 
ject-oriented programming) the passing of 
the characteristics of one class or data type to 
another, called its descendant 
inhibit /m'hibit/ verb to stop a process tak- 
ing place or to prevent an integrated circuit or 
gate from operating,, by means of a signal or 
command 

in-house /,m 'haus/ adverb, adjective 
(working) inside a company's building O All 
the data processing is done in-house. 
INI file/,aien 'ai fail/ noun a configuration 
file used in Windows 3.x and earlier that tells 
Windows how to load and run an application. 
(note: The INI file could contain the working 
directory, user name and user settings.) 
initial A'ni 1(3)1/ adjective first or at the be- 
ginning ■ noun the first letter of a word, es- 
pecially of a name O What do the initials 
IBM stand for? 

initialise A 'nija.laiz/, initialize verb to set 
values or parameters or control lines to their 
initial values, to allow a program or process 
to be restarted (note: initialises - initialis- 
ing - initialised) 

injection laser /m^ek/an 'leiza/ noun 
a solid state laser device used to transmit data 
as pulses of light down an optic fibre 
injection logic /m^ekTsn 'k)d3ik/ 
noun) integrated injection logic 
ink /ink/ noun 1 . a dark liquid used to mark 
or write with 2. colour selected that appears 
when you paint or draw using a drawing pro- 
gram on a computer ■ verb 1 . to draw lines 
on paper by the use of a plotter device 2. to 
apply ink to printing rollers in a printing ma- 
chine 

ink cartridge /'ink ,kaitnd3/ noun a 
plastic module that contains ink, for use in a 
bubble-jet or ink-jet printer 
inkie, inky noun same as incandescent 
lighting (informal) 

ink-jet printer /'ink d3et ,prmt3/ noun a 
printer that produces characters by sending a 



stream of tiny drops of electrically charged 

ink onto the paper 
'...ink-jet printers work by squirting a fine 
stream of ink onto the paper' 
[Personal Computer World] 

inlay /'mlei/ noun the combination of two 
television or video signals to produce a single 
picture 

inlay card /m'lei kaid/ noun an identifica- 
tion card inside the box of a CD, DVD or 
similar recording 

in-line /,m 'lain/ adjective referring to con- 
nection pins on a chip arranged in one or two 
rows ■ noun referring to a graphical image 
that is part of a webpage ■ adverb way in 
which unsorted or unedited data is processed 
inline image /,mlam 'rmKkj/ noun a 
graphical image that is part of a WWW page 
inline plug-in /,mlam 'pkg ,m/ noun » 
plug-in 

inner loop /'ma lu:p/ noun a loop con- 
tained inside another loop. i> nested loop 
in phase /,m 'feiz/ adverb A. (two electri- 
cal signals) that have no phase difference be- 
tween them, i.e. there is no delay or a delay 
of one complete cycle between them 2. syn- 
chronization of film frames and projector 
shutter timing 

input /'input/ verb to transfer data or infor- 
mation from outside a computer to its main 
memory O The data was input via a modem. 
■ noun 1 . the action of inputting information 
2. electrical signals which are applied to rel- 
evant circuits to perform the operation ► abbr 
(all senses) i/p, l/P 
'In fact, the non-Qwerty format of the Maltron 
keyboard did cause a few gasps when it was first 
shown to the staff, but within a month all the Mal- 
tron users had regained normal input speeds.' 
[Computing] 

input-bound /'input ,baund/ adjective 
referring to a program or device that is not 
running as fast as it could, because it is limit- 
ed by the input rate from a slower peripheral. 
Also called input-limited 
input device /'input di,vais/ noun a de- 
vice, e.g. a keyboard or bar code reader, that 
converts actions or information into a form 
that a computer can understand, and transfers 
the data to the processor 
input-limited /.input 'hmitid/ adjective 
same as input-bound 

input/output /,mput 'autput/ noun full 
form of I/O 

input/output device /,mput 'autput di 
, vais/ noun a peripheral, e.g. such as a termi- 
nal in a workstation, that can be used both for 
inputting and outputting data to a processor 
inquiry /m'kwaiari/ noun another spelling 
of enquiry 



127 



integrated circuit 



insert /m's3it/ verb 1. to put something 
into something O First insert the system disk 
in the left slot. 2. to add new text inside a 
word or sentence 3. to replace a part of an ex- 
isting recording with inserted material 
insertion communication equip- 
ment /m,s3:J(a)n k8 l mju:m l keij'(3)n i 
'kwipmant/ noun full form of ICE 
insertion loss /m's3:J(a)n Ids/ noun a 
weakening of a signal caused by adding a de- 
vice into an existing channel or circuit 
insertion point /m's3:J(a)n point/ noun 
the point in a document, indicated by the po- 
sition of the cursor, where new text typed by 
the user will be entered 
install /m'stoil/ verb 1. to put a machine 
into an office or factory O The system is easy 
to install and simple to use. 2. to set up a new 
computer system to the user's requirements 
or to configure a new program to the existing 
system capabilities 

installable device driver /in 
,sta:lab(a)l di'vais ,draiva/ noun a device 
driver that is loaded into memory and re- 
mains resident, replacing a similar function 
built into the operating system 
installation /,msta'leij"(a)n/ noun 1. a 
computer and equipment used for one type of 
work and processing O The engineers are 
still testing the new installation. 2. the proc- 
ess of setting up a new computer system O 
The installation of the equipment took only a 
few hours. 

installation manual /,msta'leij(a)n 

.maenjual/ noun a booklet showing how a 
system should be installed 
install program /'install .praugraem/ 
noun a piece of software that transfers pro- 
gram code from the distribution disks onto a 
computer's hard disk and configures the pro- 
gram 

instance /'mstans/ noun 1. (in object-ori- 
ented programming) an object or duplicate 
object that has been created 2. one copy of an 
application, routine or object O Microsoft 
Windows will let you run several copies of the 
same program at the same time. O Each is 
called an instance of the original. 
instant jump /'instant d3Amp/ noun (in a 
videodisc player) a hardware feature that al- 
lows the player to skip a number of frames, 
up to 200, in the time it takes to refresh the 
screen 

instant messaging /.instant 

'mesid3in/ noun a feature that lets a user 
type in and exchange messages with one or 
more other people connected via the Internet. 
Each of the users in the group runs special 
software that tells them when a friend or col- 
league has connected to the Internet and is 



available to receive messages. Any message 
that he or she types in is then sent instantly to 
the other user. 

instant replay /.instant rii'plei/ noun a 
feature found in video recording systems that 
allows the action that has just been recorded 
to be viewed immediately 
instruct /m'strAkt/ verbto tell someone or 
a computer what to do 
instruction /m'strAkJan/ noun a word 
used in a programming language that is un- 
derstood by the computer as a command to 
carry out a particular action 
'A Taos kernel, typically 15Kb in size, resides at 
each processing node to 'translate', non-native 
instructions - on the fly when needed. This kernel 
contains the only code which has to be written in 
the processor's native instruction set.' [Comput- 
ing] 

instruction manual /m'strAkJan 
.maenjual/ noun a document describing how 
to use a system or software 
instruction register /m'strAkJan 
,red3ista/ noun a register in a central 
processing unit that stores an instruction dur- 
ing decoding and execution operations. Abbr 
IR 

instrument /'instrument/ noun an elec- 
tronic device that can produce a sound in re- 
sponse to a MIDI note or to a keyboard press 
instrumentation /,mstrumen'teij(a)n/ 
noun equipment for testing, display or re- 
cording signals O We've improved the instru- 
mentation on this model to keep you better in- 
formed of the machine's position. 
integer /'mtid3a/ noun a mathematical 
term to describe a whole number (note: An 
integer may be positive or negative or zero.) 
integral /mtigral, m'tegal/ adjective re- 
ferring to an add-on device or special feature 
that is already built into a system O The inte- 
gral disk drives and modem reduced desk 
space. 

integrated /'mti,greitid/ adjective refer- 
ring to a system containing many peripherals 
grouped together to provide a neat, complete 
system 

integrated circuit /,mtigreitid 's3ikit/ 
noun a circuit made up of components all of 
which are formed on one small piece of sem- 
iconductor by means of etching and chemical 
processes. Abbr IC (note: Integrated circuits 
can be classified as follows: Small Scale In- 
tegration (SSI): 1 to 10 components per IC; 
Medium Scale Integration (MSI): 10 to 100 
components per IC; Large Scale Integration 
(LSI): 1 00 to 5000 components per IC; Very 
Large Scale Integration (VLSI): 5,000 to 
50,000 components per IC; Ultra Large 



integrated database 



128 



Scale Integration (ULSI): over 100,000 
components per IC.) 

integrated database /,mtigreitid 
'deitabeis/ noun a database that is able to 
provide information for varied requirements 
without any redundant data 
integrated device electronics /,tnti 
.greitid di.vais .elek'troniks/, integrated 
drive electronics /,inti,greitiddraiv ,elek 
'troniks/ noun full form of IDE 
integrated injection logic /,mtigreitid 
m'd3ek[3n ,lDd3ik/ noun a type of circuit 
design able to produce very small, low-power 
components. Abbr ML 

integrated modem /,mtigreitid 
'maodem/ noun a modem that is an internal 
part of the system 

integration /,mti'greij"(a)n/ noun the 
process of bringing several operations to- 
gether O small scale integration (SSI) 
integrity /m'tegritV noun the reliability of 
data which is being processed or stored on 
disk 

Intel /'intel/ the company that developed the 
first commercially available microprocessor, 
the 4004, and also developed the range of 
processors that is used in IBM PCs and com- 
patible computers 

Intel Indeo /,mtel 'mdiau/ a trade name 
for software technology developed by Intel 
that allows a computer to store and play back 
compressed video sequences using software 
compression techniques 
intelligence /m'telid33ns/ noun 1. the 
ability to reason 2. the ability of a device to 
carry out processing or run a program 
intelligent /m'telid33nt/ adjective refer- 
ring to a machine, program or device that is 
capable of limited reasoning facilities, giving 
it human-like responses 
intelligent knowledge-based sys- 
tem /m,tehd3(3)nt ,nDhd3 beisd 'sistam/ 
noun full form of IKBS 
intelligent tutoring system An 
,tehd3(3)nt 'tjuitann .sistam/ noun a 
computer-aided learning system that pro- 
vides responsive and interactive teaching fa- 
cilities for users 

Intel Pentium /,mtel 'pentiam/ a trade 
name for a range of advanced microproces- 
sors that use a 32-bit data bus 
INTELSAT /'mtelsaet/ noun an interna- 
tional group that deals with the design, con- 
struction and allocation of space to various 
communications satellite projects. Full form 
International Telecommunications Satel- 
lite Organization 

intensity /m'tensiti/ noun a measure of 
the strength of a signal or the brightness of a 
light source 



inter- /mta/ prefix between 
interact /^ntar'aekt/ verb to act on each 
other 

interaction /.intar'askfsn/ noun the ac- 
tion of two things on each other 
interactive /^ntar'aektiv/ adjective refer- 
ring to a system or piece of software that al- 
lows communication between the user and 
the computer in conversational mode 
'Oracle today details its interactive information 
superhighway aims, endorsed by 17 industry 
partners. The lynchpin to the announcement will 
be software based on the Oracle Media Server, a 
multimedia database designed to run on massive- 
ly parallel computers.' [Computing] 

interactive graphics /.mtaraektiv 
'graefiks/ plural noun a display system that 
is able to react to different inputs from the 
user 

interactive media /,mt3raektiv 'miidia/ 
plural noun media that provide two-way 
communications between users and their ma- 
chines or systems and enable users to control 
their systems and obtain responses from 
them in real time 

interactive mode /.mtar'aektiv .msud/ 
noun a computer mode that allows the user to 
enter commands or programs or data and re- 
ceive immediate responses 
Interactive Multimedia Association 
/,int3raektiv ,mAlti'miidi3 3,s3usieiJ(3)n/ 
noun full form of IMA 
interactive system /.mtaraektiv 
'sistam/ noun a system which provides an 
immediate response to the user's commands 
or programs or data 

interactive TV /,mt3raektiv ti: 'vii/ noun 
a channel that allows two-way communica- 
tion between the viewer and the broadcasting 
station. This feature often allows the user to 
choose which programme to watch or to re- 
spond directly to questions displayed on- 
screen. 

interactive video /^ntaraektiv Vidiau/ 
noun full form of IV 

interactive videotext /.mtaraektiv 
'vidiautekst/ noun viewdata service that al- 
lows the operator to select pages, display 
them, ask questions, or use a service such as 
teleshopping 

interactivity /.mtaraek'tiviti/ noun two- 
way communication between users and ma- 
chines such as computers and television sets, 
in which the machines provide real-time re- 
sponses to the inquiries and commands of the 
users 
'.. .interactivity is a buzzword you've been hear- 
ing a lot lately. Resign yourself to it because 
you're going to be hearing a lot more of it' 
[Music Technology] 



intercarrier noise /.mtakaeria 'noiz/ 
noun interference caused by two different 
signal carriers getting mixed O Television in- 
tercarrier noise is noticed when the picture 
and the sound signal carriers clash. 
interchange /'mtat J"eind3/ noun the ex- 
change of one thing for another O The ma- 
chine allows document interchange between 
it and other machines without reformatting. 
■ verb to exchange one thing for another 
interchangeable /,rnta'tjeind33b(a)l/ 
adjective which can be exchanged 
interchange file format /,mtatjemd3 
'fail .foimaet/ noun full form of IFF 
intercharacter spacing /.mtakaerakta 
'speisirj/ noun a word-processor feature that 
provides variable spacing between words to 
create a justified line 

intercom /'intakDm/ noun a short-range 
voice communications system 
interconnect /.mtaka'nekt/ verb to con- 
nect together O a series of interconnected 
terminals 

interconnection /^ntaka'nekTan/ noun 
1 . a section of connecting material between 
two devices 2. the connection between a tel- 
ephone set and a telephone network 
interface /'intafeis/ noun 1. the point at 
which one computer system ends and another 
begins 2. a circuit, device or port that allows 
two or more incompatible units to be linked 
together in a standard communication sys- 
tem, allowing data to be transferred between 
them 3. a section of a program which allows 
transmission of data to another program ■ 
verb 1 . to modify a device by adding a circuit 
or connector to allow it to conform to a stand- 
ard communications system 2. to connect 
two or more incompatible devices together 
with a circuit, in order to allow them to com- 
municate 
The original release of ODBC only included a 
driver for Microsoft's own SQL Server database. 
Microsoft has subsequently published the ODBC 
application program interface enabling third-par- 
ty vendors to create drivers for other databases 
and tools.' [Computing] 

interface card /'mtafeis ka:d/ noun an 
add-on board that allows a computer to inter- 
face to certain equipment or conform to a cer- 
tain standard 

interfacing /'mtafeisirj/ noun hardware 
or software used to interface two computers, 
programs or devices 

interference /.mta'fiarans/ noun 1. the 
unwanted addition of signals or noise to a 
transmitted signal 2. an effect seen when two 
signals are added, creating constructive inter- 
ference when both signals are in phase or de- 



129 interleaving 

structive interference when they are out of 
phase 

interframe coding /.mtafreim 'kaudirj/ 
noun a system for compressing video imag- 
es, in which only the differences between 
each frame are recorded 
interior gateway protocol /m.tisris 
,geitwei praotau'kDl/ noun full form of 
IGP 

interlace /,mt3'leis/ verb to build up an 
image on a television screen using two passes 
to create two picture fields. One displays all 
the odd-numbered lines, the other all the 
even-numbered lines. The aim is to reduce 
the flicker effects on the television picture. 

interlaced scanning /,iniolcisd 
'skiEnirj/ noun a technique for producing an 
image on a television or computer screen that 
is clear and correctly aligned in the vertical 
plane. It involves scanning first all the odd 
numbered and then all the even numbered 
lines in the screen image. 

interlaced video /.intaleisd 'vidiau/ 

noun a video signal made up of two separate 
fields. This is the normal display mode for 
home video. 

interleave /.intar'liiv/ noun a method of 
storing data on alternate tracks on a hard disk 
drive to slow down data transfer rates to 
match a slower processor O Fast computers 
run the hard disk with no interleave factor, 
since they can cope with the fast flow of data 
to and from the hard disk. 

interleaved /.mtsr'liivd/ adjective 1. re- 
ferring to sections of two programs executed 
alternately to give the impression that they 
are running simultaneously 2. (thin sheets of 
paper) which are stuck between the pages of 
a book O Blank paper was interleaved with 
the newly printed text to prevent the ink run- 
ning. 

interleave factor /,intar,li:v 'faekts/ 
noun the ratio of sectors skipped between ac- 
cess operations on a hard disk (note: In a 
hard disk with an interleave of 3, the first 
sector is read, then three sectors are 
skipped and the next sector is read. This is 
used to allow hard disks with slow access 
time to store more data on the disk.) 

interleaving /.mtsr'liivirj/ noun 1. the 
technique of dealing with slices or sections of 
processes alternately, so that they appear to 
be executed simultaneously 2. the process of 
dividing data storage into sections so that 
each can be accessed separately 3. the addi- 
tion of blank paper between printed sheets to 
prevent the ink from making other sheets 
dirty 



inter-library loan 



130 



inter-library loan /m,t3i laibrari bun/ 
noun the lending of books or documents 
from one library to another. Abbr ILL 
interlinear spacing /.tntslmia 'speisirj/ 
noun the insertion of spaces between lines of 
text 

interlock /.mta'lok/ noun 1 . a security de- 
vice that is part of the logon prompt and re- 
quires a password 2. a method of synchronis- 
ing audio tape with a video or filmed se- 
quence. This can be achieved by using a 
frame counter or a timer or by running both 
audio and visual tapes on the same motor. ■ 
verb to prevent a device from performing an- 
other task until the present one has been com- 
pleted 

intermediate /.mta'miidiat/ adjective 1. 
which is at a stage between two others 2. 
widespread term for colour master positives 
and duplicate negatives which are printed on 
an integral colour masking film stock 
intermediate access memory 
/^ntamiidiat .aekses 'mem(3)ri/ noun full 
form of IAM 

intermediate frequency /.mtamiidiat 
'friikwansi/ noun the frequency in a radio 
receiver to which the incoming received sig- 
nal is transformed. Abbr if 
intermittent error /,mtamit(a)nt 'era/ 
noun an error which apparently occurs ran- 
domly in a computer or communications sys- 
tem due to a program fault or noise (note: 
These errors are very difficult to trace and 
correct due to their apparent random ap- 
pearance.) 

internal /m't3in(3)l/ adjective which is in- 
side 
comment: Many compiled languages are 
translated to an internal language. 
internally stored program /in,t3sn(a)li 
stoid 'prsograem/ noun a computer pro- 
gram code that is stored in a ROM device in 
a computer system and does not have to be 
loaded from backing store 
internal memory /in,t3:n(a)l 'mem(a)ri/ 
noun storage space that is available within 
the main computer and is under its direct con- 
trol. Also called internal store 
internal modem /m,t3in(3)l .mau'dem/ 
noun a modem on an expansion card that fits 
into an expansion connector and transfers in- 
formation to the processor through the bus, 
rather than connecting to a serial port 
internal sort /m't3:n(3)l sort/ noun a 
sorting program using only the main memory 
of a system 

internal store /m,t3in(3)l 'stoi/ noun 
same as internal memory 
international / l mt3'naeJ(3)n3l/ adjective 
referring to different countries 



International Business Machines 

/,mt3naej(3)n3l 'biznas ma, fimz/ full form 

of IBM 

international direct dialling /mta 

,naej(3)n3l dai,rekt 'daiahrj kaud/ noun 
the process of calling telephone numbers in 
other countries direct. Abbr IDD (note: no 
plural) 

international file format 

/,mt3naej(3)ri3l 'fail ,fo:maet/ noun full 
form of IFF 

International MIDI Association 
/,mt3naej(3)n3l 'midi 3,s3usieiJ(3)n/ noun 
a professional organisation that covers sub- 
jects including authoring languages, formats, 
and intellectual property. Abbr IMA 
International Standards Organiza- 
tion /,mt3naej(3)n3l 'stasndadz 
,0ig3naizeiJ(3)n/ noun an organisation 
which creates and regulates standards for 
many types of computer and networking 
products. Abbr ISO 

International Telecommunications 
Satellite Organization / l int3,naef(a)nal 
.telika^jum^keiJXajnz ,saet3,lait 

,oig3nai'zeiJ(3)n/ noun full form of INTEL- 
SAT 

inter-negative /m,t3i 'negativ/ noun du- 
plicate colour negative film which is pre- 
pared directly from an original colour nega- 
tive film exposed in the camera (film) 
Internet /'mtanet/ noun an international 
wide area network that provides file and data 
transfer, together with electronic mail func- 
tions for millions of users around the world. 
t) HTTP, POP 3, SMTP, World Wide Web 
Internet address /'mtanet s,dres/ noun 
a unique number that identifies the precise 
location of a particular node on the Internet 
The address is a 32-bit number usually writ- 
ten in dotted decimal format, i.e. in the form 
'123.33.22.32', and it is used by the TCP/IP 
protocol. A domain name system is used to 
convert a domain name, e.g. 
'bloomsbury.com', into a full Internet ad- 
dress. Also called IP address 
Internet Architecture Board /.intsnet 
'aikitektja ,bo:d/ noun full form of IAB 2 
(note: Its members include the IETF and 
the I RTF.) 

Internet Assigned Numbers Author- 
ity /,mt3net 3,samd 'nAmbsz 3i,6Driti/ 
noun a group that assigns unique identifying 
numbers to the different protocols and net- 
work products used on the Internet. Abbr 
IANA 

Internet banking /.mtsnet b^rjkir)/ 
noun a system that allows customers to check 
their bank accounts, pay bills and transfer 
money by means of the Internet 



'...most banks now offer reasonable telephone 
and Internet banking facilities.' [The Guardian] 
Internet cafe /'mtanet ,kaefei/ noun 
same as cybercafe 

Internet control message protocol 
/,int3net kar^traul 'mesid3 ,pr3ot3kDl/ 
noun full form of ICMP 
Internet-draft /'mtanet draift/ adjective 
referring to draft documents produced by the 
IETF that often lead to RFCs. Abbr l-D 
Internet Engineering Steering 
Group /.mtanet ,end3ini3rirj 'stianrj 
gruip/ noun full form of IESG 
Internet Engineering Task Force 
/,mt3net l end3ini3rirj 'taisk ,fo:s/ noun 
full form of IETF 

Internet Explorer /.intanet ik'sploira/ 
noun a web browser developed by Microsoft 
which allows a user to view formatted HTML 
information such as webpages on the Inter- 
net. Abbr IE 

Internet group management proto- 
col /,mt3net gruip 'maenK^msnt 
.prautakDl/ noun full form of IGMP 
Internet Information Server /.mtanet 
l mf3 , meiJ(3)n ,s3iva/ noun full form of IIS 
Internet merchant account /.mtanet 
'm3itj3nt a.kaont/ noun a business bank 
account that allows the business to accept 
credit card payments via the Internet. Many 
businesses have a merchant account, allow- 
ing them to accept credit card payments by 
telephone or mail, but still need a separate 
IMA to accept payments via the net. Abbr 
IMA 

Internet message access protocol 
/,mt3net 'mesid3 ,aekses , proof akDl/ noun 
full form of IMAP 

Internet number /'mtanet .nAmba/ 
noun » Internet address 
Internet protocol /.intanet 'prootakDi/ 
noun full form of IP 

Internet relay chat /.mtanet .riilei 
't Jaet/ noun a system that allows many users 
to participate in a chat session in which each 
user can send messages and sees the text of 
any other user. Abbr IRC 
Internet research steering group 
/,mt3net ri,S3itJ 'stianrj gruip/ noun a 
group that manages the Internet research task 
force; part of the Internet Society. Abbr 
IRSG 

Internet research task force /.intanet 
ri,s3itj 'taisk fois/ noun full form of IRTF 
Internet server application program 
interface /,mt3net ,s3:vs ,aepliketj(3)n 
'proograem .mtafeis/ noun full form of IS- 
API 

Internet service provider /.mtanet 
's3:vis pra.vaida/ noun full form of ISP 



131 interrupt 

Internet Society /'intanet sa.sawti/ 
noun an organisation that has the task of 
maintaining and enhancing the Internet. It is 
made up of committees, such as the Internet 
Advisory Board and the Internet Engineering 
Task Force, and is not linked to any govern- 
ment or company, so that it provides an inde- 
pendent view of the future of the Internet. 
Internet telephony /.mtanet taletani/ 
noun a system that allows users to make tel- 
ephone calls using the Internet to carry the 
voice signals. To make a call, users need a 
computer with a sound card fitted and a mi- 
crophone and loudspeaker plugged in, and 
special software manages the connection and 
transfers the voice data over the Internet. 
(note: This system is particularly appealing 
if you have low-cost dial-up access to the In- 
ternet, since it allows you to make long dis- 
tance calls for the low-price you pay for your 
Internet connection.) 

Internetwork /,mt3'netw3ik/ noun a 
number of networks connected together us- 
ing bridges or routers to allow users on one 
network to access any resource on any other 
of the connected networks 
InterNIC noun an organisation that was 
originally responsible for managing the way 
domain names are registered, assigned and 
paid for by organisations. Recently, the sys- 
tem has changed to allow a group of compa- 
nies in different countries to manage the reg- 
istration and payment process. 
interoperability /.mta.Dpsrs'biliti/ 
noun the ability of two devices or computers 
to exchange information 
interpolation /m,t3:p3'lei J"(3)n/ noun the 
calculation of intermediate values between 
two points 

inter-positive /m,t3i 'prjzitiv/ noun pos- 
itive colour duplicate film made from an 
original negative (film) 
interpret /m't3ipnt/ verb to translate what 
is said in one language into another 
interpreter /m't3iprit3/ noun a piece of 
software used to translate a user's high-level 
program into machine code at the time of ex- 
ecution. Compare compiler (note: A com- 
piler translates the high-level language into 
machine code and then executes it, where- 
as an interpreter makes a translation in real 
time.) 

interrogation /m,ter3'gei J"(3)n/ noun the 
act of asking questions 
interrupt /.mta'rApt/ verb to stop some- 
thing happening while it is happening ■ 
noun 1 . the stopping of a transmission as a 
result of an action at the receiving end of a 
system 2. a signal which diverts a central 
processing unit from one task to another that 



interrupt request 



132 



has higher priority, allowing the CPU to re- 
turn to the first task later 
interrupt request /'mtarApt ri.kwest/ 
noun a signal from a device that indicates to 
the CPU that it requires attention. Abbr IRQ 
interval /'mtav(a)l/ noun a short pause be- 
tween two actions O There was an interval 
between pressing the key and the starting of 
the printout. 

intervention /^nta'venfan/ noun acting 
to make a change in a system 
interword spacing /,mtaw3id 'speisirj/ 
noun variable spacing between words in a 
text, used to justify lines 
intra /'intra/, intra frame /'intra freim/ 
noun a reference frame used to synchronise 
video data that has been compressed using 
the MPEG system 

intrinsic /m'trmsik/ adjective pure (sub- 
stance) which has had no other chemicals 
(such as dopants) added O The base material 
for ICs is an intrinsic semiconductor which is 
then doped. 

introduce /^ntra'djuis/ verbto put some- 
thing into something O Errors were intro- 
duced into the text at keyboarding. 
intruder /m'truida/ noun a person who is 
not authorised to use a computer or connect 
to a network. i> firewall, hacker 
intrusion /m'tru:3(a)n/ noun the action by 
a telephone operator to allow both parties on 
each end of the telephone line to hear his or 
her message 

invalid /'invalid/ adjective not valid O He 
tried to use an invalid password. 
inverse video /,mv3is 'vidiao/ noun a 
television effect created by swapping the 
background and foreground text display col- 
ours 

inversion /m'v3ij(a)n/ noun 1. the proc- 
ess of changing over the numbers in a binary 
word, one to zero and zero to one O The in- 
version of a binary digit takes place in one's 
complement. 2. the process of changing the 
logical state of a signal or device to its logical 
opposite 

invert /,m'v3it/ verb to change all binary 
ones to zeros and zeros to ones 
inverter An'v3ita/ noun 1. a logical gate 
that provides inversion facilities 2. a circuit 
used to provide alternating current supply 
from a DC battery source 
invisible /m'vizib(a)l/ adjective visible on 
a DTP page or graphics layout during the de- 
sign phase, but not printed 
invitation /,mvi'teij(a)n/ noun action by a 
processor to contact another device and allow 
it to send a message 



invitation to send /,mviteij(a)n ta 
'send/ noun a special character transmitted 
to indicate to a device that the host computer 
is willing to receive messages. Abbr ITS 
invite /m'vait/ verb to ask someone to do 
something 

involve /m'vt>lv/ verbto have to do with; to 
include (something) in a process O Backing 
up involves copying current working fdes 
onto a separate storage disk. 
I/O /,ai 'au/ nounthe process of receiving or 
transmitting data between a computer and its 
peripherals, and other points outside the sys- 
tem. Full form input/output 
ion /'aian/ noun a charged particle 
ion deposition /'aian ,depazij(a)n/ 
noun printing technology that uses a print- 
head that deposits ions to create a charged 
image which attracts the toner 
ionosphere /ai'Dnasfia/ noun a layer of 
charged particles surrounding the earth 
ip abbr information provider 
IP /,ai 'pi:/ noun one part of the TCP/IP 
standard that defines how data is transferred 
over a network. Full form Internet protocol 
i/p, l/P abbr input 

IP address /,ai "pi: a,dres/ noun same as 
Internet address 

IPng /,ai pii en 'd3ii/ noun an upgrade of 
the Internet Protocol that allows more com- 
puters to connect to the Internet and supports 
more data traffic. Full form Internet Proto- 
col next generation 

Ipsec /,ai ,pii si'kjuarati/, IP Security 
noun a set of security protocols that allows 
information to be transferred securely over 
the Internet and is used to set up and support 
secure virtual private networks. The system 
works with packets of data at the IP layer and 
supports two types of public-key data en- 
cryption. The first, called Transport mode, 
encrypts the data within a packet, but does 
not touch the header information, which con- 
tains the destination address, subject and 
source of a packet. The second mode, Tunnel 
mode, provides a greater level of security by 
encrypting all of the packet, including the 
header information. 

IP spoofing /,ai ,pii 'spuifirj/ noun a 
method of gaining unauthorised access to a 
computer or network by pretending to be an 
authorised computer or device (note: Each 
device on the network has its own unique IP 
address, and many security systems block 
or allow access to networks depending on 
the IP address of the computer that is re- 
questing access. A hacker finds an IP ad- 
dress that is allowed, then modifies the 
header information in the data packets from 
his or her own computer to include this IP 



133 



IV 



address. Newer routers and firewalls use a 
range of techniques to spot this scheme 
and block the data.) 

IR abbr~\. information retrieval 2. index reg- 
ister 3. instruction register 
IRC abbr Internet relay chat 
iris /'ains/ noun a small hole in a camera 
between the lens and the film. The iris is nor- 
mally variable in size to adjust the amount of 
light passing through it to the film. 
IRQs abbr interrupt requests 
irretrievable /,in'tri:v3b(3)l/ adjective 
which cannot be retrieved O The files are ir- 
retrievable since the computer crashed. 
IRSG /,ai ai es 'd3ii/ noun a group that 
manages the Internet research task force and 
is part of the Internet Society. Full form In- 
ternet Research Steering Group 
IRTF /,ai ai tii 'ef / noun a committee that is 
part of the IAB and researches new Internet 
standards before referring them to the IETF 
for approval. Full form Internet Research 
Task Force 

IS abbr indexed sequential 
ISA /'aisa/ noun a standard used for the 16- 
bit expansion bus in an IBM PC or compati- 
ble. Full form Industry Standard Architec- 
ture. Compare EISA, MCA 
ISAM abbr indexed sequential access meth- 
od 

ISAPI /,ai es ei ai 'pi:/ noun (on a Win- 
dows NT server) a set of commands and pro- 
cedures that allow web server software to ac- 
cess other applications on the same server 
running Windows NT. Full form Internet 
server application program interface 
ISBN abbr International Standard Book 
Number 

ISDN /,ai es dii 'en/ noun a method of dig- 
ital data transmission. It utilises the existing 
telephone network, but omits the digital/ana- 
log conversion required by conventional tele- 
phonic equipment; the customer therefore 
has a fully digital connection. ISDN connec- 
tions usually provide two 64K bps channels, 
which can work independently or be com- 
bined to achieve transfer speeds of 128K bps. 
Full form integrated services digital net- 
work 

ISO abbr International Standards Organiza- 
tion 

ISO 9660 noun a standard method of stor- 
ing files on a CD-ROM, used in many for- 
mats including PhotoCD 



isolate /'aisajeit/ verb 1. to separate 
something from a system 2. to insulate 
(something) electrically 
isolation /,ais3'leij(3)n/ noun being iso- 
lated 

isolator /'aisaleita/ noun a device or mate- 
rial which isolates 

isometric view /,ais3u'metrik vjui/ 
noun (in graphics) a drawing that shows all 
three dimensions of an object in equal pro- 
portion O An isometric view does not show 
any perspective. 

ISO/OSI abbr International Standards Or- 
ganization Open Systems Interconnection 
ISO/OSI model /,ai es su au es 'ai 
,mDd(3)l/ noun a layered architecture that 
defines how computers and networks should 
interact 

ISP /,ai es 'pi:/ noun a company that pro- 
vides one of the permanent links that make 
up the Internet and sells connections to pri- 
vate users and companies to allow them to 
access the Internet. Full form Internet serv- 
ice provider 

ISR abbr information storage and retrieval 
ISSN abbr International Standard Serial 
Number 

IT abbr information technology 
italic A'taehk/ noun type of character font in 
which the characters slope to the right O The 
headline is printed in italic and underlined. 
item /'aitam/ noun a single thing among 
many O a data item can be a word or a series 
of figures or a record in a file 
iterate /'itareit/ noun a loop or series of in- 
structions in a program which repeat over 
and over again until the program is complet- 
ed. Also called iterative routine 
iteration /,it3'reij(3)n/ noun the repeated 
application of a program to solve a problem 
iterative routine /,itarativru:'ti:n/ noun 
same as iterate 
ITS abbr invitation to send 
IV /,ai ' vi:/ noun a system that uses a compu- 
ter linked to a video disk player to provide 
processing power and real images or moving 
pictures. Full form interactive video (note: 
This system is often used in teaching. A stu- 
dent is asked questions, and if he or she an- 
swers correctly, the system responds by 
providing a filmed sequence from the vide- 
odisc.) 



jabber /'cljieba/ noun a continuous random 
signal transmitted by a faulty adapter card or 
node on a network 

jack /d3<ek/, jack plug /'dgaek pL\g/ noun 
a plug which consists of a single pin 
jacket /'d3<£kit/ noun the cover for a book 
or disk O The book jacket has the author's 
name on it. 

jaggies /'d3aegi:z/ plural noun jagged edg- 
es which appear along diagonal or curved 
lines displayed on a computer screen, caused 
by the size of each pixel, t) aliasing, anti- 
aliasing 

JANET /'d3a;nit/ noun a wide area network 
that connects universities and academic es- 
tablishments. Full form joint academic net- 
work 

jar /d3Qi/ verb to give a sharp shock to a de- 
vice O You can cause trouble by turning off or 
jarring the PC while the disk read heads are 
moving. 

Java /'d30.iv3/ a trade name for a program- 
ming language and program definition devel- 
oped by Sun Microsystems. Java is used to 
create small applications designed to en- 
hance the functionality of a webpage. It is 
similar to object-oriented languages such as 
C++ and can run on any compatible platform. 
Compare JavaScript 

Java Beans /'d3div3 biinz/ a trade name 
for a software system, developed by Sun Mi- 
crosystems, that provides objects within the 
Java programming language, and is similar to 
COM and CORBA and can work with both 
these standards 

Java Database Connectivity /^aivs 
,deit3beis ,kDnek'tiviti/ a trade name for a 
set of standard functions that allow a pro- 
grammer to access a database from within a 
Java application. Abbr JDBC 
JavaScript /'d3aiv3skript/ a trade name 
for set of programming commands that can 
be included within a normal webpage written 
using HTML commands. When the web 
browser loads the webpage, it runs the Java- 
Script commands, normally used to create 
special effects to a webpage. Compare 
HTML, Perl, VBScript 
JCL /,d3ai sii 'el/ noun a set of commands 
that identify, and describe resources required 
by, a job that a computer has to process. Full 
form job control language 



JDBC abbr Java Database Connectivity 
jet /d3et/ > ink-jet printer 
jingle /'d3irjg(3)l/ noun a short easily-re- 
membered tune used to advertise a product 
on television 

jitter /'d3ita/ noun the rapid small up-and- 
down movement of characters or pixels on a 
screen displaying image bits in a facsimile 
transmission O Looking at this screen jitter is 
giving me a headache. 

job /d3Db/ noun a task or a number of tasks 
to be processed as a single unit O The next 
job to be processed is to sort all the records. 
jobbing printer /'d3Dbirj ,pnnt3/ noun a 
person who does small printing jobs, such as 
printing business cards 
job control language /,d3Db ksn'traol 
,laerjgwid3/ noun full form of JCL 
jog /d3Dg/ verb to advance a video tape by 
one frame at a time 

jog/shuttle, jog/shuttle control noun a 
manual control on a video player or camera 
that allows a user to edit a sequence (note: 
Jog moves the tape one frame a time, shut- 
tle moves the tape more rapidly.) 
join /d30in/ verb 1. to link or to put several 
things together 2. to combine two or more 
pieces of information to produce a single unit 
of information 

joint academic network /d3omt ,aeka 
,demik 'netw3ik/ noun full form of JANET 
Joint Photographic Experts Group 
/,d30tnt f3ot3,graefiks 'eksp3its gruip/ 
noun full form of JPEG 
journal /'d33in(3)l/ noun 1 . a record of all 
communications to and from a terminal 2. a 
list of any changes or updates to a file O The 
modified records were added to the master 
file and noted in the journal. 
journal file /'d33in(3)I fail/ noun a stored 
record of every communication between a 
user and the central computer, used to help 
retrieve files after a system crash or fault 
journalist /'d33in(3)list/ noun a person 
who writes for a newspaper 
joystick /'d30i,stik/ noun a device that al- 
lows a user to move a cursor around the 
screen by moving an upright rod connected 
to an I/O port on the computer 
JPEG /'d3ei peg/ noun a standard that de- 
fines a way of storing graphic images in a 



compressed format in a file on disk. Full 
form Joint Photographic Experts Group 

JPEG++ /,d3ai peg plAS 'pUs/ noun an 
extension to JPEG that allows parts of an im- 
age to be compressed in different ways 
JScript /'d3aisknpt/ a trade name for a 
version of JavaScript developed by Microsoft 
judder /'d3Ad3/ noun an unwanted move- 
ment in a printing or facsimile machine that 
results in a distorted picture 
jukebox /'d3u:k,bDks/ noun a CD-ROM 
drive that can hold several CD-ROM discs 
and select the correct disc when required 
jumbo Chip /'d3Amb3u t Jip/ noun an in- 
tegrated circuit made using the whole of a 
semiconductor wafer. t) wafer scale inte- 
gration 

jump /d3Amp/ noun a programming com- 
mand to end one set of instructions and direct 
the processor to another section of the pro- 
gram ■ verb 1. to direct a CPU to another 
section of a program 2. to miss a page or a 
line or a space when printing O The typewrit- 
er jumped two lines. O The paging system 
has jumped two folio numbers. 
jump cut /,d3Amp 'kAt/ verb to eliminate 
a part of the continuous action within a scene 



135 justify 

jumper /^Ampa/ noun a temporary wire 
connection on a circuit board 
jump on zero /,d3Amp Dn 'ziarao/ noun 
a conditional jump executed if a flag or reg- 
ister is zero 

jump out /,d3Amp 'aut/ verb to delete 
frames in film or video tape editing (film) 
junction /'dsAnkfan/ noun 1 . a connection 
between wires or cables 2. a region between 
two areas of semiconductor which have dif- 
ferent doping levels (such as a p-type and n- 
type area), resulting in a potential difference 
between them 

junk /d3Arjk/ noun information or hardware 
which is useless or out of date or non-func- 
tional ■ verb to make a file or piece of hard- 
ware redundant 

justification / l d3Astifi'keiJ"(a)rV noun 
the process of moving data bits or characters 
to the left or right so that the lines have 
straight margins 

justify /'d3ASti,fai/ verb 1. to change the 
spacing between words or characters in a 
document so that the left and right margins 
will be straight 2. to shift the contents of a 
computer register by a set amount 3. to set 
lines of printed text as wide as possible in a 
certain page size 



K 



K /kei/ symbol kilo 

K56f lex a trade name for a communications 
standard developed by Hayes, Pace and other 
manufacturers for a range of high-speed mo- 
dems that can transfer data at 56,000 bits per 
second. i> V series, X2 
Kaleida Labs /ka'laida laebz/ a company 
formed as a joint venture between Apple and 
IBM to produce cross-platform multimedia 
authoring tools 

Karnaugh map /'kainau maep/ noun a 
graphical representation of states and condi- 
tions in a logic circuit O The prototype was 
checked for hazards with a Karnaugh map. 
Kbps /,kei bi: pi: 'es/ noun a measure of 
the amount of data that a device can transfer 
each second O A fast modem can transfer 
data at a rate of 56Kbps, whereas an ISDN 
adapter can transfer data at a rate of 
128Kbps. Full form kilobits per second 
Kbyte /'kei bait/ abbr kilobyte 
Kermit /'k3imit/ noun a file transfer proto- 
col usually used when downloading data with 
a modem 

kern /k3in/ verb to adjust the space between 
pairs of letters so that they are printed closer 
together 

kernel /'k3in(3)L/ noun the essential in- 
struction routines required as a basis for any 
operations in a computer system (note: Ker- 
nel routines are usually hidden from the us- 
er. They are used by the operating system 
for tasks such as loading a program or dis- 
playing text on a screen.) 
kerning /'k3imrj/ noun the slight overlap- 
ping of certain printed character areas to pre- 
vent large spaces between them, giving a 
neater appearance 

key /kii/ noun 1 . a button on a keyboard that 
operates a switch O There are 64 keys on the 
keyboard. 2. an important object or group of 
characters in a computer system, used to rep- 
resent an instruction or set of data 3. a special 
combination of numbers or characters that 
are used with a cipher to encrypt or decrypt a 
message O Type this key into the machine, it 
will decode the last message. 4. an identifica- 
tion code or word used for a stored record or 
data item O We selected all the records with 
the word 'disk' in their keys. 
keyboard /'kiiboid/ verb to enter informa- 
tion by using a keyboard O It was cheaper to 



have the manuscript keyboarded by another 

company. 
'. . .the main QWERTY typing area is in the cen- 
tre of the keyboard with the 10 function keys on 
the left' [Personal Computer World] 

keyboarder /'kiiboida/ noun a person 
who enters data via a keyboard 
keyboarding /'kiiboidirj/ noun the action 
of entering data using a keyboard O The cost 
of keyboarding is calculated in keystrokes per 
hour. 

keyboard overlay /'kiiboid .auvalei/ 
noun a strip of paper that is placed above the 
keys on a keyboard to indicate their function 
keyboard send/receive /.kiiboid send 
ri'siiv/ noun full form of KSR 
key combination /'kii ,kDmbmeiJ(3)n/ 
noun a combination of two or more keys that 
carry out a function when pressed at the same 
time 

keyed sequential access method 
/,kiid si.kwenfal 'aekses ,me93d/ noun full 
form of KSAM 

key frame /,kii 'freim/ noun 1. a single 
picture in an animation that describes the 
main actions in the sequence 2. (in a hyper- 
text document) a page that gives the user a 
choice of destination 3. {in full motion video) 
a frame that is recorded in full rather than be- 
ing compressed or differentially recorded 
key grip /,kii 'grip/ noun same as first 
grip (film) 

keying /'king/ noun a method of overlay- 
ing one particular video signal onto another 
key light /'kii lait/ noun the main light 
which projects the most brightness on to the 
subject being filmed (film) 
keypad /'kii ,paed/ noun a group of special 
keys used for certain applications O You can 
use the numeric keypad to enter the figures. 
' . . .it uses a six button keypad to select the devic- 
es and functions' [Byte] 

keystone distortion /.kiistaun di 

'stoiJ(3)n/ noun image distortion in which 
the vertical lines slant out towards the hori- 
zontal edges of the monitor. Also called trap- 
ezoidal distortion 

keystroke /'kiistrook/ noun the action of 
pressing a key O He keyboards at a rate of 
3500 keystrokes per hour. 



137 KWOC 



key-to-disk /,ki: ts 'disk/ noun a system 
where data is keyed in and stored directly on 
disk without any processing 
keyword /'ki:w3:d/ noun 1. a command 
word used in a programming language to 
provide a function O The BASIC keyword 
PRINT will display text on the screen. 2. an 
important or informative word in a title or 
document that describes its contents O Com- 
puter is a keyword in IT. 3. a word which is 
relevant or important to a text 
KHz abbr kilohertz 

kill /kil/ verb to erase a file or stop a program 
during execution 
kilo /'kibo/ prefix one thousand 
kilobit /'kibbit/ noun 1,024 bits of data. 
Abbr Kb, Kbit 

kilobits per second /,ki:bu bits p3i 
'sekand/ noun a measure of the amount of 
data that a device can transfer each second. 
Abbr Kbps 

kilobyte /'kibu,bait/ noun a unit of meas- 
urement for high-capacity storage devices 
meaning 1,024 bytes of data. Abbr KB, 
Kbyte 

kilohertz /'kibh3its/ noun a frequency of 
one thousand cycles per second. Abbr KHz 
kilo instructions per second /,kibu 
m,strAkj3nz p3i 'sekand/ noun full form 
of KIPS 

kilo-Ohm /'kiibo sum/ noun one thousand 
ohms 

KilOStream /'kibstriim/ a trade name for 
a leased line connection supplied by British 
Telecom that provides data transfer rates of 
64Kbit per second 

kiloword /'kibw3id/ noun a unit of meas- 
urement of 1,024 computer words 
kimball tag /'kimboil taeg/ noun a coded 
card attached to a product in a shop, contain- 
ing information about the product that is read 
by a scanner when the product is sold 
kiosk /'kimsk/ noun a small booth with a 
screen, a means of user input and a computer, 
used to provide information for the general 
public 

KIPS /,kei ai pii 'es/ noun one thousand 
computer instructions processed every sec- 
ond, used as a measure of computer power. 
Full form kilo instructions per second 



kludge, kluge noun (informal) 1 . a tempo- 
rary correction made to a badly written or 
constructed piece of software or to a key- 
boarding error 2. hardware which should be 
used for demonstration purposes only 
kill god /kluid3d/ adjective temporarily re- 
paired 

knob /nDb/ noun a round button (such as on 
a monitor), which can be turned to control 
some process O Turn the on/off knob. 
knowledge /'nao hau/ noun what is 
known 

knowledge base /'nDhd3 beis/ noun the 
computerised data in an expert system that 
can be used to solve a particular type of prob- 
lem 

knowledge-based system /.nnlul.-s 
beist 'sistam/ noun a computer system that 
applies the stored reactions, instructions and 
knowledge of experts in a particular field to a 
problem 

knowledge engineering /'nnhd., 
,end3ini3nrj/ noun the process of designing 
and writing expert computer systems 
knowledge industry /'nDlid3 .mdastri/ 
noun businesses that specialise in data 
processing or the development and use of in- 
formation technology 

KSAM /,kei es ei 'em/ noun a file structure 
that allows data to be accessed using key 
fields or key field content. Full form keyed 
sequential access method 
KSR /,kei es 'ail noun a terminal which has 
a keyboard and monitor, and is linked to a 
CPU. Full form keyboard send/receive. 
Compare ASR 

KVA abbr kilovolt- ampere output rating 
KW abbr 1 . kilowatt 2. kiloword 
KWAC /kwaek/ noun a library indexing sys- 
tem that uses keywords from the text and title 
as indexed entries. Full form keyword and 
context 

KWIC /kwik/ noun a library indexing sys- 
tem that uses keywords from the title or text 
of a book or document as an indexed entry 
followed by the text it relates to. Full form 
keyword in context 

KWOC /kwDk/ noun a library indexing sys- 
tem that indexes books or document titles un- 
der any relevant keywords. Full form key- 
word out of context 



L /el/ noun the unit of surface brightness 
(film) Full form lambert 
L2TP /,el tu: ti: "pi:/ noun a network proto- 
col, an extension to the PPP protocol, that al- 
lows the data from small Virtual Private Net- 
works to be transferred over a network such 
as the public Internet. Full form layer two 
tunnelling protocol. : tunnelling, PPP, 
protocol (note: L2TP operates enclosing 
the network packets from the Virtual Private 
Network within a special packet that can 
then travel over the Internet, a process 
called tunnelling.) 

label /'leib(3)l/ noun 1. a word or other 
symbol used in a computer program to iden- 
tify a routine or statement O BASIC uses 
many program labels such as line numbers. 
2. a character or set of characters used to 
identify a variable or piece of data or a file 3. 
a piece of paper or card attached to some- 
thing to show instructions for use or an ad- 
dress ■ verb to print an address on a label 
labelling /'leib(3)hr)/ noun 1. the process 
of putting a label on something O The word- 
processor has a special utility allowing sim- 
ple and rapid labelling. 2. the process of 
printing labels 

laboratory /b'bDret(3)ri/ noun a place 
where scientists work on research and devel- 
opment of new products O The new chip is 
being developed in the university laborato- 
ries. 

lace /lets/ verb to thread film on to a projec- 
tor or tape on to a cassette recorder 
lag /laeg/ noun 1 . the time taken for an im- 
age to be no longer visible after it has been 
displayed on a CRT screen (note: Lag is 
caused by long persistence phosphor.) 2. 
the time taken for a signal to pass through a 
circuit, such that the output is delayed com- 
pared to the input O Time lag is noticeable on 
international phone calls. 

lambert /'laembat/ noun full form of L 
laminate /'laemmeit/ verb to cover a paper 
with a thin film of plastic, to give it a glossy 
look O The book has a laminated cover. 
lamp /laemp/ noun an electrical component 
which provides artificial light by heating a 
thin wire within a glass bulb filled with an in- 
ert gas 

LAN /laen/, Ian noun a network where the 
various terminals and equipment are all with- 



in a short distance of one another, e.g. in the 
same building, and can be interconnected by 
cables. Full form local area network 

'The opportunities to delete and destroy data are 
far greater on our LAN than in the days when we 
had a mainframe. PC people are culturally differ- 
ent from mainframe people. You really don't 
think about security problems when you can 
physically lock your system up in a closet.' 
{Computing] 

landing zone /'laendin zaun/ noun an 
area of a hard disk which does not carry data. 
The head can come into contact with the disk 
in this area without damaging the disk or da- 
ta. i> park 

landline /'laen(d),lain/ noun a communica- 
tions link that uses cable to physically and 
electrically link two devices 
landscape /'laendskeip/ noun the orienta- 
tion of a page or piece of paper where the 
longest edge is horizontal. Compare portrait 
language /'laengwid3/ noun a system of 
words or symbols which allows communica- 
tion with computers, especially one that al- 
lows computer instructions to be entered as 
words which are easy to understand, and then 
translates them into machine code 
comment: There are three main types of 
computer languages: machine code, as- 
semble, and high-level language. The 
more high-level the language is, the easier 
it is to program and understand, but the 
slower it is to execute. The following are 
the commonest high-level languages: 
ADA, ALGOL, APL, BASIC, C, C++, 
COBOL, COMAL, CORAL, FORTH, FOR- 
TRAN, LISP, LOGO, PASCAL, PU1 , POP- 
2, PROLOG, and Visual Basic. Assembly 
language uses mnemonics to represent 
machine code instructions. Machine code 
is the lowest level of programming lan- 
guage and consists of basic binary pat- 
terns that instruct the processor to perform 
various tasks. 

LAN Manager /'laen ,maemd33/ a trade 
name for a network operating system devel- 
oped for the PC by Microsoft 

LAN server /'laen ,s3iv3/ noun a computer 
which runs a network operating system and 
controls the basic network operations. All the 
workstations in a LAN are connected to the 
central network server and users log onto the 
network server. 



LAN Server /'laen ,S3IV3/ a trade name for 
a network operating system for the PC devel- 
oped by IBM 

lap /laep/ noun 1 . a person's knees, when he 
or she is sitting down O He placed the com- 
puter on his lap and keyboarded some orders 
while sitting in his car. 2. an overlap of print- 
ed colours, which prevents any gaps showing 
LAP /,el ei 'pi:/ noun a CCITT standard 
protocol used to start and maintain links over 
an X.25 network. Full form link access pro- 
tocol 

lapel microphone /b.pel 'maikrsfaon/ 
noun a small microphone that is pinned to the 
someone's jacket 

laptop /'laeptrjp/, laptop computer 
/,l<eptDp kam'pjuita/ noun a computer that 
is light enough to carry, but not so small as to 
fit in a pocket, and that usually consists of a 
screen, keyboard and disk drive. f> desktop, 
hand-held computer, PDA 
'Michael Business Systems has provided re- 
search company BMRB with 240 Toshiba laptop 
computers in a deal valued at £300,000. The deal 
includes a three-year maintenance contract.' 
[Computing] 

large model /,la:d3 'mDd(3)l/ noun (in an 
Intel processor) a memory model in which 
both code and data can exceed 64Kb in size, 
but combined size should be less than 1Mb 
large-scale /'la:d3 skeil/ adjective work- 
ing with large amounts of data. Compare 
small-scale 

large-scale integration /,la:d3 skeil 
,inti'greij(3)n/ noun full form of LSI 
laser /'leiza/ noun a device that produces 
coherent light of a single wavelength in a nar- 
row beam, by exciting a material so that it 
emits photons of light. Full form light ampli- 
fication by stimulated emission of radia- 
tion 

laser disc /'leiza disk/ noun same as 
compact disc 

LaserJet /'Ieiz3d3et/ same as Hewlett 
Packard LaserJet 

laser printer /'leiza .prints/ noun a high- 
resolution computer printer that uses a laser 
source to print high-quality dot matrix char- 
acter patterns on paper 
LaserWriter /'leizaraita/ a trade name for 
a laser printer manufactured by Apple that 
uses the PostScript page description lan- 
guage 

last in first out /.laist m ,f3:st 'aut/ ad- 
jective full form of LIFO O This computer 
stack uses a last in first out data retrieval 
method. 

last in last out /.last in laist 'aut/ adjec- 
tive full form of LILO 



139 lay out 

latency /'leit(3)nsi/ noun a time delay be- 
tween the moment when an instruction is giv- 
en to a computer and the execution of the in- 
struction or return of a result, e.g. the delay 
between a request for data and the data being 
transferred from memory 
latent image /,leit(3)nt 'imid3/ noun the 
recorded invisible image in exposed but un- 
developed film 

lateral reversal /,laet(3)ral n'v3:s(a)I/ 
noun the process of creating the mirror im- 
age of a picture by swapping left and right 
launch /bintJV noun the process of putting 
a new product on the market O The launch of 
the new PC has been put back six months. ■ 
verb 1 . to put a new product on the market O 
The new PC was launched at the Computer 
Show. 2. to start or run a program O You 
launch the word-processor by double-click- 
ing on this icon. 

launch amplifier /'bintr .asmphfaia/ 
noun an amplifier used to boost the television 
signals before they are transmitted over a ca- 
ble network 

launch vehicle /'bint J , vink(3)l/ noun a 
spacecraft used to transport a satellite from 
earth into space 

layer /'leis/ noun 1. ISO/OSI standards de- 
fining the stages a message has to pass 
through when being transmitted from one 
computer to another over a local area net- 
work 2. the division of sections of space at 
certain distances from the earth into separate 
regions used for various radio communica- 
tions. These are: D-Region from 50 - 90km 
above earth's surface, E-Region from 90 - 
150km above earth's surface, F-Region from 
150 - 400km above the earth's surface. 3. a 
feature of graphics software that provides a 
stack of separate drawing areas that can be 
overlaid to produce the final image, or con- 
trolled and manipulated independently. It is 
often used in complex images: e.g., the back- 
ground might be on layer 1, an image of a 
house on layer 2 and any special effects on 
layer 3 - the finished picture is made up of 
the three layers combined and viewed togeth- 
er. 

layered /'leiad/ adjective that consists of 
layers O The kernel has a layered structure 
according to user priority. 

layer two tunnelling protocol /,leis 
tu: 'tAnalin ,pr3ot3kDl/ noun full form of 
L2TP 

lay in /,lei 'in/ verb to synchronise a frame 
of film with the music or sound tracks 
lay Out /,lei 'aot/ verb to plan and design 
the positions and sizes of a piece of work to 
be printed 



layout 140 

layout /'leiaot/ noun 1 . rules governing the 
data input and output from a computer 2. a 
way of using a sheet of paper. i> landscape, 
portrait 

LBR noun a system for producing charac- 
ters on a light sensitive film by laser beam di- 
rectly controlled from a computer. Full form 
laser beam recording 
LC circuit /,el 'si: ,s3:kit/ noun a simple 
inductor-capacitor circuit that acts as a filter 
or oscillator 

LCD /,el sii 'dii/ noun a type of display that 
uses liquid crystals that turn black when a 
voltage is applied. LCDs are found in many 
watches, calculators and other small digital 
devices. Full form liquid crystal display 
LCD screen /,el si: 'di: skrim/ noun a 
screen that uses LCD technology to create a 
thin display and is normally found in laptop 
computers and flat-screen monitors. Full 
form liquid crystal display screen 
LCD shutter printer /,el si: ,di: 'jMa/ 
noun a page printer that uses an LCD panel 
in front of a bright light to describe images 
onto the photosensitive drum. The LCD pan- 
el stops the light passing through, except at 
pixels that describe the image. 
LCP /,el si: 'pi:/ noun rules defining the 
transmission of data over a channel. Full 
form link control procedure 
LDAP /'el daep/ noun a new standard that 
provides directory services over the Internet; 
derived from the X.500 standard. LDAP is 
beginning to be included in many Internet ap- 
plications and provides a way of organising, 
locating and using resources on the Internet 
that are listed within its database. Full form 
lightweight directory access protocol 
LDS noun a TV signal relay station that 
transmits signals to another point from which 
they are distributed over cable. Full form lo- 
cal distribution service 
lead /li:d/ noun 1 . an electrical conducting 
wire 2. a thin piece of metal used to give extra 
space between lines of type before printing 
leader /'li:da/ noun 1 . a section of magnetic 
tape that contains no signal, used at the be- 
ginning of the reel for identification and to 
aid the tape machine to pick up the tape 2. a 
row of printed dots 

leading /'liidirj/ noun space between lines 
of printed or displayed text 
leading edge /'liidirj ed3/ noun the first 
edge of a punched card that enters the card 
reader 

leading zero /,li:dtrj 'zisrau/ noun the 
zero digit used to pad out the beginning of a 
stored number 



lead in page /'li:d in ,peid3/ noun a vide- 
otext page that directs the user to other pages 
of interest 

leaf /li:f/ noun 1. the final node in a tree 
structure 2. a page of a book (printed on both 
sides) 

leaflet /'li:flat/ noun a small publicity sheet 
(usually one page folded in half) 
leak /li:k/ noun a gradual loss of charge 
from a charged component due to faulty insu- 
lation ■ verb to lose electric charge gradually 
O In this circuit, the capacitor charge leaks 
out at 10% per second. 
leakage /'li:kid3/ noun a loss of signal 
strength 
'.. .signal leakages in both directions can be a ma- 
jor problem in co-axial cable systems' 
[Electronics & Wireless World] 

learning curve /'l3:nirj k3:v/ noun a 
graphical description of how someone can 
acquire knowledge about a product over time 
lease /li:s/ noun a written contract for let- 
ting or renting a piece of equipment for a pe- 
riod against payment of a fee ■ verb to allow 
equipment to be used for a period by another 
person or organisation in return for a fee 
least cost design /,li:st kost di'zam/ 
noun the best money-saving use of space or 
components O The budget is only £1000, we 
need the least cost design for the new circuit. 

least significant bit /,li:st sig.mfikant 
'bit/ noun full form of LSB 
least significant digit /,ii:st sig 
,nif ikant 'did3it/ noun full form of LSD 
leave /li:v/ verb a leaving tiles open a 
phrase meaning that a file has not been closed 
or does not contain an end of text marker. 
This will result in the loss of data since the 
text will not have been saved. 
LED /,el i: 'di:/ noun a semiconductor diode 
that emits light when a current is applied. 
Full form light-emitting diode (note: LED 
displays are used to display small amounts 
of information, as in pocket calculators, 
watches, and indicators.) 
comment: LED displays are used to dis- 
play small amounts of information, as in 
pocket calculators, watches, indicators, 
etc. 

left-Click /'left khk/ verb to press and re- 
lease the left-hand button on a computer 
mouse 

left-handed mouse /,eft .haendid 
'maus/ noun a mouse that has been config- 
ured so that the usual functions of the two 
buttons are reversed 

left justification /.left ,d3Asttfi 
'keij(3)n/ noun the act of making the left- 
hand margin of the text even 



141 



licence agreement 



left justify /.left 'd3AStifai/ verb to make 
the left-hand margin of the text even 
legacy /'legasi/ noun an older technology 
or a previous version of software or hardware 
that is still supported in new developments to 
allow existing applications and hardware to 
continue to be used 

legal /'liig(3)l/ adjective a statement or in- 
struction that is acceptable within language 
syntax rules 

legibility /,led3i'bihti/ noun being able to 
be read O The keyboarders find the manu- 
script lacks legibility. 

legible /'led3ib(3)l/ adjective which can be 
read easily O The manuscript is written in 
pencil and is hardly legible. 
length /len9/ noun the number of data 
items in a variable or list 
lens /lenz/ noun an optical system of trans- 
parent glass through which light is refracted 
on curved surfaces to produce photographic 
images 

lens aperture /'lenz .aepatJV noun the 
opening of a lens system; it may be expressed 
as a fraction (f)-number, the ratio of focal 
length to physical opening, or as a measured 
factor of transmission, T number 
lens coating /'lenz .kaotin/ noun a fluo- 
ride coating which is used to decrease reflec- 
tion and to let more light through the lens of 
the camera 

lens flare /'lenz flea/ noun a luminous 
spot which appears on a film image, caused 
by the lens having received overbright light 
from a natural or artificial source 
lens hood /'lenz hod/ noun an extension 
of the outer part of lens which prevents un- 
wanted light entering the lens 
lens mount /'lenz maunt/ noun a device 
used to fix a lens to a camera 
lens prism /'lenz ,pnz(3)m/ noun a de- 
vice which is used for multiple-image pho- 
tography and is attached to the lens 
lens speed /'lenz spiid/ noun the maxi- 
mum aperture of a lens, relating to the 
amount of light that can enter the lens 
lens spotlight /'lenz ,spDtlait/ noun a 
light whose beam is controlled by a single, 
sliding lens 

lens Stop /'lenz stDp/ noun lens aperture 
size 

lens turret /'lenz ,tArit/ noun a revolving 
mounting which carries two or more lenses, 
making it possible to change lenses very 
quickly 

letter /'lets/ noun 1. a piece of writing sent 
from one person to another or from one com- 
pany to another, e.g. to give new or informa- 
tion or to send an instructions 2. a written or 



printed sign, which goes to make a word 
(such as A, B, C, etc.) O His name was writ- 
ten in capital letters. 

letterhead /'letahed/ noun the name and 
address of a company printed at the top of the 
company's notepaper O Business forms and 
letterheads can now be designed on a PC. 
level /'lev(a)l/ noun 1. the quantity of bits 
that make up a digital transmitted signal 2. 
strength or power of an electrical signal O 
Turn the sound level down, it's far too loud. 
Level A /'lev(a)l ei/ noun an ADPCM au- 
dio quality level with a 20KHz bandwidth, 
38.7KHz sample rate and 8-bit samples 
Level B /'lev(3)l bii/ noun an ADPCM au- 
dio quality level with a 17KHz bandwidth, 
38.7KHz sample rate and 8-bit samples 
Level C /'lev(3)l sk/ noun an ADPCM au- 
dio quality level with an 8.5KHz bandwidth, 
18.9KHz sample rate and 4-bit samples 
lexical analysis /,leksik(3)l a'naebsis/ 
noun a stage in program translation when the 
compiling or translating software replaces 
program keywords with machine code in- 
structions 

lexicographical order 

/,leksik3graefik(3)l 'aids/ noun the order of 
items, where the words are listed in the order 
of the letters of the alphabet, as in a diction- 
ary 

LF 1 abbr line feed 

LF 2 noun a range of audio frequencies be- 
tween 5Hz and 300Hz or range of radio fre- 
quencies between 30KHz and 300KHz. Full 
form low frequency 

LFE channel /,el ef 'i: ,t J"aen(3)l/ noun 
same as low frequency effects channel 
librarian /lai'brearian/ noun a person who 
works in a library 
' . . . a library of popular shapes and images is sup- 
plied' [Practical Computing] 

library /'laibrari/ noun 1. a collection of 
files, documents, books or records, that can 
be consulted or borrowed by the public, usu- 
ally kept in a public place 2. a collection of 
things for use on a computer, e.g. programs 
or diskettes 3. a collection of routines or in- 
structions used by a computer program 
licence /'lais(3)ns/ noun a statement of 
permission that is given by one manufacturer 
to another and allows the second manufactur- 
er to make copies of the first one's products 
in return for payment of a fee O The software 
is manufactured in this country under li- 
cence. 

licence agreement /'lais(3)ns a 
,griim3nt/ noun a legal document that ac- 
companies any commercial software product 
and defines how you can use the software 
and, most importantly, how many people can 



lifetime 



142 



use the software. Unless you buy a network 
version of a software product, the licence al- 
lows one person to use it. Copying the soft- 
ware is illegal. If you want several people to 
use the software or if you want to use it on a 
network, then you need to buy a multi-user li- 
cence. 

lifetime /'laiftaim/ noun the period of time 
during which a device is useful or not outdat- 
ed O This new computer has a four-year life- 
time. 

LIFO /'laifao/ adjective used to describe a 
queue system that reads the last item stored, 
first O This computer stack uses a LIFO data 
retrieval method. Full form last in first out. 
^FIFO 

lifter /'lifts/ noun a mechanical device that 
lifts magnetic tape away from the heads 
when rewinding the tape 
light /lait/ noun energy in the form of elec- 
tromagnetic effects in the frequency range 
400 - 750 nm, which allows a person to see 
O The VDU should not be placed under a 
bright light. 

light-emitting diode /Jan i.mitrrj 
'daiaud/ noun full form of LED 
lighting /'laitirj/ noun 1 . any regulated illu- 
mination of an object or person which is be- 
ing filmed 2. the source of this illumination, 
whether natural or artificial 
lighting rig /'laitirj rig/ noun a group of 
lights and their stands and controls 
light pen /'lait pen/ noun a computer ac- 
cessory in the shape of a pen that contains a 
light-sensitive device that can detect pixels 
on a video screen (note: Light pens are of- 
ten used with suitable software to draw 
graphics on a screen or position a cursor.) 
light-sensitive /,lait 'sensttiv/ adjective 
which is sensitive to light 
light-sensitive device /,lait .sensitiv 
di'vais/ noun a device (such as a phototran- 
sistor) which is sensitive to light, and produc- 
es a change in signal strength or resistance 
lightweight /'laitweit/ adjective not 
heavy O A lightweight computer which can 
easily fit into a suitcase. 

lightweight directory access proto- 
col /,laitweit dai'rekt(3)ri ,aekses 
,pr3ut3kDl/ noun full form of LDAP 
LILO /'lailao/ adjective used to describe a 
data storage method in which the data stored 
last is retrieved last. Full form last in last 
out 

limited distance modem /.hmitid 
.distans 'maudem/ noun a data transmis- 
sion device with a very short range that sends 
pure digital data rather than data sent on a 
modulated carrier 



Mmiter /'limits/ noun a device that removes 
the part of an input signal that is greater than 
or less than a predefined limit; used with au- 
dio and video signals to prevent overloading 
an amplifier 

limiting resolution /,limitirj ,reza 
'luij(3)n/ noun the maximum number of 
lines that make up an image on a CRT screen 
limits /'limits/ noun predefined maximum 
ranges for numbers in a computer 
line /lain/ noun 1 . a physical connection for 
data transmission, e.g. a cable between parts 
of a system or a telephone wire 2. single long 
thin mark drawn by a pen or printed on a sur- 
face O the printer has difficulty in reproduc- 
ing very fine lines 3. one trace by the electron 
picture beam on a television screen 4. row of 
characters (printed on a page or displayed on 
a computer screen or printer) O each page 
has 52 lines of text 5. series of characters re- 
ceived as a single input by a computer 6. one 
row of commands or arguments in a compu- 
ter program 
'.. .straight lines are drawn by clicking the points 
on the screen where you would like the line to 
start and finish' [Personal Computer World] 

linear frame buffer /.lmia freim 'bAfs/ 
noun a video memory arranged so that by 
moving from one address to the next in the 
buffer you move from one pixel to the one be- 
low it on the display 

linearity /.lini'aerrtV noun the shape of the 
frequency response curve of a device such as 
a microphone or A/D converter. If the curve 
is straight, the device is very accurate, if it is 
not, the device is introducing frequency dis- 
tortion. 

linear program /.lmia 'preugraem/ noun 
a computer program that contains no loops or 
branches 

linear programming /.lrnia 

'praugraemirj/ noun a method of mathemat- 
ically breaking down a problem so that it can 
be solved by computer 
linear video /Jinia ' vidiau/ noun 1 . a con- 
tinuous playback of a video sequence from 
videotape 2. normal video that is played back 
in a continuous sequence rather than a single 
frame at a time as in interactive video 
linear video editing /.linis ,vidiau 
'editirj/ noun a video sequence, on video- 
tape, that is edited by inserting or deleting 
new frames but without changing the order of 
the frames 

line break /'lain breik/ noun the point at 
which continuous text is split into separate 
lines 

line drawing /'lam ,dra:irj/ noun an illus- 
tration in which objects are drawn using thin 
lines, without shading or surface texture 



143 



live-on-tape 



line feed /'lam fiid/ noun a control on a 
printer or computer terminal that moves the 
cursor down by one line. Abbr LF 
line flyback /'lain ,flaibaek/ noun same as 
flyback 

line frequency /lam 'friikwansi/ noun 
{in a CRT) the number of times that the pic- 
ture beam scans a horizontal row of pixels in 
a monitor 

line of sight /,1am av 'sait/ noun a clear 
transmission path for radio communications 
in a straight line 

line printer /'lam .prints/ noun a device 
for printing draft quality information at high 
speeds, typical output is 200 to 3000 lines per 
minute (note: Line printers print a whole 
line at a time, running from right to left and 
left to right, and are usually dot matrix print- 
ers with not very high quality print. Compare 
page printers, which print a whole page at a 
time.) 

lines per minute /,lamz p3i 'mmat/ 
noun the number of lines printed by a line 
printer per minute. Abbr LPM 
line-up /'lam Ap/ verb to prepare a camera 
ready to photograph a scene 
link /link/ noun 1 . a communications path 
or channel between two components or de- 
vices O To transmit faster, you can use the di- 
rect link with the mainframe. 2. a software 
routine that allows data transfer between in- 
compatible programs ■ verb 1. to join or in- 
terface two pieces of software or hardware 2. 
to combine separate routines from different 
files and library files to create a program 3. to 
create an association between two objects in 
a title, e.g. to link a button to another page in 
the title that is displayed when the user se- 
lects the button O The two computers are 
linked. 

link access protocol /.link 'aekses 
,pr3ot3kDl/ noun full form of LAP 
linkage /'lirjkid3/ noun the act of linking 
two things 

link control procedure /.lrrjk kan'traul 
pr3,siid33/ noun full form of LCP 
linked object /.linkd 'Dbd3ekt/ noun one 
piece of data that is referred to in another file 
or application 

linking /'hrjkirj/ noun the merging of a 
number of small programs to enable them to 
run as one unit 

Linux /'lmaks/ a trade name for a version of 
the UNIX operating system originally devel- 
oped by Linus Torvalds, who then distributed 
it free of charge over the Internet. Enthusiasts 
and other developers have extended and en- 
hanced the software, normally also publish- 
ing their software free of charge. Linux is one 
of the most popular operating systems for de- 



velopers and people running web-based ap- 
plications. Unlike many other operating sys- 
tems, such as Microsoft Windows, the Linux 
software runs on a range of different types of 
computer hardware including the PC and 
Macintosh. 

lip Sync /'hp sink/ noun a voice recorded 
at the same time that a person is filmed to en- 
sure that the movement of the mouth matches 
the speech (film) 

liquid crystal display /,likwid 
,knst(3)l dis'plei/ noun full form of LCD 
LISP /lisp/ noun a high-level language used 
mainly in processing lists of instructions or 
data and in artificial intelligence work. Full 
form list processing 

list /list/ noun a series of ordered items of 
data ■ verb to print or display certain items 
of information 

LIST Chunk /'list ,t jArjk/ noun (in a RIFF 
file) a four-character code LIST that contains 
a series of subchunks 

listing /'listirj/ noun a display or printed 
copy of the lines in a program in order 
list processing /'list .prsosesirj/ noun 1 . 
the processing of a series of items of data, i.e. 
such tasks as adding, deleting, sorting or up- 
dating entries 2. full form of LISP 
Iistserv/'list,s3iv/, Iistserver/'hsts3iv3/ 
noun a server on the Internet that sends a 
newsletter or articles to a list of registered us- 
ers 

literacy /'lit(3)r3si/ noun the ability to read 
and write 

literal /'ht(a)ral/ noun 1. a computer in- 
struction that contains the actual number or 
address to be used, rather than a label or its 
location 2. a printing error when one charac- 
ter is replaced by another or when two char- 
acters are transposed 

literate /'lit(3)r3t/ adjective who can read 
and write 

Nth film /'Ii9 film/ noun high quality and 
contrast photographic film used in litho- 
graphic printing 

lithium-Ion battery /.hOiam 'aian 
,ba?t(3)ri/ noun a type of rechargeable bat- 
tery that provides high output power in a 
compact and lightweight unit. This type of 
battery is often used in mobile telephones, 
PDAs and lightweight laptop computers. 
live /laiv/ adjective action transmitted as it 
happens rather than being transmitted from a 
recording 

Live3D /,laiv 9ri: 'dii/ noun same as VRML 
live-on-tape /,laiv on 'teip/ noun action 
which is recorded without any break, is not 
edited and is filmed to fit into a particular 
time frame 



live recording 



144 



live recording /,laiv n'koidirj/ noun an 
original recording 

liveware /'laivwea/ noun the operators and 
users of a computer system, as opposed to the 
hardware and software 
LLC /,el el "si:/ abbr logical link control 
LLL abbr low-level language 
lm noun the unit of luminous flux. Full form 
lumen 

load /laud/ noun 1 . a job or piece of work to 
be done 2. impedance presented to a line or 
device ■ verb 1 . to transfer a file or program 
from disk to main memory 2. to put some- 
thing such as a disk into a computer, so that it 
can be run 3. to place an impedance or device 
at the end of a line 
'...this windowing system is particularly handy 
when you want to load or save a file or change di- 
rectories' [Byte] 

loader /'buda/ noun a program which 
loads another file or program into computer 
memory 

loading /'bodirj/ noun the action of trans- 
ferring a file or program from disk to memo- 
ry O Loading can be a long process. 
load point /'bud point/ noun the start of a 
recording section in a reel of magnetic tape 
local /'bok(a)l/ adjective 1 . referring to a 
variable or argument that is only used in a 
certain section of a computer program or 
structure 2. referring to a system with limited 
access 

local area network /,bok(3)l ,earb 
'netw3:k/ noun full form of LAN 
local drive /'bok(3)l draiv/ noun a disk 
drive that is physically attached to a compu- 
ter, as opposed to a resource that is accessed 
across a network 

local printer /,bok(3)l 'prints/ noun a 
printer physically attached to a computer 
rather than a shared resource available on a 
network 

LocalTalk /'bokaltoik/ a trade name for a 
network standard developed by Apple that 
defines the physical layer, i.e. the cabling 
system and connectors, used in Apple's Ap- 
pleTalk network. The network transfers data 
at 230Kbits/second over unshielded twisted- 
pair cable. 

locate /bu'keit/ verb 1 . to place or to set O 
The computer is located in the main office 
building. 2. to find O Have you managed to 
locate the programming fault? 
location /bu'keij(a)n/ noun 1. a number 
or absolute address that specifies the point in 
memory where a data word can be found and 
accessed 2. any setting away from the studio, 
whether outdoors or indoors, where a film or 
programme is recorded 



lock /bk/ verb 1 . to prevent access to a sys- 
tem or file 2. to synchronise two devices or 
signals, such as two video recorders or two 
clocks 

lockout /'bkaot/ noun the process of pre- 
venting a user sending messages over a net- 
work by continuously transmitting data 
lock up /,lDk 'Ap/ noun a faulty operating 
state of computer that cannot be recovered 
from without switching off the power 
comment: This can be caused by an infinite 
program loop or a deadly embrace. 

log /bg/ noun 1. a record of computer 
processing operations 2. a detailed record of 
camera and sound-recording operations dur- 
ing filming (film) 

logarithm /'bg3n5(3)m/ noun a mathe- 
matical operation that gives the power a 
number must be raised to, to give the required 
number O decimal logarithm of 1,000 is 3 (= 
10x10x10) 

logarithmic /.bga'nomik/ adjective re- 
ferring to variations in the logarithm of a 
scale 

logarithmic graph /.bgandmik 'grarf/ 
noun a graph whose axes have a scale that is 
the logarithm of the linear measurement 
log file /'bg fail/ noun 1. a file that con- 
tains a record of actions 2. (on a web server) 
a file that contains details of the visitors to a 
website, recorded automatically with the vis- 
itor's DNS address, the time and the name of 
the webpage that he or she viewed 
logging /'bgirj/ noun an input of data into 
a system 

logging in /'bgirj in/ noun the process of 
opening operations with a system 
logging Off /'bgin oil noun the process of 
ending operations with a system 
logging on /'bgin on/ noun same as log- 
ging in 

logging out /'bgin aut/ noun same as 
logging off 

logic /'bd3ik/ noun 1. a science which 
deals with thought and reasoning 2. a mathe- 
matical treatment of formal logic operations 
such as AND, OR, etc., and their transforma- 
tion into various circuits. i> Boolean algebra 
3. a system for deducing results from binary 
data 4. the components of a computer or dig- 
ital system 

logical /'bd3ik(3)l/ ad/ecf/Vethat uses log- 
ic in its operation O Logical reasoning can be 
simulated by an artificial intelligence ma- 
chine. 

logical link control /,bd3ik(3)l 'lirjk 
kan^raol/ noun an IEEE 802.2 standard de- 
fining the protocol for data-link-level trans- 
missions. Abbr LLC. i> data link layer 



145 



lower case 



logical palette /,lDd3ik(a)l 'paelat/ noun 
(in Windows) a graphics object that includes 
the colour palette information it requires 
logical unit /,lDd3ik(3)l 'juimt/ noun full 
form of LU 

logic-seeking /'lDd3ik ,siikirj/ adjective 
referring to a printer that can print the re- 
quired information with the minimum head 
movement, detecting ends of lines, justifica- 
tion commands, etc. 

login /'lDgm/ verb to enter various identifi- 
cation data, such as a password, usually by 
means of a terminal, to the central computer 
before accessing a program or data (used as a 
means of making sure that only authorised 
users can access the computer system) 
log in script /'log in .skript/ noun a series 
of instructions that are automatically run 
when you log into a network. For example, if 
you log into your office network in the morn- 
ing by typing your name and password, the 
login script might remind you of important 
information or just display 'good morning'. 
logo /'laogau/ noun a special printed set of 
characters or symbols used to identify a com- 
pany or product 

LOGO /'laogau/ noun a high-level pro- 
gramming language used mainly for educa- 
tional purposes, with graphical commands 
that are easy to use 

logoff /rrjg'DtV verb same as logging off 
logon /tog 'tin/ verb same as logging in 
logout /'togaot/ noun same as logging off 
long filename /,lDrj 'fail,neim/ noun a 
feature of Windows 95 that lets a user give 
files names up to 254 characters in length 
long focal-length lens, long lens noun 
» telephoto lens 

long haul network /,lrjrj hod 'netw3:k/ 
noun a communications network between 
distant computers that usually uses the public 
telephone system 

long integer /,lorj 'mtid33/ noun (in pro- 
gramming languages) an integer represented 
by several bytes of data 
longitudinal time code 

/,lDrjgitjuidm(3)l 'taim kaud/ noun full 
form of LTC 

long persistence phosphor /,lnn pa 
,sist3ns 'fDsfa/ noun a television screen 
coating that retains the displayed image for a 
period of time longer than the refresh rate, so 
reducing flicker effects 
long Shot /'lDrj jDt/ noun a photograph of 
a general view of the setting where the action 
takes place (film) 

look-ahead /'luk 3,hed/ noun an action 
performed by some CPUs that fetch instruc- 



tions and examine them before they are exe- 
cuted in order to speed up operations 
look-up table /'luk Ap ,teib(a)l/ noun full 

form of LUT O Look-up tables are prepro- 
grammed then used in processing so saving 
calculations for each result required. 

'...a lookup table changes a pixel's value based 

on the values in a table' [Byte] 
loop /Imp/ noun 1 . a procedure or series of 
instructions in a computer program that are 
performed again and again until a test shows 
that a specific condition has been met or until 
the program is completed 2. a communica- 
tions channel that is passed via all receivers 
and is terminated where it started from 3. a 
length of wire coiled in the shape of a circle 
4. a long piece of tape with the two ends 
joined ■ verb to make a piece of wire or tape 
into a circle 

loss /Ids/ noun the power of a signal that is 
lost when passing through a circuit 
lossless compression /.loslss kom 
'prej(a)nn/ noun image compression tech- 
niques that can reduce the number of bits 
used for each pixel in an image, without los- 
ing any information or quality. i> Huffman 
code 

lossy compression /,k>si kam 
'prej(a)n/ noun image compression tech- 
niques that can reduce the number of bits 
used for each pixel in an image, but in doing 
so lose information. i> JPEG 
loudness /'laodnas/ noun a volume of a 
signal which you can hear 
loudspeaker /Jaud'spiika/ noun an elec- 
tromagnetic device that converts electrical 
signals into audible noise 
low angle shot /,lau ,aerjg(3)l 'Jet/ noun 
a camera shot taken from below the subject 
with the camera tilted up towards subject 
(film) 

low band video /.lau baend 'vidiau/ 
noun a video tape recording system which is 
usually used for low-quality home use and 
does not meet television broadcast standards 
(film) 

low contrast /,bo 'kDntraist/ noun (film) 
1. muted colours in a film 2. a film which 
does not have a great contrast between its 
black and white tones 

low contrast filter /,bo ,kDntraist 
'filts/ noun a camera lens which mutes col- 
ours 

low-end /,bo 'end/ adjective referring to 
hardware or software that is not very power- 
ful or sophisticated and is designed for begin- 
ners 

lower case /,l3U3 'keis/ noun small char- 
acters, e.g. a, b and c, as opposed to upper 
case, A, B, C 



low frequency 



146 



low frequency /,bo 'friikwansi/ noun a 
range of audio frequencies between 5-300Hz 
or range of radio frequencies between 30- 
300kHz 

low frequency effects channel /,bu 
.friikwansi I'fekts ,tjaen(3)l/ noun a sepa- 
rate audio channel in a multichannel system 
that provides very low frequency bass 
sounds. f> Dolby Digital™. Also called LFE 
channel 

low key /,bo 'ki:/ noun (film) 1 . pictures in 
which the lower grey scale tones, or shadowy 
parts, are emphasised 2. low lighting of sub- 
ject 

low-level format /,bu lev(a)l .foimaet/ 
noun a process that defines the physical pat- 
tern and arrangement of tracks and sectors on 
a disk 

low-level language /,bo ,lev(s)l 
'laengwic^/ noun a programming language, 
particular to one system or computer, in 
which each instruction has a single equiva- 
lent machine code instruction, so that pro- 
gramming in it is a long and complex task. 
Abbr LLL 

low memory /,bo 'mem(3)ri/ noun (in a 
PC) available memory locations up to 
640Kb. Compare high memory 
low pass filter /,bu ,pais 'filts/ noun an 
electronic circuit that blocks signals above a 
certain frequency 

low-power standby /,bu 'paoa 
.stasndbai/ noun an energy-saving feature of 
laptop computers and many monitors con- 
nected to a desktop 

low-priority work /,bo prai,Dnti 'w3ik/ 
noun work that is not particularly important 
low-resolution graphics /,bo ,reza 
,luij(3)n 'graefiks/, low-res graphics /,bu 
rez 'graefiks/ plural noun the ability to dis- 
play character-sized graphic blocks or preset 
shapes on a screen rather than to create 
graphics using individual pixels. Compare 
high-resolution 

low-speed communications /,bu 
spiid k3,mjuini'keij(3)nz/ plural noun 
data transmission at less than 2400 bits per 
second 

LPM abbr lines per minute 
LPT1 /,el pii tii 'wAni/ noun (in a PC) the 
name given to the first, main parallel printer 
port in the system 

LS abbr 1 . long shot 2. loudspeaker 
LSB /,el es 'bii/ noun a binary digit occupy- 
ing the right hand position of a word and car- 
rying the least power of two in the word, usu- 
ally equal to two raised to zero = 1. Full form 
least significant bit 



LSD /,el es 'di:/ noun the digit which occu- 
pies the right hand position in a number and 
so carries least power, being equal to the 
number radix raised to zero = 1. Full form 
least significant digit 
LSI /,el es 'ai/ noun a configuration with be- 
tween 500 and 10,000 circuits on a single IC. 
Full form large-scale integration 
LTC /,el ti: 'si:/ noun a method of recording 
a time code signal on a linear audio track 
along a video tape. The disadvantage of this 
method is that the code is not readable at slow 
speeds or when the tape has stopped. Full 
form longitudinal time code 
LU /,el 'ju:/ noun a set of protocols devel- 
oped by IBM to allow communication over 
an SNA network. LU1, LU2 and LU3 pro- 
vide control of the session, LU4 supports 
communication between the devices and 
LU6.2 is a peer-to-peer protocol. Full form 
logical unit 

luma /'luima/ noun the black and white 
parts of an image or video signal, represented 
by the symbol Y. i> S-Video, Y/C 
lumen /'luimm/ noun the SI unit of illumi- 
nation, defined as the amount of flux emitted 
from a candela into an angle of one steradion 
luminance /'luimm(3)ns/ noun the part of 
a video signal or image that defines the 
brightness at each point. f> YUV encoding 
luminous flux /'luimmas fL\ks/ noun the 
rate of stream of visible light coming from a 
source, measured in lumens 
lurk /bik/ verb to join an online conference, 
discussion group or chat room and listen to 
the messages without contributing anything 
yourself. Most discussion forums do not 
mind people lurking, since it helps to build 
confidence in new users and lets them check 
the content before joining in, however some 
chat rooms do not approve of lurking and im- 
mediately identify anyone joining to discour- 
age people who do not contribute to the fo- 
rum. 

LUT /,el jui 'tii/ noun a collection of stored 

results that can be accessed very rapidly by a 

program without the need to calculate each 

result whenever needed. Full form look-up 

table 

'...an image processing system can have three 

LUTs that map the image memory to the display 

device' [Byte] 

lux /bks/ noun the SI unit of measurement 
of one lumen per square metre 
LV-ROM /,el vi: 'ram/ noun a 12-inch di- 
ameter optical disc, developed by Philips, 
that can store both analog video and digital 
data 



M 



M abbr mega- ■ noun 1 . one million 2. the 
symbol for 1,048,576, used only in computer 
and electronic related applications, equal to 

2 20 

Mac /mask/ noun same as Macintosh 

MAC /,em ei 'sii/ noun a special code trans- 
mitted at the same time as a message as proof 
of its authenticity. Full form message au- 
thentication code ■ abbr medium access 
control 

MacBinary /maek'bamari/ a trade name 
for a file storage and transfer system that al- 
lows Macintosh files, together with their 
icons and long file names, to be stored on 
other computer systems 
machine /ma'/im/ noun 1. a number of 
separate moving parts or components, acting 
together to carry out a process 2. a computer, 
system or processor made up of various com- 
ponents connected together to provide a 
function or perform a task 
machine address /ma' Jim a,dres/ noun 
same as absolute address 
machine code /ma'Jnn ksud/ noun a 
programming language that consists of com- 
mands in binary code that can be directly un- 
derstood by the central processing unit with- 
out the need for translation. Also called com- 
puter code 

Macintosh /'maekmtD JV a trade name for a 
range of personal computers designed by Ap- 
ple Corporation. The Macintosh uses the Mo- 
torola family of processors, the 68000, and 
offers similar computing power to a PC. The 
Macintosh is best known for its graphical 
user interface which allows a user to control 
the computer using icons and a mouse. O 
Macintosh computers are not compatible 
with an IBM PC unless you use special emu- 
lation software. Also called Mac 
macro /maekrau/ noun a program routine 
or block of instructions identified by a single 
word or label 

macro block /'maekrau blt>k/ noun a grid 
of 16x16 pixels used to analyse and compress 
video data in the MPEG compression system 
macro lens /'maekrao lenz/ noun a mag- 
nifying lens which is used for close-up shots 
Macromedia Director /.maekraumiidia 
dai'rekta/ a trade name for authoring soft- 
ware for the PC and Macintosh that uses the 
Lingo scripting language 



macro virus /'maekreu .vairas/ noun a 
type of virus that is stored as a macro at- 
tached to a document or e-mail message. 
Most advanced software applications provide 
a macro language that lets users extend the 
application and automate features. However, 
as macro languages become more advanced 
and powerful, they also provide an opportu- 
nity for someone to create a macro that can 
delete files or corrupt data when run. 
comment: A macro virus will run when the 
document is opened. Some viruses are be- 
nign, others carry out malicious damage on 
your files and data. The virus will also try 
and spread to other compatible documents 
and applications on your computer, so that 
any new documents you create are also in- 
fected. Current macro virus attacks have 
used the macro features of advanced email 
software to re-send the virus to all the 
email addresses stored in your email ad- 
dress book. The last major macro virus cre- 
ated so much extra network email traffic on 
the Internet that many servers were over- 
loaded. The best way to avoid a macro vi- 
rus is to regularly run virus detection soft- 
ware that can check and remove viruses 
attached to documents and new email 
messages. 
macrozoom /'maekrauzuim/ noun a 
zoom lens that can focus on very close ob- 
jects 

magazine /.maega'ziirV noun 1. a number 
of pages in a videotext system 2. a paper, 
usually with illustrations which comes out 
regularly, every month or every week O a 
weekly magazine O He edits a computer 
magazine. 3. a light-tight film container 
which is used with a camera, printer or film 
processing machine 

magnet /'maegnit/ noun something that 
produces a magnetic field 
magnetic /maeg 'net ik/ adjective that has a 
magnetic field associated with it 
magnetic ink character recognition 
/maeg,netik irjk .kaenkta ,rekag 'nij(3)n/ 
noun full form of MICR 
magnetic tape /maeg ,nettk 'teip/ noun a 
narrow length of thin plastic coated with a 
magnetic material used to store signals mag- 
netically 
comment: Magnetic tape is available on 
spools of between 200 and 800 metres. 
The tape is magnetised by the read/write 
head. Tape is a storage medium that only 



magneto-optical disc 



148 



allows serial access, that is, all the tape 
has to be read until the required location is 
found, as opposed to disk storage, which 
can be accessed randomly. 
magneto-optical disc /maeg.niitsu 
,rrptik(3)l 'disk/ noun an optical disc that is 
used in a magneto-optical recording device 
magneto-optical recording /maeg 
.niitau ,Dptik(3)l n'koidirj/ noun a method 
of recording that uses an optical disc covered 
with a thin layer of magnetic film that is heat- 
ed by a laser. The particles are then polarised 
by a weak magnetic field, (note: Magneto- 
optical discs have very high capacity, over 
600MB, and are re-writable.) 
magnification /,maegnifi'keij(3)n/ noun 
the amount by which something has been 
made to appear larger O The lens gives a 
magnification of 10 times. 
magnify /'maegni.fai/ verb to make some- 
thing appear larger O The photograph has 
been magnified 200 times. 
magnitude /'maegnitjuid/ noun a level or 
strength of a signal or variable 
mag-opt /'maeg Dpt/ noun a motion picture 
print which contains both magnetic and opti- 
cal sound tracks (film) 

mag tape /'maeg teip/ noun same as mag- 
netic tape (informal) 

mail /meil/ noun 1 . a system for sending let- 
ters and parcels from one place to another 2. 
letters sent or received 3. electronic messages 
to and from users of a bulletin board or net- 
work ■ verb to send something by post O to 
mail a letter 

mail application programming inter- 
face /,meil ,a2phkeij(3)n 'praugraemirj 
.mtafeis/ noun full form of MAPI 
mailbox /'medbDks/, mail box /'meil 
bDks/ noun an electronic storage space with 
an address in which a user's incoming mes- 
sages are stored 

mail-enabled /'meil in,eib(a)lo7 adjec- 
tive referring to an application that has access 
to an electronic mail system without leaving 
the application O This word-processor is 
mail-enabled - you can send messages to 
other users from within it. 
mail gateway /'meil .geitwei/ noun a 
software program, or a combination of server 
and software, that links two different elec- 
tronic mail systems together so that mail 
messages can be transferred from one system 
to another. For example, if you are using Lo- 
tus cc:Mail as the electronic mail product 
within your company, you would need to fit a 
gateway function to allow messages to be 
sent to and received by users on the Internet. 
(note: LAN email systems usually use one 
of three main standards, MAPI, MHS or 



VIM, to send mail messages. If you are 
sending mail from a LAN email system to 
the Internet, the mail gateway needs to con- 
vert this standard to one of the Internet mail 
standards such as POP3 or SMTP before it 
can be delivered.) 

mailing /'meilirj/ noun the process of send- 
ing something using the post or e-mail 
mailing list /'meilirj list/ noun (in elec- 
tronic mail) list of the e-mail addresses of us- 
ers who receive information on a regular ba- 
sis from a company, a person or from other 
people on the list. An Internet mailing list al- 
lows any person whose name and address are 
on the list to send a message to the list, which 
will then automatically distribute a copy of 
this message to all the other people on the 
list. 

mailmerge /'meilm3id3/ noun a word- 
processing program which allows a standard 
form letter to be printed out to a series of dif- 
ferent names and addresses 
'Spreadsheet views for data and graphical forms 
for data entry have been added to the Q&A data- 
base, with the traditional reporting, mailmerge, 
and labels improved through Windows facilities.' 
[Computing] 

mail server /'meil ,S3ivs/ noun a compu- 
ter that stores incoming mail and sends it to 
the correct user and stores outgoing mail and 
transfers it to the correct destination server 
on the Internet 

mail transfer agent /,meil 'traensfai 
,eid33nt/ noun a software program that 
manages the way electronic mail messages 
are transferred over a network. On computers 
running the Unix operating system and the 
Internet the 'sendmail' software is the most 
popular mail transfer agent. Abbr MTA 
mail user agent /,meil 'juiza ,eid3ant/ 
noun full form of MUA 
main /mem/ adjective most important 
mainframe /'meinfreim k3rn,pjuit3/, 
mainframe computer /,memfreim kam 
'pjuita/ noun a large-scale high-power com- 
puter system that can handle high-capacity 
memory and backing storage devices as well 
as a number of operators simultaneously 
mainly /'meinli/ adverb mostly or usually 
O Their sales are mainly in the home market. 
O We are interested mainly in buying colour 
printing. 

mains electricity /,mems i.lek'tnsati/ 
noun the normal domestic electricity supply 
to consumers (note: In the UK this is 240 
volts at 50Hz. In the US, it is 110 volts at 
60Hz.) 

maintain /mem'tem/ verb to ensure a sys- 
tem is in good condition and functioning cor- 
rectly 



maintainability /,meinteina'biliti/ noun 
the ability to have repairs carried out quickly 
and efficiently if a failure occurs 
maintenance /'memtanans/ noun 1. the 
task of keeping a machine in good working 
condition 2. tasks carried out in order to keep 
a system running, e.g. repairing faults and re- 
placing components 

maintenance contract /'memtanans 
,kDntraekt/ noun an arrangement with a re- 
pair company that provides for regular 
checks and special repair prices in the event 
of a fault 

maintenance routine /'memtanans ru: 
,ti:n/ noun a software diagnostic tool used by 
an engineer during preventative maintenance 
operations 

majuscule /'ma;d3askju:l/ noun a capital 
letter 

make directory /,meik dai'rekt(a)ri/ 
noun full form of MD 

male connector /,meil ka'nekta/ noun a 
plug with conducting pins that can be insert- 
ed into a female connector to provide an elec- 
trical connection 

malfunction /mael'fAnkTan/ noun (of 
hardware or software) the fact of not work- 
ing correctly O The data was lost due to a 
software malfunction. ■ verb not to work 
properly O Some of the keys on the keyboard 
have started to malfunction. 
malfunctioning /maerfAnkfanin/ adjec- 
tive not working properly 
MAN /maen/ noun a network extending over 
a limited geographical area, normally a city. 
Full form metropolitan area network. 
Compare LAN, WAN 

manage /'maenid3/ verb to direct or to be 
in charge of something 
manageable /'maenid3ab(a)l/ adjective 
that can be dealt with easily O processing 
problems which are still manageable. 
management /'maenid3mant/ noun the 
act of directing or organising work or a busi- 
ness 

management information service 
/,ma2nid3mant ,infa'meij(a)n ,S3ivis/ 
noun a department within a company that is 
responsible for information and data process- 
ing. Abbr MIS (note: In practice, this de- 
partment is often responsible for the com- 
puter system in a company.) 
management information system 
^maenidsmant ,mfa'meij(a)n ,sistam/ 
noun software that allows managers in a 
company to access and analyse data. Abbr 
MIS 

manager /'maenid3a/ noun the head of a 
department in a company O a department 
manager 



149 map 

managerial ^maena'dsiarial/ adjective 
referring to managers O managerial staff 
Manchester coding /'maentjesta 
,kDdirj/ noun a method of encoding data and 
timing signals that is used in communica- 
tions. The first half of the bit period indicates 
the value of the bit (1 or 0), and the second 
half is used as a timing signal. 
Mandlebrot set /'maend(3)lbrDt set/ 
noun a mathematical equation that is called 
recursively to generate a set of values. When 
plotted these form a fractal image. i> fractal 
M and S microphone /,em and 'es 
,maikraf aon/ noun a combination used for 
stereo sound recording (film) Full form mid- 
dle and side microphone 
manipulate /ma'nipju,leit/ verbto move, 
edit and change text or data O An image proc- 
essor that captures, displays and manipu- 
lates video images. 

manipulation /ma,nipju'leij(a)n/ noun 
the process of moving or editing or changing 
text or data O The high-speed database man- 
agement program allows the manipulation of 
very large amounts of data. 

man machine interface /,maen ma,Jiin 
'mtafeis/ noun full form of MMI 
mantissa /maen'tisa/ noun the fractional 
part of a number O The mantissa of the 
number 45.897 is 0.897. 
manual /'maenjual/ noun a document con- 
taining instructions about the operation of a 
system or piece of software O The manual is 
included with the system. ■ adjective done 
by hand or carried out by the operator with- 
out the help of a machine 
manually /'maenjuali/ adverb done by 
hand, not automatically O The paper has to 
be fed into the printer manually. 
manufacture /.masnju'fasktja/ verb to 
make in a factory O The company manufac- 
tures diskettes and magnetic tape. 
manufacturer /.maenjo'faektrara/ noun 
a company which manufactures a product O 
If the system develops a fault it should be re- 
turned to the manufacturer for checking. O 
The manufacturer guarantees the system for 
12 months. 

map /maep/ noun 1 . a diagram representing 
the internal layout of a computer's memory 
or communications regions 2. data that is 
linked to another set of data 3. a list of data 
items or objects within an application or mul- 
timedia book ■ verb 1 . to display how things 
are connected or related or derived from one 
another □ to map out to draw or set down the 
basic way in which something should be 
done 2. to retrieve data and display it as a 
map 3. to represent a network directory path 
on a remote computer with a local drive let- 



MAPI 



150 



ter, enabling a user to view the contents of the 
remote directory by simply typing in the 
drive letter rather than the often long and 
complex directory path 4. to represent a net- 
work printer connected to another computer 
on a network with a local printer identifier, so 
a user can treat the remote network printer as 
if it is directly connected to their computer 5. 
to connect to a disk drive or a printer that is 
connected to another computer on a network. 
t> texture mapping 6. to transform a two-di- 
mensional image into a three-dimensional 
form that can then be rotated or manipulated 
7. to transfer data from one region of memory 
to another; e.g., a graphic image is mapped in 
main memory and on the display 8. to relate 
or link one set of data items with another. i> 
bit-map 9. (in an image) to transform a 
graphical object from one coordinate system 
to another so that it can be displayed; e.g., to 
transform a three-dimensional wire frame 
model to a solid shaded object. i> texture 
mapping 

MAPI /,em ei pii 'ai/ noun a set of stand- 
ards, developed by Microsoft, that defines 
how electronic mail is sent and delivered. 
Full form mail application programming 
interface 

margin /'maid3in/ noun 1 . the blank space 
around a section of printed text 2. an extra 
time or space 

margination /.maidsm'eiJXajn/ noun the 
process of giving margins to a printed page 
margin of error /,ma:d3in av 'era/ noun 
the number of mistakes that is acceptable in a 
document or in a calculation 
mark /maik/ noun 1 . a sign put on a page to 
show something 2. a transmitted signal that 
represents a logical one or true condition ■ 
verb to put a mark on something 
marker /'maika/ noun a code inserted in a 
file or text to indicate a special section 
mark up /,maik 'Ap/ verb to prepare copy 
for the compositor to set, by showing on the 
copy the typeface to be used, the line width, 
and other typesetting instructions 
markup language /'maikAp ,laerjgwid3/ 
noun a computer coding system that gives in- 
structions relating to the layout and style to 
be used for a document 
marquee /mai'ki:/ noun 1. (in graphics) 
the area selected by a selection tool 2. (in a 
website) a piece of text that moves slowly 
across the screen, used as a special feature of 
a webpage 

mask /maisk/ noun 1 . an integrated circuit 
layout that is used to define the pattern to be 
etched or doped onto a slice of semiconduc- 
tor O A mask or stencil is used to transfer the 
transistor design onto silicon. 2. a pattern of 



binary digits used to select various bits from 
a binary word. A one in the mask retains that 
bit in the word. 3. a photographic device used 
to prevent light reaching selected areas of the 
film 

maskable /'maisk3b(3)l/ adjective that 
can be masked 

masking /'maiskirj/ noun 1. an operation 
used to select various bits in a word 2. the ad- 
justment of the colour balance by matrixing 
the RGB signals; this method is used to 
match colour film primaries to the television 
standard 

mass media /,maes 'miidia/ noun media 
which aim to reach a large public (such as tel- 
evision, radio, mass-market newspapers) 
mass production /.mass pra'dAkfan/ 
noun the process of manufacturing large 
quantities of goods O mass production of 
monitors 

mass Storage /,maes 'sto:nd3/ noun the 
storage and retrieval of large amounts of data 
master /'maista/ adjective referring to the 
main or most important device or person in a 
system O The master computer controls eve- 
rything else. ■ noun (film) a special positive 
print which is made from an original negative 
for duplication or protection instead of for 
projection ■ adjective referring to the most 
up-to-date and correct file ■ noun (film) 1. 
the finished version of any type of pro- 
gramme from which release or show copies 
will be made 2. output gain control on an au- 
dio mixer or video chain ■ verb to learn and 
understand a language or process O We mas- 
tered the new word-processor quite quickly. 
mastering /'maistarirj/ noun a process 
used to convert finished data to a master disc 
mat /maet/ noun a plain coloured border that 
is displayed around an image that is smaller 
than the window in which it is displayed 
match /maet JV verb 1 . to search through a 
database for a similar piece of information 2. 
to set a register equal to another 
material /ma'tiarial/ noun a substance 
which can be used to make a finished product 
O Gold is the ideal material for electrical 
connections. 

math /mae9/ noun US same as mathemat- 
ics (informal) 

mathematical /,mae93'maetik(3)l/ adjec- 
tive referring to mathematics 
mathematical model /,mae93maetik(3)l 
'mDd(3)l/ noun a representation of a system 
using mathematical ideas and formulae 
mathematics /,mae93'maetiks/ noun the 
study of the relationship between numbers, 
their manipulation and organisation to (logi- 
cally) prove facts and theories. i> algebra. 
Also called math 



151 



mean time to repair 



maths /maeBs/ noun same as mathematics 
(informal) 

maths Chip /'maeBs ,tjip/ noun a dedicat- 
ed IC that can be added to a system to carry 
out mathematical functions far more rapidly 
than a standard CPU, speeding up the execu- 
tion of a program 

maths coprocessor /'masGs kau 
,pr3uses3/ noun same as maths chip 
matrix /'meitriks/ noun 1. an array of 
numbers or data items arranged in rows and 
columns 2. an array of connections between 
logic gates providing a number of possible 
logical functions 3. a pattern of the dots that 
make up a character on a computer screen, 
dot-matrix or laser printer 4. a filmstrip of 
images which contains dyed emulsion and is 
combined with two other filmstrips on a film 
base to create colour film; MATT Character 
of a non-specular surface which mirrors light 
equally in all directions (film) 
matt /maet/, matte noun 1 . the addition of 
an image onto a film of a background 2. an 
opaque mask limiting the picture area which 
is exposed in special effects; the mask can be 
a cut-out aperture, a high density image on 
film, or, in video, it may be electronically 
created in order to blank off the particular 
signal 3. a device put before the camera 
which is used to soften or block light from 
sections of the action area, or from exposure 
in the printer ■ adjective (print) which is not 
shiny, tf chroma key 

matte /maet/ noun (in video or film) a spec- 
ified region within an image, which can be 
coded to appear transparent or opaque. A 
matte is reveals or masks off part of an image 
in another plane, and is normally used for 
special effects in which an object is photo- 
graphed against a specially coloured back- 
ground that is then replaced with another im- 
age to give the impression that the object ap- 
pears against that image. t) chroma key 
matte bleed /,maet 'bliid/, matte ride 
/,maet 'raid/ noun an abnormality in the mat- 
te image which causes the matte lines to be- 
come visible (film) 

matter /'maet 3/ noun 1 . a question or prob- 
lem to be discussed 2. the main section of 
text on a page as opposed to titles or head- 
lines 

matting /'maetirj/ noun the process of in- 
serting an image into a background, whether 
electronically or optically (film) 
MATV abbr master antenna television sys- 
tem 

maximise /'maeksimaiz/, maximize verb 
(in MS-Windows) to expand an application 
icon back to its original display window. 
Compare minimise 



maximum /'maeksimam/ noun the highest 
value used or that is allowed ■ adjective the 
greatest possible or allowable 
maximum transmission rate 
/,maeksim3m traenz'mij(3)n ,reit/ noun 
the greatest amount of data that can be trans- 
mitted every second 

maximum users /.maeksimam 'juizaz/ 
plural noun the greatest number of users that 
a system can support at any one time 
Mb abbr megabit 

MBR /,em bii 'ai/ noun a register in a CPU 
that temporarily buffers all inputs and out- 
puts. Full form memory buffer register 
MC abbr millicoulomb 
MCA /,em sii 'ei/ a trade name for the ex- 
pansion bus within IBM's PS/2 range of per- 
sonal computers that has taken over from the 
older ISA/AT bus. MCA is a 32-bit bus that 
supports bus master devices. Full form Micro 
Channel Architecture 
MCGA /,em sii d3ii 'ei/ noun a colour 
graphics adapter standard fitted in low-end 
IBM PS/2 computers. Full form multicolour 
graphics adapter 

MCI /,em si: 'ai/ noun an interface that al- 
low any program to control a multimedia de- 
vice such as a sound card or video clip. Full 
form media control interface 
MCI device /,em sii 'ai di,vais/ noun a 
recognised multimedia device that is in- 
stalled in a computer with the correct drivers 
MD /,em 'dii/ noun a DOS command used to 
create a new directory on a disk. Full form 
make directory 

MDK /,em dii 'kei/ noun a product devel- 
oped by Microsoft that allows developers to 
produce multimedia applications more easily 
using the supplied libraries of routines to 
control video playback, process images and 
display text. Full form multimedia devel- 
oper's kit 

MDRAM /,em 'dii raem/ noun a type of 
high-performance memory normally used in 
video adapter cards to provide fast graphic 
display. Full form multibank dynamic ran- 
dom access memory 
mean /mim/ noun, adjective the average 
value of a set of numbers or values ■ verb to 
signify something O The message DISK 
FULL means that there is no more room on 
the disk for further data. 

mean time between failures /,mi:n 

taim bi,twiin 'feiljaz/ noun full form of 

MTBF 

mean time to failure /,mi:n taim ta 

'feilja/ noun full form of MTF 

mean time to repair /,miin 'taim ta, tu/ 

noun full form of MTTR 



measure 



152 



measure /'me3a/ noun 1 . a way of calcu- 
lating size or quantity 2. the total width of a 
printed line of text 3. a type of action □ to 
take measures to prevent something hap- 
pening to act to stop something happening □ 
safety measures actions to make sure that 
something is safe ■ verb 1 . to find out the 
size or quantity of something 2. to be of a cer- 
tain size or quantity 

measurement /'me3amant/ noun a way 
of judging something O Performance meas- 
urement or measurement of performance is 
carried out by running a benchmark pro- 
gram. 

mechanical /mi'kaenik(a)l/ adjective re- 
ferring to machines 

mechanical mouse /mi'kaenik(3)l 
maus/ noun pointing device that is operated 
by moving it across a flat surface. As the 
mouse is moved, a ball inside spins and turns 
two sensors that feed the horizontal and ver- 
tical movement back to the computer. Com- 
pare optical mouse 

mechanism /'mek3 l niz(3)m/ noun a 
piece of machinery O The printer mechanism 
is very simple. 

media /'miidia/ plural noun 1 . physical ma- 
terials that can be used to store data O Com- 
puters can store data on a variety of media, 
such as disk or CD-ROM. 2. the various 
means of transmitting information, including 
audio and video, television, radio, newspa- 
pers and magazines 

media access control /.miidis 'aekses 
kan,traol/ noun a sublayer within the data- 
link layer of the OSI network model that pro- 
vides access to the transmission media. Abbr 
MAC 

media control interface /,mi:dia kan 
,traul 'mtafeis/ noun full form of MCI 
Media Player /'miidia ,pleia/ a trade 
name for a Windows utility program that al- 
lows a user to control installed multimedia 
hardware including video disc or audio CDs, 
or play back multimedia files including 
sound, animation and video files 
MediaServer/'miidia^aiva/ a trade name 
for a system developed by Netscape to pro- 
vide audio and video delivery over the Inter- 
net 

medium /'miidiam/ adjective middle or 
average O a medium-sized computer system 
■ noun a means of transmitting information 
(note: The plural is media or mediums.) 
medium access control /.mndiam 
.aekses kan'traol/ noun an IEEE 802 stand- 
ard defining the protocol for data-link-level 
transmissions. Abbr MAC. i> data link layer 
medium frequency /,miidiam 
'friikwansi/ noun the radio frequency range 



between 300 to 3000KHz (often referred to 
as medium wave (MW), especially on radio 
receivers) 

medium scale integration /.miidiam 
skeil ,tnti 'greij(3)n/ noun an integrated cir- 
cuit with 10 - 500 components. Abbr MSI 
medium speed /'miidiam spiid/ nouns. 
data communication speed between 2400 and 
9600 bits per second (note: Medium speed 
transmission describes the maximum rate 
of transfer for a normal voice grade chan- 
nel.) 

medium wave /'miidiam weiv/ noun full 
form of MW 

meg /meg/ noun same as megabyte 
(informal) O This computer has a ninety-meg 
hard disk. 

mega- /mega/ prefix one million 
megabit /'megabit/ noun equal to 
1,048,576 bits. Abbr Mb 
megabits per second /.megabits p3: 
'sekand/ noun a number of million bits 
transmitted every second. Abbr Mbps 
megabyte /'megabait/ noun a measure of 
the data capacity of a storage device that is 
equal to 1,048,576 bytes or 2 20 bytes. Mega- 
bytes are used to measure the storage capaci- 
ty of hard disk drives or main memory 
(RAM). Abbr MB 
'Doing this reduced a bitmap of my desktop from 
2.25 megabytes to a 58K GIF' [The Guardian] 

mega floating point instructions per 
second /,mega ,fbutirj point in 
,strAkJanz p3i si'kDnd/ noun full form of 
MFLOPS 

megaf lop /'megaflDp/ noun a measure of 
computing power and speed equal to one mil- 
lion floating point instructions per second. 
Abbr MFLOPS 

megahertz /'megabits/ noun a measure 
of frequency equal to one million cycles per 
second. Abbr MHz 

megapixel display /,megapiks(a)l di 
'splei/ noun a display adapter and monitor 
that are capable of displaying over one mil- 
lion pixels. This means a resolution of at least 
1,024x1,024 pixels. 

Megastream /'megastriim/ a trade name 
for a data link provided by British Telecom 
that offers data transfer at rates up to 
8Mbits/second 

Mega VGA /,mega vii d3ii 'ei/ noun a 256 
colour Super VGA mode with a resolution of 
1024x768 that requires one megabyte of vid- 
eo RAM 

member /'memba/ noun 1 . one object on a 
page of a multimedia book 2. an individual 
record or item in a field 
membrane keyboard /,membrem 
'kiibaid/ noun a keyboard that uses a thin 



153 



metropolitan area network 



plastic or rubber sheet with key shapes 
moulded into it. When the user presses on a 
key, it activates a pressure sensor, (note: The 
keys in a membrane keyboard have less 
travel than normal mechanical keys, but 
since they have no moving parts, they are 
more robust and reliable.) 
memo field /'memao f i:ld/ noun a field in 
a database or text window in an application 
that allows a user to add comments or a 
memo about the entry 

memorise /'mema.ratz/, memorize verb 
to remember or to retain in the memory 

memory /'mem(3)ri/ noun storage space in 
a computer system or medium that is capable 
of retaining data or instructions 
The lower-power design, together with an addi- 
tional 8Kb of on-board cache memory, will in- 
crease the chip's performance to 75 million in- 
structions per second.' [Computing] 
1 ... when a program is loaded into memory, some 
is used for the code, some for the permanent data, 
and some is reserved for the stack which grows 
and shrinks for function calls and local data' 
[Personal Computer World] 

memory buffer register /'mem(3)ri 
,bAfs ,red3ist3/ noun full form of MBR 

memory-intensive software 

/ l mem(3)ri m.tensiv 'sDftwea/ noun soft- 
ware that uses large amounts of RAM or disk 
storage during run-time, such as programs 
whose entire code has to be in main memory 
during execution 

memory-resident software 

/ l mem(3)ri ,rezid(3)nt 'sDftwea/ noun 
same as resident software 

memory Stick /'mem(3)ri stik/ noun a 
tiny memory expansion device, developed by 
Sony, that can store up to 128Mb of data, of- 
ten used in MP3 music players and digital 
cameras 

menu /'menjui/ noun a list of options or 
programs available to the user 

menu-bar /'menju: ba-J noun (in a GUI) a 
list of options available to a user which are 
displayed on a horizontal line along the top of 
the screen or window. Each menu option ac- 
tivates a pull-down menu. 

menu-driven software /,menjui 
,driv(3)n 'sDt'twea/ noun a program in 
which commands or options are selected 
from a menu by the operator rather than 
typed in by the user at a prompt 
menu item /'menju: .aitam/ noun one of 
the choices in a menu 

menu selection /'menju: si.lekfan/ 
noun the act of choosing commands from a 
list of options presented to the operator 



menu shortcut /,menju: ' Jb:tkAt/ noun 
a key combination of two or more keys that is 
the same are selecting a menu option 
merchant account /'m3:t Jam a,kaunt/ 
noun a bank account that enables its user to 
deposit payments made by credit card, used 
especially for trading on the Internet 
merge /m3:d3/ verb to combine two data 
files retaining an overall order O The system 
automatically merges text and illustrations 
into the document, (note: merges - merg- 
ing - merged) 

merge sort /,m3:d3 'sort/ noun a software 
application in which the sorted files are 
merged into a new file 

mesh /meJV noun any system with two or 
more possible paths at each interconnection 
message /'mesid3/ noun 1 . a piece of in- 
formation sent from one person to another 2. 
a defined amount of information 3. a code 
generated by an action or object and inter- 
preted by another object O If a user presses 
the mouse button it generates a 
'buttondown' message that can then be in- 
terpreted by a user-interface or program. 4. 
text displayed to a user to report on a condi- 
tion or program 5. data that is sent to control 
an instrument 

message authentication code 
/,mesid3 o:,0enti'keij(3)n kaod/ noun full 
form of MAC 

message format /'mesid3 ,fo:maet/ 
noun a set of predetermined rules defining 
the coding, size and speed of transmitted 
messages 

messaging /'mesid3in/ noun the process 
of sending a message to other people, e.g. by 
computer, telephone or pager 
metafile /'metafatl/ noun 1 . a file that con- 
tains other files O The operating system uses 
a metafile to hold data that defines where 
each file is stored on disk. 2. a file that de- 
fines or contains data about other files 
metalanguage /'meta.kerjgwids/ noun a 
language that describes a programming lan- 
guage 

meter /'milts/ noun 1. a device which 
counts or records something O an electricity 
meter O A meter attached to the photocopier 
records the number of copies made. t> multi- 
meter 2. an icon in the bottom right-hand 
corner of the status bar that indicates how 
much power is left in a laptop's battery and 
whether the laptop is running off battery or 
mains electricity power ■ verb to record and 
count O The calls from each office are me- 
tered by the call logger. 

metropolitan area network 

^metropolitan .esria 'netw3:k/ noun full 
form of MAN 



MF 



154 



MF abbr medium frequency 
MFLOPS /'em flops/ noun a measure of 
computing speed calculated as the number of 
floating point instructions that can be proc- 
essed each second. Full form mega floating 
point instructions per second 
MFM /,em ef 'em/ noun a method of storing 
data on magnetic media, e.g. a magnetic disk 
that encodes the data bit according to the 
state of the previous bit. Full form modified 
frequency modulation (note: MFM is 
more efficient than FM, but less efficient 
than RLL encoding.) 
MHz abbr megahertz 

MIC noun a device which converts sound to 
an electrical analogue signal. Full form mi- 
crophone 

MICR /,em ai sii 'a:/ noun a system that 
identifies characters by sensing magnetic ink 
patterns, as used on bank cheques. Full form 
magnetic ink character recognition 
Micro Channel Bus/.maikrau ,tfaen(3)l 
'das/ a proprietary 32-bit expansion bus de- 
fined by IBM in its Micro Channel Architec- 
ture 

microcircuit /'maikr3u,k3ikit/ noun a 
complex integrated circuit 
microcode /'maikrsokaod/ noun a set of 
ALU control instructions implemented as 
hardwired software 

microcomputer /'maikraokair^pjuita/ 
noun a complete small-scale, cheap, low- 
power computer system based around a mi- 
croprocessor chip and having limited memo- 
ry capacity 
comment: Microcomputers are particularly 
used as home computers or as small office 
computers. 
microelectronics /.maikraoilek 

'troniks/ noun the design and manufacture 
of electronic circuits with integrated circuits 
and chips 

microfiche /'maikrau^'iiJV noun a sheet 
of text and graphics in highly reduced form 
on a photographic film 
microfilm /'maikraofilm/ noun a reel of 
film containing a sequence of very small im- 
ages used for document storage O We hold all 
our records on microfilm. ■ verb to take very 
small photographs O The 1985 records have 
been sent away for microfilming. 
microfloppy /'maikrau.flopi/ noun a 
small size magnetic floppy disk, usually a 3.5 
inch disk 

microform /'maikraofoim/ noun a medi- 
um used for storing information in microim- 
age form 

micrographics /'maikrao^graefiks/ 

noun images and graphics stored as microim- 
ages 



microimage /'maikr3u,imid3/ noun a 
graphical image too small to be seen with the 
naked eye 

microinstruction /'maikraom 

,strAkJan/ noun a hardwired instruction, 
part of a microcode, that controls the actions 
of the ALU in a processor 
micron /'maikron/ noun one millionth of a 
metre 

microphone /'maikraf son/ noun a device 
that converts sound waves into electrical sig- 
nals 

microphotography /.maikraufa 

'tDgrafi/ noun the photographic production 
of microimages (too small to be seen with the 
naked eye) 

microprocessor /'maikrao^prausesa/ 
noun a set of central processing unit ele- 
ments, often contained on a single integrated 
circuit chip, which when combined with oth- 
er memory and I/O chips will make up a mi- 
crocomputer 

microprocessor unit /'maikrau 
,pr3oses3 Juinit/ noun a unit containing 
the main elements of a microprocessor. Abbr 
MPU 

microsecond /'maikrao^sekand/ noun 
one millionth of a second 
Microsoft /'maikrasDft/ the biggest devel- 
oper and publisher of software for the PC and 
Apple Mac. Microsoft developed the MS- 
DOS operating system for the IBM PC and 
later Windows together with a range of appli- 
cation software. 

Microsoft Compact Disc Extensions 
/,maikr3SDft ,kDmpaekt 'disk ik 
,stenj(9)nz/ full form of MSCDEX 
Microsoft Exchange /.maikrasDft iks 
'tjemd3/ a program included with Windows 
95 that coordinates the email, fax and net- 
work messages sent and received on a PC 
Microsoft Exchange Server 
/,maikr3st)ft iks'tjemd3 ,s3iva/ a program 
that runs on a server under Microsoft Win- 
dows NT and provides sophisticated group- 
ware functions using the Exchange client 
software supplied with Windows 95 
Microsoft Internet Explorer 
/,maikr3st)ft .intanet iks'plorra/ » Inter- 
net Explorer 

Microsoft Network /,maikresDft 
'netw3ik/ full form of MSN 
Microsoft Outlook /,maikresDft 
'aotlok/ a trade name for an application that 
provides a range of features to manage email, 
fax messages, contacts, diary appointments, 
notes and projects 

Microsoft Outlook Express 
/,maikr3SDft ,autlok ik'spres/ a trade name 
for a free version of Outlook that is normally 



155 



minimum 



used for email (note: It has fewer extra fea- 
tures for managing contacts and appoint- 
ments than Microsoft Outlook.) 
Microsoft Windows /.maikrastrft 
'wmdauz/ same as Windows 
microwave /'maikraweiv/ noun the radio 
frequency range from 1 to 3000GHz 
microwave communications link 
/,maikr3weiv k3 l mjuim'keij(3)nz ,link/ 
noun the use of a microwave beam to trans- 
mit data between two points 
microwave relay /'maikrauweiv ,ri:lei/ 
noun radiocommunications equipment used 
to receive microwave signals, then boost and 
retransmit them 

microwave transmission 

/,maikr3weiv traenz'mij(3)n/ noun com- 
munication using modulated microwaves al- 
lowing high data rates, used for international 
telephone and satellite communications 
middle and side microphone 
/,mid(3)l an said 'maikrafaon/ noun full 
form of M and S microphone 
MID-F1 /,mid ef 'wAn/ noun (in CD-i) mid- 
quality sound at Level B. t) Level B 
Ml Dl /'midi/ noun a serial interface that con- 
nects electronic instruments. Full form mu- 
sical instrument digital interface (note: 
The MIDI interface carries signals from a 
controller or computer that instructs the dif- 
ferent instruments to play notes.) 
MIDI Channel /'midi ,t faen(3)l/ noun any 
one of 15 independent connections that is 
supported by the MIDI system, allowing 16 
different electronic devices to be connected 
to one main sequencer 
MIDI control-change message /,midi 
kan'traol t Jemd3 ,mesid3/ noun a message 
sent to a synthesiser to control the volume or 
pitch of a sound or to change the instrument 
patch used to generate a sound 
MIDI device /'midi Si.vais/ noun a device 
that can receive or send MIDI data 
MIDI file /'midi fail/ noun a file format 
used to store a MIDI song, made up of notes 
and control-change messages (note: It usu- 
ally has a MID file extension.) 
MIDI time code /,midi 'taim kaod/ noun 
full form of MTC 

mid-user /'mid Juiza/ noun an operator 
who retrieves relevant information from a da- 
tabase for a customer or end user 
migrate /mai'greit/ verb to transfer a file 
from one computer system or database to an- 
other (note: migrates - migrating - mi- 
grated) 

migration /mai'greij(3)n/ noun the proc- 
ess of moving users from one hardware plat- 
form to another 



millennium bug /mi'leniam bAg/ noun 
the inability to handle dates later than 1999. 
This problem, which came to light in the 
1990s, affected old hardware and software 
that stored dates as two digits, with the '19' 
being assumed. Such dates would not move 
to '2000' at the turn of the millennium but 
would revert to '1900', with unpredictable 
and possibly serious results for the affected 
systems. In the event, the affected systems 
were nearly all modified in time. There were 
very few problems when the year 2000 ar- 
rived, and the more apocalyptic predictions 
did not come to pass. 

milli- /mill/ prefix one thousandth. Abbr m 
million instructions per second 
/,mdJ3n m,strAkj3nz p3i si'kDnd/ noun 
full form of MIPS 

millisecond /'mil^sekand/ noun one 
thousandth of a second. Abbr ms 
MIME /,em ai em 'ii/ noun a standard that 
defines a way of sending files using email 
software. Full form multipurpose Internet 
mail extensions 
comment: MIME allows a user to send files 
over the Internet to another user without 
having to carry out any other encoding or 
conversion actions. MIME was developed 
to get around a problem of many email sys- 
tems that could only transmit text which is 
stored in a 7-bit data format; programs, 
multimedia, graphics and other files are 
stored using an 8-bit data format. 

mini /'mini/ noun same as minicomputer 
mini- /mini/ prefix small 
minicam /'mmikaem/ noun a hand-held, 
lightweight video camera (film) 
minicomputer /'mmikam.pjuita/ noun a 
small computer with a greater range of in- 
structions and processing power than a mi- 
crocomputer but not able to compete with the 
speed or data-handling capacity of a main- 
frame computer. Also called mini 
minidisk /'minidisk/ noun a magnetic disk 
smaller than the 5.25 inch standard, usually 
3.5 inch 

minimise /'mmimaiz/, minimize verb 1. 
to make something as small as possible O We 
minimised costs by cutting down the number 
of components. 2. (in Windows) to shrink an 
application window to an icon. Compare 
maximise (note: minimises - minimising - 
minimised) 
comment: The application can continue to 
run in the background. You minimise a win- 
dow by clicking once on the down arrow in 
the top right hand corner. 

minimum /'mmimam/ noun the smallest 
amount of something (note: The plural is 
minimums or minima.) 



minmax 



156 



minmax /'mmimaeks/ noun a method used 
in artificial intelligence to solve problems 
minuend /'minjuiend/ noun a number 
from which another is subtracted 
minus /'mamas/, minus sign /'mamas 
sain/ noun a printed or written sign, like a 
small dash, to indicate subtraction or to show 
a negative value 

minuscule /'mmiskjuil/ noun a lower 
case printed character 

MIPS /mips/ noun a measure of processor 
speed that defines the number of instructions 
it can carry out per second. Full form million 
instructions per second. Compare mega- 
flop 
'ICL has staked its claim to the massively parallel 
market with the launch of the Goldrush MegaSe- 
rver, providing up to 16,000 Unix MIPS of 
processing power.' [Computing] 
mirror /'mira/ verb A. to create an identical 
copy of something 2. to duplicate all disk op- 
erations onto a second disk drive that can be 
used if the first breaks down O There 's less 
chance of losing our data now that we have 
mirrored the server's disk drive. 
'Network-attached storage systems which aim to 
make it easy to mirror data between units' 
[The Guardian] 
mirroring /'mirarirj/ noun the rotation of 
an image by 1 80 degrees to produce its mir- 
ror image 
'...they also offer mirror-disk protection against 
disk failure, providing automatic backup of a da- 
tabase disks are also mirrored so that the system 
can continue to run in the event of a disk crash 
mirroring of the database is handled automatical- 
ly by systems software' [Computer News] 
mirror Site /'mira sait/ noun an exact copy 
of a website kept on a different file server so 
that the main site does not become overload- 
ed and its data is protected against loss if 
there is a hardware or software failure 
MIS abbr 1. management information serv- 
ice 2. management information system 
mismatch /'mismaetJV noun a situation 
occurring when two things are not correctly 
matched 

mission-critical /,mif(a)n 'kntik(a)l/ 
adjective referring to an application or hard- 
ware on which a company depends 
mix /miks/ noun 1 . the creative blending to- 
gether of audio or video sources 2. a visual 
effect which is similar to a dissolve ■ verb to 
combine several separate signals into a single 
signal □ to mix down to combine the signals 
from several sources such as a number of re- 
corded audio tracks or instruments into a sin- 
gle signal 

mixer /'miksa/ noun an electronic circuit 
used to combine two or more separate signals 
into a single output 



mixing /'miksin/ noun 1. the process of 
combining several audio signals into a single 
signal 2. the process of printing a line of text 
with several different typefaces 
mixing Studio /'miksirj .stjuidiau/ noun 
a room with audio mixers and sound proces- 
sors used when recording music 
MJPEG /,em 'd3ei peg/ noun a version of 
the JPEG image compression system that 
supports video. Full form motion JPEG 
MKDIR abbr make directory. f> MD 
M KS noun a widely used measurement sys- 
tem based on the metre, kilogram and sec- 
ond. Full form metre kilogram second. i> 
SI units 

MMA abbr MIDI manufacturers association 
MMC /,em em 'si:/ noun a compact memo- 
ry expansion device that includes digital cop- 
yright control features and is often used in 
MP3 music players and digital cameras. Full 
form multimedia card. Also called SD card 
MME abbr multimedia extensions 
MMI /,em em 'ai/ noun hardware and soft- 
ware designed to make it easier for users to 
communicate effectively with a machine. 
Full form man machine interface 
MMX a trade name for an enhanced Intel 
processor chip that includes special features 
and components that are used to improve the 
performance when dealing with multimedia 
and communications. Full form multimedia 
extensions 

mnemonic /ni'momk/ noun a shortened 
form of a word or function that is helpful as a 
reminder, e.g. INCA for increment register A 
mnemonic keyboard shortcut /m 
,mDnik .kiiboid .Joit'kAt/ noun a shortcut 
to a menu option or function by pressing a 
special key sequence 

mobile /'maobail/ adjective 1. which can 
move about 2. meaning a travelling radio 
base such as a car transceiver (informal) 
mobile earth terminal /,maobail '3:6 
,t3imm(a)L/ noun satellite communications 
equipment that is mobile 
mobile phone /,maobail 'faun/ noun a 
small, portable device that lets someone 
make and receive telephone calls. Also called 
cellular phone 
comment: Older mobile phone standards 
transmitted the user's voice as an analog 
radio signal; current phones convert the 
voice to digital data and transmit this via a 
radio signal. New mobile phones provide 
data and messaging services as well as 
basic telephone functions: some include 
built-in modems to provide dial-up access 
to the Internet, many allow text messages 
to be transmitted to other phone users and 
some incorporate an electronic diary, or- 
ganiser and address book. Current mobile 



157 



modular programming 



telephones transmit information using the 
GSM, PCS or GPRS standard and can pro- 
vide basic Internet access using WAP and 
GPRS. 
mobile radiophone /.maubail 
'reidiaufaun/ noun a radio telephone linked 
to a main telephone system, which uses a net- 
work of stations, each covering a certain area, 
to provide a service over a large area 
mobile unit /,maubail 'juinit/ noun a 
complete set of television filming and editing 
equipment carried in a vehicle (for outside 
broadcasts) 

mock-up /'mDk Ap/ noun a model of a new 
product for testing or to show to possible cus- 
tomers 

MOD AriDd/ noun the remainder after the di- 
vision of one number by another. Full form 
modulus 

modal /'maud(a)l/ adjective 1. referring to 
modes O Dialog boxes are normally modal 
windows. 2. (in Windows) referring to a win- 
dow that is displayed and does not allow a 
user to do anything outside it 
mode /maud/ noun 1 . a way of doing some- 
thing 2. the number of paths taken by light 
when travelling down an optical fibre 3. the 
number that occurs most frequently in a se- 
ries of samples 
'The approach being established by the Jedec 
committee provides for burst mode data transfer 
clocked at up to 100MHz.' [Computing] 

Mode 1 /'maud waii/ noun an encoding 
format used on compact discs that has error- 
detection and -correction codes 
Mode 2 /'maud tui/ noun an encoding for- 
mat with two forms, form 1, which is the 
same as Mode 1, and form 2, which requires 
no processing and allows data to be sent 
straight to the output channel 
model /'mDd(a)l/ noun 1. a small copy of 
something to show what it will look like 
when finished O He showed us a model of the 
new computer centre building. 2. a style, type 
or version of a product O The new model B 
has taken the place of model A. ■ adjective 
which is a perfect example to be copied O a 
model agreement ■ verb to make a compu- 
terised model of a new product or of a sys- 
tem, e.g. the economic system (note: mod- 
elling - modelled. The US spellings are 
modeling - modeled.) 
modelling /'mDd(a)lirj/ noun 1. the proc- 
ess of creating computer models 2. the proc- 
ess of colouring and shading a (normally 
wire-frame or vecto) graphic object so that it 
looks solid and real 

modem /'mau.dem/, MODEM noun a de- 
vice that allows data to be sent over telephone 
lines by converting binary signals from a 



computer into analog sound signals which 
can be transmitted over a telephone line. Full 
form modulator/demodulator 
'AST Research has bundled together a notebook 
PC with a third-party PCMCIA fax modem tech- 
nology for a limited-period special offer.' [Com- 
puting] 

comment: The process of converting bina- 
ry signals to analog is called 'modulation'. 
When the signal is received, another con- 
verter reverses the process (called 'de- 
modulation'). Both parts must be working 
according to the same standards. 
modem standards /'maudem 
.staendadz/ plural noun rules defining trans- 
mitting frequencies and other factors which 
allow different modems to communicate 
moderated newsgroup /,mDd(a)ratid 
'njuizgrutp/ noun a newsgroup in which a 
moderator reads all the material that has been 
submitted before it is published in the news- 
group (note: Most newsgroups are not 
moderated and anyone can write anything. 
Moderated newsgroups usually have a '-d' 
after their name.) 

moderator /'mDda,reita/ noun a person 
responsible for reading messages sent to a 
mailing list or newsgroup and editing any 
messages that do not conform to the rules of 
the list, e.g. by deleting commercial messag- 
es 

modification /,mDdifi'keiJ(a)n/ noun a 
change made to something O The modifica- 
tions to the system allow it to be run as part 
of a LAN. 

modifier /'mDdi,faia/ noun a program- 
ming instruction that alters the normal action 
of a command 

modify /'mDdi,fai/ verb to change some- 
thing or make something fit a different use O 
The keyboard was modified for European us- 
ers, (note: modifies - modifying - modi- 
fied) 

Modula-2 /,mDdj ula 'tui/ noun a high-lev- 
el programming language derived from Pas- 
cal that supports modular programming tech- 
niques and data abstraction 
modular /'modjula/ adjective referring to 
a method of constructing hardware or soft- 
ware products by connecting several smaller 
blocks together to produce a customised 
product 

modularisation, modularization noun 
the process of designing programs from a set 
of standard modules 

modularity /.mDdju'laeriti/ noun the state 
or fact of being made up from modules O The 
modularity of the software or hardware al- 
lows the system to be changed. 

modular programming /,mixljolo 
'praugraemirj/ noun programming with 



modulate 



158 



small individually written sections of compu- 
ter code that can be made to fit into a struc- 
tured program and can be called up from a 
main program 

modulate /'niDdjoJeit/ verb to change a 
carrier wave so that it can carry data (note: 
modulates - modulating - modulated) 
modulation /,mDdju'leiJ(3)n/ noun the 
process of varying a carrier's amplitude or 
frequency or phase according to an applied 
signal 

modulator /'nvodjuleita/ noun an elec- 
tronic circuit that varies a carrier signal ac- 
cording to an applied signal 
modulator/demodulator /.mDdjuleita 
dk'mDdjuleita/ noun full form of modem 
module /'mDdjuil/ noun A. a small section 
of a large program that can, if required, func- 
tion independently as a program in its own 
right 2. a self-contained piece of hardware 
that can be connected with other modules to 
form a new system O A multifunction analog 
interface module includes analog-to-digital 
and digital-to-analog converters. 3. a system 
for imprinting a signal on a radio frequency 
carrier (film) 4. a system for producing audio 
effects where one sound is modulated by an- 
other (film) 

modulo arithmetic /'mt>djulsu a 
,ri9m3tik/ noun a branch of arithmetic that 
uses the remainder of one number when di- 
vided by another 

modulus /'mDdjubs/ noun full form of 
MODO 7 mod 3 = 1 

moire /'mwairei/ noun 1 . picture distortion 
which is caused by interference beats of sim- 
ilar frequencies 2. an unwanted watery effect 
which is created by a set of closely spaced 
lines which are placed over another set (seen 
in film or prints). i> screen angle 
moire effect /'mwairei i,fekt/ noun an 
interference pattern caused by printing with 
the wrong screen angle 
momentary switch /'maumant^ri 
switj/ noun a switch that only conducts 
while it is being pressed 
monitor /'mmuta/ noun 1 . a VDU used to 
display high quality text or graphics, generat- 
ed by a computer 2. a system that watches for 
faults or failures in a circuit 3. a loudspeaker 
used to listen to the sound signals produced 
during recording or mixing 4. a TV screen in 
a TV studio control room, which shows the 
image being filmed by one of the cameras 5. 
a computer program that allows basic com- 
mands to be entered to operate a system, such 
as load a program, examine the state of devic- 
es, etc. ■ verb 1 . to check or to examine how 
something is working O He is monitoring the 
progress of the trainee programmers. 2. to 



look after and supervise a process or experi- 
ment to make sure it is operating correctly O 
The machine monitors each signal as it is 
sent out. 

mono- /mDnao/ prefix single or one 
monoaural ^mDnao'oiral/ adjective hav- 
ing one source of sound or one sound signal. 
Compare stereo 

monochromatic light 

^mDnaokremaetik 'kAla/ noun light of a 
single colour (film) 

monochrome /'mDnakraom/ adjective, 
noun referring to an image in one colour, 
usually shades of grey and black and white 
monochrome display adapter 
^mDnakraom di'splei 3,daepta/ noun a 
video adapter standard used in early PC sys- 
tems that could display text in 25 lines of 80 
columns. Abbr MDA 

monochrome monitor /.mmiakraum 
'mDnita/ noun a computer monitor that dis- 
plays text and graphics in black, white and 
shades of grey instead of colours 
monolithic/, mDna'hOik/ adjective (of an 
integrated circuit) manufactured on a single 
crystal of semiconductor 
monolithic driver /.mDnahBik 'draiva/ 
noun a piece of driver software that has a 
range of different functions or applications 
within one program 

monomode fibre /'mDnsumsod .faiba/ 
noun same as single mode fibre 
monoprogramming system /'monsu 
,pr3ugraemirj ,sist3m/ noun a computer 
batch processing system that executes one 
program at a time. Compare multi-program- 
ming system 

monospaced /'mDnaospeist/ adjective 
referring to a font in which each character has 
the same width. Compare proportionally 
spaced 

montage /'mrmtai3/ noun 1. a series of 
quickly changing images, sometimes with 
general pictures seen simultaneously on the 
screen 2. the process of combining several 
still or video images 

Monte Carlo method /,mDnti 'kaibu 
,me03d/ noun a statistical analysis technique 
MOO noun a virtual space in which partici- 
pants can discuss a topic online. Full form 
multiuser domain, object-oriented 
morphing /'mozfirj/ noun a special effect 
used in multimedia and games in which one 
image gradually turns into another 
Morse code /,mois 'kaod/ noun a system 
of signalling using only two symbols: dots 
and dashes □ morse key switch used to send 
morse messages by hand 



mosaic /mau'zenk/ noun 1. a display 
character used in videotext systems that is 
made up of small dots 2. a light-sensitive sur- 
face of a television camera pick-up tube 
which is scanned by the electron beam 
Mosaic /mau'zenk/ a trade name for a pop- 
ular browser software used to view webpages 
on the Internet 

most significant bit /.maust sig 
,nif ikant 'bit/ noun full form of msb O The 
most significant bit in an eight bit binary 
word represents 128 in decimal notation. 

most significant digit /maust sig 

,nifik3nt 'dicbjit/, most significant char- 
acter /moust sig.nifikant 'kaenkta/ noun 
full form of MSD 

motherboard /'mAcbboid/ noun the main 
printed circuit board of a system, containing 
most of the components and connections for 
expansion boards and other features 
motion blur /'mauJXajn bb:/ noun the 
blurring of an object that moves too fast to be 
frozen by the camera 

motion control /,maoT(a)n kan'traul/ 
noun a computer that allows a user to control 
all the aspects of a camera to allow special ef- 
fects in video or still images 
motion JPEG /.mauJXajn 'd3ei ,peg/ 
noun full form of MJPEG 
motion picture /.mau JYajn 'pikt JV noun 
a series of still pictures (each slightly differ- 
ent) which give an object the appearance of 
motion when projected on to a screen 
motion-picture camera /'mauj'(a)n 
,pikt Ja ,k<em(3)re/ noun a box with lens, 
shutter, viewfinder and film advance system 
in which motion-picture film is exposed 
motion picture experts group 
/,rri3oJ(3)n .piktja 'eksp3its gruip/ noun 
full form of MPEG 

motion-picture film /'mauJYajn .piktja 
film/ noun light-sensitive film which is used 
in a motion picture camera 
motor /'mauta/ noun an electromagnetic 
machine that converts an electrical supply 
into (rotary) motion (by means of a magnetic 
field) 

mount /maunt/ verb 1. to fix a device or 
circuit onto a base O The chips are mounted 
in sockets on the PCB. 2. to insert a disk in a 
disk drive or inform an operating system that 
a disk drive is ready to be used 
mouse /maus/ noun a small hand-held in- 
put device moved on a flat surface to control 
the position of a cursor on the screen (note: 
The plural is mice or mouses.) 
'This project has now borne fruit, with the an- 
nouncement last week of Windots, a project 
which allows users to 'see' Windows screens in a 
Braille form of Ascii. Other areas of research in- 



159 MP3 

elude a sound system which allows a sound to 
'move', mirroring the movement of a mouse.' 
[Computing] 

mouse acceleration /,maus ak.sela 
'reij"(a)n/ noun a feature of some mouse 
driver software that will move the mouse 
pointer at different speeds according to the 
speed at which you move the mouse rather 
than the distance 

mouse driver /'maus .draiva/ noun a 
program which converts positional data sent 
from a mouse to a standard form of coordi- 
nates that can be used by any software 
mouse pointer /'maus .points/ noun a 
small arrow displayed on screen that moves 
around as the mouse is moved 
movable /'muivab(a)l/ adjective which 
can be moved 

move /mui v/ verb to change the position of 
something 

movement /'muivmant/ noun the act of 
changing position or of changing the position 
of something 

movie file /'muivi fail/ noun a file stored 
on disk that contains a series of images that 
make up an animation or video clip 
movie ID/,muivi .ai'dii/ noun a unique ID 
number assigned to a movie in Movie Player 
- each separate instance has a different ID 
number 

Movie Player /,muivi 'pleia/ noun a Win- 
dows utility that can playback AVI-format 
video clips or movie files with the MMM ex- 
tension 

Movie Player instance /,muivi ,pleia 
'instans/ noun one copy of the Movie Player 
program that is running 
Moving Pictures Expert Group 
/,muivirj .piktjas 'eksp3it ,gruip/ noun 
full form of MPEG 

MP3/,empii '9rii/ noun a way of encoding 
digital audio data into a compressed data for- 
mat that is approximately one twelfth the size 
of the original without perceptible loss of 
quality. MP3 files (that normally have the file 
name extension 'MP3') are now one of the 
most popular ways of storing and distributing 
music over the Internet. Because MP3 files 
are compact and easy to copy, they are rela- 
tively quick to download and very easy to 
distribute - which is causing problems for the 
original artists who are trying to protect their 
copyright material. Once you have an MP3 
file you can listen to it by opening it and play- 
ing it with special software on your computer 
or by transferring it to a dedicated pocket- 
sized device that stores the file in its memory, 
has no moving parts and but can play back 
CD-quality music. Full form MPEG audio 
level 3 



MPC 



160 



comment: MP3 files, which usually have 
the file name extension MP3, are now one 
of the most popular ways of storing and 
distributing music over the Internet. Be- 
cause MP3 files are compact and easy to 
copy, they are relatively quick to download 
and very easy to distribute, which is caus- 
ing problems for the original artists who are 
trying to protect their copyright material. 
Once you have an MP3 file you can listen 
to it by opening it and playing it with special 
software on your computer or by transfer- 
ring it to a dedicated pocket-sized device 
that stores the file in its memory, and has 
no moving parts but that can play back CD- 
quality music 
MPC /,em pii 'si:/ noun an outdated set of 
minimum requirements for a PC that will al- 
low it to run most multimedia software. Full 
form multimedia PC 

MPEG /'em peg/ noun a group of develop- 
ers that have defined a series of standards to 
improve audio and video quality but at the 
same time increase data compression so that 
the audio or video information takes less 
space but retains its quality. Full form Mov- 
ing Pictures Expert Group. i> JPEG (note: 
MPEG is often used to compress video 
clips and its derivative standard MP3 pro- 
vides one of the most popular ways of com- 
pressing and storing audio information, 
while JPEG provides a popular way to store 
compressed still images.) 
MPEG audio level 3 /,em peg .oidiau 
,lev(3)l '0rii/ noun full form of MP3 
MPPP /,em pi: pi: 'pi:/ noun communica- 
tions protocol used with ISDN to link the two 
B-channels in a standard ISDN adapter to 
create a transmission channel that can trans- 
fer data at a higher speed. Full form multi- 
link point to point protocol 
MPU abbr microprocessor unit 
ITIS abbr millisecond 

msb/.emes 'bi:/, MSB noun a bit in a word 
that represents the greatest value or weight, 
usually the bit furthest to the left. Full form 
most significant bit 

MSCDEX /,em es si: di: 'eks/ noun driver 
software installed on a PC to allow DOS and 
Windows to control a CD-ROM drive. Full 
form Microsoft Compact Disc Exten- 
sions 

MSD /,em es 'di:/ noun the digit at the far 
left of a number, which represents the great- 
est power of the base. Full form most signif- 
icant digit 

MS-DOS /,em es 'dDs/ a trade name for an 
operating system for the IBM PC range of 
personal computers that managed data stor- 
age onto disks, display output and user input. 
Windows supports MS-DOS programs 
through the Command Prompt, which emu- 



lates MS-DOS. Full form Microsoft DOS 

(note: MS-DOS is a single-user, single- 
tasking operating system that is controlled 
by a command-line interface.) 
MSF time format /,em es ef 'tai 
,fo:maet/ noun a time format that counts 
frames per second used by MCI, usually used 
by CD-audio devices, in which there are 75 
frames per second 
MSI abbr medium scale integration 
M Signal /'em ,sign(3)l/ noun a signal pro- 
duced from the sum of left and right signals 
in a stereophonic system 
MSN a trade name for an Internet portal. Full 
form Microsoft Network 
MS-Windows /,em es 'wmdaoz/ same as 
Windows 

MSX /,em es 'eks/ noun a hardware and 
software standard for home computers that 
can use interchangeable software 
MTBF /,em ti: bi: 'ef/ noun the average pe- 
riod of time that a piece of equipment will 
operate between failures. Full form mean 
time between failures 
MTC /,em ti: 'si:/ noun a system of messag- 
es used to synchronise MIDI sequences with 
an external device, e.g. an SMPTE time code. 
Full form MIDI time code 
MTF /,em ti: 'ef/ noun the average period of 
time for which a device will operate, usually 
continuously, before failing. Full form mean 
time to failure 

MTTR /,em ti: ti: 'a:/ noun the average pe- 
riod of time required to repair a faulty piece 
of equipment. Full form mean time to re- 
pair 

MUA /,em ju: 'til noun software used to 
create and read email messages that creates a 
message in the correct format and standard 
and passes this to the mail transfer agent that 
is responsible for transferring the message 
over the network. Full form mail user agent 
MUD /,em ti: 'ei/ noun 1. a virtual online 
space in which several people can participate 
in collaborative projects at the same time. 
Full form multiuser domain 2. an adven- 
ture game played by multiple users over the 
Internet. Full form multiuser dungeon 
multi- /mAlti/ prefix many or more than one 
O multimegabyte memory card 

multi-access system /.mAlti .aekses 
'sistam/ noun a computer system that allows 
several users to access one file or program at 
the same time. Also called multiple access 
system 

multibank dynamic random access 
memory /.mAltibaerjk dai,naemik 
,raend3m ,aekses 'mem(3)ri/ noun full form 
of M DRAM 



161 



multiple line 



multi-board computer /.mAlti bo:d 
kam'pjuita/ noun a computer which has 
several integrated circuit boards connected 
with a motherboard 

multiburst signal /,niAltib3ist 'sign(3)V 
noun a television test signal 
multicast /'mAltikaist/ verb to transmit 
one message to a group of recipients 
comment: This could be as simple as send- 
ing an email message to a list of email ad- 
dresses or posting a message to a mailing 
list. It can also refer to more complex trans- 
fers such as a teleconference or videocon- 
ference in which several users link together 
by telephone or video link. A broadcast, in 
comparison, refers to the process of send- 
ing a message to anyone who could re- 
ceive the message rather than a select 
group of recipients. Narrowcasting is very 
similar in concept to a multicasting, but is 
normally used to refer to the concept, 
whereas multicasting refers to the technol- 
ogy used. 

multicasting /'mAltikaistirj/ noun the 
process of broadcasting to a number of re- 
ceivers or nodes, with an address in each 
message to indicate the node required 
multichannel /,mAlti'tJaen(a)V adjective 
with more than one channel 
multicolour /.mAlti'kAb/ adjective with 
several colours 

multicolour graphics adapter 
/,mAltikAb 'graefiks 3,daept3/ noun full 
form of MCGA 

multidimensional /,mAltidai 

'men J3n(3)l/ adjective with features in more 
than one dimension 

multi-disk /,mAlti 'disk/ adjective refer- 
ring to several types of disk 
multidrop circuit /'mAltidrop ,s3ikit/ 
noun a network allowing communications 
between a number of terminals and a central 
computer, but not directly between terminals 
multifrequency /.mAlti'friikwansi/ 
noun □ dual tone, multifrequency (DTMF) 
communication signalling system using two 
different frequencies to transmit binary data 
multifunction /.mAlti'tAnkTarHb)!/, mul- 
tifunctional adjective which has several 
functions O A multifunction analog interface 
module includes analog to digital and digital 
to analog converters. 

multifunctional /,mAlti'f Ankj3n(s)iy ad- 
jective which has several functions O a mul- 
tifunctional scanner 

multiline /.mAlti'lam/ adjective in a text 
box, referring to a display of text broken into 
several lines rather than as a single continu- 
ous line. Also called multiple line 



multilink system /'mAltihrjk .sistam/ 
noun a system in which there is more than 
one connection between two points 
multimedia /.mAlti'miidia/ adjective 
combining sound, graphics, animation, video 
and text within an application 
'The Oracle Media Server is a multimedia data- 
base designed to run on massively parallel com- 
puters, running hundreds of transactions per sec- 
ond and managing multiple data types, such as 
video, audio and text.' [Computing] 

multimedia card /.mAltimiidia 'kaid/ 
noun full form of MMC 

multimedia developer's kit 

/,mAltimi:di3 di'velapaz kit/ noun full 
form of MDK 

multimedia extensions /.mAltimndia 

ik'sten J"(3)nz/ plural noun full form of MMX 

multimedia PC /.mAitimiidia ,pii 'si:/ 
noun full form of MPC 
multimedia-ready /.mAltimiidia redi/ 
adjective referring to a PC that has all the ex- 
tra equipment requirement to run most multi- 
media software 

multimeter /'mAltimiita/ noun testing 
equipment that provides an indication of the 
voltage or current or impedance at a point or 
of a component. Abbr AMM 

multimode fibre /.mAltimaud 'faiba/ 
noun a commonly used type of optic fibre 
that uses a glass fibre with a diameter of be- 
tween 50 and 125 microns and can carry sev- 
eral different frequencies of light with a max- 
imum bandwidth of 2.5 Gbps (note: The dis- 
advantage is that because the fibre is wide, 
the light disperses quickly and so repeaters 
need to be installed to boost the signal.) 
multipass overlap /,mAltipa:s 
'aovakep/ noun a system of producing high- 
er quality print from a dot matrix printer by 
repeating the line of characters but shifted 
slightly, so making the dots less noticeable 
multi platform /.mAlti 'plaet.fotm/ ac(/'ec- 
tive referring to software that can run on sev- 
eral different hardware platforms 

multiple /'mAltip(3)l/ adjective having 
many parts 

multiple access system /,m \ltipi nil 
'aekses .sistam/ noun same as multi-ac- 
cess system 

multiple base page /,mAltip(a)l beis 
'peid3/ noun a multi-user system in which 
each user and the operating system have one 
page of main memory, which can then call up 
other pages within main memory 

multiple line /,mAltip(3)l 'lam/ adjective 
same as multiline 



multiplex 



162 



multiplex /'mAltipleks/ verb to combine 
several messages in the same transmission 
medium 

multiplexing /'rrtAltipleksirj/ noun the 
process of combining several messages in the 
same transmission medium 
multiplexor /'rrtAltipleksa/ noun full 
form of MUX O A 4 to 1 multiplexor com- 
bines four inputs into a single output. 
multiplication /,mAltipli'keir(3)n/ noun 
a mathematical operation that adds one 
number to itself a number of times O The 
multiplication of 5 and 3 = 15. 
multiply /'mAlti,plai/ verb to perform the 
mathematical operation of multiplication 
(note: multiplies - multiplying - multi- 
plied) 

multipoint /'rrtAltipoint/ adjective refer- 
ring to a connection with several lines, at- 
taching several terminals to a single line to a 
single computer 

multiprocessing system i,m\\w 
'prausesirj ,sist3m/ noun a system where 
several processing units work together shar- 
ing the same memory 

multiprocessor /'rrtAlti.prausesa/ noun 
a number of processing units acting together 
or separately but sharing the same area of 
memory 

multi-programming system /,m.\lt i 
'praugraemirj .sistam/ noun an operating 
system used to execute more than one pro- 
gram apparently simultaneously, each pro- 
gram being executed a little at a time. Com- 
pare monoprogramming system 
multipurpose Internet mail exten- 
sions /,mAltip3ip3s ,int3net 'meil ik 
,stenj(3)nz/ noun full form of MIME 
multisession /'rrtAlt isej"(3)n/ noun a CD- 
ROM which has had data stored onto it at dif- 
ferent times (each time is called a session). 
This normally applies to PhotoCD discs - if 
the PhotoCD is not full, you can add extra 
images to it: this is a multisession disc be- 
cause it contains images added after the first 
session. 

multisession-compatible 
/,mAltiseJ(3)n k3m'paetib(3)l/ adjective re- 
ferring to a CD-ROM drive that can read 
PhotoCD discs or other discs that have been 
created in several goes 
MultiSync™ monitor /,mAltisirjk 
'mDnita/ noun a monitor which contains cir- 
cuitry to lock onto the required scanning fre- 
quency of any type of graphics card 
multitasking /'mAlti.taiskirj/ noun the 
ability of a computer system to run two or 
more programs at the same time O The sys- 
tem is multi-user and multi-tasking. 



'X is the underlying technology which allows 
Unix applications to run under a multi-user, mul- 
titasking GUI. It has been adopted as the standard 
for the Common Open Software Environment, 
proposed recently by top Unix vendors including 
Digital, IBM and Sun.' [Computing] 
comment: Few small systems are capable 
of simultaneous multitasking, since each 
program would require its own processor. 
This is overcome by allocating to each pro- 
gram an amount of processing time, exe- 
cuting each a little at a time so that they will 
appear to run simultaneously due to the 
speed of the processor and the relatively 
short gaps between programs. 

multi terminal system /,ni,\l(i 

,t3imm(3)l 'sistam/ noun a system where 
several terminals are linked to a single CPU 
multithreading /'rriAltiSredirj/ noun the 
process of running several different process- 
es in rapid succession within a program (ef- 
fectively multitasking within a program) 
multiuser domain /.mAltijuiza da 
'mem/ noun full form of MUD 
multiuser domain, object-oriented 
/,mAltijuiz3 d3,mein ,Dbd3ekt 'oirientid/ 
noun full form of MOO 
multiuser dungeon /.mAltijuiza 
'dAnd33n/ noun full form of MUD 
multiuser program /.mAltijuiza 
'pragraem/ noun a software diary utility that 
allows many users to enter appointments and 
schedule meetings with other users. Also 
called network calendar program 
multiuser system /.mAltijuiza 'sistsm/ 
noun a computer system that can support 
more than one user at a time O The program 
runs on a standalone machine or a multi-user 
system. 

multi-window editor /,mAlti .wmdao 
'edita/ noun a program used for creating and 
editing a number of applications programs 
independently, each in a separate window on 
screen at the same time 
mung up /,mArj 'Ap/ verb to distort data or 
to ruin a file (informal) 
mush /mAjV noun distortion and loss of sig- 
nal 

mush area /'hia/ .earia/ noun distortion 
and loss of signal due to two transmissions 
interfering 

musical instrument digital interface 
/,mju:zik(3)l .mstromant ,did3it(3)l 
'mtafeis/ noun full form of MIDI 
music Chip /'mjuizik tjip/ noun an inte- 
grated circuit capable of generating musical 
sounds and tunes 

music track /'mjuizik traek/ noun a 
sound track on which is recorded music for a 
film (film) 



163 My Computer 



MUX /,em ju: 'eks/ noun a circuit that com- My Computer /,mai kam'pj uita/ noun an 

bines a number of inputs into a smaller icon that is normally in the upper left-hand 

number of outputs. Full form multiplexor. corner of the screen on a computer running 

Compare demultiplexer Windows, containing an overview of the PC 



MW abbrA. medium wave 2. megawatt 



N 



n abbraa.no- 

NAB /naeb/ noun a US term used to describe 
standards specified by this organisation (film) 
NAB cartridge /'naeb ,kaitnd3/ noun an 
NAB approved continuous loop magnetic 
tape cartridge which is broadcast standard 
and is made in three tape capacity sizes 
NAB curve /'naeb ,k3iv/ noun the standard 
for audio playback equalisation 
name /neim/ noun an ordinary word used 
to identify an address in machine language 
name registration /'neim 

,red3istreij(3)n/ noun same as domain 
name registration 

name resolution /'neim ,rez3lu:J(3)n/ 
noun the process of converting a domain 
name into its numerical IP address 
name server /'neim ,s3iva/ noun a com- 
puter on the Internet that provides a domain 
name service to any other computer 
naming services /'neimin ,s3ivisiz/ 
noun a method of assigning each user or 
node or computer on a network a unique 
name that allows other users to access shared 
resources even over a wide area network 
NAND function /'naend ,f Ank[(3)n/ noun 
a logical function whose output is false if all 
inputs are true, and true if any input is false 
comment: The NAND function is equiva- 
lent to an AND function with a NOT func- 
tion at the output. The output is only if 
both inputs are 1 ; if one input is 1 and the 
other 0, or if both inputs are 0, then the out- 
put is 1 . 
NAND gate /'naend geit/ noun an elec- 
tronic circuit that provides a NAND function 
nano- /naenao/ prefix A. one thousand mil- 
lionth. Abbr n 2. US one billionth 
nanosecond /'naen3u,sek3nd/ noun one 
thousand millionth of a second 
Napster /'naepsta/ a trade name for soft- 
ware that allows users to share files, normally 
MP3-format music files, over the Internet 
comment: Napster was originally used to 
distribute and share MP3 files with a per- 
sonal recording of a commercial artist in an 
efficient way. The software, developed by 
Shawn Fanning, allowed anyone to down- 
load music from any another Napster us- 
er's computer. Once installed, the free soft- 
ware searches your hard disk for any MP3 
music files, then allows other Napster us- 
ers online to access these files from your 
hard disk, via the Internet. Because it al- 



lows music to be copied and shared very 
easily, Napster has become unpopular with 
the recording and music industry and was 
the subject of a legal case enforcing copy- 
right over the Internet. 
narrative /'naerstiv/ noun a set of explan- 
atory notes or comments to help a user oper- 
ate a program 

narrow band /'naerso band/ noun a com- 
munication method that uses a bandwidth 
less than that of a voice channel. Abbr see. 
Compare multicast 

narrow band FM /,naer3u baend ,ef 'em/ 
noun a frequency modulation system using 
very small bandwidth (with only one pair of 
sidebands). Abbr NBFM 
narrow band ISDN /.naerau baend ,ai es 
dii 'en/ noun the ISDN communications sys- 
tem 

narrowcast /'naeraokaist/ verb same as 
multicast 

NAT /,en ei 'til/ noun a system that allows a 
local area network to work with two sets of IP 
addresses for each computer or node in the 
network. Full form network address trans- 
lation 
comment: The first set of addresses is 
used for internal traffic and the second set 
(often just one or two addresses) is used 
for external traffic, for example when ac- 
cessing resources on the public Internet 
via a router. This system provides basic se- 
curity against external attacks, for example 
using IP spoofing. Its main purpose is that 
it allows the local area network to use as 
many IP addresses as are required, but 
only using a minimal number of public IP 
addresses, which must be registered and 
allocated by an organisation such as Inter- 
NIC. 
National Association of Broadcast- 
ers /,naej(3)n3l 3,S3usieiJ(3)n av 
'broidkaistaz/ noun full form of NAB 
National Center for Supercomput- 
ing Applications /,naej(3)n3l ,senta fa 
'suipakam^pjuitin ,aeplikeij(3)nz/ noun 
full form of NCSA 

National Television System Com- 
mittee /,naej(3)n3l ,teh'vi3(3)n .sistam 
k3,miti/ noun full form of NTSC 
native file format /,neitiv 'fail .foimaet/ 
noun a default file format, usually proprie- 
tary, that is used by an application to store its 
data on disk 



165 



network address 



navigable /'naevigab(3)l/ adjective refer- 
ring to a website that has been designed in 
such a way that the user can move from one 
section of the site to another by clicking on 
highlighted computer links 
navigation /,naevi'geij(3)n/ noun the 
process of moving around a multimedia title 
using hotspots, buttons and a user interface 
NC abbr 1 . network computer 2. numerical 
control 

NCR paper /,en si: 'a: ,peipa/ noun a spe- 
cial type of paper impregnated with chemi- 
cals and used in multipart forms. Full form 
no carbon required paper (note: When 
NCR paper is printed on by an impact print- 
er, the writing also appears on the sheets 
below.) 

NCSA /,en si: es 'ei/ noun an organisation 
that helped define and create the World Wide 
Web with its Mosaic web browser. Full form 
National Center for Supercomputing Ap- 
plications 

NDIS /,en di: ei 'es/ noun a standard com- 
mand interface, defined by Microsoft, be- 
tween network driver software and NICs. 
Full form network driver interface speci- 
fication 

NDR /,en di: 'a:/ noun a display system that 
continues to display previous characters 
when new ones are displayed. Full form non 
destructive readout 

near instantaneously compounded 
audio multiplex /,nia .mstan.temiasli 
k3m,paondid ,o:di3o 'mAltipleks/ noun 
full form of NICAM 

negate /m'geit/ verb to reverse the sign of 
a number O If you negate 23.4 the result is - 
23.4. (note: negates - negating - negat- 
ed) 

negation /m'geij(3)n/ noun the reversing 
of the sign of a number, e.g. from 5 to -5 
negation gate /ni'geij(3)n geit/ noun a 
single input gate whose output is equal to the 
logical inverse of the input. Also called NOT 
gate 

negative /'negativ/ adjective meaning 
'no' 

NEQ abbr nonequivalence function 
nerd Ai3:d/ noun a person who is obsessed 
with computers and rarely talks or thinks 
about anything that is not technologically ex- 
citing {slang) 

nested loop /,nestd 'lu:p/ noun a loop in- 
side another loop in the same program 
nested macro call /.nestid 'maekrau 
,ko:l/ noun a macro called from within an- 
other macro 

nested structure /.nestid 'strAktJa/ 
noun a section of a program in which one 



control loop or subroutine is used within an- 
other 

NetBEUI /'net bju:i/ noun an extended 
version of the NetBIOS network protocol de- 
veloped by Microsoft, which cannot be rout- 
ed in a network. Full form NetBIOS Extend- 
ed User Interface 

NetBIOS /'net ,bait>s/ noun a commonly 
used standard set of commands, originally 
developed by IBM, that allow application 
programs to carry out basic operations such 
as file sharing and transferring data between 
nodes over a network O This software uses 
NetBIOS calls to manage file sharing. Full 
form Network Basic Input Output System 
NetBIOS Extended User Interface 
/,net bams ik,stendid 'ju:za ,intsfeis/ 
noun full form of NetBEUI 
netiquette /'netiket/ noun a set of unoffi- 
cial rules that define good manners on the In- 
ternet 

netphone /'netfaon/ noun a phone that 
uses the Internet to make connections and 
carry voice messages 

Netscape /'netskeip/ a software company 
that develops Internet applications 
Netscape Navigator /,netskeip 
'naevigeita/ a trade name for one of the most 
popular web browsers that provides many 
features including a news reader and that 
supports Java applets 

NetShOW /'netshau/ a system developed 
by Microsoft to provide audio and video de- 
livery over the Internet without interruption 
or glitches in the video sequence 
NetWare /'netwea/ a trade name for a net- 
work operating system, developed by Novell, 
that runs on a range of hardware platforms 
and supports file and print sharing and client- 
server applications 

network /'netw3:k/ noun a system made 
of a number of points or circuits that are in- 
terconnected ■ verb to link points together in 
a network O They run a system of networked 
micros. 
'Asante Technologies has expanded its range of 
Ethernet-to-LocalTalk converters with the re- 
lease of AsantePrint 8, which connects up to eight 
LocalTalk printers, or other LocalTalk devices, 
to a high-speed Ethernet network.' [Computing] 

network adapter /'netw3:k a,daepta/ 
noun same as NIC 

network address /'netw3:k a,dres/ 
noun a part of an IP address that defines the 
main network on which the domain is located 
(note: For class A networks this is the first 
byte of the address, for class B networks it 
is the first two bytes and for class C net- 
works it is the first three bytes. The rest of 
the IP address forms the host address.) 



network address translation 



166 



network address translation 

/,netw3ik a.dres traens'leij(a)n/ noun full 
form of NAT 

network administrator /,netw3ik ad 
'mmistreita/ noun a person who is respon- 
sible for looking after a network, with re- 
sponsibilities including installing, configur- 
ing and maintaining the network 
network architecture /,netw3:k 
'aikitektJV noun the way in which a net- 
work is constructed, e.g. layers in an OSI sys- 
tem 

network calendar program /,netw3:k 
'kaelmda ,pr3ograem/ noun same as multi- 
user program 

network computer /,netw3:k kam 
'pjuita/ noun a computer that is designed to 
run Java programs and access information 
using a web browser. Abbr NC 
comment: The network computer has a 
small desktop box that does not have a 
floppy disk drive. Instead it downloads any 
software it requires from a central server. 
Network computers are simpler and cheap- 
er than current PCs and Apple Mac com- 
puters, and are designed to be easier to 
manage in a large company. 

network database /,netw3:k 
'deitabeis/ noun a database structure in 
which data items can be linked together 
network diagram /,netw3ik 'dawgraem/ 
noun a graphical representation of the inter- 
connections between points in a network 
network directory /,netw3ik dai 
'rekt(a)ri/ noun a directory that is stored on 
a disk drive on another computer in the net- 
work but can be accessed by anyone on the 
network 

network drive /'netw3ik draiv/ noun a 
disk drive that is part of another computer on 
a network but can be used by anyone on the 
network 

network driver interface specifica- 
tion /,netw3ik ,draiv3 'mtafeis 
,spestfikeij(3)n/ noun full form of NDIS 
network file system /,netw3:k 'fail 
.sistam/ noun a network protocol developed 
by Sun Microsystems that allows a computer 
to share its local disk drives with other users 
on a network and is now used as a standard 
across most of the Internet. Abbr NFS 
network hardware /,netw3ik 'haidwea/ 
noun same as networking hardware 
networking /'netw3ikin/ noun 1. the 
working or organisation of a network 2. the 
process of interconnecting two or more com- 
puters either in the same room or different 
buildings, in the same town or different 
towns, allowing them to exchange informa- 
tion 3. the process of broadcasting a prime- 



time TV programme over several local sta- 
tions at the same time 
comment: Networking allows a machine 
with a floppy disk drive to use another PC's 
hard disk when both machines are linked 
by a cable and are using networking soft- 
ware. 
networking hardware /,netw3:kin 
'ha:dwea/ noun the physical links, comput- 
ers and control equipment that make up a net- 
work. Also called network hardware 
networking software /,netw3ikrn 
'sDftwea/ noun software that is used to es- 
tablish the link between a user's program and 
the network. Also called network software 
networking specialist /'netw3:krrj 
.spejalist/ noun a company or person who 
specialises in designing and setting up net- 
works O This computer firm is a UK net- 
working specialist. 

network interface card /,netw3ik 
'mtafeis ,kaid/ noun full form of NIC 
network management /,netw3:k 
'maenid3m3nt/ noun the organisation, plan- 
ning, running and upkeep of a network 
Network Neighborhood /,netw3:k 
'neibahod/ noun a Windows 95 utility that 
allows you to view and manage connections 
to your computer 

network news transfer protocol 
/,netw3ik njuiz 'traensf3i ,pr3ut3kDl/ 
noun full form of NNTP 
network operating system /,netw3:k 
'Dpareitirj ,sist3m/ noun an operating sys- 
tem running on a server computer, usually a 
dedicated one, that controls access to the net- 
work resources, managing network links, 
printing and users. Abbr NOS 
network printer /,netw3:k 'prints/ noun 
a printer attached to a server or workstation 
that can be used by any user connected to the 
network 

network protocol /,netw3ik 'praotakol/ 
noun a set of handshaking signals that de- 
fines how a workstation sends data over a 
network without clashing with other data 
transmissions 

network redundancy /,netw3ik n 
'dAndansi/ noun the existence of extra links 
between points allowing continued operation 
in the event of one point failing 
network server /,net w3:k ' S3i vs/ noun a 
computer which runs a network operating 
system and controls the basic network opera- 
tions (note: All the workstations in a LAN 
are connected to the central network server 
and users log onto a network server,) 
network software /,netw3ik 'sDftwea/ 
noun same as networking software 



167 



non destructive cursor 



network topology /,netW3:k ta 

'pDl3d3i/ noun the layout of machines in a 
network, e.g. a star network, ring network or 
bus network, which will determine what ca- 
bling and interfaces are needed and what pos- 
sibilities the network can offer 
neural network /.njoaral 'netw3:k/ 
noun a system running an artificial intelli- 
gence program that attempts to simulate the 
way the brain works, how it learns and re- 
members 

neutral /'njuitral/ adjective with no state, 
bias or voltage 

new /njui/ adjective recent or not old O 
They have installed a new computer system. 
newbie /'njuibi/ noun a new user of the In- 
ternet (slang) 

news /njuiz/ noun information about 
things which have happened □ news agency 
office which distributes news to newspapers 
and television companies □ newsgroup col- 
lection of articles on the Usenet relating to 
one particular subject □ news release sheet 
giving information about a new event which 
is sent to newspapers and TV and radio sta- 
tions so that they can use it O the company 
sent out a news release about the new manag- 
ing director 

newsgroup /'njuiz^ruip/ noun a feature 
of the Internet that provides free-for-all dis- 
cussion forums 

newsprint /'njuizprmt/ noun mechanical 
paper used for printing newspapers (note: no 
plural) 

news reader /'njuiz .riida/ noun a piece 
of software that allows a user to view the list 
of newsgroups and read the articles posted in 
each group or submit a new article 
new technology /,njui tek'nDbd3i/ 
noun electronic instruments which have re- 
cently been developed 

nexus /'neksas/ noun a connection point 
between units in a network 
NFS abbr network file system 
nibble /'nib(3)l/ noun another spelling of 
nybble 

NIC /,en ai 'sii/ noun an add-in board that 
connects a computer to a network. Full form 
network interface card. Also called net- 
work adapter (note: The board converts 
the computer's data into electrical signals 
that are then transmitted along the network 
cable.) 

NICAM /'naikaem/ noun a digital system 
used for coding in the television transmission 
of stereo sound (film) Full form near instan- 
taneously compounded audio multiplex 
Nintendo™ /nm'tendau/ a major video 
game developer producing both software and 
hardware consoles 



NNTP /,en en tii 'pi:/ noun a standard 
method of distributing news messages on the 
Internet, one of the protocols within the 
TCP/IP protocol suite, that provides a way of 
creating, reading and distributing messages 
within newsgroups over the Internet. Full 
form network news transfer protocol 
no-break /,nao 'breik/ adjective (power 
supply system) which will not be affected by 
a power failure. i> UPS 
no carbon required paper /nau 
,ka:ban n,kwai3d 'peipa/ noun full form 
of NCR paper 

node /naud/ noun an interconnection point 
in a structure or network O A tree is made of 
branches that connect together at nodes. 
no-drop image /,nau 'drop ,imid3/ noun 
(in a GUI) an icon image displayed during a 
drag and drop operation when the pointer is 
over an object that cannot be the destination 
object and onto which it cannot be dropped 
noise /noiz/ noun a random signal present 
in addition to any wanted signal, caused by 
static, temperature, power supply, magnetic 
or electric fields and also from stars and the 
Sun 

nomenclature /nao'merjkbtJV noun a 
predefined system for assigning words and 
symbols to represent numbers or terms 
nomogram /'nDmagraem/, nomograph 
/'nDmagraif/ noun a graphical system for 
solving one value given two others 
non- /mm/ prefix not 

nonaligned /,nDn3'lamd/ adjective refer- 
ring to two devices which are not correctly 
positioned in relation to each other, for opti- 
mum performance 

non breaking space /,nt>n .breikirj 
'speis/ noun (in word-processing or DTP 
software) a space character that prevents two 
words being separated by a line break 
noncompatibility /.nDnkam.paeti'bihti/ 
noun inability of two or more pieces of hard- 
ware or software to exchange data or use the 
same peripherals 

non-composite video signal /,nnn 
,kDmp3zit 'vidiao ,sign(3)l/ noun a video 
signal which has no synchronising signals 
but contains picture and blanking informa- 
tion 

non dedicated server /,nnn 
,dedikeitid 's3:vs/ noun a computer that 
runs a network operating system in the back- 
ground and can also be used to run normal 
applications at the same time 
non destructive cursor /,non di 
,strAktiv 'k3:sa/ noun a cursor on a display 
that does not erase characters already dis- 
played as it passes over them O The screen 



non destructive readout 



168 



quickly became unreadable when using a 
non-destructive cursor. 

non destructive readout /,nnn di 

.strAktiv 'riidaut/ noun full form of NDR 
nondirectional microphone 

/,nDndairekj3n(3)l 'maikrafaun/ noun a 
microphone which picks up sound equally in 
every direction (film) 

nonequivalence function /.ntmi 
'kwivalans ^Arjkjan/ noun a logical func- 
tion in which the output is true if the inputs 
are not the same, otherwise the output is 
false. Abbr NEQ 

nonerasable storage /,nrmireiz3b(3)l 
'sto:rid3/ noun a storage medium that can- 
not be erased and reused 
non impact printer /,nDn im,paekt 
'prints/ noun a printer such as an ink-jet 
printer in which the character form does not 
hit a ribbon onto the paper 
non interlaced /,nDn 'mtaleisd/ adjec- 
tive (in a monitor) referring to a system in 
which the picture electron beam scans each 
line of the display once during each refresh 
cycle (note: The beam in an interlaced dis- 
play scans every alternate line.) 
nonlinear video editing /.rronlmia 
'vidiau ,editirj/ noun a method of editing a 
video sequence in which the video is digi- 
tised and stored in a computer and the editor 
can then cut and move frames in any order 
before outputting the finished sequence 
(note: The finished sequence can either be 
produced directly from the computer output 
- though this is normally at a lower quality 
than the original because of compression 
losses - or the computer can output time 
code instructions that can be used to edit 
the original videotape.) 
nonprinting code /,nDnprmtirj 'kaud/ 
plural noun a code that represents an action 
of the printer rather than a printed character 
O The line width can be set using one of the 
non-printing codes, .UN, then a number. 

non scrollable /,non 'skrautab(3)l/ ad- 
jective referring to part of the screen display 
which is always displayed (note: In a WP 
the text can scroll while instructions are non 
scrollable.) 

non-synchronous sound /,non 
,sirjkr3n3s 'saond/, non-sync sound noun 
any sound recorded without a camera operat- 
ing at the same time (film) 
non volatile memory /,nDn ,vt>btail 
'mem(3)ri/ noun a storage medium or mem- 
ory that retains data even when the power has 
been switched off O Bubble memory is a non- 
volatile storage. Also called non volatile 
storage, non volatile store 



non volatile storage /,nDn .vDbtail 
'sto:nd3/, non volatile store noun same as 
non volatile memory 
no-op instruction /,nau 'dp m 
,strAkJ(3)n/, no op /,nau 'Dp/ noun an in- 
struction that does not carry out any func- 
tions but increments the program counter 
no parity /,nao 'paerati/ noun data trans- 
mission which does not use a parity bit 
NOR function /'no:r .fArjkfsn/ noun a 
logical function whose output is false if ei- 
ther input is true 
comment: The output is 1 only if both in- 
puts are 0; if the two inputs are different or 
if both are 1 , the output is 0. 
NOR gate /'noir geit/ noun an electric cir- 
cuit or chip which performs a NOR function 
normal /'noim(3)l/ adjective usual or 
which happens regularly O The normal pro- 
cedure is for backup copies to be made at the 
end of each day's work. 
normal form /'noim(3)l fo:m/ noun a 
method of structuring information in a data- 
base to avoid redundancy and improve stor- 
age efficiency 

normalisation /.noimalai 'zeif(a)n/, nor- 
malization noun the process of normalising 
data 

normalise /'noimajaiz/, normalize verb 
1 . to convert data into a form which can be 
read by a particular computer system 2. to 
store and represent numbers in a pre-agreed 
form, usually to provide maximum precision 
O All the new data has been normalised to 10 
decimal places, (note: normalises - nor- 
malising - normalised) 
normalised form /'noimslaizd form/ 
noun a floating point number that has been 
normalised so that its mantissa is within a 
certain range 

normal range /'no:m(a)I remd3/ noun 
the expected range for a result or number 
(note: Any outside this range are errors.) 
NOS abbr network operating system 
NOT-AND /,not 'aend/ noun an equivalent 
to the NAND function 

notation /nao'tei J"(3)n/ noun a method of 
writing or representing numbers 
notebook computer /,nautbuk kam 
'pjuita/ noun a very small portable compu- 
ter, usually smaller than a laptop computer, 
that has a small keyboard and display and can 
be carried easily 

NOT function /'not .fAnkfan/ noun a log- 
ical inverse function in which the output is 
true if the input is false 
comment: If the input is 1 , the output is 0; if 
the input is 0, the output is 1 . 
NOT gate /'nDt geit/ noun same as nega- 
tion gate 



169 



notice board /'nautis boid/ noun 1. a 
board fixed to a wall where notices can be 
pinned up 2. a type of bulletin board on 
which messages to all users can be left 
notification message /.nsutifi 
'keij(3)n ,mesid3/ noun a message within 
authoring software to notify other objects 
that a particular task has been completed O If 
an object is moved, the application will gen- 
erate a notification message to tell other 
processes when it has finished moving the ob- 
ject. 

notify handler /'naotifai .haendla/ noun 
a series of commands that are executed when 
a particular notification message is received 
Novell /nau'vel/ a large company that pro- 
duces network software and is best known for 
its NetWare range of network operating sys- 
tem software that runs on a PC server 
ns abbr nanosecond 

NSFnet /,en es 'ef net/ noun a wide area 
network developed by the National Science 
Foundation to replace ArpaNet as the main 
US government-funded network linking to- 
gether universities and research laboratories 
(note: NSFnet was a crucial stepping-stone 
in the development history of the Internet. It 
was closed down in 1995 and replaced by a 
commercial high-speed network backbone 
that formed one of the foundations for the 
current commercial Internet.) 
NTFS full form New Technology File 
System 

NTSC /,en til es 'si:/ noun a US committee 
that defines standards for television and vid- 
eo. Full form National Television System 
Committee 

NuBuS /'njuibAs/ noun a high-speed 96- 
pin expansion bus used within Apple Mac II 
computers 

null AiaI/ adjective nothing 
number /'nAmba/ noun 1 . a representation 
of a quantity 2. a written figure O Each piece 
of hardware has a production number. ■ verb 



nybble 

1 . to put a figure on a document O The pages 
of the manual are numbered 1 to 196. 2. to 
assign digits to a list of items in an ordered 
manner 

number cruncher /'nAmba .krAntJV 
noun a dedicated processor used for high- 
speed calculations 

number crunching /'nAmbs krAnt riry 
noun the process of performing high-speed 
calculations O A very powerful processor is 
needed for graphics applications which re- 
quire extensive number crunching capabili- 
ties. 

numeral /'nju:m(3)rel/ noun a character 
or symbol which represents a number 
numeric /njui'menk/ adjective 1. refer- 
ring to numbers 2. which contains only num- 
bers O a numeric field 
numerical /njui'menk(3)l/ adjective re- 
ferring to numbers 

numerical analysis /nju:,menk(3)l a 
'naelasis/ noun the study of ways of solving 
mathematical problems 
numerical control /njui,menk(3)l kan 
'traol/ noun a machine operated automati- 
cally by computer or a set of circuits control- 
led by stored data. Abbr NC 
numeric keypad /nju:,menk 'kiipaed/ 
noun a set of ten keys with figures 0-9, in- 
cluded in most computer keyboards as a sep- 
arate group, used for entering large amounts 
of data in numeric form. Also called numer- 
ic pad 

numeric pad /nju:,menk 'paed/ noun 
same as numeric keypad 
Num Lock key /'nAin Ink ,ki:/ noun (on a 
keyboard) a key that switches the function of 
a numeric keypad from cursor control to nu- 
meric entry 

nybble /'mb(3)l/, nibble noun half the 
length of a standard byte (informal) 
comment: A nybble is usually 4 bits, but 
can vary according to different microcom- 
puter. 



OA abbr office automation 
Object /'Dbd3ekt/ noun 1. the data that 
makes up a particular image or sound 2. a 
variable used in an IKBS within a reasoning 
operation 3. the data in a statement which is 
to be operated on by the operator 

Objective /3b'd3ektiv/ noun 1. something 
which someone tries to do 2. an optical lens 
nearest the object viewed 3. any optical de- 
vice which has the ability to form images 

Object language /,Dbd3ekt 'laengwids/ 
noun the language of a program after it has 
been translated. Opposite source language 

object linking and embedding 

/,Dbd3ekt ,linkin and tm'bedin/ noun full 

form of OLE 

object linking and embedding 2 

/,Dbd3ekt .lirjkirj and im.bedin 'tui/ noun 
full form of OLE-2 

object-oriented /,Dbd3ekt 'oirientid/ 
adjective referring to a system or language 
that uses objects 

object-oriented graphics /,Dbd3ekt 
.oirientid 'graefiks/ plural noun graphics 
which use lines and curves, vector defini- 
tions, to describe the shapes of the image 
rather than pixels in a bitmap image O This 
object-oriented graphics program lets you 
move shapes around very easily. 

object-oriented language /.nbd.sckt 

.oirientid 'laengwid3/ noun a programming 
language that is used for object-oriented pro- 
gramming, e.g. C++ 

object-oriented programming 

/,Dbd3ekt ,o:rientid 'prsograemin/ noun a 
method of programming, as in C++, in which 
each element of the program is treated as an 
object that can interact with other objects 
within the program. Abbr OOP 

Object Request Broker /ab^ekt n 

'kwest ,brauk3/ noun software that links 

objects together using the CORBA standard. 

Abbr ORB 

oblique Stroke /a'bliik strauk/ noun a 

printing sign (/) like stroke sloping to the 

right 

Obtain /ab'tein/ verb to get or receive 
something O to obtain data from a storage 
device 



0CE/,3u sii 'hi noun a set of standards that 
allow networked Apple Mac users to share 
objects and fdes. Full form open collabora- 
tion environment 

OCR /,ao si: 'ail noun 1. a device which 
scans printed or written characters, recognis- 
es them and converts them into machine- 
readable form for processing in a computer. 
Full form optical character reader 2. soft- 
ware or a process that allows printed or writ- 
ten characters to be recognised optically and 
converted into machine-readable code that 
can be input into a computer, using an optical 
character reader. Full form optical charac- 
ter recognition 
'In 1986, Calera Recognition Systems introduced 
the first neural-network-based OCR system that 
could read complex pages containing any mix- 
ture of non-decorative fonts without manual 
training.' [Computing] 

comment: There are two OCR fonts in 
common use: OCR-A, which is easy for 
scanners to read, and OCR-B, which is 
easier for people to read than the OCR-A 
font. 

octal /'okt(a)l/, octal notation /,nkt(a)I 

n3u'teij(3)n/ noun a number notation using 
base 8, with digits to 7 

comment: In octal, the digits used are to 

7; so decimal 9 is octal 1 1 . 

octet /Dk'tet/ noun a group of eight bits 
treated as one unit or word, t) byte 
OCX /,au sii 'eks/ noun the file extension of 
an ActiveX component or add-in that is used 
by an application such as a web browser or 
custom application running under Windows 
95 or 98 

ODBC nounn software interface that allows 
an application to access any compatible data 
source. Full form open database connec- 
tivity (note: The standard was developed 
by Microsoft but is used by many different 
developers as a standard method of provid- 
ing access to a wide range of databases.) 
ODI a trade name for a standard interface, 
defined by Novell, for an NIC that allows us- 
ers to have just one network driver that will 
work with all NICs. Full form open datalink 
interface. Compare NDIS (note: The 
standard also supports more than one pro- 
tocol, e.g. IPX and NetBEUI.) 



171 



OMR 



OEM /,au ii 'em/ noun a company which 
produces equipment using basic parts made 
by other manufacturers, and customises the 
product for a particular application O One 
OEM supplies the disk drive, another the 
monitor. Full form original equipment 
manufacturer 

Off-CUt /'of kAt/ noun scrap paper that is 
left when a sheet is trimmed to size 
Office /'Dfis/ noun a room or building 
where a company works or where business is 
done 

office automation /,Dfis .oita'mei r(a)n/ 
noun the use of machines and computers to 
carry out ordinary office tasks. Abbr OA 
office computer /.ofis kam'pjuita/ 
noun a small computer, sometimes with a 
hard disk and several terminals, suitable for 
office use 

off-line /,Df 'lam/ adverb, adjective 1. re- 
ferring to a processor, printer or terminal that 
is not connected to a network or central com- 
puter, usually temporarily O Before changing 
the paper in the printer, switch it off-line. 2. 
referring to a peripheral connected to a net- 
work but not available for use. Compare on- 
line 

off-line editing /,Df lam 'editm/ noun an 
editing process in which copies of the origi- 
nal sound tape or videotape are used, cut and 
edited to create an EDL that is then used in an 
on-line editing suite to automatically assem- 
ble all the sectors of the tape according to the 
instructions in the EDL (note: Off-line edit- 
ing software allows two or more video clips 
to be edited and merged with effects.) 
off-line newsreader /,nf lam 
'njuizriida/ noun apiece of software that al- 
lows a user to read newsgroup articles when 
the computer is not connected to the Internet 
off-line printing /,of lam 'prmtirj/ noun 
a printout operation that is not supervised by 
a computer 

off-line processing /,nf lam 
'prsosesirj/ noun processing performed by 
devices not under the control of a central 
computer 

off-line storage /,of lam 'sto:rid3/ noun 
storage that is not currently available for ac- 
cess 

Offprint /'of print/ noun a section of a jour- 
nal reprinted separately 
off-scale /,Df 'skeil/ adverb outside the 
area of the standard light point scale of a 
printer 

off screen /,t>f 'skrim/ adverb TV action 
that is taking place off the screen, outside the 
viewer's field of vision 



off-screen buffer /,t)f skrim 'b\f a/ noun 
the area of RAM used to hold an off-screen 
image before it is displayed on screen 
off-screen image /,Df skrim 'imid3/ 
noun an image that is first drawn in memory 
and then is transferred to the display memory 
to give the impression of fast display action 
Offset /'Dt'set/ noun positive or negative 
time displacement in systems using time 
code synchronisation 

Ohm /sum/ noun a unit of measurement of 
electrical resistance 

Ohm's Law /'aumz loi/ noun a scientific 
rule which defines one ohm as: one volt drop 
across a resistance of one ohm when one amp 
of current is flowing 

OK/,au 'kei/ noun used as a prompt in place 
of 'ready' in some systems 
OK button /au'kei ,bAt(a)n/ noun (in a 
GUI) a button with an 'OK' label that is used 
to start or confirm an action 
OLE /,3u el 'ii/ noun (in Microsoft Win- 
dows) a facility for including data formatted 
in one application within another application: 
e.g. insertion of an object such as an image or 
sound into a document or spreadsheet. Full 
form object linking and embedding. : 
DDE 

OLE-2 /,ao el i: 'tu:/ noun (in Microsoft 
Windows) a facility that extends the func- 
tions of OLE to include visual editing to al- 
low the embedded object to be edited without 
leaving the document in which it is embed- 
ded. Full form object linking and embed- 
ding 2 (note: If you insert an image into a 
document, you can now edit the image with- 
out leaving the word-processor. OLE2 also 
allows applications to exchange informa- 
tion.) 

omission factor /3u'miJ(3)n .faekta/ 
noun the number of relevant documents that 
were missed in a search 
omnidirectional /,t>mni'dairekran(3)V 
adjective device that can pick up signals 
from all directions 

omnidirectional microphone 

/,Dmnidairekj3n(3)l 'maikrefaon/ noun a 
microphone which is able to pick up sound 
evenly in all directions 
OMR /,su em 'a:/ noun 1. a device that can 
recognise marks or lines on a special forms 
such as an order form or a reply to a question- 
naire and convert them into a form a compu- 
ter can process. Full form optical mark 
reader 2. a process that allows certain marks 
or lines on special forms such as an order 
form or a reply to a questionnaire to be rec- 
ognised by an OMR and input into a compu- 
ter. Full form optical mark recognition 



on-board 



172 



on-board /,dii 'boid/ adjective referring to 
a feature or circuit which is contained on a 
motherboard or main PCB 
'...the electronic page is converted to a printer- 
readable video image by the on-board raster im- 
age processor the key intelligence features of 
these laser printers are emulation modes and on- 
board memory' [Byte] 
on Chip/,Dn 'tjip/ noun a circuit construct- 
ed on a chip 

on-chip /,Dn 'tjip/ adjective referring to a 
circuit constructed on a chip O The processor 
uses on-chip bootstrap software to allow pro- 
grams to he loaded rapidly. 
one for one /,WAn fa 'waii/ noun a pro- 
gramming language, usually assembler, that 
produces one machine code instruction for 
each instruction or command word in the lan- 
guage 
comment: Compilers and interpreters are 
usually used for translating high-level lan- 
guages that use more than one machine 
code instruction for each high-level instruc- 
tion. 
1 0OBase-FX noun IEEE standard specifi- 
cation for running Ethernet over optical fibre 
at speeds up to 100Mbps 
onion skin architecture /'Anjsn skm 
,aikitekt JV noun a design of a computer 
system in layers, according to function or pri- 
ority O The onion skin architecture of this 
computer is made up of a kernel at the centre, 
an operating system, a low-level language 
and then the user's program. 

onion skin language /'Aiijon skm 

,laerjgwid3/ noun a database manipulation 
language that can process hierarchical data 
structures 

online /Dn'lam/ adverb, adjective referring 
to a terminal or device connected to and un- 
der the control of a central processor O The 
terminal is online to the mainframe. 

online database /,Dnlam 'deitabeis/ 

noun an interactive search, retrieve and up- 
date of database records using an online ter- 
minal 

online editing /Dn,lam 'editirj/ noun the 
process of creating a finished audio or film 
sequence from original tape using editing in- 
structions in an EDL list 
online help /.Dnlam 'help/ noun a text 
screen displayed from within an application 
that explains how to use the application 
online information retrieval /,Dnlam 
l mfa'meiJ'(a)n ri,tri:v3l/ noun a system 
that allows an operator of an online terminal 
to access, search and display data held in a 
main computer 

online processing /,t>nlam 'prausesirj/ 
noun processing by devices connected to and 
under the control of the central computer, 



during which the user remains in contact with 
the central computer 

online storage /,Dnlam 'st3ind3/ noun 
data storage equipment that is directly con- 
trolled by a computer 

online transaction processing 
/,Dnlam traen'zaekfan .prausestrj/ noun an 
interactive processing in which a user enters 
commands and data on a terminal which is 
linked to a central computer, with results be- 
ing displayed on the screen 
OnNow /,Dn'nao/ noun a standard that pro- 
vides a way of integrating power manage- 
ment and control within all types of computer 
(note: The main benefit of OnNow is that it 
allows the development of a computer that 
is dormant but will be ready to use almost 
immediately after it has been switched on, 
unlike current computers that can take a 
minute to configure and load the operating 
system.) 

on-screen /,Dn 'skriin/ adjective referring 
to information that is displayed on a compu- 
ter screen rather than printed out 
on-site /,Dn 'sait/ adjective located at the 
place where a particular thing is O The new 
model has an on-site upgrade facility. 
on the fly /,Dn da 'flai/ adverb (to exam- 
ine and modify data) during a program run 
without stopping the run 
OOP abbr object-oriented programming 
o/p, O/P abbr output 

opacity /ao'paesiti/ noun a measure of how 
opaque an optical lens is. Opposite transmit- 
tance 

op amp /'Dp aemp/ noun a versatile elec- 
tronic component that provides amplifica- 
tion, integration, addition, subtraction and 
many other functions on signals depending 
on external components added. Full form op- 
erational amplifier 

opaque /ao'peik/ adjective will not allow 
light to pass through it 
opaque leader /ao.peik 'liida/ noun part 
of a filmstrip which is used as a leader: no 
image is present 

opaque projector /3u,peik pra'd3ekt3/ 
noun a device that is able to project an image 
of an opaque object 

op code /'Dp kaod/ noun a part of the ma- 
chine code instruction that defines the action 
to be performed. Also called operation 
code, order code 

open /'aupan/ adjective 1. called up and 
prepared before reading or writing actions 
can occur O You cannot access the data un- 
less the file is open. 2. not closed ■ verb 1 . to 
take the cover off something or to make a 
door open O Open the disk drive door. 2. to 
call up and prepare a file before accessing, 



173 



optical scanner 



editing or carrying out other transactions on 
stored records O You cannot access the data 
unless the file has been opened. 
open access /.aupan 'aekses/ noun a sys- 
tem in which many workstations are availa- 
ble for anyone to use 

open architecture /.aopan 'aikitekt JV 
noun computer architecture with a published 
expansion interface that has been designed to 
allow add-on hardware to be plugged in 
open collaboration environment 
/,3up3n k3,laeb3'reij(3)n ir^varrenmant/ 
noun full form of OCE 
open database connectivity /.oopon 
,deit3beis ,kDnek'tiviti/ noun full form of 
ODBC 

open datalink interface /.aupan 
'deitahrjk .intafeis/ noun full form of ODI 
open file /'aopan fail/ noun a file that can 
be read from or written to (note: An applica- 
tion opens the file which locates the file on 
disk and prepares it for an operation.) 
open source /,3op3n 'sois/ adjective de- 
scribes a program for which the source code 
is freely available and which anyone is legal- 
ly able to modify and improve 
'In yet another initiative, aimed at cutting the up- 
front costs of big IT projects, the OGC is tipping 
towards a preference for open source software.' 
[The Guardian] 

open system /'aupan .sistsm/ noun a 
nonproprietary system that is not under the 
control of one company 
open system interconnection 

/,3up3n .sistam jntsks'nekJXa)!!/ noun 
full form of OSI 

open trading protocol /aupsn 'treidirj 
.praotakDl/ noun a standardised computer 
protocol for transactions involving payments 
and for methods of payment. Abbr OTP 
operand /'Dparaend/ noun the data in a 
computer instruction which is to be operated 
on by the operator O In the instruction ADD 
74, the operator ADD will add the operand 
74 to the accumulator. 

operate /'Dpareit/ verb to work or to make 
a machine work O Do you know how to oper- 
ate the telephone switchboard? (note: oper- 
ates - operating - operated) 

operation /,Dp3'reiJ(3)n/ noun the work- 
ing of a machine 

operational /.Dpa'reiJXajnal/ adjective 
which is working 

operational amplifier /.ops.reiJXsfnsl 
.aempli'faia/, op amp /'dp aemp/ noun a 
versatile electronic component that provides 



amplification, integration, addition, subtrac- 
tion and many other functions on signals de- 
pending on external components added 

operational information /.opa 

,reij(3)n3l ^nfa'meiKajn/ noun informa- 
tion about the normal operations of a system 

operation code /,Dpa'reif(3)n kaod/ 
noun same as op code 

operations manual /,Dpa,reif(a)nz 
'maenjual/ noun same as instruction man- 
ual 

operator /'Dp3,reit3/ noun 1. a person 
who makes a machine or process work O The 
operator was sitting at his console. 2. a char- 
acter, symbol or word that defines a function 
or operation O x is the multiplication opera- 
tor. 
optic /'Dptik/ adjective referring to sight 

optical /'Dptik(3)l/ adjective referring to or 
making use of light O An optical reader uses 
a light beam to scan characters. 

optical bar reader /,Dptik(a)l 'bai 

,riida/ noun an optical device that reads data 

from a bar code 

optical character reader /,t>ptik(a)l 

'kaenkta .riids/ noun full form of OCR 1 

optical character recognition 

/,rjptik(3)l .kaenkta ,rek3g'nij(3)n/ noun 

full form of OCR 2 

optically /'Dptik(3)li/ adverb by using an 

optical device O The text is scanned optical- 

ly. 

optical mark reader /,optik(3)l maik 
,ri:da/ noun full form of OMR 1 
optical mark recognition /,t>ptik(a)l 
ma:k ,rek3g'nij(3)n/ noun full form of 
OMR 2 

optical mouse /'t>ptik(3)l maus/ noun a 
pointing device that is operated by moving it 
across a special flat mat; (note: On the mat 
is printed a grid of lines. As the mouse is 
moved, two light sensors count the number 
of lines that have been passed to produce a 
measure of the distance and direction of 
travel. An optical mouse has fewer moving 
parts than a mechanical mouse and so is 
more reliable, but requires an accurately 
printed mat.) 

optical multiplexing /,uptik(3)l 
'mAltipleksirj/ noun the process of sending 
several light beams down a single path or fi- 
bre 

optical scanner /,t>ptik(a)l 'skaena/ 
noun a piece of equipment that converts an 
image into electrical signals which can be 
stored in and displayed on a computer 



optics 174 

optics /'Dptiks/ noun the science of light 
and sight 

optimisation, optimization noun the 
process of making something work as effi- 
ciently as possible 

optimise /'Dptimaiz/, optimize verb to 
make something work as efficiently as possi- 
ble (note: optimises - optimising - opti- 
mised) 

optimiser /'Dptimaiza/, optimizer noun a 
program that adapts another program to run 
more efficiently 

optimising compiler /^ptimaizirj kam 
'paila/ noun a compiler that analyses the ma- 
chine code it produces in order to improve 
the speed or efficiency of the code 
optimum /'Dptimam/ adjective best possi- 
ble 

opt-in mailing list /,opt m 'meilirj list/ 
noun a list of email addresses in which each 
recipient has specifically asked to receive ad- 
vertising email messages, usually so that he 
or she can keep up to date with a topic or in- 
dustry 

option /'Dpjan/ noun an action which can 
be chosen O There are usually four options 
along the top of the screen. 
optional /'DpJ"(3)n(3)l/ adjective which 
can be chosen O The system comes with op- 
tional 3.5 or 5.25 disk drives. 

optoelectrical /,Dpt3ui'lektnk(3)l/ ad- 
jective which converts light to electrical sig- 
nals or electrical signals into light 
optoelectronic /,Dpt3u,elek'trDnik/ ad- 
jective (microelectronic component) that has 
optoelectrical properties 
optoelectronics /.Dptau.elek'trDniks/ 
noun electronic components that can gener- 
ate or detect light, such as phototransistors, 
light-emitting diodes 

optomechanical mouse /.nptaumi 
,kaenik(3)l 'maos/ noun same as mechani- 
cal mouse 

OR noun a Boolean function that is often 
used in searches to ask the search engine to 
find text that contains any of the search 
words. Compare AND (note: For example 
the phrase 'dog OR cat' will include all doc- 
uments that contain the words dog or cat.) 
Orange Book /'Drmd3 bok/ noun a set of 
standards published by Philips that define the 
format for a recordable CD-ROM 
orbit /'o:bit/ noun the path in space that a 
satellite follows around the earth ■ verb to 
follow a path in space around the earth O The 
weather satellite orbits the earth every four 
hours. 

order /'oida/ verb to sort data according to 
a key 



order code /'aida kaod/ noun same as op 
code 

ordered list /'oidad list/ noun a list of 
data items which have been sorted into an or- 
der 

OR function /'o: .fArjkfan/ nouna logical 
function that produces a true output if any in- 
put is true 
comment: The result of the OR function will 
be 1 if either or both inputs are 1 ; if both in- 
puts are 0, then the result is 0. 

organisation /,oig3nai'zeiJ(3)n/, organ- 
ization noun a way of arranging something 
so that it works efficiently or has a logical 
structure 

organisational /,o:g9nai'zeiJ"(a)n(3)l/, 
organizational adjective referring to the 
way in which something is organised 
organise /'3ig3,naiz/, organize verb to 
arrange something so that it works efficiently 
or has a logical structure (note: organises - 
organising - organised) 
OR gate /'o: geit/ noun an electronic cir- 
cuit that provides the OR function 
orientated /'oirianteitid/ adjective aimed 
towards something 

orientation /,oiri3n'teiJ(3)n/ noun 1. the 
direction or position of an object 2. (in word- 
processing or DTP software) the direction of 
a page, either landscape, with long edge hor- 
izontal, or portrait, with long edge vertical 
origin /'Dnd3in/ noun 1. the position on a 
display screen to which all coordinates are 
referenced, usually the top left hand corner of 
the screen 2. a location in memory at which 
the first instruction of a program is stored 
Original /3'nd33n(3)l/ adjective used or 
made first ■ noun 1. the master data disk, 
from which a copy can be made 2. the first 
document, from which a copy is made O Did 
you keep the original of the letter? O The 
original document is too faint to photocopy 
well. 

original equipment manufacturer h 

,nd33n(3)l i,kwipm3nt .maenju'faektjaro/ 
noun full form of OEM O One OEM supplies 
the disk drive, another the monitor. 
originate h'riA-^mtitl verb to start or 
come from a place or source O The data orig- 
inated from the new computer, (note: origi- 
nates - originating - originated) 
origination /3,rid3i'neiJ(3)n/ noun the 
work involved in creating something 
orphan /'oif(3)n/ noun the first line of a 
paragraph of text printed alone at the bottom 
of a column, with the rest of the paragraph at 
the top of the next column or page. Compare 
widow (note: An orphan makes a page 
look ugly.) 



175 



over-voltage protection 



oscillator /'Dsi,leit3/ noun an electronic 
circuit that produces a pulse or signal at a 
particular frequency 

Oscilloscope /D'sibskaop/ noun elec- 
tronic test equipment that displays on a CRT 
the size and shape of an electrical signal 
OSI /,au es 'ai/ noun a standard theoretical 
model of a network that is created from seven 
different layers each with a different func- 
tion. This model provides the basis of almost 
all networks in use. Full form open system 
interconnection. : ISO/OSI 
Outage /'aotic^/ noun the time during 
which a system is not operational 
outdent /aot'dent/ verb to move part of a 
line of text into the margin. Opposite indent 
Outlet /'autlet/ noun a connection or point 
in a circuit or network where a signal or data 
can be accessed 

Outline /'autlam/ noun the main features of 
something 

outline flowchart /'aut(a)lam 
,fbut Jait/ noun a flowchart of the main fea- 
tures, steps and decisions in a program or 
system 

OUtliner /'aotlatna/ noun a utility program 
used to help a user order sections and subsec- 
tions of a list of things to do or parts of a 
project 

out of band signalling /,aut ov ,baend 
'sign(3)hrj/ noun the transmission of signals 
outside the frequency limits of a normal 
voice channel 

out of phase /,aut av 'feiz/ adverb situa- 
tion where a waveform is delayed in compar- 
ison to another 

out of range /,aut av 'reiiuh/ adjective 
referring to a number or quantity that is out- 
side the limits of a system 
out-of-sync /,aut av 'sink/ adjective fault 
when the sound and picture are not synchro- 
nised 

Output /'autput/ noun 1. information or 
data that is transferred from a CPU or the 
main memory to another device such as a 
monitor, printer or secondary storage device 
2. the action of transferring information or 
data from store to a user ► abbr o/p, O/P ■ 
verb to transfer data from a computer to a 
monitor or printer O Finished documents can 
be output to the laser printer. 
Outsource /'aut,SDis/ verb to employ an- 
other company to manage and support a net- 
work for your company 
Overflow /'aovafbo/ noun 1 . a mathemat- 
ical result that is greater than the limits of the 
computer's number storage system 2. a situ- 
ation in a network when the number of trans- 
missions is greater than the line capacity and 



they are transferred by another route ► abbr 
OV 

Overhead /'auvahed/ noun an extra code 
that has to be stored to organise the program 
O The line numbers in a BASIC program are 
an overhead. 

overheat /,3uv3'riiit/ verb to become too 
hot O The system may overheat if the room is 
not air-conditioned. 

Overlap /,3ov3'laep/ noun 1. a situation in 
which one thing covers part of another or two 
sections of data are placed on top of each oth- 
er 2. the continuation of the sound track into 
the following scene for smooth continuity 
(film) ■ verb to cover part of an item with an- 
other (note: overlapping - overlapped) 
Overlay /buvalei/ noun 1. a small section 
of a program that is bigger than the main 
memory capacity of a computer, loaded into 
memory when required, so that main memo- 
ry only contains the sections it requires 2. a 
device that converts composite video or tele- 
vision signals into a digital format so that 
they can be displayed on a computer 
'Many packages also boast useful drawing and 
overlay facilities which enable the user to anno- 
tate specific maps.' [Computing] 
Overlay card /'aovalet kaid/ noun same 
as video graphics card 
overlay function /buvalet ,fArjkJ(3)n/ 
noun » matte, chroma key 
overlaying /'auvaleirj/ noun the process 
of putting an overlay into action 
overlay network /bovalei ,netw3ik/ 
noun two communications networks that 
have some common interconnections 
overload /.auvs'lsisd/ verb to demand 
more than the device is capable of O The 
computer is overloaded with that amount of 
processing. 

overmodulation /,3uv3,mDdju'leiJ(3)n/ 
noun a situation where an amplitude modu- 
lated carrier signal is reduced to zero by ex- 
cessive input signal 

overpunching /^uva'pAntJirj/ noun the 
process of altering data on a paper tape by 
punching additional holes 
Overscan /bovaskaen/ noun 1. a faulty or 
badly adjusted monitor in which the dis- 
played image runs off the edge of the screen 
2. display equipment in which the picture 
beam scans past the screen boundaries to en- 
sure that the image fills the screen 
overstrike /' uvastraik/ verb to print on 
top of an existing character to produce a new 
one 

overtones /'aovataonz/ noun » harmon- 
ic 

over-voltage protection /,auva 
'v3olttd3 pr3,tekj(3)n/ noun a safety de- 



overwrite 176 

vice that prevents a power supply voltage ex- that location O The latest data input has 

ceeding certain specified limits overwritten the old information, (note: 

overwrite /.auva'rait/ verbto write data to overwriting - overwrote - overwritten) 

a location, e.g. memory or disk, and, in doing oxide /'Dksaid/ noun a chemical compound 

so, to destroy any data already contained in of oxygen 



p /pi:/ abbrpico- 
P abbr peta 

PABX abbr private automatic branch ex- 
change 

pack /paek/ verb 1 . to put things into a con- 
tainer for selling or sending O to pack goods 
into cartons 2. to store a quantity of data in a 
reduced form, often by representing several 
characters of data with one stored character 
package /'paekid3/ noun a group of differ- 
ent items joined together in one deal 
package deal /,paekid3 'diil/ noun an 
agreement in which several different items 
are agreed at the same time O They agreed on 
a package deal, which involves the develop- 
ment of software, customising hardware, and 
training staff. 

packaged software /,paekid3d 
'sDftwea/ noun same as software package 
packet /'paekit/ noun a group of data bits 
which can be transmitted as a group from one 
node to another over a network 
packet Internet groper /.paekit 
.mtanet 'graopa/ noun full form of PING 
packet switching /'paekit switjirj/ noun 
a method of sending data across a WAN in 
small packets, which are then re-assembled 
in the correct order at the receiving end 
The network is based on Northern Telecom DPN 
data switches over which it will offer X.25 packet 
switching, IBM SNA, and frame-relay transmis- 
sion.' [Computing] 

packet switching service /'paekit 

.switjirj ,S3:vis/ noun a commercial data 
transmission service that sends data over its 
WAN using packet switching. Abbr PSS 
packing /'paekirj/ noun 1. the action of 
putting goods into boxes and wrapping them 
for shipping O What is the cost of the pack- 
ing? O Packing is included in the price. 2. the 
process of putting large amounts of data into 
a small area of storage 3. a material used to 
protect goods O packed in airtight packing 
pad /paed/ noun a number of keys arranged 
together ■ verb to fill something out and 
make it bigger or the right size (note: pad- 
ding - padded) 

padding /'paedirj/ noun a character or set 
of digits added to fill out a string or packet 
until it is the right length 
page /peid3/ noun 1 . a sheet of paper 2. an 
amount of text displayed on a computer mon- 



itor or screen which would fill a page of pa- 
per if printed out or which fills the screen 3. 
a section of main store, which contains data 
or programs O the video adapter uses page- 
mode RAM to speed up the display 4. one 
side of a printed sheet of paper in a book or 
newspaper or magazine or catalogue, etc. 5. a 
blank area of the screen used as a background 
for a multimedia book. The design of each 
page is created by pasting objects, such as 
windows, buttons, graphic images and text, 
onto the page. ■ verb to make up a text into 
pages 

page addressing /'peid3 3,dresirj/ noun 
main memory which has been split into 
blocks, with a unique address allocated to 
each block of memory which can then be 
called up and accessed individually, when re- 
quired 

page boundary /'peid3 ,baund(3)ri/ 
noun a point where one page ends and the 
next starts 

page break /,peid3 'breik/ noun 1. the 
point in continuous text at which a page ends 
and a new page starts 2. a marker used when 
word-processing to show where a new page 
should start 

paged address /,peid3d a'dres/ noun (in 
a paged-memory scheme) the actual physi- 
cal memory address that is calculated from a 
logical address and its page address 
page description language /.pcid.s di 
'skripjan ,laerjgwid3/ noun software that 
controls a printer's actions to print a page of 
text to a particular format according to a us- 
er's instructions. Abbr PDL 
page description programming lan- 
guage /,peid3 ~ di,sknpj(3)n 
'praugraemirj ,laerjgwid3/ noun a program- 
ming language that accepts commands to de- 
fine the size, position and type style for text 
or graphics on a page 

page down key /,peid3 'daon ,ki:/ noun 
a keyboard key that moves the cursor posi- 
tion down by the number of lines on one 
screen. Abbr PgDn 

page frame /,peid3 'freim/ noun a physi- 
cal address to which a page of virtual or log- 
ical memory can be mapped 
page image buffer/,peid3 imid3 ,bAfa/ 
noun memory in a page printer that holds the 
image as it is built up before it is printed 



page impression 



178 



page impression /'peid3 im,prej(3)n/ 
noun a measure used to count how many 
times a webpage has been displayed to a vis- 
itor to a website 

page layout /'peid3 .leiaut/ noun the ar- 
rangement of text and pictures within a page 
of a document O We do all our page layout 
using desktop publishing software. 
page makeup /,peid3 'meikAp/ noun the 
action of pasting images and text into a page 
ready for printing 

page-mode RAM /,peid3 maud 'rasm/ 
noun dynamic RAM designed to access se- 
quential memory locations very quickly O 
The video adapter uses page-mode RAM to 
speed up the display. 

page number /'peid3 ,riAmb3/ noun a 
unique number assigned to each page within 
a multimedia application, to be used within 
hyperlinks and when moving between pages 
page orientation /'peid3 

,3iri3nteiJ(3)n/ noun the direction of the 
long edge of a piece of paper 
page preview /'peid3 ,priivjui/ noun (in 
WP or DTP software) a graphical representa- 
tion of how a page will look when printed, 
with different type styles, margins and graph- 
ics correctly displayed 
page proofs /'peid3 pruifs/ plural noun 
proofs which are divided into pages, but may 
not have page numbers or headings inserted 
page protection /'peid3 pre.tekfan/ 
noun the set of software controls used to en- 
sure that pages are not overwritten by acci- 
dent or copied into a reserved section of 
memory 

pager /'peid33/ noun a small device carried 
by someone, which allows him to be called 
from a central office, by using a radio signal 
page requests /,peid3 n'kwests/ plural 
noun a measure of the number of pages 
viewed in a day, providing an indication of 
the popularity of your website 
page setup /'peid3 ,setAp/ noun the set 
of software options that allow a user to set up 
how the page will look when printed, - usu- 
ally setting the margins, size of paper, and 
scaling of a page 

pages per minute /,peid3iz p3i 'mmat/ 
noun full form of ppm O This laser printer 
can output eight pages per minute. 
page table /'peid3 ,teib(3)l/ noun a list of 
all the pages and their locations within main 
memory, used by the operating system when 
accessing a page 

page up key /,peid3 'Ap ,kii/ noun a key- 
board key that moves the cursor position up 
by the number of lines in one screen. Abbr 
PgUp 



pagination /,pa2d3i'neir(3)n/ noun the 
process of dividing text into pages 
paint /pemt/ noun (in a graphics program) 
colour and pattern used to fill an area ■ verb 
(in a graphics program) to fill an enclosed 
graphics shape with a colour 
Paint /,paintbrAj 'pemt/ noun an applica- 
tion supplied with Microsoft Windows 3.1x 
and Windows 95 for creating or editing bit- 
map images 

paint object /'pemt ,Dbd3ekt/ noun a bit- 
map image 

paint pots /'pemt pDts/ plural noun video 
controls which are used to change the colour 
balance in a camera (film) 
paint program /'pemt ,pr3ogra;m/ noun 
software that allows a user to draw pictures 
on screen in different colours, with different 
styles of brush and special effects O / drew a 
rough of our new logo with this paint pro- 
gram. 
comment: Paint programs normally oper- 
ate on bitmap images. Drafting or design 
software normally works with vector-based 
images. 

PAL /,pii ei 'el/ noun a standard for televi- 
sion transmission and reception using a 625- 
line picture transmitted at 25 frames per sec- 
ond;. Full form phase alternation line 
(note: PAL provides a clearer image than 
NTSC and is used in most of Europe, ex- 
cept for France, which uses SECAM. The 
US and Japan use NTSC.) 
palette /'pasbt/ noun 1. the range of col- 
ours which can be used on a printer or com- 
puter display 2. data structure that defines the 
colours used in a bitmap image; the palette 
data defines each colour, the bitmap includes 
references to the colours in the palette 
palette Shift /'paebt rift/ noun an image 
displayed using the wrong palette with the 
unwanted effect that the colours appear dis- 
torted 

palm computer /'paim karr^pjuita/ 
noun a tiny computer that is about half the 
size of a paperback book. It does not contain 
a keyboard, but uses a touch-sensitive screen 
and character recognition to allow the user to 
enter information and control applications. 
Normally used for contact management, cal- 
endar and email. One of the most popular 
products is the 3Com Palm computer that 
runs its own operating system software and a 
range of palm computers that can all run the 
Windows CE operating system software. 
palmtop /'paimtDp/ noun a personal com- 
puter that is small enough to be held in one 
hand and operated with the other O This 
palmtop has a tiny keyboard and twenty-line 
LCD screen. 



179 



PAM noun a pulse modulation system in 
which the height of the pulse varies with the 
input signal. Full form pulse amplitude 
modulation 

pan /paen/ verb 1 . (in computer graphics) to 
smoothly move a viewing window horizon- 
tally across an image that is too wide to dis- 
play all at once 2. (in MIDI or sound) to ad- 
just the balance of a sound between the two 
stereo channels (note: panning - panned) 
■ noun the rotation of a camera in a horizon- 
tal direction in order to film action, subject or 
background; sometimes used to mean 'fol- 
low the action' 

pan and tilt head /,paen an 'tilt ,hed/ 
noun the mount on a tripod for a film or tele- 
vision camera which permits camera move- 
ment in both horizontal and vertical direc- 
tions (film) 

panchromatic film /,paenkramaetik 
'film/, pan film /'paen film/ noun a black 
and white film which is sensitive to all col- 
ours 

panel /'paen(a)l/ noun a flat section of a 
casing with control knobs or sockets O The 
socket is on the hack panel. 
panorama ^paena'raima/ noun a wide- 
angle shot which reveals the whole of the 
scene through a pan shot (film) 
Pantone Matching System /,paentaon 
'maetjirj ,sistam/ a trade name for a stand- 
ard method of matching ink colours on 
screen and on printed output using a book of 
pre-defined colours. Abbr PMS 
paper /'peipa/ noun a thin material used for 
making books, newspapers or stationery 
items 

paperback /'peipabaek/ noun a book 
which has a paper cover O We are publishing 
the hook as a hardback and as a paperback. 
paperbound /'peipabaond/ adjective (of 
a book) bound with a paper cover (as op- 
posed to hardbound) 

paper-fed /'peipa fed/ adjective referring 
to a device which is activated when paper is 
introduced into it O a paper-fed scanner 
paperless /'peipalas/ adjective without 
using paper 

paperless office /,peipalas 'r>fis/ noun 

an office which uses computers and other 

electronic devices for office tasks and avoids 

the use of paper 

'Indeed, the concept of the paperless office may 

have been a direct attack on Xerox and its close 

ties to the paper document. Yet, as we all know, 

the paperless office has so far been an empty 

promise.' [Computing] 

paper-white monitor /,peipa 'wait 
.mDnita/ noun a monitor that normally dis- 
plays black text on a white background, rath- 



parity bit 

er than the normal illuminated text on a black 
background 

paragraph /'paeragra:f/ noun 1 . (in a doc- 
ument) the section of text between two car- 
riage return characters, with a unified subject 
2. (in a memory map) a 16-byte section of 
memory which starts at a hexadecimal ad- 
dress that can be evenly divided by 16 
parallel /'paeralel/ adjective 1. referring to 
a computer system in which two or more 
processors operate simultaneously on one or 
more items of data 2. referring to two or more 
bits of a word transmitted over separate lines 
at the same time 

parallel broadcast /.paeralel 

'braidkaist/ noun a broadcast that is trans- 
mitted simultaneously by radio or television 
and over the Internet 

parallel input/output /,paeralel ,mpot 
'aotpot/ noun full form of PIO 
parallel input/parallel output 
/,paeralel ,mpot .paeralel 'aotpot/ noun full 
form of PIPO 

parallel input/serial output /.paeralel 
,mpot .siarial 'aotpot/ noun full form of 
PISO 

parallel running /.paeralel 'rAmrj/ noun 
the running of an old and a new computer 
system together to allow the new system to 
be checked before it becomes the only sys- 
tem used 

parameter /pa'raemita/ noun an item of 
information which defines the limits or ac- 
tions of something, e.g. a variable, routine or 
program O The X parameter defines the 
number of characters displayed across a 
screen. 

parent directory /'pearant dai 
,rekt(a)ri/ noun (in a DOS filing system) the 
directory above a subdirectory 
parent folder /'pearant ,faolda/ noun (in 
an Apple Mac filing system) one folder that 
contains other folders 

parent object /'pearant ,Dbd3ekt/ noun 
a page that contains the object that is being 
referenced 

parent program /'pearant ,praograem/ 
noun a program that starts another program, 
a child program, while it is still running 
(note: Control passes back to the parent 
program when the child program has fin- 
ished.) 

parity /'paeriti/ noun the fact of being equal 
'The difference between them is that RAID level 
one offers mirroring, whereas level five stripes 
records in parity across the disks in the system.' 
[Computing] 

parity bit /'paeriti bit/ noun an extra bit 
added to a data word as a parity checking de- 
vice 



parity check 



180 



parity check /'paenti t Jek/ noun a meth- 
od of checking for errors and that transmitted 
binary data has not been corrupted by adding 
an extra bit 

park /paik/ verb to move the read/write 
head of a hard disk drive over a point on the 
disk where no data is stored O When parked, 
the disk head will not damage any data if it 
touches the disk surface. 
parse /paiz/ verb to break down high-level 
language code into its element parts when 
translating into machine code (note: parses 
- parsing - parsed) 

parsing /'paizirj/ noun an operation to 
break down high-level language code into its 
element parts when translating into machine 
code 

part /pait/ noun 1 . a section of something 2. 
one of a series 

particle /'paitik(3)l/ noun a very small 
piece of matter 

partition /pai'tij(3)n/ noun an area of a 
hard disk that is treated as a logical drive and 
can be accessed as a separate drive O / de- 
fined two partitions on this hard disk - called 
drive C: and D:. ■ verb to divide a hard disk 
into two or more logical drives that can be ac- 
cessed as separate drives 
parts per quarter note /,pa:ts p3i 
'koita ,ri3ot/ noun full form of PPQN 
pascal /'paeskal/ noun a unit of pressure 
PASCAL /'paeskael/ noun a high-level 
structured programming language used both 
on micros and for teaching programming 
passage /'paesid3/ noun a number of notes 
that form a small section of a musical score 
password /'pais,w3:d/ noun a word or se- 
ries of characters which identifies a user so 
that he or she can access a system O The user 
has to key in the password before he can ac- 
cess the database. 
'...the system's security features let you divide 
the disk into up to 256 password-protected sec- 
tions' [Byte] 

password protection /,pa:sw3:d pre 
'tekj(3)n/ noun a computer software that re- 
quires the user to enter a password before he 
or she can gain access 

paste /petst/ verb to insert text or graphics 
that has been copied or cut into a file O Now 
that I have cut this paragraph from the end of 
the document, I can paste it in here. (NOTE: 
pastes - pasting - pasted) 
Paste Special /.peist 'spej(a)!/ noun a 
facility for inserting a special object such as 
sound, images or data from other applica- 
tions into a document 

patch /paet J7 noun 1 . a temporary correc- 
tion made to a program by a user, often on the 
instructions of the software publisher 2. a 



thin piece of translucent film which is used to 
repair a tear in the film 3. data that defines a 
sound in a synthesiser; a patch is also called 
a program and can be altered by issuing a 
program-change message 
patchboard /'paetjboid/ noun same as 
plugboard 

patch cord /'paet J" kaid/ noun a short ca- 
ble with a connector at each end, used to 
make an electrical connection on a patch pan- 
el 

patch panel /'paet J ,paen(3)l/ noun a set 
of electrical terminals that can be intercon- 
nected using short patch cords, allowing 
quick and simple reconfiguration of a net- 
work 

path /pa:9/ noun 1 . a route from one point 
in a communications network to another 2. 
(in the DOS operating system) a list of sub- 
directories in which the operating system 
should look for a named file 
pathname ^paiO'neim/ noun the location 
of a file with a listing of the subdirectories 
leading to it O The pathname for the letter file 
is .DOC. 

pattern /'paet(3)n/ noun a series of regular 
lines or shapes which are repeated again and 
again 

patterned /'paet(3)nd/ adjective with pat- 
terns 

pattern palette /'paet(3)n ,paebt/ noun a 
range of predefined patterns that can be used 
to fill an area of an image 
pattern recognition /,paet(3)n ,rekag 
'nij(a)n/ noun algorithms or program func- 
tions that can identify a shape, e.g. from a 
video camera 

pause control /'poiz kan.treol/ noun a 
tape recorder control which temporarily 
stops the tape movement; it does not always 
produce a still frame picture on a video tape 
recorder (film) 

pause key /'poiz kii/ noun a keyboard key 
that temporarily stops a process, often a 
scrolling screen display, until the key is 
pressed a second time 
PAX abbr private automatic exchange 
paycable /'peikeib(o)l/ noun US a form of 
cable television where the viewer pays an ex- 
tra fee for extra channels 
payment gateway /'peimont .geitwei/ 
noun a server or organisation that acts as an 
interface between the payment systems of the 
seller and the buyer when payments are made 
over the Internet 

payment gateway certificate author- 
ity ^peimont ,geitwei so'ttftkot oi,0Dnti/ 
noun an organisation that issues, renews or 
cancels the certificates that identify an Inter- 
net payment gateway. Abbr PGCA 



181 



Pentium 



pay TV /'pei til vii/ noun a form of cable 
television, where the viewer pays for pro- 
grams or channels watched 
PB abbr petabyte 
PBX abbr private branch exchange 
PC /,pi: 'si:/ noun a computer that uses an 
Intel 80x86 processor and is based on the 
IBM PC-style architecture. Full form per- 
sonal computer (note: PC originally re- 
ferred to a microcomputer specification with 
an 8086-based low-power computer.) 
PC Card /,pii 'si: kaid/ noun an electronic 
device, about the same size as a thick credit 
card, that can be plugged into a PCMCIA 
adapter to provide a particular function. Also 
called PCMCIA card. i> PCMCIA (note: For 
example PC Cards are available that pro- 
vide a modem, NIC, extra memory and hard 
disk drive functions.) 

PC-compatible /,pi: , si: k3m'paet3b(3)l/ 
adjective referring to a computer that is com- 
patible with the IBM PC 
p-channel metal oxide semiconduc- 
tor /,pii ,tjaen(3)l ,met(3)l ,t)ksaid 
.semikan'dAkta/ noun full form of PMOS 
PCI /,pi: sii 'ei/ noun a specification pro- 
duced by Intel defining a type of fast local 
bus that allows high-speed data transfer be- 
tween the processor and expansion cards. 
Full form peripheral component inter- 
connect 

PCM /,pii sii 'em/ noun 1. a company that 
produces add-on boards which are compati- 
ble with another manufacturer's computer. 
Full form plug-compatible manufacturer 
2. a way of storing sounds in an accurate, 
compact format that is used by high-end 
sound cards. Full form pulse-code modula- 
tion 

PCMCIA /,pi: si: em si: ai 'ei/ noun a spec- 
ification for add-in expansion cards that are 
the size of a credit card with a connector at 
one end O The extra memory is stored on this 
PCMCIA card and I use it on my laptop. Full 
form Personal Computer Memory Card 
International Association 
PCMCIA card /,pi: si: ,em ,si: ai 'ei ka:d/ 
noun add-in memory or a peripheral which 
complies with the PCMCIA standard 
PCMCIA connector /,pi: si: ,em ,si: ai 
,ei ka'nekta/ noun a 68-pin connector that is 
inside a PCMCIA slot and on the end of a 
PCMCIA card 

PCMCIA Slot /,pi: si: ,em ,si: ai 'ei slot/ 
noun an expansion slot, normally on a laptop, 
that can accept a PCMCIA expansion card 
PC/TV /,pi: si: ti: 'vi:/ noun a personal 
computer that can receive, decode and dis- 
play standard television images 



PCU /,pi: si: 'ju:/ noun a device used to 
convert input and output signals and instruc- 
tions to a form that a peripheral device will 
understand. Full form peripheral control 
unit 

PCX noun a standard file format for storing 
colour graphics images 
PCX file /,pi: si: eks 'fail/ noun a method 
of storing a bitmap graphic image file on disk 
PD abbr public domain 
PDA /,pi: di: 'ei/ noun a lightweight palm- 
top computer that provides the basic func- 
tions of a diary, notepad, address-book and 
to-do list together with fax or modem com- 
munications. Full form personal digital as- 
sistant (note: Current PDA designs do not 
have a keyboard, but use a touch-sensitive 
screen with a pen and handwriting-recogni- 
tion to control the software.) 
PDF /,pi: di: 'ef/ noun a file format used by 
Adobe Acrobat. Full form portable docu- 
ment format 

PDL abbr 1. page description language 2. 
program design language 
PDM noun a pulse modulation system in 
which the pulse width varies with the magni- 
tude of the input signal. Full form pulse du- 
ration modulation 
PDN abbr public data network 
peak /pi:k/ noun the highest point ■ verb to 
reach the highest point 
peek /pi:k/ noun a BASIC computer in- 
struction that allows the user to read the con- 
tents of a memory location O You need the in- 
struction PEEK 1452 here to examine the 
contents of memory location 1452. Compare 
poke 

peer /pia/ noun each of two similar devices 
operating on the same network protocol level 
peer-to-peer network /,pis ta ,pia 
'netw3:k/ noun a local area network, usually 
using NICs in each computer, that does not 
use a central dedicated server, but instead 
each computer in the network shares the jobs 
O We have linked the four PCs in our small 
office using a peer-to-peer network. 
pen /pen/ noun same as light pen 
pen computer /,pen kam'pjurta/ noun a 
type of computer that uses a light pen instead 
of a keyboard for input (note: The computer 
has a touch-sensitive screen and uses 
handwriting-recognition software to inter- 
pret the commands written on the screen 
using the light pen.) 

pen plotter /'pen .pltrta/ noun a plotter 
that uses removable pens to draw an image on 
paper 

Pentium /'pentiam/ a trade name for a 
range of electronic processor components de- 



per 



182 



veloped by Intel (note: They are back- 
wards-compatible with the 80x86 family 
used in IBM PCs. The processor uses a 32- 
bit address bus and a 64-bit data bus.) 
per /p3i , pa/ preposition 1 . at a rate of 2. out 
of or for each O The rate of imperfect items is 
about 25 per 1.000. 

per cent /pa ' sent/ adjective, adverb out of 
each hundred or for each hundred O what is 
the increase per cent? fifty per cent of noth- 
ing is still nothing a 10 per cent ten in every 
hundred O what is the increase per cent? fifty 
per cent of nothing is still nothing 
percentage /pa'sentKbj/ noun an amount 
shown as part of one hundred □ percentage 
increase increase calculated on the basis of a 
rate for one hundred □ percentage point one 
per cent 

percentile /p3'sen,tail/ noun one of a se- 
ries of 99 figures below which a certain per- 
centage of the total falls 
per day /pa 'dei/ phrase for each day 
perfect /pa'fekt/ verb to make something 
which is completely correct O He perfected 
the process for making high grade steel. 
perfect binding /,p3ifikt 'baindirj/noun 
a method of binding paperback books, where 
the pages are trimmed at the spine, and glued 
to the cover 

perfect bound /,p3ifekt baund/ adjec- 
tive (of a book, usually a paperback) bound 
without sewing, where the pages are trimmed 
at the spine and glued to the cover with strong 
glue 

perfectly /'p3ifiktli/ adverb with no mis- 
takes or correctly O She typed the letter per- 
fectly. 

perfector /pa'fekta/ noun a printing ma- 
chine that prints on both sides of a sheet of 
paper 

perforated tape /'p3if3,reitid teip/ 
noun a paper tape or long strip of tape on 
which data can be recorded in the form of 
punched holes 

perforation /,p3if3'reij(3)n/ noun any 
one of a line of very small holes in a sheet of 
paper or continuous stationery, to help when 
tearing 

perforator /'p3ifareit3/ noun a machine 
that punches holes in a paper tape 
perform /pa'f o:m/ verb to do well or badly 
performance /pa'f oimans/ noun the way 
in which someone or something works 
perigee /'pendzii/ noun the point during 
the orbit of a satellite when it closest to the 
earth 

period /'piariad/ noun 1 . a length of time O 
for a period of time or for a period of months 



or for a six-year period 2. a printing sign 
used at the end of a piece of text, the full stop 
periodic /,pi3ri'Ddik/, periodical /.piari 
'Ddik(3)l/ adjective happening from time to 
time O a periodic review of the company 's 
performance 

periodically /.piari'rxiikli/ adverb from 
time to time 

peripheral /pa'nf^ral/ adjective which 
is not essential ■ noun 1 . a piece of computer 
hardware that is not part of the central 
processing unit but is controlled by it, e.g. a 
printer or scanner O Peripherals such as disk 
drives or printers allow data transfer and are 
controlled by a system, but contain independ- 
ent circuits for their operation. Also called 
auxiliary device, peripheral unit 2. any 
device that allows communication between a 
system and itself but is not directly operated 
by the system 

peripheral component interconnect 
/p3,rif(3)r3l k3m,p3ori3nt 'mtakanekt/ 
noun full form of PCI 

peripheral control unit /p3,nf(3)r3l 
kan'traul juinit/ noun full form of PCU 
peripheral interface adapter /pa 
,nf(3)r3l 'mtafeis 3,daept3/ noun full form 
of PIA 

peripheral unit /p3,nf(3)r3l 'jumit/ 
noun 1 . an item of hardware such as a termi- 
nal, printer or monitor which is attached to a 
main computer system. Same as peripheral 
2. any device that allows communication be- 
tween a system and itself, but is not operated 
only by the system 

Perl /p3il/ noun an interpreted program- 
ming language, usually used under Unix, 
used to create CGI scripts that can process 
forms or carry out functions on a web server 
to enhance a website. Full form practical 
extraction and report language 
perlux /'p3ilAks/ noun a material used for a 
projection screen which is highly reflective 
and also wide-angle (film) 
permanent /'psimanant/ adjective which 
will last for a very long time or for ever 
permanently /'paimanantli/ adverb in a 
way which will last for a long time or for ever 
O The production number is permanently en- 
graved on the back of the computer casing. 

permeability /,p3imi3'biliti/ noun a 
measure of the ratio of the magnetic flux in a 
material to the size of the generating field 
permission /p3'mij(3)n/ noun authorisa- 
tion given to a particular user to access a cer- 
tain shared resource or area of disk O This 
user cannot access the file on the server be- 
cause he does not have permission. 
permutation /,p3imju'teir(3)n/ noun 
each of a number of different ways in which 



183 



phono connector 



something can be arranged O The cipher sys- 
tem is very secure since there are so many 
possible permutations for the key. 
persistence /pa'sistans/ noun the length 
of time that a CRT will continue to display an 
image after the picture beam has stopped 
tracing it on the screen O Slow scan rate 
monitors need long persistence phosphor to 
prevent the image flickering. 
person /'p3is(a)n/ noun a human being 
personal /'p3is(a)n(a)l/ adjective refer- 
ring to one person 

personal computer /,p3:s(3)n(a)l kam 
'pjuita/ noun full form of PC 
Personal Computer Memory Card 
International Association /,p3is(a)nal 
kam,pjuita ,mem(a)ri kaid 

,mtanaer(a)nal a,saosi'eir(a)n/ noun full 
form of PCMCIA 

personal digital assistant 

/,p3is(a)n(a)l ,did3it(3)l a'sistant/ noun 
full form of PDA 

personal identification device 
/,p3is(a)n(a)l ai,dentifi'keij(3)n di,vais/ 
noun full form of PID 

personal identification number 
/,p3is(a)n(a)l ai,dentifi'keij(3)n .nAmba/ 
noun full form of PIN 

personal information manager 
/,p3is(a)n(a)l ,mfa'meir(a)n ,maemd3a/ 
noun full form of PIM 

personalise /'p3is(a)nalaiz/, personal- 
ize verb to customise or adapt a product spe- 
cially for a certain user (note: personalises 
- personalising - personalised) 
personnel /,p3isa'nel/ noun staff or all the 
people working in an office or factory 
perspective /pa'spektiv/ noun the ap- 
pearance of depth in an image in which ob- 
jects that are further away from the viewer 
appear smaller 

PERT /p3it/ noun a definition of tasks or 
jobs and the time each requires, arranged in 
order to achieve a goal. Full form program 
evaluation and review technique 
per week /pa 'wiik/ adverb for each week 
per year /pa ' j ia/ adverb for each year 
peta /pet a/ prefix one quadrillion (2 50 ). 
Abbr P 

petabyte /'petabait/ noun one quadrillion 
bytes. Abbr PB 

pF noun the unit of measurement of capaci- 
tance equal to one million millionth of a far- 
ad. Full form picofarad 
PFL abbr pre-fade listen (film) 
PgDn /,peid3 'daun/ abbrp&ge down key 
PGP /,pii d3i: 'pi:/ noun an encryption sys- 
tem developed to allow anyone to protect the 
contents of his or her email messages from 



unauthorised readers. Full form pretty good 
privacy (note: This system is often used 
when sending credit card or payment de- 
tails over the Internet.) 
PgUp /,petd3 'Ap/ afabrpage up key 
phantom ROM /'fcentam rom/ noun a 
duplicate area of read-only memory that is 
accessed by a special code 
phase /feiz/ noun 1 . one part of a larger 
process 2. the coincidence of reference signal 
and colour burst 

phase alternation line /,feiz ,a:lta 
'neij(a)n ,1am/ noun full form of PAL 
phasing /'feizrrj/ noun (film) 1. two sys- 
tems or circuits which are adjusted so that 
they operate in phase 2. a television and vid- 
eo tape recorder standard alignment process 
3. the loss of quality in transmitted sound 
when two microphones are placed too near 
each other 

PHIGS /figz/ noun a standard application 
interface between software and a graphics 
adapter that uses a set of standard commands 
to draw and manipulate 2D and 3D images. 
Full form programmer's hierarchical in- 
teractive graphics standard 
phon /ion/ noun a measure of sound equal 
to a one thousand Hertz signal at one decibel; 
zero is just audible to the human ear 
phone /f aon/ noun a telephone or machine 
used for speaking to someone over a long dis- 
tance O We had a new phone system installed 
last week. 

phone back /,f aon 'baek/ verb to reply by 
phone O The chairman is in a meeting, can 
you phone back in about half an hour? O Mr 
Smith called while you were out and asked if 
you would phone him back. 
phoneme /'faoniim/ noun one small 
meaningful sound, several of which may 
make up a spoken word (note: Phonemes 
are relevant to the analysis of voice input to 
recognise words and in the reproduction of 
speech.) 

phonetic /fa'netik/ adjective referring to 
phonetics O The pronunciation is indicated 
in phonetic script. 

phonetics /fa'netiks/ noun written sym- 
bols that are used to represent the correct pro- 
nunciation of a word 

phono connector /,faonao ka'nekta/ 
noun a plug and socket standard used to con- 
nect audio and video devices. Also called 
RCA connector (note: The male plug has 
a 1/8-inch metal central core that sticks out 
from within the centre of an insulated core. 
If you have fitted a sound card to your PC 
you will see two phono connectors on the 
back plate. These let you connect your 



phosphor 



184 



sound card directly to your CD player or 
tape recorder.) 

phosphor /'fofsa/ noun a substance that 
produces light when excited by some form of 
energy, usually an electron beam, used for 
coating the inside of a cathode ray tube 
comment: A thin layer of phosphor is ar- 
ranged in a pattern of small dots on the in- 
side of a television screen which produces 
an image when scanned by the picture 
beam. 

phosphorescence /,ft>sf3 T res(3)ns/ 

noun the ability of a material to produce light 
when excited by some form of energy 
photocell /'faotaosel/ noun an electronic 
device that produces or varies an electrical 
signal according to the amount of light shin- 
ing on it 

photocomposition /.faotaokDmpa 
'zij(a)n/ noun the composition of typeset 
text direct onto film 

photoconductivity /.faotaokondAk 
'tiviti/ noun a material which varies its re- 
sistance according to the amount of light 
striking it 

photoconductor /'fsotaokan.dAkta/ 
noun a photocell whose resistance varies 
with the amount of light shining on it 
photocopier /'faotaokDpia/ noun a ma- 
chine which makes a copy of a document by 
photographing and printing it 
photocopy /'fsotsokDpi/ noun a copy of 
a document made by photographing and 
printing it O Make six photocopies of the con- 
tract. ■ verb to make a copy of a document 
by photographing and printing it O She pho- 
tocopied the contract. 

photocopying /'faotaokDpiin/ noun the 
process of making photocopies (note: no 
plural) □ photocopying bureau office which 
photocopies documents for companies which 
do not possess their own photocopiers □ 
there is a mass of photocopying to be done 
there are many documents waiting to be pho- 
tocopied 

photodigital memory /faotao 
,did3it(3)l 'mem(3)ri/ noun a computer 
memory system that uses a laser to write data 
onto a piece of film which can then be read 
many times but not written to again. Also 
called WORM 

photodiode /,f3ot3o'dai3ud/ noun an 
electronic component displaying the electri- 
cal properties of a diode but whose resistance 
varies with the amount of light that shines on 
it. : avalanche 

photoelectric /fautaui'lektrik/ adjective 
(material) that generates an electrical signal 
when light shines on it O The photoelectric 



cell detects the amount of light passing 
through the liquid. 

photoelectric cell /.taotaudektnk 'seV 
noun a component which produces or varies 
an electrical signal when a light shines on it 
O The photoelectric cell detects the amount 
of light passing through the liquid. 

photoelectricity /.fautaui.lek'tnsiti/ 
noun the production of an electrical signal 
from a material that has light shining on it 
photoemission /,f3ot3oi'miJ(3)n/ noun 
a material that emits electrons when light 
strikes it 

photograph /'fauta.graif/ noun an image 
formed by light striking a light-sensitive sur- 
face, usually coated paper O colour photo- 
graph O black and white photograph O It's a 
photograph of the author. O He took six pho- 
tographs of the set. O We will be using a col- 
our photograph of the author on the back of 
the jacket. 

photographic /.faota'graefik/ adjective 
referring to photography or photographs O 
The copier makes a photographic reproduc- 
tion of the printed page. 

photographically /.fsota'graefikhV ad- 
verb using photography O The text film can 
be reproduced photographically. 
photographic film /.fauta'graefik film/ 
noun light-sensitive film used in a camera to 
record images 

photographic sound /.faota'graefik 
saond/ noun a method of recording and re- 
producing on film where the sound track 
takes the form of variations in the density or 
width of a photographic image (film) 
photography /fa'togrefi/ noun a method 
of creating images by exposing light-sensi- 
tive paper to light, using a camera 
photolithography /.fautau.li'BDgrefi/ 
noun the process of printing using a litho- 
graphic printing plate formed photographi- 
cally 

photomechanical transfer /.fautaumi 
kaemk(3)l 'traensf3i/ noun a system for 
transferring line drawings and text onto film 
before printing. Abbr PMT 
photometer /fao'tDmita/ noun a device 
which measures the brightness of light (film) 
photometry /fao'tDmitri/ noun study and 
measurement of light 

photon /'f aotDn/ noun a packet of electro- 
magnetic radiation 

photoprint /'faotaupnnt/ noun a final 
proof 

photorealistic /.fautauria'hstik/ adjec- 
tive referring to a computer image that has al- 
most the same quality and clarity as a photo- 
graph 



185 



piezoelectric 



photosensitive /.faotao'sensitrv/ ad- 
jective sensitive to light (film) 
photosensor /'faotaosensa/ noun a 
component or circuit that can produce a sig- 
nal related to the amount of light striking it 
photostat /'faotaustaet/ noun a type of 
photocopy ■ verb to make a photostat of a 
document 

phototelegraphy /.fautata'legrsfi/ 
noun the transmission of images over a tele- 
phone line 

phototransistor /.faotautraen'zista/ 
noun an electronic component that can detect 
light and amplify the generated signal or vary 
a supply according to light intensity 
phototypesetter /.fautau'taipseta/ 
noun 1 . a device that can produce very high- 
resolution text on photosensitive paper or 
film 2. a company which specialises in pho- 
totypesetting 

phototypesetting /.fautau'taipsetirj/ 
noun a method of typesetting that creates 
characters using a computer and exposing a 
sensitive film in front of a mask containing 
the required character shape 
physical /'fizik(3)l/ adjective real or solid, 
or which can be touched 
physical record /,fizik(3)l 'rekoid/ noun 

1. the maximum unit of data that can be 
transmitted in a single operation 2. all the in- 
formation, including control data, for one 
record stored in a computer system 

PIA /,pii ai 'ei/ noun a circuit which allows 
a computer to communicate with a peripheral 
by providing serial and parallel ports and oth- 
er handshaking signals required to interface 
the peripheral. Full form peripheral inter- 
face adapter 

PIC /,pii ai "si:/ noun an image compression 
algorithm used in Intel's DVI video system. 
Full form picture image compression 
pica /'paika/ noun 1 . a method of measure- 
ment used in printing and typesetting (equal 
to twelve point type) 2. the width of charac- 
ters in a typeface, usually 1 2 characters to the 
inch 

PICK /pik/ noun a multi-user, multitasking 
operating system that runs on mainframe, 
mini or PC computers 

pickup /'pikAp/ noun 1. the arm and car- 
tridge used to playback music from a record 

2. the inserting of a shot in a film 3. a graph 
showing the sensitivity of a microphone ac- 
cording to the direction of the source. The 
two most common patterns are omni-direc- 
tional (the microphone will pick up sound 
from any direction) and uni-directional (the 
microphone is focused and responds to sound 
from one direction only). 



piCO- /piikau/ prefix one million millionth 
of a unit. Abbr p 

picosecond /'piikat^sekand/ noun one 
million millionth of a second. Abbr pS 
PICS /piks/ noun a file format used to im- 
port a sequence of PICT files on an Apple 
Mac 

PICT /pikt/ noun a method of storing vector 
graphic images, developed by Lotus for its 1- 
2-3 spreadsheet charts and graphs. Full form 
Picture 

picture /'piktja/ noun a printed or drawn 
image of an object or scene O This picture 
shows the new design. ■ verb to visualise an 
object or scene O Try to picture the layout he- 
fore starting to draw it in. (note: pictures - 
picturing - pictured) 
PICture /'pikt JV noun full form of PICT 
picture beam /'pikt Ja biim/ noun a mov- 
ing electron beam in a TV that produces an 
image on the screen by illuminating the phos- 
phor coating and by varying its intensity ac- 
cording to the received signal 
picture element /'pikt Js .elimsnt/ noun 
same as pixel 

picture image compression /,piki Jo 
'imid3 k3m,prej(3)n/ noun full form of PIC 
picture level benchmark /.piktfa 
,lev(a)l 'bentjmaik/ noun full form of PLB 
picture object /'piktja ,Dbd3ekt/ noun 
an image created with a vector drawing pack- 
age and stored as vectors rather than as a bit- 
map 

picture processing /,pikt Js .prs'sesm/ 
noun the analysis of information contained in 
an image, usually by computer or electronic 
methods, providing analysis or recognition 
of objects in the image 
picture transmission /'piktfs traenz 
,mij(3)n/ noun the transmission of images 
over a telephone line 

PID /,pi: ai 'di:/ noun a device such as a 
bank card connected with or inserted into a 
system to identify or provide authorisation 
for a user. Full form personal identifica- 
tion device 

piece fraction /,pi:s 'fraekfan/ noun a 
printed fraction contained in one character 
space 

pie Chart /'pai tjait/ noun a diagram in 
which ratios are shown as slices of a circle O 
The memory allocation is shown on this pie 
chart. 

piezoelectric /,piiz3ui'lektnk/ adjective 
being able to change their electrical proper- 
ties when a force is applied or to change their 
physical dimensions when an electrical sig- 
nal is applied 



PIF 



186 



PIF /,pi: ai 'ef/ noun a Microsoft Windows 
file that contains the environment settings for 
a particular program. Full form program in- 
formation file 

piggyback /'pigibaek/ verb to connect two 
integrated circuits in parallel, one on top of 
the other to save space O Piggyback those 
two memory chips to boost the memory ca- 
pacity. 

piggybacking /'pigibaekirj/ noun the 
process of using transmitted messages to car- 
ry acknowledgements from a message which 
has been received earlier 
pilot /'pailat/ adjective used as a test, which 
if successful will then be expanded into a full 
operation O The company set up a pilot 
project to see if the proposed manufacturing 
system was efficient. ■ verb to test something 
O They are piloting the new system. 
PIM /,pii ai 'em/ noun a software utility that 
stores and manages a user's everyday data 
such as diary, telephone numbers, address 
book and notes. Full form personal infor- 
mation manager 

pin /pm/ noun 1 . one of several short pieces 
of wire attached to an integrated circuit pack- 
age that allows the IC to be connected to a 
circuit board 2. a short piece of metal, part of 
a plug which fits into a hole in a socket O Use 
a three-pin plug to connect the printer to the 
mains. 3. part of a mechanism in a camera or 
a projector which engages in the perforation 
hole in order to find the frame 
PIN /pm/ noun a unique sequence of digits 
that identifies a user to provide authorisation 
to access a system, often used on automatic 
cash dispensers or with a PID or password to 
enter a system. Full form personal identifi- 
cation number 

pincushion distortion /,pmkuj(a)n di 
'sto:J(3)n/ noun a fault with a monitor that 
causes the distortion of an image displayed in 
which the edges curve in towards the centre 
pinfeed /'pinfiid/ noun same as tractor 
feed 

PING /pin/ noun a software utility that will 
test all the nodes on a network or Internet to 
ensure that they are working correctly. Full 
form packet Internet groper 
pinout /'pmaot/ noun a description of the 
position of all the pins on an integrated cir- 
cuit together with their function and signal 
PIO /,pi: ai 'au/ noun data input or output 
from a computer in a parallel form. Full form 
parallel input/output. c< PIPO, PISO 
pipe /paip/ noun {in DOS and UNIX) a 
symbol, usually (I), that tells the operating 
system to send the output of one command to 
another command, instead of displaying it 



pipeline /'paiplam/ verb to carry out more 
than one task at a time: e.g., to compress and 
store an image on disk as it is being scanned 
(note: pipelines - pipelining - pipelined) 
pipelining /.paip.lam 'mem(a)ri/, pipe- 
line memory noun a method of executing 
several instructions in parallel to increase 
performance (note: Some computers use 
pipelining to try and boost performance by 
executing several instructions at once.) 
PIPO /,pii ai pii 'au/ noun a device that can 
accept and transmit parallel data. Full form 
parallel input/parallel output 
piracy /'pairesi/ noun the process of copy- 
ing patented inventions or copyright works 
pirate /'pairat/ noun a person who copies a 
patented invention or a copyright work and 
sells it O The company is trying to take the 
software pirates to court. ■ verb to manufac- 
ture copies of an original copyrighted work 
illegally O a pirated DVD or a pirated design 
(note: pirates - pirating - pirated) 
comment: The items most frequently pirat- 
ed are programs on magnetic disks and 
tapes, which are relatively simple to copy. 

pirate copy /,pairat 'kDpi/ noun a copy of 
software or other copyrighted material which 
has been made illegally O A pirate copy of a 
computer program. 

pirate software /.pairet 'snftwea/ noun 
an illegal copy of a software package 
PISO /,pi: ai es 'so/ noun a device that can 
accept parallel data and transmit serial data. 
Full form parallel input/serial output 
pitch /pit JV noun 1 . the number of charac- 
ters which will fit into one inch of line, when 
the characters are typed in single spacing 2. 
the actual frequency of a sound 3. a satellite 
or antenna movement about the horizontal 
axis 4. the standard distance between the 
leading edges of the perforation holes on a 
film which is to be used as film stock 
pitch scale factor /,pitj 'skeil ,faekta/ 
noun an instruction to a waveform audio de- 
vice to change the pitch of the sound by a fac- 
tor 

pix /piks/ plural noun pictures 
pixel /'piksal/ noun the smallest single unit 
or point of a display whose colour or bright- 
ness can be controlled. Also called picture 
element 
'...adding 40 to each pixel brightens the image 
and can improve the display's appearance' [Byte] 
comment: In high resolution display sys- 
tems the colour or brightness of a single 
pixel can be controlled; in low resolution 
systems a group of pixels are controlled at 
the same time. 

pixelated /'piksalertidV adjective refer- 
ring to an image on a computer or television 



187 



PL/M 



screen that is made up of pixels, especially 
one that is unclear or distorted 
pixillation /,piks3'leij(3)n/ noun (film) 1. 
a film and video visual effect where action is 
shown as a sequence of stills 2. an effect in 
video where the picture is reproduced as a 
number of enlarged pictures 
pix lock /'piks k)k/ noun the synchronisa- 
tion of a video playback circuit by an external 
signal 

PLA /,pii el 'ei/ noun an integrated circuit 
that can be permanently programmed to per- 
form logic operations on data using a matrix 
of links between input and output pins. Full 
form programmable logic array 
comment: A PLA consists of a large matrix 
of paths between input and output pins, 
with logic gates and a fusible link at each 
connection point that can be broken or left 
to conduct when programming to define a 
function from input to output. 

plain old telephone service /,plem 
sold 'tehfaun ,s3ivis/ noun full form of 
POTS 

plaintext /.plem'tekst/ noun text or infor- 
mation that has not been encrypted or coded 
O The messages were sent as plaintext by tel- 
ephone. Opposite ciphertext 
plan /plaen/ noun 1 . an organised way of do- 
ing something 2. a drawing which shows how 
something is arranged or how something will 
be built ■ verb to organise carefully how 
something should be done (note: planning 
- planned) 

PLAN /plaen/ noun a low-level program- 
ming language 

planar /'plema/ adjective referring to a 
method of producing integrated circuits by 
diffusing chemicals into a slice of silicon to 
create the different components ■ noun re- 
ferring to graphical objects or images ar- 
ranged on the same plane 
plane /plem/ noun one layer of an image 
that can be manipulated independently with- 
in a graphics program 

planet /'pkenit/ noun a large body in space 
(such as the earth), moving in orbit round the 
sun 

planetary camera /,plaenit(a)ri 
'ka3m(3)re/ noun a microfilm camera in 
which the film and article being photo- 
graphed are stationary 

planner /'plaena/ noun a software program 
that allows appointments and important 
meetings to be recorded and arranged in the 
most efficient way 

planning /'plaemrj/ noun the activity of or- 
ganising how something should be done O 
long-term planning or short-term planning 



plasma display /'plaezma di,splei/ noun 
same as gas discharge display 

comment: This is a thin display usually 
used in small portable computers. 
plastic bubble keyboard /.plaestik 

,bAb(3)l 'kiiboid/ noun a keyboard whose 
keys are small bubbles in a plastic sheet over 
a contact which when pressed completes a 
circuit 
comment: These are very solid and cheap 
keyboards but are not ideal for rapid typing. 
platform /'plaet.foim/ noun a standard 
type of hardware that makes up a particular 
range of computers O This software will only 
work on the IBM PC platform. 

platform independence /.plaetfoim 
.mdi'pendans/ noun the fact that software 
or a network can work with or connect to dif- 
ferent types of incompatible hardware 
platter /'plaeta/ noun one disk within a hard 
disk drive 
comment: The disks are made of metal or 
glass and coated with a magnetic com- 
pound; each platter has a read/write head 
that moves across its surface to access 
stored data. 

play back /,plei 'baek/ verb to read data or 
a signal from a recording O After you have 
recorded the music, press this button to play 
it back and hear what it sounds like. 
playback /'pleibaek/ noun recording re- 
production; running a multimedia title, view- 
ing a video clip or listening to a recorded 
sound 

playback head /'plei.baek hed/ noun a 
piece of equipment that reads signals record- 
ed on a storage medium and usually converts 
them to an electrical signal O disk playback 
head 

playback rate scale factor /'pleibaek 
reit skeil ,faekt3/ noun 1. (in waveform au- 
dio) sound played back at a different rate, di- 
rected by another application, to create a spe- 
cial effect 2. (in video displayed on a 
computer) the point at which video playback 
is no longer smooth and appears jerky be- 
cause of missed frames 
PLB /,pii el 'bii/ noun benchmark used to 
measure the performance (not the quality) of 
a graphics adapter or workstation. Full form 
picture level benchmark 
PLD abbr programmable logic device 
plex database /'pleks .deitsbeis/ noun a 
database structure in which data items can be 
linked together 

plex Structure /'pleks .strAktJV noun a 
network structure or data structure in which 
each node is connected to all the others 
PL/M /,pii el 'em/ noun a high level pro- 
gramming language derived for use on mi- 



plot 



188 



croprocessors. Full form programming lan- 
guage for microprocessors 
plot /plDt/ noun a graph or map ■ verb to 
draw an image (especially a graph) based on 
information supplied as a series of coordi- 
nates 

plotter /'plDto/ noun a computer peripheral 
that draws straight lines between two coordi- 
nates 
comment: Plotters are used for graph and 
diagram plotting and can plot curved lines 
as a number of short straight lines. 
plug /plAg/ noun a connector with protrud- 
ing pins that is inserted into a socket to pro- 
vide an electrical connection O The printer is 
supplied with a plug. ■ verb 1 . O No wonder 
the computer does nothing, you haven't 
plugged it in at the mains. □ plug in to make 
an electrical connection by pushing a plug 
into a socket O No wonder the computer does 
nothing, you haven't plugged it in at the 
mains. 2. to publicise or to advertise O They 
ran six commercials plugging holidays in 
Spain. 

plug and play /,plAg an 'plei/ noun a fa- 
cility in PCs that allows a user to plug a new 
adapter card into their PC without having to 
configure it or set any switches. Abbr PNP 
plugboard noun a board with a number of 
sockets connected to devices into which 
plugs can be inserted to connect various other 
devices. Also called patchboard 
plug-compatible manufacturer /, pUg 
kom,paetib(o)l .maenjo'faektj'oro/ noun 
full form of PCM 

plug-in /'pUg in/ noun a program that 
works with a web browser to increase the 
functionality of the browser. i> browser, 
helper application 

plug-in unit /'pLvg m jumit/ noun a 
small electronic circuit that can be simply 
plugged into a system to increase its power 
plus /pUs/, plus sign /'pUs sain/ noun a 
printed or written sign (+) showing that fig- 
ures are added or showing a positive value 
PLV /,pii el 'vii/ noun the highest-quality 
video compression algorithm used with DVI 
full-motion video sequences. Full form pro- 
duction level video 

PMBX noun a small telephone exchange in- 
side a company where all calls coming in or 
going out have to be placed through the 
switchboard. Full form private manual 
branch exchange 

PMOS /'pi: mrjs/ noun a metal oxide semi- 
conductor transistor that conducts via a small 
region of p-type semiconductor. Full form p- 
channel metal oxide semiconductor 
PMS /,pii em 'es/ abbr Pantone Matching 
System 



point /point/ noun 1. a measurement sys- 
tem used in typesetting (one point is equal to 
0.351 mm) O The text of the book is set in 9 
point Times. Olfwe increase the point size to 
10, will the page extent increase? (NOTE: 
usually written pt after figures: 10pt Times 
Bold) 2. the exposure increment which is 
used in a film printing machine; a printer 
point scale of 1 to 50 is normally used 
'. . .the arrow keys, the spacebar or the mouse are 
used for pointing, and the enter key or the left 
mouse button are to pick' [PC User] 

pointer /'pomto/ noun 1. a variable in a 
computer program that contains the address 
to a data item or instruction O Increment the 
contents of the pointer to the address of the 
next instruction. 2. a graphical symbol used 
to indicate the position of a cursor on a com- 
puter display O Desktop publishing on a PC 
is greatly helped by the use of a pointer and 
mouse. 

pointing device /'pomtirj di,vais/ noun 
an input device that controls the position of a 
cursor on screen as it is moved by the user. r> 
mouse 

point of presence /,pomt ov 'prezons/ 
noun full form of POP 
point-of-sale /,pomt ov 'seil/ noun a 
place in a shop where goods are paid for. 
Abbr POS 

point sampling /'paint .saimphrj/ noun 
a method of adding texture and shading to a 
three-dimensional scene or object, in which 
the algorithm calculates the perceived depth, 
position and shade of each point on the image 
and applies a texture map pixel, or texel, to 
that point 

point size /,pomt 'saiz/ noun (in typogra- 
phy a unit of measure equal to 1/72-inch, 
used to measure type or text 
point to point /.point to 'point/ noun 1. 
a direct link between two devices 2. commu- 
nications network in which every node is di- 
rectly connected to every other node 
point-to-point tunneling protocol 
/,pomt to point 'tAn(o)lir) .proutokDl/ 
noun full form of PPTP 
poke /pouk/ noun a computer instruction 
that modifies an entry in a memory by writ- 
ing a number to an address in memory O 
Poke 1423, 74 will write the data 74 into loca- 
tion 1423. Compare peek 
POL a£>£>rproblem-orientated language 
polar /'poulo/ adjective referring to poles 
polarising filter /,pooloraizirj 'filto/ 
noun (film) 1. a lens filter which has thou- 
sands of tiny lines which allow light of a cer- 
tain polarity through, reducing glare 2. a fil- 
ter which is used to decrease the amount of 



polarised light passing through the lens by 
the specific angling of the slits 
polarity /poo'laeroti/ noun 1 . the definition 
of direction of flow of flux or current in an 
object 2. negative or positive elements in a 
black and white television image 
Polaroid™ /'poubroid/ noun {film) 1. an 
instant-picture photographic camera 2. trans- 
lucent plastic material which is able to polar- 
ise visible light 

polaroid filter /,poubroid 'frits/ noun a 
photographic filter that only allows light in 
one plane, vertical or horizontal, to be trans- 
mitted 

polar orbit /,poub 'o:bit/ noun a satellite 
flight path that goes over the earth's poles 
policy /'pDhsi/ noun » acceptable use 
policy 

Polish notation /,paulij nou'teiJXojn/ 
noun » reverse Polish notation 
poll /poul/ verb (of a computer) to deter- 
mine the state of a peripheral in a network 
polling /'poolirj/ noun a system of commu- 
nication between a controlling computer and 
a number of networked terminals (the com- 
puter checks each terminal in turn to see if it 
is ready to receive or transmit data, and takes 
the required action) 
comment: The polling system differs from 
other communications systems in that the 
computer asks the terminals to transmit or 
receive, not the other way round. 

polygon /'pDligon/ noun a graphics shape 
with three or more sides 
polygon mesh model /,pDligon 'mej 
,mDd(3)l/ noun same as wire frame model 
polynomial code /,pDli'noumbl koud/ 
noun an error detection system that uses a set 
of mathematical rules applied to the message 
before it is transmitted and again when it is 
received to reproduce the original message 
pop /prjp/ verb to read and remove the last 
piece of data from a stack 
POP /pDp/ noun telephone access number 
for a service provider that can be used to con- 
nect to the Internet via a modem. Full form 
point of presence 

POP 2 /'pop tui/ noun a high level pro- 
gramming language used for list processing 
applications 

POP 3 /,pr>p '9rii/ noun a system used to 
transfer electronic mail messages between a 
user's computer and a server at an ISP 
pop-down menu /,pDp daon 'menju:/ 
noun a menu that can be displayed on the 
screen at any time by pressing the appropri- 
ate key, usually displayed over material al- 
ready on the screen. Also called pop-up 
menu 



189 positional 

pop filter /'pDp ,filto/ noun an electronic 
circuit used when recording voices to attenu- 
ate signals caused by wind or breathing O 
Every time you say a 'p' you overload the 
tape recorder, so put this pop filter in to stop 
it. 

populate /'pDpjoleit/ verb to fill the sock- 
ets on a printed circuit board with compo- 
nents 

pop-up menu /,pr>p Ap 'menjui/ noun 
same as pop-down menu 
pop-up window /,pDp Ap 'wmdoo/ noun 
a window that can be displayed on the screen 
at any time on top of anything that is already 
on the screen 
'...you can use a mouse to access pop-up menus 
and a keyboard for word processing' [Byte] 

port /port/ noun a socket or physical con- 
nection allowing data transfer between a 
computer's internal communications channel 
and another external device 
portability /.poito'btlrti/ noun an extent to 
which software or hardware can be used on 
several systems 
'...although portability between machines is 
there in theory, in practice it just isn't that simple' 
[Personal Computer World] 

portable /'poitob(o)l/ noun a compact 
self-contained computer that can be carried 
around and used either with a battery pack or 
mains power supply ■ adjective referring to 
any hardware or software or data files that 
can used on a range of different computers 
portable document format 
/,portob(o)l 'drjkjumant ,1'oimaet/ noun 
full form of PDF 

portable operating system interface 
/,portob(o)l 'Dpareittrj .sistom .intafeis/ 
noun full form of POSIX 
portal /'po:t(o)l/ noun a website that pro- 
vides links to information and other websites 
portapack /'poitopaek/ noun a battery-op- 
erated, portable video camera and recorder 
(film) 

portrait /'portrrt/ adjective the orientation 
of a page or piece of paper in which the long- 
est edge is vertical 

port replicator /'port ,rephkeito/ noun a 
version of a docking station that allows a lap- 
top computer to be connected to duplicate the 
connection ports on the back of the laptop, al- 
lowing a user to keep a mouse, power cable, 
and printer connected to the port replicator 
and easily insert the laptop to use these ports 
without having to plug in cables each time 
the machine is used 
POS /pDz/ a£>£>rpoint-of-sale 
positional /po'ziJ(o)nol/ adjective refer- 
ring to position 



positive 



190 



positive /'pDzitiv/ adjective 1. meaning 
'yes' 2. referring to an image that shows ob- 
jects as they are seen 

positive display /.pDzitiv di'splei/ noun 
a display in which the text and graphics are 
shown as black on a white background to im- 
itate a printed page 

positive feedback /.pnzitrv fiidbaek/ 
noun part of an output signal that is added 
into the input of a device O Make sure the mi- 
crophone is not too close to the loudspeaker 
or positive feedback will occur and you will 
overload the amplifier. 

positive photoresist /.pozitrv 

,faotaori'zist/ noun a method of forming 
photographic images where exposed areas of 
photoresist are removed, used in making 
PCBs 

POSIX /'prjsiks/ noun the IEEE standard 
that defines software that can be easily ported 
between hardware platforms. Full form port- 
able operating system interface 
post /paost/ verb to enter data into a record 
in a file 

poster /'paosta/ noun a large printed sheet, 
used to advertise something 
posterisation /,paustaraizei J"(a)n/ noun 
a special effect in which an image is proc- 
essed to reduce the number of colours or 
tones 

post-filtering /.paost 'filtanrj/ noun im- 
age processing carried out after the image has 
been compressed 

postfix /'paustfiks/ noun a word or letter 
written after another 

postmaster /'paostmaista/ noun the 
email address of the person nominally in 
charge of email within a company 
post office protocol /'paust ,Dfis 
.prautakDl/ noun t POP 3 
postprocessor /,paust'praosesa/ noun 
1 . a microprocessor that handles semi-proc- 
essed data from another device 2. a program 
that processes data from another program, 
which has already been processed 
post production /.paust pra'dAkJan/ 
noun the final editing process of a video or 
animation in which titles are added and se- 
quences finalised 
pot /pDt/ abbr potentiometer 
potentiometer /pa,tenJi'Dmita/ noun a 
mechanical variable resistance component 
consisting of a spindle which is turned to 
move a contact across a resistance track to 
vary the resistance of the potentiometer. i> 
variable resistor 

POTS /pDts/ noun the simplest, standard 
telephone line without any special features 
such as call waiting or forwarding, and with- 



out high-speed digital access such as ADSL. 
Full form plain old telephone service 

power /'paoa/ noun 1 . the unit of energy in 
electronics equal to the product of voltage 
and current, measured in watts 2. a mathe- 
matical term describing the number of times 
a number is to be multiplied by itself O 5 to 
the power 2 is equal to 25. (note: written as 
small figures in superscript: 10 5 : say: 'ten to 
the power five') ■ verb to provide electrical 
or mechanical energy to a device O The mon- 
itor is powered from a supply in the main PC. 
power down /'paua daun/ verb to turn off 
the electricity supply to a computer or other 
electronic device 

powered /'pauad/ adjective driven by a 
type of energy or motor O a motor powered 
by electricity O a solar-powered calculator 
power user /'paua juiza/ noun a user 
who needs the latest, fastest model of compu- 
ter because he or she runs complex or de- 
manding applications 

ppm /,pii pii 'em/ noun the number of pag- 
es that a printer can print in one minute, used 
for describing the speed of a printer. Full 
form pages per minute 
PPP /,pii pi: 'pi:/ noun a protocol that sup- 
ports a network link over an asynchronous 
(modem) connection and is normally used to 
provide data transfer between a user's com- 
puter and a remote server on the Internet us- 
ing the TCP/IP network protocol. Full form 
point to point protocol 
PPQN /,pi: pi: kju: 'en/ noun the most 
common time format used with standard 
MIDI sequences. Full form parts per quar- 
ter note 

PPS noun film or video frame speed. Full 
form pictures per second 
PPTP /,pi: pi: ti: 'pi:/ noun a protocol that 
allows a standard local-area network proto- 
col (such as Novell's IPX or Microsoft's Net- 
BEUI) to be sent over the Internet in a trans- 
parent manner without the user or operating 
system noticing, used by companies that 
want to use the Internet to connect servers in 
different offices. Full form point-to-point 
tunneling protocol 

practical extraction and report lan- 
guage /,praektik(a)l ik,stra3kj(a)n an n 
'po:t ,la3rjgwid3/ noun full form of Perl O If 
you want to add a search engine to your web- 
site, you will need to write a Perl program. 
pre- /pri:/ prefix before 
pre-amplifier /pri 'aempli.faia/ noun an 
electronic circuit which amplifies a signal to 
a particular level, before it is fed to an ampli- 
fier for output 



precede /pri'siid/ verb to come before 
something O This instruction cancels the in- 
struction which precedes it. 
precedence /'presid(a)ns/ noun a set of 
computational rules defining the order in 
which mathematical operations are calculat- 
ed 

precise /pn'sais/ adjective very exact O 
The atomic clock will give the precise time of 
starting the process. 

precision /pn'si3(a)n/ noun the fact that 
something is very accurate 
precompiled code /prikam.paild 
'kaod/ noun a code that is output from a 
compiler, ready to be executed 
predefined /,pri:di'famd/ adjective 
which has been defined in advance 
predesigned /,pri:di'zaind/ adjective (of 
a graphic material) provided to the customer 
already designed O A wide selection of pre- 
designed layouts help you automatically for- 
mat typical business and technical docu- 
ments. 

predetermined /,priidi't3immd/ adjec- 
tive which has already been determined 
pre-edit /pri 'edit/ verb to change text be- 
fore it is run through a machine to make sure 
it is compatible 

pre-emphasise /pri: 'emfasaiz/ verb to 
boost certain frequencies of a signal before 
transmission or processing to minimise noise 
(signals are de-emphasised on reception) 
preemptive multitasking /pri,emptiv 
'mAltitaiskirj/ noun a form of multitasking 
in which the operating system executes a pro- 
gram for a period of time, then passes control 
to the next program so preventing any one 
program using all the processor time 
pre-f ade listen /,pri: feid 'hs(a)n/ noun a 
sound desk device which permits channels to 
be heard before fading up (film) 
pre-fetch /pri: 'fetJV verb CPU instruc- 
tions stored in a short temporary queue be- 
fore being processed, increasing the speed of 
execution 

pre-filtering /prii'filtarirj/ noun image 
processing before the image is compressed 
(e.g., scaling the image) 
prefix /'pri:,fiks/ noun 1. a code, instruc- 
tion or character at the beginning of a mes- 
sage or instruction 2. a word attached to the 
beginning of another word to give it a special 
meaning 

prefix notation /'prnfiks n3u,teij(3)n/ 
noun mathematical operations written in a 
logical way, so that the operator appears be- 
fore the operands, removing the need for 
brackets O normal notation: (x-y) + z, but us- 
ing prefix notation: - xy + z 



191 pre-roll 

pre-f lash, pre-fog noun the process of ex- 
posing film to light before filming so that it 
has a higher sensitivity to light and reduces 
contrast (film) 

Preformatted /pri:'fo:maetid/ adjective 
which has been formatted already O a prefor- 
matted disk 

pre-imaging /pri 'imid3irj/ noun the 
process of generating one frame of an anima- 
tion or video in a memory buffer before it is 
transferred on screen for display 
premix /'priimiks/ noun the combination 
of a number of signals before they have been 
processed in any way 

preparation /,prep3'reij(3)n/ noun the 
process of getting something ready 
preprinted /pri: 'print id/ adjective al- 
ready printed or printed in advance □ pre- 
printed form paper used for printing data- 
bases or applications programs that already 
contain some information printed □ pre- 
printed stationery computer stationery 
(such as invoices) which has already been 
printed with the company's logo and address 
as well as the blank columns, etc. 
preprocess /prk'praoses/ verb to carry 
out initial organisation and simple processing 
of data 

preprocessor /prn'praosess/ noun 1. 
software that partly processes or prepares 
data before it is compiled or translated 2. a 
small computer that carries out some initial 
processing of raw data before passing it to the 
main computer 
'...the C preprocessor is in the first stage of con- 
verting a written program into machine instruc- 
tions the preprocessor can be directed to read in 
another file before completion, perhaps because 
the same information is needed in each module of 
the program' [Personal Computer World] 

preproduction /.priipre'dAkfan/ noun 
the organisation of the filming or recording 
of a video or compact disk, taking the form of 
diagrams and scene descriptions 
preprogrammed /prn'preugraemd/ ad- 
jective referring to a chip that has been pro- 
grammed in the factory to perform one func- 
tion 

prerecord /,pri:n'k3:d/ verb to record 
something which will be played back later or 
to record sound effects that are added to a 
film at a later date O The answerphone plays 
a prerecorded message. ■ noun a section of 
text stored in a word-processor system which 
will be used as the basis for a form letter 
pre-roll /'pri: reul/ noun time needed after 
having started a telecine, projector or video 
tape recorder in order to produce steady 
sound and picture (film) 



prescan 



192 



prescan /'priiskaen/ noun a feature of 
many flat-bed scanners that carry out a quick, 
low-resolution scan to allow you to re-posi- 
tion the original or mark the area that is to be 
scanned at a higher resolution 
presentation graphics 

/,prez(3)nteij(3)n 'graefiks/ plural noun 
graphics used to represent business informa- 
tion or data O The sales for last month looked 
even better thanks to the use of presentation 
graphics. 

presentation layer /,prez(3)n'teij(3)n 
,leia/ noun the sixth ISO/OSI standard net- 
work layer that agrees on formats, codes and 
requests for the start and end of a connection 
Presentation Manager /,prez(s)n 
'teij(a)n ,ma;nid33/ noun a graphical user 
interface supplied with the OS/2 operating 
system 

presentation software 

/,prez(3)nteij(3)n 'sDftwea/ noun a soft- 
ware application that allows a user to create a 
business presentation with graphs, data, text 
and images 

preset /.prii'set/ verb to set something in 
advance O The printer was preset with new 
page parameters. 

press /pres/ verb to push a key with the fin- 
gers O To end the program press ESCAPE. 

press cuttings /'pres ,kAtirjz/ plural 
noun pieces cut from newspapers or maga- 
zines which refer to someone or to a compa- 
ny 

pressure pad /'preja paed/ noun a trans- 
ducer that converts pressure changes into an 
electrical signal O The pressure pad under 
the carpet will set off the burglar alarm if an- 
yone steps on it. 

prestore /prii'stoi/ verb to store data in 
memory before it is processed 
presynchronisation, presynchroniza- 
tion noun the pre-recording of dialogue 
which is used in synchronisation with lip 
movements in animation work (film) 
pretty good privacy /,pnti gud 
'privasi/ noun full form of PGP 
prevent /pri'vent/ verb to stop something 
happening O We have changed the passwords 
to prevent hackers getting into the database. 
preventative /pri'ventativ/, preventive 
/pri'ventiv/ adjective which tries to stop 
something happening 

prevention /pri'venfan/ noun the process 
of preventing something happening 
preventive maintenance /pn.ventiv 
'meintanans/ noun a regular inspection and 
cleaning of a system to prevent faults occur- 
ring 



preview /'pri:,vjui/ verb to display text or 
graphics on a screen as it will appear when it 
is printed out 

previewer /'priivjuia/ noun a feature that 
allows a user to see on screen what a page 
will look like when printed O The built-in 
previewer allows the user to check for mis- 
takes. 

primarily /'praim(3)nli/ adverb mainly 
primary /'praimari/ adjective first or basic 
or most important 

prime /praim/ adjective very important ■ 
noun a number that can only be divided by it- 
self and by one O The number seven is a 
prime. 

primer /'praima/ noun a manual or simple 
instruction book with instructions and exam- 
ples to show how a new program or system 
operates 

primitive /'pnmitiv/ noun 1 . (in program- 
ming) a basic routine that can be used to cre- 
ate more complex routines 2. (in graphics) a 
simple shape such as circle, square, line or 
curve used to create more complex shapes in 
a graphics program 

print /print/ noun 1 . characters made in ink 
on paper O The print from the new printer is 
much clearer than that from old one. 2. a pos- 
itive photographic image in which black is 
black and white is white. Compare negative 

3. an image produced using an etched print- 
ing plate O He collects 18th-century prints. O 
The office is decorated with Japanese prints. 

4. a take to be used in the finished film if it is 
not cut out during the editing process ■ verb 
1 . to put letters or figures in ink on paper 2. 
to put letters or illustrations onto sheets of pa- 
per so that they form a book O The book was 
printed in Hong Kong. O The book is printing 
at the moment, so we will have bound copies 
at the end of the month. 3. to write in capital 
letters O Please print your name and address 
on the top of the form. 

printed circuit /,prmtid 'S3ikit/, printed 
circuit board noun a flat insulating material 
that has conducting tracks of metal printed or 
etched onto its surface which complete a cir- 
cuit when components are mounted on it. 
Abbr PCB 

printer /'print 3/ noun 1 . a device that con- 
verts input data in an electrical form into a 
printed readable form. Abbr PRN 2. a person 
that prints documents or pictures for private 
customers or other businesses 3. a company 
which prints books or newspapers O The 
book will be sent to the printer next week. O 
We are using Japanese printers for some of 
our magazines. 



printer quality /'prmta .kwDhti/ noun 
the standard of printed text from a particular 
printer 

print format /'print .faimaet/ noun a way 
in which text is arranged when printed out, 
according to embedded codes, used to set 
features such as margins and headers 
printhead /'prmthed/ noun 1. a row of 
needles in a dot-matrix printer that produce 
characters as a series of dots 2. the metal 
form of a character that is pressed onto an 
inked ribbon to print the character on paper 
printing /'print irj/ noun 1. the action of 
putting text and graphics onto paper 2. the 
number of copies printed at one time O The 
first printing was 50, 000 copies. 

printing negative /.prmtirj 'negativ/ 
noun a negative copy of an optical sound 
track on a positive picture print which is used 
to improve the quality of sound (film) 
Print Manager /'print ,maenid3a/ a soft- 
ware utility that is part of Microsoft Win- 
dows and is used to manage print queues 
printout /'print ,aut/ noun the final printed 
page 

print preview /,prmt 'priivju:/ noun a 
function of a software product that lets the 
user see how a page will appear when printed 
print quality /'print ,kwt>liti/ noun the 
quality of the text or graphics printed, nor- 
mally measured in dots per inch O A desktop 
printer with a resolution of 600 dpi provides 
good print quality. 

printrun /'pnntrAn/ noun the number of 
copies of a book which are printed at one 
time 

Print Screen key /,prmt 'skri:n ,ki:/ 
noun a key in the top right-hand side of the 
keyboard that sends the characters that are 
displayed on the screen to the printer 
print server /'print ,s3:va/ noun a com- 
puter in a network which is dedicated to man- 
aging print queues and printers 
print Shop /'print Jr>p/ noun a shop where 
jobbing printing takes place 
printwheel /'prmtwiil/ noun a daisy- 
wheel or the wheel made up of a number of 
arms, with a character shape at the end of 
each arm, used in a daisy-wheel printer 
priority /prai'Dnti/ noun the importance of 
a device or software routine in a computer 
system O The operating system has priority 
over the application when disk space is allo- 
cated. 

privacy /'privasi/ noun the right of an indi- 
vidual to limit the extent of and control the 
access to the data that is stored about him 
privacy of data /.pnvasi av 'deita/ noun 
the fact that particular data is secret and must 



193 process 

not be accessed by users who have not been 
authorised 

privacy of information ^prrvasi av 
^nfa'meiJXa)^ noun the fact that unauthor- 
ised users must not obtain data about private 
individuals from databases, or that each indi- 
vidual has the right to know what informa- 
tion is being held about him or her on a data- 
base 

privacy statement /'pnvasi .steitmant/ 
noun the policy of a company, published on 
their website, that explains to visitors and 
customers what the company will or will not 
do with a customer's personal details 
private /'praivat/ adjective belonging to an 
individual or to a company, not to the public 
private key cryptography /,praivat kii 
krip'tDgragi/ noun a method of encrypting 
Internet messages that uses a single key both 
to encode and decode them 
privilege /'prrvilid3/ noun the status of a 
user as regards to the type of program he or 
she can run and the resources he or she can 
use 

privileged account /,pnvahd3d a 
'kaont/ noun a computer account that allows 
special programs or access to sensitive sys- 
tem data 

PRN /,pii ai 'en/ noun an acronym used in 
MS-DOS to represent the standard printer 
port. Full form printer 
problem /'prDblam/ noun a question to 
which it is difficult to find an answer 
problem definition /'prDblam 
,defanij(a)n/ noun the clear explanation, in 
logical steps, of a problem that is to be solved 
problem diagnosis /'prDblam 
,daiagnausis/ noun the process of finding 
the cause of a fault or error and finding the 
method of repairing it 

problem-orientated language 

/,prDblam ,Dirianteitid 'laerjgwid3/ noun a 
high-level programming language that al- 
lows certain problems to be expressed easily. 
Abbr POL 

procedural /pra'siid3aral/ adjective us- 
ing a procedure to solve a problem 
procedure /pra'siid3a/ noun 1. a small 
section of computer instruction code that 
provides a frequently used function and can 
be called upon from a main program O This 
procedure sorts all the files into alphabetical 
order. i> subroutine 2. a method or route 
used when solving a problem O You should 
use this procedure to retrieve lost files. 
proceed /pra'siid/ verbto move forward O 
After spellchecking the text, you can proceed 
to the printing stage. 

process /prao'ses/ noun a number of tasks 
that must be carried out to achieve a goal O 



process control 



194 



The process of setting up the computer takes 
a long time. ■ verb to carry out a number of 
tasks to produce a result O We processed the 
new data. 

process control /'praoses kan.traul/ 
noun the automatic control of a process by a 
computer 

processing /'praosesm/ noun 1. the use 
of a computer to solve a problem or organise 
data O Page processing time depends on the 
complexity of a given page. t> CPU 2. the 
treatment of exposed film with chemicals in 
order to make the latent image everlastingly 
visible 

processor /'prao,sesa/ noun a hardware 
or software device that is able to manipulate 
or modify data according to instructions 
produce /pra'djuis/ verb to make or man- 
ufacture something 

producer /pra'djuisa/ noun a person, 
company or country that manufactures O 
Country which is a producer of high quality 
computer equipment. 

product /'prockkt/ noun 1 . an item that is 
made or manufactured 2. a manufactured 
item for sale 3. the result after multiplication 
product design /'prndAkt di,zam/ noun 
the activity of designing products 
product engineer /,prodAkt ,end3i'ma/ 
noun an engineer in charge of the equipment 
for making a product 

production /pra'dAkfan/ noun 1. the 
process of making or manufacturing of goods 
for sale O Production will probably be held 
up by industrial action. 2. the preparation for 
broadcast of a programme or advertisement 
3. the complete process of making a film 
(film) 

production control /pra'dAkfan kan 
,traol/ noun the control of the manufacturing 
of a product (using computers) 
production level video /pra.dAkfan 
,lev(a)l 'vidiao/ noun full form of PLV 
production standards /pra'dAkfan 
,staendadz/ plural noun the quality of pro- 
duction 

product line /'prodAkt lam/, product 
range /'prDdAkt remd3/ noun a series of 
different products made by the same compa- 
ny, which form a group 
product range /'prDdAkt remd3/ noun 
same as product line 

professional publishing /pro 
,fej(a)n(a)l 'pAbliJirj/ noun publishing 
books on law, accountancy, and other profes- 
sions 

program /'praograem/ noun 1. a complete 
set of instructions which direct a computer to 
carry out a particular task 2. data that defines 



a sound in a synthesiser; a program is also 
called a patch and can be altered by issuing a 
program-change message ■ verb to write or 
prepare a set of instructions that direct a com- 
puter to perform a certain task 
program crash /'praograem kraeJV noun 
an unexpected failure of a program owing to 
a programming error or a hardware fault O / 
forgot to insert an important instruction 
which caused a program to crash, erasing all 
the files on the disk! 

program design language 

/,praograem di'zam ,laengwid3/ noun a 
programming language used to design the 
structure of a program. Abbr PDL 
program documentation /.praograem 
,dDkjumen'teiJ(a)n/ noun a set of instruc- 
tion notes, examples and tips on how to use a 
program 

program evaluation and review 
technique /,praograem i,vaeljueij(a)n an 
ri'vju: tek,niik/ noun full form of PERT 
program icon /'praograem .aikmi/ noun 
(in a GUI) an icon that represents an executa- 
ble program file O To run the program, dou- 
ble-click on the program icon. 

program information file /.praograem 
,mfa'meij(a)n .fail/ noun full form of PIF 
programmable /'praograemab(a)l/ ad- 
jective referring to a device that can accept 
and store instructions then execute them 
programmable key /,praograemab(a)l 
'kii/ noun a special key on a computer termi- 
nal keyboard that can be programmed with 
various functions or characters 
programmable logic array 

/,praograemab(a)l ,k)d3ik a'rei/ noun full 
form of PLA 

programmable logic device 
/,praograemab(a)l 'lDd3ik di,vais/ noun 
full form of PLD 

programmable memory 

/,praograemab(a)l 'mem(a)ri/ noun full 
form of PROM 

programmable read only memory 
/,praograemab(a)l ri:d ,aunli 'mem(a)ri/ 
noun full form of PROM 
Program Manager /.praograem 
'masnid3a/ noun (in Windows 3.x) the main 
part of Windows that the user sees 
programmer /'prao,graema/ noun 1. a 
person who is capable of designing and writ- 
ing a working program O The programmer is 
still working on the new software. 2. a device 
that allows data to be written into a program- 
mable read only memory 
programmer's hierarchical interac- 
tive graphics standard /,praograemaz 
haia,ra:kik(a)l mtar,aektiv 'graefiks 
.staendad/ noun full form of PHIGS 



programming /'praograemirj/ noun the 
activity of writing programs for computers 
comment: Programming languages are 
grouped into different levels: the high-level 
languages such as BASIC and PASCAL 
are easy to understand and use, but offer 
slow execution time since each instruction 
is made up of a number of machine code 
instructions; low-level languages such as 
assembler are more complex to read and 
program in but offer faster execution time. 
programming in logic /.praugraemirj m 
'lt>d3ik/ noun full form of PROLOG 
programming language for micro- 
processors /.praugraemirj ,laerjgwid3 fa 
'maikrai.praosessz/ noun full form of 
PL/M 

program specification /.praugraem 
,spesifi'keij(3)n/ noun detailed informa- 
tion about a program's abilities, features and 
methods 

program testing /'praograem .testirj/ 
noun the process of testing a new program 
with test data to ensure that it functions cor- 
rectly 

progressive scanning /prao.gresiv 
'skaenirj/ noun a method of displaying and 
transmitting video images in which each line 
of the image is displayed consecutively, un- 
like non-interlaced image, which shows al- 
ternate lines. r> scan conversion 
project noun /'prod3ekt/ a planned task O 
His latest project is computerising the sales 
team. ■ verb /pra'd3ekt/ to forecast future 
figures from a set of data O The projected 
sales of the new PC. 

projection /pra'dsekfan/ noun 1. the 
forecasting of a situation from a set of data O 
The projection indicates that sales will in- 
crease. 2. the process of showing pictures on 
a screen 

projector leader /pra'd3ekt3 ,li:ds/ 
noun a short part of the beginning of a reel of 
film which allows projectionists to make fast 
changeovers from one reel to the next when 
projecting a film 

PROLOG /'praufog/ noun a high-level 
programming language using logical opera- 
tions for artificial intelligence and data re- 
trieval applications. Full form program- 
ming in logic 

PROM /prom/ noun 1. read only memory 
that can be programmed by the user, as dis- 
tinct from ROM, which is programmed by 
the manufacturer. Full form programmable 
read only memory 2. an electronic device 
in which data can be stored. Full form pro- 
grammable memory 
prompt /prompt/ noun a message or char- 
acter displayed to remind the user that an in- 
put is expected O The prompt READY indi- 



195 proxar 

cates that the system is available to receive 
instructions. 

prompter /'prompts/ noun the person on a 
set who gives cues to performers during ac- 
tion filming (film) r> cue 
proof /pru:f/ noun printed matter from a 
printer that has to be checked and corrected ■ 
verb to produce proofs of a text 
proofer /'pruifa/ noun a printer which pro- 
duces proofs, as opposed to finished printed 
pages O output devices such as laser proof ers 
and typesetters 

proofing /'pruifirj/ noun the process of 
producing proofs of text which have to be 
read and corrected 

proofread /'pruifriid/ verb to correct 
spelling and printing errors in a printed text O 
Has all the text been proofread yet? 
proofreader /'pruifriida/ noun a person 
who reads and corrects proofs 
propagate /'prop3,geit/ verb to travel or 
spread 

propagation delay /.propa'geiJXajn di 
,lei/ noun 1 . the time taken for an output to 
appear in a logic gate after the input is ap- 
plied 2. the time taken for a data bit to travel 
over a network from the source to the desti- 
nation 

properties /'propatiz/ noun (in Windows) 
the attributes of a file or object 
proportionally spaced /pra.poi r(3)nali 
'speist/ adjective referring to a font in which 
each letter takes a space proportional to the 
character width. Compare monospaced 
proprietary file format /pr3,prai3t(3)ri 
'fail ,f oimaet/ noun a method of storing data 
devised by a company for its products and in- 
compatible with other products O You cannot 
read this spreadsheet file because my soft- 
ware saves it in a proprietary file format. 
protect /pra'tekt/ verb to stop something 
being damaged 

protection /pro'tekfan/ noun the action 
of protecting something 
protective /pra'tektrv/ adjective designed 
to protect something O The disks are housed 
in hard protective cases. 
protocol /'praotakrjl/ noun the pre-agreed 
signals, codes and rules to be used for data 
exchange between systems 
prototype /'prauta.taip/ noun the first 
working model of a device or program, 
which is then tested and adapted to improve it 
prototyping /'prautataipirj/ noun the 
process of making a prototype 
proxar /'proksai/ noun an additional lens 
which is used in close-up shots to shorten the 
focal length (film) 



proxy server 



196 



proxy server /,prDksi 's3:vW noun a 
computer that stores copies of files and data 
normally held on a slow server and so allows 
users to access files and data quickly. Proxy 
servers are often used as a firewall between 
an intranet in a company and the public Inter- 
net. 

PrtSc /.print 'skri:n/ noun (on an IBM PC 
keyboard) a key that sends the contents of 
the current screen to the printer. Full form 
print screen 

pS /,pi: 'es/ abbr picosecond 
PSA noun US an advertisement for a public 
service or charity, which is shown on TV, but 
for which the TV company is not paid. Full 
form public service announcement 
pseudo- /sjuidao/ prefix similar to some- 
thing, but not genuine 

pseudO-COde /' sj uidao kaod/ noun Eng- 
lish sentence structures, used to describe pro- 
gram instructions that are translated at a later 
date into machine code 
pseudo-digital /.sjuidao 'did3it(3)17 ad- 
jective referring to modulated analog signals 
that are produced by a modem and transmit- 
ted over telephone lines 
pseudo-operation /,sju:dau ,Dpa 
'reij(a)n/ noun a command in an assembler 
program that controls the assembler rather 
than producing machine code 
pseudo-random /.sjuidau 'raendam/ 
noun a generated sequence that appears ran- 
dom but is repeated over a long period 
psophometer /sD'fDinita/ noun a meter 
which measures noise 
PSS abbr packet switching service 
PSTN abbr public switched telephone net- 
work 

PSU /,pii es 'jui/ noun an electrical circuit 

that provides certain direct current voltage 

and current levels from an alternating current 

source to other electrical circuits. Full form 

power supply unit 

comment: A PSU will regulate, smooth and 

step down a higher voltage supply for use 

in small electronic equipment. 

public /'pAbhk/ adjective available for an- 
yone to use 

publication /,pAbh'keiJ(3)n/ noun 1. the 
process of making something public O the 
publication of the report on data protection O 
The publication date of the book is November 
15th. 2. a printed book or leaflet, etc. which 
is sold to the public or which is given away O 
Government publications can be bought at 
special shops. O The company specialises in 
publications for the business reader. 

public data network /.pAbhk ,deita 
'netw3:k/ noun a data transmission service 



for the public, e.g. the main telephone system 
in a country. Abbr PDN 
public domain /,pAbhk dau'mem/ noun 
the status of documents, text or programs that 
are not protected by copyright and can be 
copied by anyone 

publicise /'pAbhsaiz/, publicize verb to 
attract people's attention to a product or serv- 
ice O They are publicising their low prices 
for computer stationery. O The new PC has 
been publicised in the press. 
publicity /pA'blisiti/ noun the process of 
attracting the attention of the public to prod- 
ucts or services by mentioning them in the 
media or by advertising them 
publicity bureau /pA'bhsiti .bjuarao/ 
noun an office which organises publicity for 
companies 

publicity campaign /pA'blisiti kaem 
,pem/ noun a period when planned publicity 
takes place 

publicity department /pA'blisiti di 
,pa:tm3nt/ noun a department in a company 
which organises the publicity for the compa- 
ny's products 

publicity matter /pA'blisiti ,iruet3/ noun 
leaflets or posters, etc., which publicise a 
product or service 

public key cipher system /,pAbhk ki: 
'saifa ,sist3m/ noun a cipher that uses a 
public key to encrypt messages and a secret 
key to decrypt them. Conventional cipher 
systems use one secret key to encrypt and de- 
crypt messages. 

public key encryption /,pAbhk ki: in 
'knpj(3)n/ noun a method of encrypting 
data that uses one key to encrypt the data and 
another different key to decrypt the data 
publish /'pAbhJV verb 1. to produce and 
sell software 2. to design, edit and print a text 
(such as a book or newspaper or catalogue) 
and sell or give it to the public O The institute 
has published a list of sales figures for differ- 
ent home computers. O The company spe- 
cialises in publishing reference books. 3. to 
share a local resource with other users on a 
network (such as a file or folder) 
publisher /'pAbliJa/ noun a company 
which prints books or newspapers and sells 
or gives them to the public 
publishing /'pAbliJirj/ noun the business 
of printing books or newspapers and selling 
them or giving them to the public 
'...desktop publishing or the ability to produce 
high-quality publications using a minicomputer, 
essentially boils down to combining words and 
images on pages' [Byte] 

pull-down /'pul daun/ verb moving film 
frame to frame in a camera or projector by 
means of a claw (film) 



197 



PWM 



pull-down menu /'pul daon ,menju:/ 
noun a set of options that are displayed be- 
low the relevant entry on a menu-bar O The 
pull-down menu is viewed by clicking on the 
menu bar at the top of the screen. Compare 
pop-down menu 

pull-up /'pul Ap/ noun a loop of film used 
to keep the film flowing steadily through the 
picture gate over the sound head 
pulse /pAls/ noun a short period of a volt- 
age level ■ verb to apply a short-duration 
voltage level to a circuit O We pulsed the in- 
put but it still would not work. 
comment: Electric pulse can be used to 
transmit information, as the binary digits 
and 1 correspond to 'no pulse' and 'pulse' 
(the voltage level used to distinguish the bi- 
nary digits and 1 , is often zero and 5 or 
1 2 volts, with the pulse width depending on 
transmission rate). 

pulse-code modulation /,p,\ls kaud 
,mDdju'leiJ(3)n/ noun full form of PCM 
pulse-dialling /'pAls .daiahrj/ noun tele- 
phone dialling that dials a telephone number 
by sending a series of pulses along the line O 
Pulse-dialling takes longer to dial than the 
newer tone-dialling system. 



punch /pAnt J/ noun 1 . a device for making 
holes in punched cards 2. a mechanism 
which punches a cue mark in a film leader to 
show when printing or editorial synchronisa- 
tion should start 3. a mechanism which elim- 
inates the splicing noises in prints which are 
made from an optical sound negative ■ verb 
to make a hole in something 
punch-down block /,pAntJ daun 'blt>k/ 
noun a device used in a local area network to 
connect UTP cable 

punctuation mark /,pAnktJu'eiJ(3)n 
maik/ noun a printing symbol such as a com- 
ma or full stop, used for making the meaning 
of text clear 

purge /p3id3/ verb to remove unnecessary 
or out-of-date data from a file or disk O Each 
month, I purge the disk of all the old email 
messages. 

push /puJ7 verb to press something or to 
move something by pressing on it 
pushbutton /'puJbAt(3)n/ adjective 
which works by pressing on a button 
push technology /'puf tek,nt)bd3i/ 
noun Internet technology that allows sub- 
scribers to receive customised information 
directly 
PWM abbrpulse width modulation 



Q 



QAM abbr quadrature amplitude modula- 
tion 

QBE /,kju: bi: 'ii/ noun a simple language 
used to retrieve information from a database 
management system by, normally, entering a 
query with known values, which is then 
matched with the database and used to re- 
trieve the correct data O In most QBE data- 
bases, the query form looks like the record 
format in the database - retrieving data is as 
easy as filling in a form. Full form query by 
example 

Q Channel /'kju: ,t Jaen(a)V noun (in a CD 
audio disc) one of the eight information 
channels that holds data identifying the track 
and the absolute playing time 
QL abbrquery language 
qty abbr quantity 

quad /kwDd/ adjective operating at four 
times the standard speed, or processing four 
times the standard amount of data ■ noun 1 . 
a sheet of paper four times as large as a basic 
sheet 2. same as quadruplex 
quadding /'kwDdirj/ noun the insertion of 
spaces into text to fill out a line 
quadr- /kwDdr/ prefixfour 
quadraphony /kwrVdrofsni/ noun a 
four-channel system of sound ( film) 
quadrature /'kwDdtratJa/ noun a video 
playback error due to the heads being wrong- 
ly aligned to the edge of the tape 
quadrature amplitude modulation 
/,kwDdtr3tj3 'aemphtjuid mDdju 
,leij(3)n/ noun a data encoding method used 
by high-speed modems (transmitting at rates 
above 2,400bps). It combines amplitude 
modulation and phase modulation to increase 
the data transmission rate. Abbr QAM 
quadrature encoding /'kwDdtratJs in 
.kaodirj/ noun a system used to determine 
the direction in which a mouse is being 
moved. In a mechanical mouse, two sensors 
send signals that describe its horizontal and 
vertical movements, these signals being 
transmitted using quadrature encoding. 
quadrophonic /.kwDdre'frmik/ adjec- 
tive (of an audio music system) using four 
speakers 

quadruplex /'kwrjdrupleks/ noun 1. a set 
of four signals combined into a single one 2. 
a four unit video tape recorder which produc- 



es video information in continuous almost 
vertical stripes 

quadruplicate /kwo'druiphkat/ noun O 
The statements are printed in quadruplicate. 
a in quadruplicate with the original and 
three copies O the statements are printed in 
quadruplicate (note: no plural) 
quad-speed drive /,kwDd spiid 'draiv/ 
noun a CD-ROM drive that spins the disc at 
four times the speed of a single-speed drive, 
providing higher data throughput of 600Kbps 
and shorter seek times 

quality control /'kwDhti kan^raol/ noun 
the process of checking that the quality of a 
product is good 

quality of service /,kwDhti av 's3:vis/ 
noun the degree to which a network can 
transfer information without error or fault 
Quantel /'kwDntel/ the hardware graphics 
company that developed Paintbox and Harry 
production graphics systems 
quantifiable /'kwontifai3b(3)l/ adjective 
which can be quantified O The effect of the 
change in the pricing structure is not quanti- 
fiable. 

quantifier /'kwDnti,fai3/ noun a sign or 
symbol that indicates the quantity or range of 
a predicate 

quantisation, quantization noun the 
conversion of an analog signal to a numerical 
representation 

quantise, quantize verb 1. to convert an 
analog signal into a numerical representation 
O The input signal is quantised by an analog 
to digital converter. 2. to process a MIDI file 
and align all the notes to a regular beat, so re- 
moving any timing errors O An analog to 
digital converter quantises the input signal. 
quantiser, quantizer noun a device used 
to convert an analog input signal to a numer- 
ical form, that can be processed by a compu- 
ter 

quantity /'kwDntiti/ noun the amount or 
number of items O A small quantity of illegal 
copies of the program have been imported. ■ 
adjective in large amounts O The company 
offers a discount for quantity purchases. 
quantum /'kwDntam/ noun (in communi- 
cations) a packet of data that is the result of a 
signal being quantised 

quarter-inch tape /,kwo:tsr mtj 'teip/ 
noun a standard diameter of magnetic tape 



199 



QWERTY keyboard 



which is used in tape cartridges and reel-to- 
reel recorders (film) 

quartile /'kwoitail/ noun one of three fig- 
ures below which 25%, 50% or 75% of a total 
falls 

quarto /'kwoitau/ noun a paper size, made 
when a sheet is folded twice to make eight 
pages 

quasi- /kweizai/ prefix almost, or similar 
to 

quaternary /'kwoit3in3ri/ adjective exist- 
ing as four bits, levels or objects 
query /'kwiari/ noun a question ■ verb to 
ask a question about something or to suggest 
that something may be wrong 
query by example /.kwiari bai ig 
'zaimpal/ noun full form of QBE 
query facility /'kwiari fa.siliti/ noun a 
program, usually a database or retrieval sys- 
tem, that allows the user to ask questions and 
receive answers or access certain information 
according to the query 

query language /'kwisri ,laerjgwid3/ 
noun a language in a database management 
system that allows a database to be searched 
and queried easily. Abbr QL 
question /'kwestj(a)n/ noun 1. words 
which need an answer O The managing di- 
rector refused to answer questions about 
faulty keyboards. O The market research 
team prepared a series of questions to test the 
public's reactions to colour and price. 2. a 
problem O He raised the question of moving 
to less expensive offices. O The main question 
is that of cost. O The board discussed the 
question of launching a new business compu- 
ter. ■ verb 1 . to ask questions O The police 
questioned the accounts staff for four hours 
O she questioned the chairman on the com- 
pany 's sales in the Far East. 2. to query or to 
suggest that something may be wrong O We 
all question how accurate the computer 
printout is. 

question mark /'kwejtjsn maik/ noun 
the character ( ? ) that is often used as a wild- 
card to indicate that any single character in 
the position will produce a match O To find 
all the letters, use the command D1R LET- 
TER/DOC which will list LETTER1.DOC, 
LETTER2.DOC and LETTER3.DOC. f> as- 
terisk 

questionnaire /.kwestJVnea/ noun a 
printed list of questions, especially used in 
market research O to send out a question- 
naire to test the opinions of users of the sys- 



tem O to answer or to fill in a questionnaire 
about holidays abroad 
queue /kj ml noun 1 . a line of people wait- 
ing one behind the other O to form a queue or 
to join a queue 2. a list of data or tasks that 
are waiting to be processed, or a series of 
documents that are dealt with in order ■ verb 
to add more data or tasks to the end of a 
queue 

quick /kwik/ adjective operating at high 
speed, or taking little time O The company 
made a quick recovery. 
QuickDraw /'kwikdroi/ (in an Apple Mac- 
intosh) a trade name for the graphics routines 
built into the Macintosh's operating system 
that control displayed text and images 
quickly /'kwikli/ adverb without taking 
much time 

quicksort /'kwiksoit/ noun a very rapid 
file sorting and ordering method 
QuickTime /'kwiktaim/ (in an Apple 
Macintosh) a trade name for the graphics 
routines built into the Macintosh's operating 
system that allow windows, boxes and graph- 
ic objects, including animation and video 
files, to be displayed 

quit /kwit/ verb to leave a system or a pro- 
gram O Do not forget to save your text before 
you quit the system. 

quo liking /'kwDnkirj/ noun undesired 
sounds which are picked up by a microphone 
(film) 

quotation /kw3u'teij(3)n/ noun part of a 
text borrowed from another text 

quotation marks /kw3u'teij(3)nmaiks/ 
noun punctuation marks used for enclosing 
text to show that it has been quoted from an- 
other source 

quote /kwaot/ verb to repeat words used by 
someone else 

quotient /'kw3oJ"(3)nt/ noun the result of 
one number divided by another 
comment: When two numbers are divided, 
the answer is made up of a quotient and a 
remainder (the fractional part). 16 divided 
by 4 is equal to a quotient of 4 and zero re- 
mainder; 16 divided by 5 is equal to a quo- 
tient of 3 and a remainder of 1 . 

quoting /'kwaotirj/ noun a feature of many 
electronic mail applications that allows you 
to reply to a message and include the text of 
the original message 

QWERTY keyboard /.kwaiti 'ki:bo:d/ 
noun a standard English language key layout. 
The first six letters on the top left row of keys 
are QWERTY. 



rack /raek/ noun 1 . a metal supporting frame 
for electronic circuit boards and peripheral 
devices such as disk drives 2. a frame to hold 
items for display O a display rack O a rack 
for holding mag tapes 
racking /'raekirj/ noun > framing 
rack mounted /'raek ,mauntid/ adjective 
referring to a system consisting of removable 
circuit boards in a supporting frame 
radar /'reidai/ noun a method of finding 
the position of objects such as aircraft, by 
transmitting radio waves which are reflected 
back if they hit an object and are displayed on 
a screen 

radial transfer /.reidial 'traensf3:/ noun 
data transfer between two peripherals or pro- 
grams that are on different layers of a struc- 
tured system (such as an ISO/OSI system) 
radiant /'reidiant/ adjective which radiates 
radiant energy /,reidi3nt 'enad3i/ noun 
the amount of energy radiated by an aerial 
radiate /'reidieit/ verb 1 . to go out in all di- 
rections from a central point 2. to send out 
rays 3. to convert electrical signals into trav- 
elling electromagnetic waves 
radiating element /,reidie it in ehmant/ 
noun a single basic unit of an antenna that ra- 
diates signals 

radiation /,reidi'eij(3)n/ noun 1. the send- 
ing out of waves of energy from certain sub- 
stances 2. the conversion of electrical signals 
in an antenna into travelling electromagnetic 
waves 

radiator /'reidieita/ noun the single basic 
unit of an antenna or any device that radiates 
signals 

radio /'reidiao/ noun a medium used for the 
transmission of speech, sound and data over 
long distances by radio frequency electro- 
magnetic waves 

radio button /'reidisu ,bAt(3)n/ noun (in 
a GUI) a circle displayed beside an option 
that, when selected, has a dark centre. Only 
one radio button can be selected at one time. 
radiocommunications /.reidiauka 
,mjuini'keij(3)nz/ noun the transmission 
and reception of sound and data by radio 
waves 

radio frequency /'reidiau .fritkwansi/ 
noun full form of RF 



radix /'reidiks/ noun the value of the base 
of the number system being used O The hex- 
adecimal number has a radix of 16. 
ragged /'raegid/ adjective not straight, or 
with an uneven edge 

RAID /reid/ noun a fast, fault tolerant disk 
drive system that uses multiple drives which 
would, typically, each store one byte of a 
word of data, so allowing the data to be saved 
faster. Full form redundant array of inex- 
pensive disks 
'A Japanese investor group led by system distrib- 
utor Technography has pumped $4.2 million 
(#2.8 million) into US disk manufacturer Storage 
Computer to help with the development costs of 
RAID 7 hard disk technology.' [Computing] 
RAM /raem/ noun memory that allows ac- 
cess to any location in any order, without 
having to access the rest first. Full form ran- 
dom access memory. Compare sequen- 
tial access 
'The HP Enterprise Desktops have hard-disk ca- 
pacities of between 260Mb and 1 Gb, with RAM 
ranging from 16Mb up to 128Mb.' [Computing] 
'...fast memory is RAM that does not have to 
share bus access with the chip that manages the 
video display' [Byte] 

comment: Dynamic RAM, which uses a ca- 
pacitor to store a bit of data, needs to have 
each location refreshed from time to time to 
retain the data, but is very fast and can 
contain more data per unit area than static 
RAM, which uses a latch to store the state 
of a bit. Static RAM, however, has the ad- 
vantage of not requiring to be refreshed to 
retain its data, and will keep data for as 
long as power is supplied. 
ramcorder /'raemkoida/ noun a digital 
video recorder which stores images as digital 
data in RAM rather than on film 
RAMDAC /'raemdaek/ noun an electronic 
component on a video graphics adapter that 
converts the digital colour signals into elec- 
trical signals that are sent to the monitor 
R&D noun investigation of new products, 
discoveries and techniques. Full form re- 
search and development 
R&D department /,a:r an 'dii di 
,paitm3nt/ noun a department in a company 
that investigates new products, discoveries 
and techniques 

random /'raendam/ adjective not arranged 
or happening according to a particular order 
or pattern 



201 



real address 



random access /,raencbm 'aekses/ noun 
the ability to access immediately memory lo- 
cations in any order O Disk drives are ran- 
dom access, whereas magnetic tape is se- 
quential access memory. 

random access digital to analog 
converter /.raendam ,aekses ,did3it(3)l 
ta .aenarrxj kan'v3it3/ noun an electronic 
component on a video graphics adapter that 
converts the digital colour signals into elec- 
trical signals that are sent to the monitor. 
Abbr RAMDAC 

random access memory /.raendam 
'aekses l mem(3)ri/ noun full form of RAM 
range /reind3/ noun 1. a series of items 
from which the customer can choose O a 
wide range of products 2. a set of allowed 
values between a maximum and minimum ■ 
verb 1 . to vary or to be different O The com- 
pany 's products range from a cheap laptop 
micro to a multistation mainframe. 2. to put 
text in order to one side 
rank /raerjk/ verb to sort data into an order, 
usually according to size or importance 
raster /'raesta/ noun a system of scanning 
the whole of a CRT screen with a picture 
beam by sweeping across it horizontally, 
moving down one pixel or line at a time 
raster graphics /'raesta .graefiks/ plural 
noun graphics in which the picture is built up 
in lines across the screen or page 
raster image processor /,raesta 'imid3 
.praosesa/ noun raster which translates soft- 
ware instructions into an image or complete 
page which is then printed by the printer O 
An electronic page can be converted to a 
printer- readable video image by an on-board 
raster image processor. Abbr RIP 
raster scan /'raesta sksen/ noun one 
sweep of the picture beam horizontally 
across the front of a CRT screen 
rate /reit/ noun the quantity of data or tasks 
that can be processed in a set time O The 
processor's instruction execution rate is bet- 
ter than the older version. ■ verb to evaluate 
how good something is or how large some- 
thing is 

ratings /'reitirjz/ noun a calculation of 
how many people are watching a TV pro- 
gramme 

ratings battle, ratings war noun a fight 
between two TV companies to increase their 
share of the market 

ratio /'reijiao/ noun the proportion of one 
number to another O The ratio of 10 to 5 is 
2:1. 

rational number /,rEeJ"(a)nal 'nAmba/ 
noun a number that can be written as the ratio 
of two whole numbers O 24 over 7 is a ra- 
tional number. 



raw /ra:/ adjectivein the original state or not 
processed 

raw data /,ro: 'deita/ noun pieces of infor- 
mation which have not been input into a com- 
puter system 

ray /rei/ noun one line of light or radiation 
in a beam or from a source O The rays of light 
pass down the optical fibre. 
ray tracing /ret 'treisirj/ noun (in graph- 
ics) a method of creating life-like computer- 
generated graphics which correctly show 
shadows and highlights on an object to sug- 
gest the existence of a light source O To gen- 
erate this picture with ray tracing will take 
several hours on this powerful PC. 
RCA connector /,a: si: 'ei ka.nekta/ 
noun same as phono connector 
RD /,a: 'di:/ noun (in DOS) a command to 
remove an empty subdirectory. Full form re- 
move directory 

RDBMS abbr relational database manage- 
ment system 

reaction /ri'aekfan/ noun an action which 
takes place because of something which has 
happened earlier 

reaction time /ri'aekfan taim/ noun same 
as access time 

read /riid/ verb 1 . to look at printed words 
and understand them O Conditions of sale 
are printed in such small characters that they 
are difficult to read. 2. to retrieve data from a 
storage medium O This instruction reads the 
first record of a file. 

readable /'ri:dab(a)I/ adjective that can be 
read or understood by someone or by an elec- 
tronic device O The electronic page is con- 
verted to a printer- readable video image. 
reader /'riida/ noun a device that reads data 
stored on one medium and converts it into an- 
other form 

reading /'riidirj/ noun a note taken of fig- 
ures or degrees, especially of degrees on a 
scale 

readout /'riidaut/ noun a display of data O 
The readout displayed the time. 

read/write cycle /,ri:d 'rait ,saik(a)l/ 
noun a sequence of events used to retrieve 
and store data 

ready /'redi/ adjective waiting and able to 
be used O The green light indicates the sys- 
tem is ready for another program. 
Real /rial/ a trade name for a system used to 
transmit sound and video over the Internet, 
normally used to transmit live sound, e.g. 
from a radio station, over the Internet. r> 
plug-in, streaming data 
real address /.rial a'dres/ noun an abso- 
lute address that directly accesses a memory 
location. Compare paged address 



RealAudio 



202 



RealAudio /.rial'oidiau/ a trade name for a 
system used to transmit sound, usually live, 
over the Internet 
realise /'nolaiz/, realise the palette 

/.rialaiz da 'paelat/ verb to select a particular 
set of colours for a 256-colour palette and use 
this palette when displaying an image, nor- 
mally by mapping the colours in a logical 
palette into the system palette 
real memory /.rial 'mem(a)ri/ noun the 
actual physical memory that can be ad- 
dressed by a CPU. Compare virtual memo- 
ry 

RealNames /.rral'neimz/ a system of as- 
signing a trade name or descriptive name to a 
website address 

real number /.rial 'rtAinba/ noun (in com- 
puting) a number that is represented with a 
fractional part, or a number represented in 
floating point notation 
real time /'rial taim/ noun the instant na- 
ture of the responses of some computer sys- 
tem to events, changes and other stimuli O A 
navigation system needs to be able to process 
the position of a ship in real time and take 
suitable action before it hits a rock. 
'Quotron provides real-time quotes, news and 
analysis on equity securities through a network of 
40,000 terminals to US brokers and investors.' 
[Computing] 

'.. .define a real-time system as any system which 
is expected to interact with its environment with- 
in certain timing constraints' [British Telecom 
Technology Journal] 

real-time animation /.rial taim ,aem 
'meij(a)n/ noun an animation in which ob- 
jects appear to move at the same speed as 
they would in real life. Real-time animation 
requires display hardware capable of display- 
ing a sequence with tens of different images 
every second. 

real-time authorisation /,nal taim 
.oiGarai'zeiJXaJn/, real-time authentica- 
tion /,nal taim ,o:0enti'keij(a)n/ noun an 
online system that can check the authenticity 
and validity of a customer's credit card with- 
in a few seconds, allowing the Internet shop 
to deliver goods or confirm an order immedi- 
ately 

real-time input /.rial taim 'input/ noun 
data input to a system as it happens or is re- 
quired 

real-time system /'rial taim .sistam/ 
noun a computer system that responds in- 
stantly to events, changes and other stimuli O 
In a real-time system, as you move the joy- 
stick left, the image on the screen moves left. 
If there is a pause for processing it is not a 
true real-time system. 



real-time video /.rial taim 'vidiau/ noun 
full form of RTV 

rear projection /,na pra'd3ekjan/ noun 
» back projection 

reboot /ri: 'buit/ verb to reload an operating 
system during a computing session O We re- 
booted and the files reappeared. t> boot 
recall /n'koil/ noun the process of bringing 
back text or files from store ■ verb /n'koil/ 
to bring back text or files from store for edit- 
ing 

receipt notification /n'siit 

,nautifikeij(a)n/ noun a feature of many 
electronic mail applications that will send an 
automatic message to confirm that the recip- 
ient has received the message 
receive /ri'siiv/ verb to accept data from a 
communications link O The computer re- 
ceived data via the telephone line. 
receive only /n,si:v 'aunli/ noun full 
form of RO 

receiver /n'siiva/ noun an electronic de- 
vice that can detect transmitted signals and 
present them in a suitable form 
reception /ri'sepjan/ noun the quality of a 
radio or TV signal received O Signal recep- 
tion is bad with that aerial. 
re-Chargeable /ri: 'tja:d3ab(a)l/ adjec- 
tive (of a battery) which can be charged again 
with electricity when it is flat 
reciprocal link/n,siprak(a)l 'lirjk/ noun 
a link connecting two websites and working 
in both directions so that each site is effec- 
tively providing advertising space for the oth- 
er 

recode /rii'kaod/ verb to code a program 
which has been coded for one system, so that 
it will work on another 
recognisable /'rekagnaizab(a)l/, recog- 
nizable adjective which can be recognised 
recognise /'rekag.naiz/, recognize verb 
to see something and remember that it has 
been seen before O The scanner will recog- 
nise most character fonts. 
recognition /.rekag 'nij(a)n/ noun 1. be- 
ing able to recognise something 2. a process 
that allows something such as letters on a 
printed text or bars on bar codes to be recog- 
nised, 

recompile /.riikam'pail/ verb to compile a 
source program again, usually after changes 
or debugging 

reconfiguration /,ri:kanfiga'reij(a)n/ 
noun the process of altering the structure of 
data in a system 

reconfigure /.riikan'figa/ verbto alter the 
structure of data in a system O / reconfigured 
the field structure in the file. i> configure, 
set up 



203 



redundant 



reconnect /,ri:k3'nekt/ verb to connect 
again O The telephone engineers are trying 
to reconnect the telephone. 
record noun /'rekaid/ a set of items of re- 
lated data O Your record contains several 
fields that have been grouped together under 
the one heading. ■ verb /n'koid/ to store 
data or signals O Record the results in this 
column. 

recordable CD /n,ko:d3b(a)l si: 'di:/ 
noun full form of CD-R 
recorder /n'koida/ noun equipment able 
to transfer input signals onto a storage medi- 
um 
comment: The signal recorded is not al- 
ways in the same form as the input signal. 
Many recorders record a modulated carrier 
signal for better quality. A recorder is usu- 
ally combined with a suitable playback cir- 
cuit since the read and write heads are of- 
ten the same physical device. 

recording /n'koidirj/ noun 1 . the action of 
storing signals or data 2. a signal (especially 
music) which has been recorded on tape or 
disk O a new recording of Beethoven's quar- 
tets 

recordset /'rekoidset/ noun a group of 
records selected from a main database by a 
filter, search or query 

recover /rt'kAva/ verb to get back some- 
thing which has been lost O It is possible to 
recover the data but it can take a long time. 

recoverable error /n,kAv(3)reb(s)l 

'era/ noun an error type that allows program 
execution to be continued after it has oc- 
curred 

recovery /n'kAv(3)ri/ noun 1. the process 
of returning to normal operating after a fault 
2. the process of getting back something that 
has been lost O The recovery of lost files can 
be carried out using the recovery procedure. 

recovery procedure /n'kAv(3)ri pra 
,si:d33/ noun the processes required to re- 
turn a system to normal operation after an er- 
ror 

rectangular waveguide /,rektaerjgjota 
'weivgaid/ noun a microwave channel that 
is rectangular in cross section 
rectifier /'rekttfaia/ noun an electronic 
circuit that converts an alternating current 
supply into a direct current supply 
rectify /'rekti,fai/ verb 1. to correct some- 
thing or to make something right O They had 
to rectify the error at the printout stage. 2. to 
remove the positive or negative sections of a 
signal so that it is unipolar 
recursion /ri'k3i3(3)n/ noun a subroutine 
in a program that calls itself during execu- 
tion. Also called recursive routine 



recursive filtering /n,k3isiv 'filarirj/ 
noun a technique which reduces video noise 
and defects (film) 

recursive routine /n,k3isiv 'ruitim/ 
noun same as recursion 
Recycle Bin /ri:'saik(3)l bin/ noun a fold- 
er in Windows 95 where deleted files are au- 
tomatically stored, with an icon on the Desk- 
top that looks like a wastepaper bin O If you 
want to delete a file or folder, drag it onto the 
Recycle Bin icon or press the Delete key. 
red, green, blue /,red grim 'blu:/ noun 
the three colour picture beams used in a col- 
our TV 
comment: There are three colour guns pro- 
ducing red, green, and blue beams acting 
on groups of three phosphor dots at each 
pixel location. 
red, green, blue display /,red grim 
'blui di,splei/ noun full form of RGB dis- 
play 

red book audio /,red bok 'aidiao/ noun 
» compact disc-digital audio 
redefinable / l ri:di'fam3b(3)l/ adjective 
which can be redefined 
redefine /,ri:di'fain/ verb to change the 
function or value assigned to a variable or ob- 
ject O / have redefined this key to display the 
figure five when pressed. 

'...one especially useful command lets you rede- 
fine the printer's character-translation table' 
[Byte] 
redirect /,ri:dai'rekt/ verb 1. to send a 
message to its destination by another route 2. 
(in DOS and UNIX operating systems) to 
treat the output of one program as input for 
another program 

redirection ^riidai'rekfan/ noun the 
process of sending a message to its destina- 
tion by another route O Call forwarding is 
automatic redirection of calls. 
redliner /'redlama/ noun a feature of 
workgroup or word-processor software that 
allows a user to highlight text in a different 
colour 

redo /rii'dui/ verb to do something again 
redraw /rii'dro:/ verb to draw something 
again O Can the computer redraw the graph- 
ics showing the product from the top view? 
reduce /n'djuis/ verb to make something 
smaller 

reduced instruction set computer In 
,djuist m,strAkj3n set kam'pjuita/ noun 
full form of RISC 

redundancy /rt'dAndansi/ noun the proc- 
ess of providing extra components in a sys- 
tem in case there is a breakdown 
redundant In 'dAndant/ adjective 1 . refer- 
ring to data that can be removed without los- 
ing any information O The parity bits on the 



redundant array of inexpensive disks204 



received data are redundant and can be re- 
moved. 2. referring to an extra piece of equip- 
ment kept ready for a task in case of faults 
redundant array of inexpensive 
disks /n.dAndant 3,rei av ,inikspensiv 
'disks/ noun full form of RAID 
re-entrant program /ri: .entrant 
'praugraem/, re-entrant code /kaod/, re- 
entrant routine /ru: 'tim/ noun one program 
or code shared by many users in a multi-user 
system. It can be interrupted or called again 
by another user before it has finished its pre- 
vious run, and will return to the point at 
which it was interrupted when it has finished 
that run. 

reference /'ref(3)rans/ noun 1. a value 
used as a starting point for other values, often 
zero 2. the act of mentioning or dealing with 
something ■ verb to access a location in 
memory O The access time taken to reference 
an item in memory is short. 
reflect /ri'flekt/ verb to send back (light or 
image) from a surface O In a reflex camera, 
the image is reflected by an inbuilt mirror. 
reflectance /n'flektans/ noun the differ- 
ence between the amount of light or signal in- 
cident and the amount that is reflected back 
from a surface. Opposite absorptance 
reflection /ri'flekfan/ noun light or an im- 
age which is reflected 

reflective disk /n'flektiv disk/ noun a 
videodisc that uses a reflected laser beam to 
read the data etched into the surface 
reformat /.rii'faimaet/ verb to format a 
disk that already contains data, and erasing 
the data by doing so O Do not reformat your 
hard disk unless you can 't do anything else. 
reformatting /rn'faimaetin/ noun the act 
of formatting a disk which already contains 
data O Reformatting destroys all the data on 
a disk. t> format 

refract /n'fraekt/ verb to change the direc- 
tion of light as it passes through a material 
(such as water or glass) 
refraction /ri'fraekfan/ noun the apparent 
bending of light or sound that occurs when it 
travels through a material 
refractive index /n.fraektiv 'mdeks/ 
noun a measure of the angle that light is re- 
fracted by, as it passes through a material 
refresh /n'frejy verb to update regularly 
the contents of dynamic RAM by reading and 
rewriting stored data to ensure data is re- 
tained O memory refresh signal 
refresh rate /ri'frej reit/ noun the 
number of times every second that the image 
on a CRT is redrawn 
'Philips autoscan colour monitor, the 4CM6099, 
has SVGA refresh rates of 72Hz (800 x 600) and 



EVGA refresh rates of 70Hz (1,024 x 768).' 

[Computing] 
regenerate /n'd3en3,reit/ verb 1. to re- 
draw an image on a screen many times a sec- 
ond so that it remains visible 2. to receive dis- 
torted signals, process and error check them, 
then retransmit the same data 
regeneration /n,gen3'reij(3)n/ noun the 
process of regenerating a signal 
regenerator /rii'dsenareits/ noun a de- 
vice used in communications that amplifies 
or regenerates a received signal and transmits 
it on. Regenerators are often used to extend 
the range of a network. 
region /'ri:d33n/ noun a special or reserved 
area of memory or program or screen 
region fill /'ri:d3(3)n f il/ noun the process 
of filling an area of the screen or a graphics 
shape with a particular colour 
register /'red3ista/ noun 1 . a special loca- 
tion within a CPU that is used to hold data 
and addresses to be processed in a machine 
code operation 2. a reserved memory loca- 
tion used for special storage purposes ■ verb 
1 . to react to a stimulus 2. to correctly super- 
impose two images 

Registry /'red3istri/ noun a database of 
information about configuration and pro- 
gram settings that forms the basis of Win- 
dows 

regulate /'regjoleit/ verb to control a 
process, usually using sensors and a feedback 
mechanism 

regulation /,regjo'leiJ(3)n/ noun a law or 
rule, which most people have to obey 
regulation line /,regjoleiJ(3)n 'lam/ 
noun the ability of a power supply to prevent 
input line changes affecting output supplies 
regulation load /,regjuleif(a)n 'bud/ 
noun the ability of a power supply to prevent 
output load changes affecting output supplies 
rehyphenation /ri:,haifa'neif(9)n/ noun 
the process of changing the hyphenation of 
words in a text after it has been put into a new 
page format or line width 
reject /n'd3ekt/ verb to refuse to accept 
something O The computer rejects all incom- 
ing data from incompatible sources. 
rejection /n'dsekfan/ noun the process or 
fact of refusing to accept something 
relational database /n,leij"(a)n(9)l 
deilobeis/, relational database manage- 
ment system /n,leijn(3)l ,deit3beis 
,maenid3m3nt 'sistam/ noun a database in 
which all the items of data can be intercon- 
nected. Data is retrieved by using one item of 
data to search for a related field. O If you 
search the relational database for the sur- 
name, you can pull out his salary from the re- 
lated accounts database. Abbr RDBMS 



205 



repetitive strain injury 



relationship /n'leif(a)nTip/ noun a way 
in which two similar things are connected 
relative /'retativ/ adjective compared to 
something else 

relay /'riilei/ noun an electromagnetically 
controlled switch O There is a relay in the 
circuit. ■ verb to receive data from one 
source and then retransmit it to another point 
O All messages are relayed through this 
small micro. 

release /ri'liis/ noun 1. a version of a prod- 
uct O The latest software is release 5. 2. the 
process of putting a new product on the mar- 
ket ■ verb to put a new product on the market 
reliability /n,lai3'biliti/ noun the ability 
of a device to function as intended, efficiently 
and without failure O It has an excellent reli- 
ability record. 

reliable /n'lai3b(3)l/ adjective which can 
be trusted to work properly O The early ver- 
sions of the software were not completely re- 
liable. 

relief printing /n.lizf 'prmtirj/ noun a 
printing process in which the ink is held on a 
raised image 

reload /rc'taud/ verb to load something 
again O We reloaded the program after the 
crash. t> load 

relocatable /,ri:l3u'keit3b(a)V adjective 
which can be moved to another area of mem- 
ory without affecting its operation 
relocate /,ri:bu'keit/ verb to move data 
from one area of storage to another O The 
data is relocated during execution. 
relocation /,ri:bu'keij(3)n/ noun the 
process of moving to another area in memory 
REM /rem/ noun a statement in a BASIC 
program that is ignored by the interpreter, al- 
lowing the programmer to write explanatory 
notes. Full form remark 
remainder /n'memda/ noun a number 
equal to the dividend minus the product of 
the quotient and divider O 7 divided by 3 is 
equal to 2 remainder 1. Compare quotient 
remark /ri'maik/ noun full form of REM 

remedial maintenance /n,mi:dial 

'memtanans/ noun maintenance to repair 
faults which have developed in a system 
remote /ri'maot/ adjective referring to 
communications with a computer at a dis- 
tance from the systems centre O Users can 
print reports on remote printers. 
remote job entry /ri.maot d3Db 'entri/ 
noun full form of RJE 
removable /n'muiv3b(3)l/ adjective 
which can be removed O a removable hard 
disk 



removal /ri'mu:v(3)V noun the act of tak- 
ing something away O The removal of this in- 
struction could solve the problem. 
remove /ri'muiv/ verb to take something 
away or to move something to another place 
O The file entry was removed from the floppy 
disk directory. 

remove directory /n,muiv dai 
'rekt(3)ri/ noun full form of RD 
rename /ri: 'neim/ verb to give a new name 
to a file 

rendering /'rend(3)nrj/ noun the process 
of colouring and shading a (normally wire- 
frame or vector object) graphic object so that 
it looks solid and real 

renumber /'rimAmba/ noun a feature of 
some computer languages which allows the 
programmer to allocate new values to all or 
some of a program's line numbers 
reorganise /rii'oiganaiz/, reorganize 
verb to organise something again or in a dif- 
ferent way O Wait while the spelling checker 
database is being reorganised. 
repaginate /ri:'pa3d3meit/ verbto change 
the lengths of pages of text before they are 
printed O The text was repaginated with a 
new line width. 

repagination /rii.paedsi'neiJXaim/ noun 
the action of changing pages lengths O The 
dtp package allows simple repagination. 
repeat /ri'piit/ verbto do an action again 
repeater /n'piita/ noun a device used in 
communications that amplifies or regener- 
ates a received signal and transmits it on. Re- 
generators are often used to extend the range 
of a network, while the repeater works at the 
physical layer of the OSI network model. i> 
bridge, OSI, router 

repeating group /n'piitirj gruip/ noun a 
pattern of data that is duplicated in a bit 
stream 

reperforator /ri:'p3if3reit3/ noun a ma- 
chine that punches paper tape according to 
received signals 

repertoire /'rep3,twa:/ noun the range of 
functions of a device or software O The man- 
ual describes the full repertoire. 
repetitive letter /n,pet3tiv 'leta/ noun a 
form letter or standard letter into which the 
details of each addressee are inserted 
repetitive strain injury /n,petitiv 
'strem ,md33ri/, repetitive stress injury 
/n,petitiv stres 'mcljari/ noun pain in the 
arm, wrist or hands felt by someone who per- 
forms the same movement many times over a 
certain period, as when operating a computer 
O RSI can be avoided by adjusting your chair 
so that you do not excessively flex your wrists 
when typing. Abbr RSI 



replace 



206 



replace /n'pleis/ verb 1. to put something 
back where it was before 2. to find a certain 
item of data and put another in its place. i> 
search and replace 

replay noun /'riiplei/ 1 . the playing back or 
reading back of data or a signal from a re- 
cording 2. the process of repeating a short 
section of filmed action, usually in slow mo- 
tion O The replay clearly showed the winner. 
O This video recorder has a replay feature. ■ 
verb /rii'plei/ to play back something that 
has been recorded 

replenish /n'plemJV verb to charge a bat- 
tery with electricity again 
replicate /'repli,keit/ verb to copy some- 
thing O The routine will replicate your re- 
sults with very little effort. 

report program generator /n'pou 
.praograem .cljenareita/ noun a program- 
ming language used mainly on personal com- 
puters for the preparation of business reports, 
allowing data in files, databases, etc., to be 
included. Abbr RPG 

represent /,repn'zent/ verb 1. to act as a 
symbol for something O The hash sign is 
used to represent a number in a series. 2. to 
act as a salesperson for a product 
representation /.repnzen'teij^n/ 
noun the action of representing something 
representative /.repn'zentativ/ adjec- 
tive typical example of something ■ noun 
salesman who represents a company O The 
representative called yesterday about the or- 
der. 

reprint /'riiprmt/ verb 1 . to print more cop- 
ies of a document or book 2. to create a pos- 
itive film print from a negative ■ noun the 
printing of copies of a book after the first 
printing O We ordered a 10,000 copy reprint. 
repro /'riiprso/ noun finished artwork or 
camera-ready copy, ready for filming and 
printing (informal) 

reproduce ^riipra'djuis/ verb to copy 
data or text from one material or medium to 
another similar one 

reproduction /,ri:pr3'dAkr(3)n/ nounthe 
action of copying 

reprogram /ri: 'praograem/ verb to alter a 
program so that it can be run on another type 
of computer 

repro proof /'riiprau pruif/ noun a perfect 
proof ready to be reproduced 
request /n'kwest/ noun something that 
someone asks for ■ verb to ask for some- 
thing 

require /n'kwaia/ verb to need something 
or to demand something O Delicate compu- 
ter systems require careful handling. 



required hyphen /n.kwaiad 'haif(3)n/ 
noun hyphen which is always in a word, even 
if the word is not split (as in co-administra- 
tor) 

requirements /n'kwaiamants/ plural 
noun things which are needed O Memory re- 
quirements depend on the application soft- 
ware in use. 

re-route /,ri: 'ruit/ verb to send something 
by a different route 

rerun /,ri:'rAn/ verb to run a program or a 
printing job again 

res /rez/ noun same as resolution 
resample /ri:'saimp(3)L/ verb to change 
the number of pixels used to make up an im- 
age 

resave /rii'seiv/ verbto save a document or 
file again O It automatically resaves the text. 
rescue dump /'reskju: dAmp/ noun data 
automatically saved on disk when a computer 
fault occurs. The rescue dump describes the 
state of the system at that time, and is used to 
help in debugging. 

research /n's3itj/ noun scientific investi- 
gation carried out in order to learn new facts 
about a field of study 

research and development /n,s3itj 
an di'vebpmant/ noun full form of R & D 
O The company has spent millions of dollars 
on R&D. 

reserved character /n,z3:vd 'ksenkta/ 
noun a special character which is used by the 
operating system or which has a particular 
function to control an operating system and 
cannot be used for other uses 
reserved sector /n,z3ivd 'sekta/ noun 
the area of disk space that is used only for 
control data storage 

reset /,ri:'set/ verb 1. to return a system to 
its initial state, in order to allow a program or 
process to be started again 2. to set a register 
or counter to its initial state O When it reach- 
es 999 this counter resets to zero. 3. to set 
data equal to zero 
comment: Hard reset is similar to soft reset 
but with a few important differences. Hard 
reset is a switch that directly signals the 
CPU, while soft reset signals the operating 
system; hard reset clears all memory con- 
tents, while a soft reset does not affect 
memory contents; hard reset should al- 
ways reset the system, while a soft reset 
does not always work if the operating sys- 
tem has been upset in a significant way. 
reset-set flip-flop /,ri:set set flip ,flDp/ 
noun full form of RS-flip-flop 
reshape handle /'riijeip ,haend(3)l/ 
noun (in a GUI) a small square displayed on 
a frame around an object or image that a user 
can select and drag to change the shape of the 
frame or graphical object 



207 



return 



resident /'rezid(3)nt/ adjective referring 
to data or a program that is always in a com- 
puter 

resident fonts /,rezid(a)nt 'fonts/ plural 
noun font data which is always present in a 
printer or device and which does not have to 
be downloaded 

resident software /,rezid(3)nt 
'sDftwea/ noun a program that is held per- 
manently in memory (whilst the machine is 
on) 

residual /n'zidjual/ adjective remaining 
after the rest or the others have disappeared 
or have been dealt with 
resist /ri'zist/ verb to fight against some- 
thing or to refuse to do something ■ noun a 
substance used to protect a pattern of tracks 
on a PCB, which is not affected by etching 
chemicals 

resistance /rt'zistans/ noun a measure of 
the voltage drop across a component with a 
current flowing through it. t) Ohm's Law 
resistor /rt'zista/ noun an electronic com- 
ponent that provides a known resistance. 
Abbr RTL 

resistor transistor logic /n,zista tran 
,zista 'lDd3ik/ noun a circuit design method 
using transistors and resistors. Abbr RTL 
resolution /,reza'lu:J"(a)n/ noun 1. the 
number of pixels that a screen or printer can 
display per unit area O The resolution of most 
personal computer screens is not much more 
than 70 dpi (dots per inch). Also called res 2. 
the difference between two levels that can be 
differentiated in a digitised signal 3. the de- 
gree of accuracy with which something can 
be measured or timed 
'Group IV fax devices can send a grey or colour 
A4 page in about four seconds, at a maximum 
resolution of 15.7 lines per millimetre over an In- 
tegrated Services Digital Network circuit. ' [Com- 
puting] 

resolver /rt'zDlva/ noun a system which 
regulates the speed of a magnetic film record- 
er or a tape playback machine (film) 
resolving power /rt'zDlvirj ,paoa/ noun 
a measurement of the ability of an optical 
system to detect fine black lines on a white 
background, given as the number of lines per 
millimetre 

resonance /'rez(3)rt3ns/ noun a situation 
in which a body oscillates with a very large 
amplitude because the frequency applied to it 
is the same as its natural frequency 
resource /n'zais/ noun a useful device, 
product, program or graphic object 
resource interchange file format In 
,zo:s ,mt3t Jetnd3 'fail .foimaet/ noun full 
form of RIFF 



resource sharing /n'zois Jearrrj/ noun 
the use of one resource in a network or sys- 
tem by several users 

respond /ri'spDnd/ verb to reply or to re- 
act because of something 
response /n'spons/ noun a reaction 
caused by something 

restart /n'start/ verb to start something 
again O First try to restart your system. 

rest in proportion /.rest m pra 

'poiJ(3)n/ noun full form of RIP 

restore /ri'stDi/ verb to put something back 

into an earlier state 
'...first you have to restore the directory that con- 
tains the list of deleted files' [Personal 
Computer World] 

restrict /n'strrkt/ verb to keep something 
within a certain limit 

restriction /ri'stnkj(a)n/ noun something 
that restricts data flow or access 
result code /n'zAlt kaod/ noun a message 
sent from a modem to the local computer in- 
dicating the state of the modem 
retain /rr'tein/ verb to keep something 
retention /n'tenj(3)n/ noun the act of 
keeping something 

retouch /rii'tAtJV verb to change a print or 
photograph slightly by hand, to make it clear- 
er or to remove any blemishes O / retouched 
the scratch mark on the last print. O The art- 
work for the line drawings needs retouching 
in places. 

retrain /,ri:'trein/ verb to re-establish abet- 
ter quality connection when the quality of a 
line is very bad 

retransmission /,ri:tr8enz'mij'(3)n/ 
noun a signal or data that has been retrans- 
mitted 

retransmit /,ri:tra2nz'mit/ verb to trans- 
mit again (a received signal) 
retrieval /ri'tri:v(3)l/ noun the process of 
searching, locating and recovering informa- 
tion from a file or storage device 
retrieve /ri'triiv/ verb to extract informa- 
tion from a file or storage device O These are 
the records retrieved in that search. 
retro- /retrso/ prefix relating to an earlier 
time, state, or stage of development 
retrospective parallel running 
/,retr3ospekttv 'paeralel ,rAnirj/ noun run- 
ning a new computer system with old data to 
check if it is accurate 

retrospective search /,retr3ospekttv 
'S3it J7 noun a search of documents on a cer- 
tain subject since a certain date 
return /ri't3in/ noun 1. an instruction that 
causes program execution to return to the 
main program from a subroutine O The pro- 
gram is not working because you missed out 



return to zero signal 



208 



the return instruction at the end of the sub- 
routine. 2. a key on a keyboard used to indi- 
cate that all the required data has been en- 
tered O You type in your name and code 
number then press return. 3. the indication of 
an end of line (in printing) 
return to zero signal /n,t3:n ta 'ziarau 
,sign(a)l/ noun a recording reference mark 
taken as the level of unmagnetised tape 
reveal /ri'viil/ verb to display previously 
hidden information once a condition has 
been met 

reverse /n'v3is/ adjective going in the op- 
posite direction ■ verb to go or travel in the 
opposite direction 
'...the options are listed on the left side of the 
screen, with active options shown at the top left 
in reverse video' [PC User] 

reverse engineering /n,v3:s ,end3i 
'niarirj/ noun a method of product design in 
which the finished item is analysed to deter- 
mine how it should be constructed 
reverse Polish notation /n,v3:s 
.paulij n3u'tetj(3)n/ noun mathematical 
operations written in a logical way, so that 
the operator appears after the numbers to be 
acted upon, removing the need for brackets O 
Three plus four, minus two is written in RPN 
as 34 + 2- = 5. Abbr RPN 
reverse video /n,v3is 'vidiau/ noun a 
screen display mode in which white and 
black are reversed and colours are comple- 
mented 

revert /n'v3it/ verb to return to a normal 
state O After the rush order, we reverted back 
to our normal speed. 

review /ri'vjui/ verb to see something 
again, usually in order to check it O The pro- 
gram allows the user to review all wrongly 
spelled words. 

revise /ri'vaiz/ verb to update or correct a 
version of a document or file O The revised 
version has no mistakes. 
rewind /,ri: ' wamd/ verb to return a tape or 
film or counter to its starting point O The tape 
rewinds onto the spool automatically. 
rewrite verb /rii'rait/ to write something 
again. i> regenerate ■ noun /'riirait/ the act 
of writing something again O The program is 
in its second rewrite. 

RF, R/F noun the electromagnetic spectrum 
that lies between the frequency range lOKHz 
and 3000GHz. Full form radio frequency 
RFC /,ai ef 'si:/ noun a document that con- 
tains information about a proposed new 
standard and asks users to look at the docu- 
ment and make any comments. Full form re- 
quest for comment 

RGB /,ai d3i: 'bi:/ noun a high-definition 
monitor system that uses three separate input 



signals controlling red, green and blue colour 
picture beams. Full form red, green, blue 
comment: There are three colour guns pro- 
ducing red, green, and blue beams acting 
on groups of three phosphor dots at each 
pixel location. 

RGB display /,a: d3i: ,bi: di'splei/, RGB 
monitor /'mDnita/ noun a monitor that uses 
RGB 

Rl abbr ring indicator 

RIAA Curve noun standards for recording 
and equalisation set by the RIAA - Record- 
ing Industries Association of America (film) 
ribbon /'riban/ noun a long thin flat piece 
of material 

rich text format /,ntr 'tekst ,fo:maet/ 
noun a way of storing a document that in- 
cludes all the commands that describe the 
page, type, font and formatting. Abbr RTF 
RIFF /rif/ noun a multimedia data format 
jointly introduced by IBM and Microsoft that 
uses tags to identify parts of a multimedia file 
structure and allows the file to be exchanged 
between platforms. Full form resource in- 
terchange file format 
RIFF chunk /'rif t jArjk/ noun a chunk 
with the ID RIFF 

RIFF file /'rif fail/ noun a file that contains 
tagged information that complies with the 
RIFF file format 

rifle microphone /,raif (a)l 'maikrafaun/ 
noun a long, highly directional microphone 
which can pick up sound over a great dis- 
tance (film) 

right-click /,rait 'khk/ verb to press and 
release the right-hand button of a computer 
mouse 

right-click menu /,rait 'khk .menjui/ 
noun a small pop-up menu that appears when 
you click on the right-hand button of a two- 
button mouse 

right-hand button /,rait haend 'bAt(s)n/ 
noun a button on the right-hand side of a two 
or three-button mouse 

right justification /,rait ,d3Astifi 
'keij(3)n/ noun the process of aligning the 
text and spacing characters so that the right 
margin is straight 

right justify /,rait 'd3ASti,fai/ verb to 
align the right margin so that the text is 
straight 

rightsizing /'rait ,saizirj/ noun the proc- 
ess of moving a company's information tech- 
nology structure to the most cost-effective 
hardware platform, which in practice often 
means moving from a mainframe-based net- 
work to a PC-based network 
rigid /'nd3id/ adjective which cannot easily 
bend 



209 



roll in/roll out 



ring /rir)/ noun 1 . a data list whose last entry 
points back to the first entry 2. the topology 
of a network in which the wiring sequentially 
connects one workstation to another ■ verb 
to telephone 

ring counter /'nrj .kaunta/ noun an elec- 
tronic counter in which any overflow from 
the last digit is fed into the input 
ringing /'rirjirj/ noun (film) 1. interference 
in a television picture 2. noise caused by an 
alternating or pulsating current 
ring topology network /,nrj t3,pDbd3i 
'netw3:k/ noun a type of network in which 
each terminal is connected one after the other 
in a circle 

RIP abbr 1. raster image processor 2. rout- 
ing information protocol 
ripple /'np(3)l/ noun 1 . a small alternating 
current voltage apparent on a badly regulated 
direct current output supply 2. a visual effect 
which creates wavy images during film dis- 
solves 

ripple-through effect /'np(3)l 9ru: i 
,fekt/ noun (in a spreadsheet) the results, 
changes or errors appearing in a spreadsheet 
as a result of the value in one cell being 
changed 

RISC /,ai ai es 'si:/ noun a CPU design 
whose instruction set contains a small 
number of simple fast-executing instructions, 
which makes program writing more complex 
but increases speed. Full form reduced in- 
struction set computer. : WISC 
rise time /'raiz taim/ noun the time taken 
for a voltage to increase its amplitude (from 
10 to 90 per cent or zero to RMS value of its 
final amplitude) □ the circuit has a fast rise 
time electronic circuit that is able to handle 
rapidly changing signals such as very high 
frequency signals 

RJ1 1 connector noun a popular standard 
of four-wire modular connector 
R J45 connector noun a popular name for 
an eight-pin modular connector used in 
lOBaseT networks to connect UTP cables 
RJE /,a: d3ei 'ii/ noun a batch processing 
system in which instructions are transmitted 
to the computer from a remote terminal. Full 
form remote job entry 
RLE /,a: el 'i:/ noun a data compression 
technique that stores any sequence of bits of 
data with the same value to a single value. 
Full form run-length encoding 
RLL encoding /,a: el el m'kaodirj/ noun 
a fast and efficient method of storing data 
onto a disk in which the changes in a run of 
data bits is stored. Full form run-length lim- 
ited encoding 

rm /,a: 'em/ noun (in UNIX) a command to 
remove an empty subdirectory 



RMDIR a£>£>rremove directory. Same as RD 
RMS line current /,ai em es 'lam 
,kArant/ noun the root mean square of the 
electrical current on a line 
RO /,a: 'so/ noun a computer terminal that 
can only accept and display data, not trans- 
mit. Full form receive only 
roam /raom/ verb (in wireless communica- 
tions) to move around freely and still be in 
contact with a wireless communications 
transmitter 

robot /'r30,bDt/ noun 1. a device that can 
be programmed to carry out certain manufac- 
turing tasks which are similar to tasks carried 
out by people 2. same as bot 
robotics /rao'bDtiks/ nounthe study of ar- 
tificial intelligence, programming and build- 
ing involved with robot construction 
robust /rao'bASt/ adjective referring to a 
system which can resume working after a 
fault 

robustness /rso'bAStnas/ noun 1. the 
strength of a system's casing and its ability to 
be knocked or dropped O This hard disk is 
not very robust. 2. a system's ability to con- 
tinue functioning even with errors or faults 
during a program execution 
rock and roll /,rr>k an 'raul/ verb to move 
backwards and forwards in synchronization 
during editing 

rogue indicator /raug 'mdi.kerta/ noun 
a special code used only for control applica- 
tions, e.g. an end of file marker 
rogue value /,raug 'vaelju:/ noun an item 
in a list of data which shows that the list is 
terminated. Also called terminator 
role indicator /'raol ,mdi,keit3/ noun a 
symbol used to show the role of a index entry 
in its particular context 
roll /raol/ noun 1 . a length of film or tape 
wound around itself O He put a new roll of 
film into the camera. 2. unwanted vertical 
movement in a picture ■ verb 1 . to rotate a 
device about its axis 2. to start filming 
rollback /'raolbaek/ noun reloading soft- 
ware after the master software has been cor- 
rupted 

rolling headers /,r3olin 'hedas/ noun ti- 
tles or headers of (teletext) pages displayed 
as they are received 

rolling title /.raolirj 'tait(3)l/ noun titles 
which move vertically up a picture area. i> 
crawling title 

roll in/roll out /.raul in ,raul 'aut/ noun 
the transfer of one process (in a multipro- 
gramming system) from storage to processor 
then back once it has had its allocated 
processing time 



rollover 



210 



rollover /'raolauva/ noun a keyboard with 

a small temporary buffer so that it can still 

transmit correct data when several keys are 

pressed at once 

roll scroll /'raol skraol/ noun displayed 

text that moves up or down the computer 

screen one line at a time 

ROM /mm/ abbrread only memory 

roman /'raoman/ noun ordinary typeface, 

neither italic nor bold O The text is set in 

Times Roman. 

Roman numerals /,rauman 

'njuimaralz/ plural noun numbers repre- 
sented using the symbols I, V, X, L, C, D and 
M 

romware /'romwea/ noun software which 
is stored in ROM 

root /ruit/ noun a fractional power of a 
number 

rotary /'rautari/ adjective which works by 
turning 

rotary camera /,raotari 'kcem(a)ra/ noun 
a camera able to photograph microfilm as it is 
moved in front of the lens by moving the film 
at the same time 

rotary erase head /.rautari I'reiz ,hed/ 
noun a video tape recorder's erase head 
rotary movement /'rautari .muivmant/ 
noun the effect of spinning images on film 
created by an optical-spin device in an optical 
printer 

rotary press /'raotari pres/ noun a print- 
ing press whose printing plate is cylindrical 
rotary printer /'raotari ,prmta/ noun a 
constant contact printing machine where the 
two films at the time of exposure are trans- 
ported on a revolving sprocket 
rotary shutter, rotating shutter noun a 
rotating camera or projector shutter which in- 
termittently blocks the passage of light as it 
moves through 

rotate /rao'teit/ verb to move data within a 
storage location in a circular manner 
rotating helical aperture scanner 
/rao,teitirj ,hehk(a)l 'aepatja ,skaena/ 
noun a type of scanner in which the original 
image is lit and the reflection sent, through a 
lens and mirror, through a rotating spiral slit 
and finally onto a photodetector cell; as the 
spiral slit turns, it has the effect of moving up 
the image 

rotation /rao'tetJ(a)n/ noun the degree to 
which an object has been rotated 
rough copy /,rAf 'ktrpi/ noun a draft of a 
program which, it is expected, will have 
changes made to it before it is complete 
round /raond/ adjective in the form of a cir- 
cle or curve 



rounding /'raondirj/ noun 1. an approxi- 
mation of a number to a slightly larger or 
smaller one of lower precision 2. the process 
of giving graphics a smoother look 
route /ruit/ noun the path taken by a mes- 
sage between a transmitter and receiver in a 
network O The route taken was not the most 
direct since a lot of nodes were busy. 
router /'ruitid/ noun 1. a communications 
device that receives data packets in a particu- 
lar protocol and forwards them to their cor- 
rect location via the most efficient route 2. (in 
a LAN) a device that connect two or more 
LANs that use the same protocol and allows 
data to be transmitted between each network. 
The router works at the network-layer level 
of the OSI model. f> bridge, OSI 
routi ne /ru: 'tim/ noun a number of instruc- 
tions that perform a particular task, but are 
not a complete program. They are included as 
part of a program. O The routine copies the 
screen display onto a printer. 
'Hewlett-Packard has announced software which 
aims to reduce PC-network downtime and cut 
support costs by automating housekeeping rou- 
tines such as issuing alerts about potential prob- 
lems.' [Computing] 

comment: Routines are usually called from 
a main program to perform a task. Control 
is then returned to the part of the main pro- 
gram from which the routine was called 
once that task is complete. 

routing /'ruitirj/ noun the process of deter- 
mining a suitable route for a message through 
a network O There is a new way of routing 
data to the central computer. 

routing information protocol /'ruitirj 

,infameij(a)n ,prautakDl/ noun a protocol 
used on the Internet to calculate the best route 
by which to transfer information over the In- 
ternet. RIP bases its selection on the distance 
that each route takes. Abbr RIP 
row /rao/ noun 1 . a line of printed or dis- 
played characters O The figures are present- 
ed in rows, not in columns. 2. a horizontal 
line on a punched card O Each entry is sepa- 
rated by a row of dots. 3. a horizontal set of 
data elements in an array or matrix 
RPG abbr report program generator 
RS-232C noun an EIA approved standard 
used in serial data transmission, covering 
voltage and control signals 
RS-422 noun an EIA approved standard 
that extends the RS-232's 50ft limit 
RS-423 noun an EIA approved standard 
that extends the RS-232's 50ft limit, intro- 
duced at the same time as the RS-422 stand- 
ard, but less widely used 
comment: The RS232C has now been su- 
perseded by the RS423 and RS422 inter- 



211 



R/W head 



face standards, which are similar to the 
RS232 but allow higher transmission rates. 

RSA cipher system /,a:r es ei 'saifa 
.sistam/ noun the Rivest, Shamir and Adle- 
man public key cipher system 
RS-f lip-flop /,air es 'flip ,flDp/ noun elec- 
tronic bistable device whose output can be 
changed according to the Reset and Set in- 
puts. Full form reset-set flip-flop. i> flip- 
flop 

RTF abbr rich text format 
RTL abbr resistor transistor logic 
RTV /,ai til 'vii/ noun real-time video com- 
pression used within DVI software to provide 
usable, but lower-quality, images that are 
compressed in real-time at 10 frames per sec- 
ond. Full form real-time video 
rubber banding /,rAba 'basndin/ noun » 
elastic banding 

rubber numbers /,rAba 'nAmbas/ plural 
noun identification numbers which are im- 
printed on developed rush prints and sound 
records during film editing (film) 
rubric /'ruibrik/ noun printed headings of a 
book chapter or section 
rule /ruil/ noun 1 . a set of conditions that 
describe a function O The rule states that you 
wait for the clear signal before transmitting. 
2. in printing, a thin line 
ruler /'ruila/ noun a bar displayed on screen 
that indicates a unit of measurement, often 
used in DTP or word-processor software to 
help with layout 

run /rAn/ verb to operate, or to make a de- 
vice operate O The computer has been run- 
ning ten hours a day. 



rundown /'rAndaon/ noun the order in 
which programme events will be broadcast 
(film) 

run-duration /'rAn dju,reij(3)n/ noun, 
adjective same as run-time 
run-length encoding /,rAn lerj0 en 
'kaudirj/ noun full form of RLE 
run-length limited encoding /,rAn 
lerjG ,limitid en'kaodirj/ noun full form of 
RLL encoding 

running head /'rAnin hed/ noun the title 
line of each page in a document 
run Off /,rAn 'of/ noun an error in position- 
ing of film which causes it to move over a 
sprocket's teeth and be damaged (film) 
run on /,rAn 'on/ verb 1 . to make text con- 
tinue without a break O The line can run on 
to the next without any space. 2. to print more 
copies to add to a print run O We decided to 
run on 3,000 copies to the first printing. 
run-time /'rAn taim/, run duration /'rAn 
dju,reij(3)n/ noun 1. the period of a time 
that a program takes to run 2. the time during 
which a computer is executing a program ► 
also called run-duration ■ adjective refer- 
ring to an operation carried out only when a 
program is running 

rushes /'rAjiz/ plural noun (film) 1 . the in- 
itial prints made from a picture or sound neg- 
ative in order to check the quality 2. unedited 
video tape 

R/W abbr read/write 

R/W cycle /,a: 'dAb(a)l jui ,sai(3)l/ abbr 
read/write cycle 

R/W head /,ai 'dAb(a)l jui ,hed/ noun an 
electromagnetic device that allows data to be 
read from or written to a storage medium. 
Full form read/write head 



S100 bus, S-100 bus noun an IEEE-696 
standard bus, a popular 8- and 16-bit micro- 
computer bus using 100 lines and a 100-pin 
connector, tf bus (note: say 'S one hundred 
bus') 

SAA a trade name for a standard developed 
by IBM which defines the look and feel of an 
application regardless of the hardware plat- 
form. SAA defines which keystrokes carry 
out standard functions, the application's dis- 
play and how the application interacts with 
the operating system. Full form Systems 
Application Architecture 
SAFE a signature validation technique. Full 
form signature analysis using functional 
analysis 

safe area /'serf .earia/ noun the area of a 
TV image that will be seen on a standard tel- 
evision set 

safe format /,seif 'foimaet/ noun a format 
operation that does not destroy the existing 
data and allows the data to be recovered in 
case the wrong disk was formatted 
safe mode /,seif 'maod/ noun a special 
operating mode of Windows 95 that is auto- 
matically selected if Windows 95 detects that 
there is a problem when starting 
safety margin /'seifti ,maid3in/ noun an 
extra amount of time or space provided so 
that errors can be absorbed 
safety measures /'seifti ,me33z/ plural 
noun actions taken to make sure that some- 
thing is safe 

safety net /'seifti net/ noun a software or 
hardware device that protects the system or 
files from excessive damage in the event of a 
system crash O If there is a power failure, we 
have a safety net in the form of a UPS. 

salami technique /sa'laimi tek,niik/ 
noun computer fraud involving many sepa- 
rate small transactions that are difficult to de- 
tect and trace 

SAM /,es ei 'em/ noun a type of storage in 
which a particular data item can only be ac- 
cessed by reading through all the previous 
items in the list. Full form serial-access 
memory 
comment: Magnetic tape is a form of SAM. 
You have to go through the whole tape to 
access one item, while disks provide ran- 
dom access to stored data. 



Sample /'saimpal/ noun a measurement of 
a signal at a point in time O The sample at 
three seconds showed an increase. ■ verb to 
obtain a number of measurements of a signal 
which can be used to provide information 
about the signal 

Sampler /'saimpla/ noun 1. an electronic 
circuit that takes many samples of a signal 
and stores them for future analysis 2. an elec- 
tronic circuit used to record audio signals in 
digital form and store them to allow future 
playback 

sample rate /'saimpal reit/ noun a 
number of measurements of a signal that are 
recorded every second. A PC sound card nor- 
mally supports one of the following three 
standard rates: 11,025, 22,050 and 44,100 
samples per second, normally written as 
1 1 .025KHz, 22.05KHz and 44. 1 KHz. 
sample Size /'saimpal saiz/ noun the size 
of the word used to measure the level of the 
signal when it is sampled 
sans serif /,saenz 'serif/ noun a typeface 
whose letters have no serifs 
sapphire /'saefaia/ noun a blue-coloured 
precious stone used as a substrate for certain 
chips 

S AS abbr single attachment station 
Satellite /'saet3,lait/ noun 1. a small sys- 
tem that is part of a larger system 2. a device 
that orbits the earth receiving, processing and 
transmitting signals or generating images or 
data to be transmitted back to earth, such as 
weather pictures 
comment: In a network the floppy disk units 
are called 'satellites' and the hard disk unit 
the 'server'. In a star network each satellite 
is linked individually to a central server. 
satellite computer /.saetalart kam 
'pjuita/ noun a computer doing various 
tasks under the control of another computer 
saturated colour /.saetjarertid kAb/ 
noun bright colours such as red and orange 
that do not reproduce well on video and can 
cause distortion or can spread over the screen 
saturation /,saet JVrei J"(3)n/ noun a point 
where a material cannot be further magnet- 
ised 

save /seiv/ verb to store data or a program 
on an auxiliary storage device O This WP 
saves the text every 15 minutes in case of a 
fault. 



213 



scatter proofs 



save as /'seiv az/ noun an option in an ap- 
plication that allows the user to save the cur- 
rent work in a file with a different name 
SBC /,es bi: 'si:/ noun a computer whose 
main components such as processor, in- 
put/output and memory are all contained on 
one PCB. Full form single board computer 
SBM /,es bii 'em/ noun an extension to the 
Red Book CD-Audio specification in which 
studio-quality 20-bit sound samples are 
stored in the 1 6-bit data format used by CD- 
Audio. Full form super bit mapping 
scalable /'skeilab(a)l/ adjective referring 
to fonts used for computer graphics that can 
be made to appear in a wide range of sizes 
scalable font /,skeilab(a)l 'ft>nt/ noun a 
method of describing a font so that it can pro- 
duce characters of different sizes 
scalable software /,skeiteb(a)l 
'sDftwea/ noun a groupware application that 
can easily accommodate more users on a net- 
work without the need for investment in new 
software 

scalar /'skeib/ noun a variable that has a 
single value assigned to it O A scalar has a 
single magnitude value, a vector has two or 
more positional values. 
Scale /skeil/ noun the ratio of two values 
scan /skaen/ noun an examination of an im- 
age or object or list of items to obtain data de- 
scribing it O The heat scan of the computer 
quickly showed which component was over- 
heating. ■ verb 1 . to examine and produce 
data from the shape or state of an object or 
drawing or file or list of items O The facsim- 
ile machine scans the picture and converts 
this to digital form before transmission. 2. to 
convert a printed image or photograph into a 
digital bitmap form (optical) 3. to move a 
picture beam across a screen, one line at a 
time, to refresh the image on the CRT 4. to 
convert an optical image (from a video cam- 
era) into a digital form by examining each 
pixel on one line of a frame, then moving 
down one line O The fax machine scans the 
picture and converts this to digital form be- 
fore transmission. O The machine scans at up 
to 300 dpi resolution. 

scan conversion /'skaen kan,v3ir(a)n/ 
noun the process of converting an interlaced 
video signal to a non-interlaced signal or a 
composite to a separated RGB signal 
scan line /,skaen 'lam/ noun one of the 
horizontal lines of phosphor, or phosphor 
dots, on the inside of a CRT or monitor. The 
monitor's picture beam sweeps along each 
scan line to create the image on the screen. 
scanner /'skaena/ noun 1. a device which 
scans O A scanner reads the bar-code on the 
product label using a laser beam and photo- 



diode. 2. a device that converts an image or 
document into graphical data which can be 
manipulated by a computer 
'Ricoh's Fax 300L Computer Link is connected 
to a PC via a RS232C serial interface, and enables 
users to send faxes from within Dos and Win- 
dows applications without printing a hard copy: It 
can also act as a scanner for graphics, and a print- 
er for documents.' [Computing] 

scanner memory /'skaena ,mem(a)ri/ 
noun the memory area allocated to store im- 
ages which have been scanned 
scanning /'skaenin/ noun 1. the action of 
examining and producing data from the 
shape of an object or drawing 2. a method 
which examines an area line-by-line through 
the use of an electron beam, and is particular- 
ly used in television 
comment: A modem with auto-baud scan- 
ning can automatically sense which baud 
rate to operate on and switches automati- 
cally to that baud rate. 

scanning line /'skaenin lain/ noun a path 
traced on a CRT screen by the picture beam 
scanning rate /'skaenin reit/ noun the 
time taken to scan one line of a CRT image 
scanning resolution /'skaenirj reza 
,lui J"(a)n/ noun the ability of a scanner to dis- 
tinguish between small points. The usual res- 
olution is 300 dpi. 

scanning software /'skaenin 

,sDf(t)wea/ noun a dedicated program that 
controls a scanner and allows certain opera- 
tions, e.g. rotate, edit or store, to be per- 
formed on a scanned image 
scanning spot /'skaenirj spDt/ noun 1. a 
small area of an image that is being read by a 
facsimile machine that moves over the whole 
image 2. a small area covered by the picture 
beam on a TV screen that moves to follow a 
scanning line to write the whole of an image 
onto the screen 
' . . . scanning time per page ranged from about 30 
seconds to three minutes' [PC Business World] 

scanning spot beam /,skaemn 'spot 
,bi:m/ noun a satellite transmission to a 
number of areas, as the satellite passes over 
them 

SCART connector /'skait ka,nekta/ 
noun a special connector normally used to 
carry video or audio signals between video 
equipment 

scatter /' skaet a/ noun part of a beam that is 
deflected or refracted. i> backscatter 
scatter graph /'skaeta graif/ noun indi- 
vidual points or values plotted on a two axis 
graph 

scatter proofs /'skaeta pruifs/ plural 
noun proofs not arranged in any order prior 
to PMT r> backscatter 



scavenging 



214 



scavenging /'sk<evmd3in/ noun the act 
of searching through and accessing database 
material without permission 
scene /sim/ noun (film) 1 . a group of inter- 
related shots combined into a continuous ac- 
tion 2. a location for a specific shot or a group 
of shots 

scene sync /'siin sink/ noun a system 
which allows both movement of the fore- 
ground camera to be synchronised with the 
mask camera in chroma key, and colour sep- 
aration overlay special effects (film) 
schedule /'Jedjuil/ noun the order in 
which tasks are to be done, or the order in 
which CPU time will be allocated to process- 
es in a multi-user system 
scheduled circuits /,Jed3u:ld 's3ikitz/ 
noun telephone lines for data communica- 
tions only 

scheduler /'Jedjuib/ noun a program that 
organises the use of a CPU or of peripherals 
which are shared by several users 
scheduling /'Jedjuilin/ noun a method of 
working that allows several users to share the 
use of a CPU 

schema /'skiima/ noun a graphical de- 
scription of a process or database structure 
schematic /ski'maetik/ adjective a dia- 
gram showing system components and how 
they are connected 

scissor /'siza/ verb 1. to define an area of 
an image and then cut out this part of the im- 
age so it can then be pasted into another im- 
age 2. to define an area of an image and de- 
lete any information that is outside this area 
scissoring /'sizanrj/ noun 1. the process 
of defining an area of an image and then cut- 
ting out this part of the image so that it can 
then be pasted into another image 2. the proc- 
ess of defining an area of an image and delet- 
ing any information that is outside this area 
scope /skaup/ noun 1 . the range of values 
that a variable can contain 2. electronic test 
equipment that displays on a CRT the size 
and shape of an electrical signal (informal) 
Also called oscilloscope 
score /skoi/ noun 1 . a list of actions that 
control how objects or cast members move 
with time within a presentation 2. the de- 
scription of a piece of music using musical 
notes 

scramble /'skraemb(3)l/ verb to code 
speech or data which is transmitted in such a 
way that it cannot be understood unless it is 
decoded 

scrambler /'skraembla/ noun 1. a device 
that codes a data stream into a pseudo-ran- 
dom form before transmission to eliminate 
any series of ones or zeros or alternate ones 
and zeros that would cause synchronisation 



problems at the receiver 2. a device that 
codes speech or other signals prior to trans- 
mission so that someone who is listening in 
without authorisation cannot understand 
what is being transmitted (the scrambled sig- 
nals are de-scrambled on reception to provide 
the original signals) O He called the Presi- 
dent on the scrambler telephone. 
SCrapbOOk /'skr3ep,bok/ noun a utility on 
an Apple Macintosh that stores frequently 
used graphic images O We store our logo in 
the scrapbook. 

scrape flutter /'skreip ,flAta/ noun an er- 
ror in magnetic recording which is caused by 
the recording tape sticking which produces 
flutter (film) 

scratch /skraet J7 noun 1 . an area of mem- 
ory or of a file used for the temporary storage 
of data 2. a mark on the surface of a disk O 
This scratch makes the disk unreadable. ■ 
verb to delete or move an area of memory to 
provide room for other data 
scratch file /'skraetj" fail/ noun same as 
work file 

scratchpad /'skraetjpaed/ noun a work- 
space or area of high speed memory used for 
temporary storage of data currently in use 
'Mathcad is described as an easy-to-use 'handy 
scratch pad for quick number crunching', which 
is positioned as an alternative to popular spread- 
sheets.' [Computing] 

screen /skriin/ noun 1 . a display device ca- 
pable of showing a quantity of information, 
such as a CRT or VDU. (> readout 2. a grid 
of dots or lines placed between the camera 
and the artwork, which has the effect of di- 
viding the picture up into small dots, creating 
an image which can be used for printing 3. 
something which protects ■ verb 1 . to pro- 
tect something with a screen O The PSU is 
screened against interference. 2. to select 3. 
to display or show information O The film is 
now being screened. 

screen angle /'skriin ,aerjg(3)l/ noun the 
angle at which a screen is set before the pho- 
tograph is taken 

screen attribute /'skriin .aetnbjuit/ 
noun a set of attribute bits which define how 
each character will be displayed on screen. 
They set background and foreground colour 
and bold, italic or underline. 
screen buffer /'skriin ,bAfa/ noun a tem- 
porary storage area for characters or graphics 
before they are displayed 
screen capture /'skriin .kaeptja/ verb to 
store the image currently displayed on screen 
in a file 

screen cleaning kit /'skriin ,kiimin 
,kit/ noun the liquids and cloth which re- 
move any static and dirt from a VDU screen 



215 



search engine 



screen dump /'skriin ,dAmp/ noun the 
process of outputting the text or graphics dis- 
played on a screen to a printer 
screen editor /'skriin .edits/ noun soft- 
ware which allows the user to edit text on- 
screen, with one complete screen of informa- 
tion being displayed at a time 
screen format /'skriin ,foimaet/ noun a 
way in which a screen is laid out 
screenful /'skriinfol/ noun a complete 
frame of information displayed on a screen 
screen grab /.skriin 'grab/ noun 1. the 
process of digitising a single frame from a 
display or television 2. the process of captur- 
ing what is displayed on a monitor and stor- 
ing it as a graphics file 
screen refresh /.skriin ri'freJV verb to 
update regularly the images on a CRT screen 
by scanning each pixel with a picture beam to 
make sure the image is still visible 
screen saver /'skriin ,seivs/ noun soft- 
ware which, after a pre-determined period of 
user inactivity, replaces the existing image on 
screen and displays moving objects to protect 
against screen burn 

screen shot /, skriin 'Jot/ noun » screen 
capture 

script /skript/ noun 1 . a set of instructions 
which carry out a function, normally used 
with a macro language or batch language O / 
log in automatically using this script with my 
communications software. 2. text which will 
be spoken by actors in a film or TV pro- 
gramme 

scripting language /'sknptirj 
,laerjgwid3/ noun a simple programming 
language (normally proprietary to an applica- 
tion) that allows a user to automate the appli- 
cation's functions O This communications 
software has a scripting language that lets 
me dial and log in automatically. 
scriptwriter /'skriptraita/ noun a person 
who writes film or TV scripts 
scroll /skraol/ verb to move displayed text 
vertically up or down the screen, one line or 
pixel at a time 

scroll arrows /'skraol ,aer3oz/ plural 
noun (in a GUI) arrows that when clicked, 
move the contents of the window up or down 
or sideways 

scroll bar /'skraul bai/ noun (in a GUI) a 
bar displayed along the side of a window 
with a marker which indicates how far you 
have scrolled O The marker is in the middle 
of the scroll bar so I know I am in the middle 
of the document. 

scrub /skrAb/ verb to wipe information off 
a disk or remove data from store O Scrub all 
files with the .BAK extension. 



SCSI /'skAzi/ noun a standard high-speed 
parallel interface used to connect computers 
to peripheral devices (such as disk drives and 
scanners). Full form small computer sys- 
tem interface 

'...the system uses SCSI for connecting to the 
host and ESDI for interconnecting among drives 
within a multidrive system' [Byte] 
comment: SCSI is the current standard 
used to interlace high-capacity, high-per- 
formance disk drives to computers. Small- 
er disk drives are connected with an IDE in- 
terface, which is slower, but cheaper. SCSI 
replaced the older ESDI interface and al- 
lows several (usually eight) peripherals to 
be connected, in a daisy-chain, to one con- 
troller. 
SD abbr single density 
SD card /,es 'dii ,kaid/ noun same as 
MMC 

SDLC /,es dii el 'si:/ noun data transmis- 
sion protocol most often used in IBM's Sys- 
tems Network Architecture (SNA). It defines 
how synchronous data is transmitted. Full 
form synchronous data link control 
Seal /sill/ verb to close something tightly so 
that it cannot be opened O The hard disk is in 
a sealed case. 

seamless integration /,siimbs ,mti 
'grei f(3)n/ noun the process of including a 
new device or software into a system without 
any problems O It took a lot of careful plan- 
ning, but we succeeded in a seamless integra- 
tion of the new application. 
search /s3it J/ noun the process of looking 
for and identifying a character or word or 
section of data in a document or file ■ verb 
1. to look for an item of data 2. to move 
quickly backwards and forwards to different 
parts of a programme without losing the syn- 
chronisation of the sound and picture (film) 
'...a linear search of 1,000 items takes 500 com- 
parisons to find the target, and 1 ,000 to report that 
it isn't present. A binary search of the same set of 
items takes roughly ten divisions either to find or 
not to find the target' [Personal Computer 
World] 
searchable /'S3itj"3b(3)l/ adjective able to 
be accessed by a search facility 
search and replace /,s3it J and n'plets/ 
noun a feature on word-processors which al- 
lows the user to find certain words or phrases, 
then replace them with another word or 
phrase 

search directory /'s3itr dai,rekt(3)ri/ 
noun a website in which links to information 
are listed in categories or in alphabetical or- 
der 

search engine /'s3itr ,end3m/ noun 1. 
(on the Internet) software that searches a da- 
tabase. i> agent 2. (on the Internet) a website 
that compiles a list of websites and allows a 



searching storage 



216 



visitor to find a website by searching for 
words 

searching storage /s3:tjir) ,sto:nd3/ 
noun a method of data retrieval that uses part 
of the data rather than an address to locate the 
data 

SECAM /,es i: si: ei 'em/ noun a standard 
for television transmission and reception 
similar to PAL except that SECAM uses fre- 
quency modulation to transmit the chroma 
signal. SECAM is used in France and Eastern 
Europe. Full form Systeme Electronique 
Couleur Avec Memoirs 
second /'sekand/ adjective (thing) which 
comes after the first O We have two comput- 
ers, the second one being used if the first is 
being repaired. 

secondary /'sek3nd(3)ri/ adjective sec- 
ond in importance or less important than the 
first 

sector /'sekta/ noun the smallest area on a 
magnetic disk which can be addressed by a 
computer; the disk is divided into concentric 
tracks, and each track is divided into sectors 
which, typically, can store 512 bytes of data 
■ verb to divide a disk into a series of sectors 
comment: A disk is divided into many 
tracks, each of which is then divided into a 
number of sectors which can hold a certain 
number of bits. 
secured /si'kjoad/ adjective (of a file) pro- 
tected against accidental writing or deletion 
or against unauthorised access 
Secure Digital Card /si.kjus ,did3rt(a)l 
'kaid/ noun same as MMC 
secure electronic transactions /si 
,kjua .elektronik traenz'aekjanz/ plural 
noun full form of SET 
secure encryption payment proto- 
col /si.kjua in,kripj3n 'pennant 
.prautakDl/ noun full form of SEPP 
secure hypertext transfer protocol 
/si,kjoa ,haip3tekst 'traensf3i ,pr3ot3kDl/ 
noun full form of S-HTTP 
secure server /si,kju3 's3:vs/ noun an 
Internet server that allows data to be encrypt- 
ed and thus is suitable for use in e-commerce 
secure Site /si,kju3 'sait/ noun a website 
that includes features to ensure that any in- 
formation transferred between the user and 
the website is encrypted and cannot be read 
by a hacker. Also called secure website 
comment: A secure website is usually used 
in a shopping site to allow a customer to 
type in their personal details (such as their 
credit-card number) without risk. Secure 
websites almost always use a system 
called SSL (secure sockets layer) that cre- 
ates a secure channel when you visit the 
site; when you visit a secure site, the small 
padlock icon in the status bar at the bottom 



of your web browser is locked. If the pad- 
lock icon is open, this is not a secure site 
and you should not type in sensitive infor- 
mation, such as a credit-card number. 

secure sockets layer /si.kjus 'sokits 
,lei3/ noun full form of SSL 
secure system /si,kjoa 'sistam/ noun a 
system that cannot be accessed without au- 
thorisation 

secure transaction technology /si 
,kjoa traen'zaekjan tek,nDbd3i/ noun full 
form of STT 

secure website /si,kju3 'websait/ noun 
same as secure site 

security /si'kjoanti/ noun the state of be- 
ing protected or being secret O The system 
has been designed to assure the security of 
the stored data. 

security backup /si'kjuanti .baekAp/ 
noun a copy of a disk, tape or file kept in a 
safe place in case the working copy is lost or 
damaged 

security check /si'kjuanti tjek/ noun 
identification of authorised users (by a pass- 
word) before granting access 
Sega™ /'seiga/ noun a videogame compa- 
ny that develops software and hardware for 
the console games market; developed the 
Mega-Drive console 

segment /'segmant/ noun a section of a 
main program which can be executed in its 
own right, without the rest of the main pro- 
gram being required ■ verb to divide a long 
program into snorter sections which can then 
be called up when required. r> overlay 
'...you can also write in smaller program seg- 
ments. This simplifies debugging and testing' 
[Personal Computer World] 

Select /si'lekt/ verb 1. to find and retrieve 
specific information from a database 2. to po- 
sition a pointer over an object (such as a but- 
ton or menu option) and click on the mouse- 
button 

selectable /si'lekt3b(3)l/ adjective which 
can be selected 

selectable attributes /si,lekt3b(9)l 
'aetribjuitz/ plural noun the attributes of a 
device which can be chosen by the user 
Selection /si'lekfan/ noun 1 . the action or 
process of selecting O Selection of informa- 
tion from a large database may take some 
time. 2. the process of defining an area of an 
image (often used to cut out an area of the im- 
age, or to limit a special effect to an area) 
selection tool /si'lekfan tuil/ noun {in a 
paint or drawing program) an icon in a tool- 
bar that allows a user to select an area of an 
image which can then be cut, copied or proc- 
essed in some way 



217 



serial 



selective /si'lektiv/ adjective which 
chooses certain items 

selective sort /si'lektiv sort/ noun the 
process of sorting a section of data items into 
order 

Selectivity /si.lek'tiviti/ noun the ability 
of a radio receiver to distinguish between two 
nearby carrier frequencies 
selector /si'lekta/ noun a mechanical de- 
vice which allows a user to choose an option 
or function 

self- /self/ prefix oneself or itself 
self-correcting codes /.self ka.rektirj 
'kaudz/ plural noun a character coding sys- 
tem which is able to detect and correct an er- 
ror or bad character 

self extracting archive /,self ik 
,straektirj 'aikaiv/ noun a compressed file 
that includes the program to de-compress the 
contents 

Semi- /semi/ prefix half or partly 
Semicolon ^semi'kaolDn/ noun a printed 
sign (;) which marks the end of a program 
line or statement in some languages (such as 
C and Pascal) 

semiconductor /^emikan'dAkta/ noun 
a material with conductive properties be- 
tween those of a conductor (such as a metal) 
and an insulator 
comment: Semiconductor material such as 
silicon is used as a base for manufacturing 
integrated circuits and other solid-state 
components, usually by depositing various 
types of doping substances on or into its 
surface. 
sender /'senda/ noun a person who sends a 
message 

Send To command /send to k3,ma:nd/ 
noun a menu command, available from the 
File menu of Windows applications, that al- 
lows a user to send the file or data currently 
open in the application to another application 
sense /sens/ verb to examine the state of a 
device or electronic component O The condi- 
tion of the switch was sensed by the program. 
sensitive /'sensitiv/ adjective which can 
sense even small changes O The computer is 
sensitive even to very slight changes in cur- 
rent. 

sensor /'sensa/ noun an electronic device 
which produces an output dependent upon 
the condition or physical state of a process O 
The sensor's output varies with temperature. 

transducer 
sentinel /'sentm(3)l/ noun a marker or 
pointer to a special section of data 
separate aqyecf/Ve/'sep(3)r3t/ not togeth- 
er ■ verb /'separeit/ to divide 
separated graphics /.separeitid 
'graefiks/ plural noun displayed characters 



that do not take up the whole of a character 
matrix, resulting in spaces between them 
separator /'sep3,reit3/ noun a symbol 
used to distinguish parts of an instruction line 
in a program, such as command and argu- 
ment. r> delimiter 

SEPP /,es ii pii 'pii/ noun a system devel- 
oped to provide a secure link between a us- 
er's browser and a vendor's Website to allow 
the user to pay for goods over the Internet. 
Full form secure encryption payment 
protocol. r> PGP, S-HTTP, SSL, STT 
sequence /'siikwans/ noun 1. a number 
of items or data arranged as a logical, ordered 
list 2. a series of musical notes that define a 
tune 3. a series of video frames 
sequence control register /.siikwans 
k3n,traol 'red3ist3/, sequence counter 
/,si:kw3ns 'kaunta/ noun a CPU register 
which contains the address of the next in- 
struction to be processed. Abbr SCR. Also 
called sequence register, instruction ad- 
dress register, instruction counter 
sequenced packet exchange 
/,si:kw3nsd 'paekit iks,tjemd3/ noun full 
form of SPX 

sequencer /'siikwansa/ noun 1. software 
that allows a user to compose tunes for MIDI 
instruments, record notes from instruments 
and mix together multiple tracks 2. a hard- 
ware device that can record or playback a se- 
quence of MIDI notes 

sequence register /'siikwans 
,red3ist3/ noun same as sequence control 
register 

sequence shot /'siikwans JYjt/ noun a 
long shot in which both cameras and actors 
move about; used to remove the necessity of 
shooting close-ups when the action is very 
intense (film) 

sequential /si'kwenf(a)l/ adjective ar- 
ranged in an ordered manner 
sequential access /si,kwenT(3)l 
'aekses/ noun a method of retrieving data 
from a storage device by starting at the begin- 
ning of the medium and reading each record 
until the required data is found 
comment: A tape storage system uses se- 
quential access, since the tape has to be 
played through until the section required is 
found. The access time of sequential ac- 
cess storage is dependent on the position 
in the file of the data, compared with ran- 
dom access which has the same access 
time for any piece of data in a list. 

sequentially /si'kwenfali/ adverb (done) 
one after the other, in sequence 
serial /'siarial/ adjective referring to data 
or instructions which are ordered sequential- 
ly (one after the other) and not in parallel 



serial-access memory 



218 



serial-access memory /.srerial .aekses 
'mem(3)ri/ noun full form of SAM 
serial data transmission /.siarial 

'deits traenz,mij(3)n/ noun the transmis- 
sion of the separate bits that make up data 
words, one at a time down a single line 
serial input/output /.siarial ,mput 
'autput/ noun full form of SIO 
serial input/parallel output /.siarial 
,mput .paeralel 'autput/ noun a device 
which can accept serial data and transmit par- 
allel data. Abbr SIPO. Also called serial to 
parallel converter 

serial input/serial output /.siarial 
,mput .siarial 'autput/ noun full form of 
SISO 

serially /'siariali/ adverb one after the oth- 
er or in a series O Their transmission rate is 
64,000 bits per second through a parallel 
connection or 19,200 serially. 
series /'siarkz/ noun a group of related 
items ordered sequentially 
serif /'serif/ noun a small decorative line at- 
tached to parts of characters in certain type- 
faces 

server /'s3:va/ noun a dedicated computer 
which provides a function to a network 
'Sequent Computer Systems' Platform division 
will focus on hardware and software manufac- 
ture, procurement and marketing, with the Enter- 
prise division concentrating on services and serv- 
er implementation.' [Computing] 
comment: In a network the hard disk ma- 
chine is called the 'server' and the floppy 
disk units the 'satellites'. In a star network 
each satellite is linked individually to a cen- 
tral server. 

server access logs/,s3iv3 'aekses k>gs/ 
plural noun » access log 
server farm /'S3iv3 fa:m/ noun a business 
consisting of a group of Internet servers, all 
of which are linked to one another and are en- 
gaged in web hosting 

server message block /,s3iv3 mesid3 
blDk/ noun full form of SMB 
service /'S3ivis/ verb to check or repair or 
maintain a system O The disk drives were 
serviced yesterday and are working well. 

service contract /'s3ivis .ktmtraekt/ 
noun an agreement that an engineer will 
service equipment if it goes wrong 
service provider /'s3:vis pra,vaid3/ 
noun a company that offers users a connec- 
tion to the Internet; the service provider has a 
computer that acts as a domain name server 
and has a high-speed link to the Internet. It 
provides modem access to the Internet via 
point-of-presence telephone numbers. You 
connect to the Internet by setting up an ac- 
count with the service provider then dialling 



into its point-of-presence telephone number 
with a modem. 

services /'s3ivisiz/ plural noun 1 . a set of 
functions provided by a device 2. (in an OSI 
network model) a set of functions provided 
by one OSI layer for use by a higher layer 
session /'sej"(3)n/ noun 1. a period of 
work 2. the time during which a program or 
process is running or active 3. a separate oc- 
casion when image data is recorded onto a 
disc 

set /set/ noun 1 . a number of related data 
items 2. the width of a printed typeface 3. a 
radio or television receiver 4. the physical 
layout of a stage or filming studio including 
props and background ■ verb 1 . to make one 
variable equal to a value O We set the right- 
hand margin at 80 characters. 2. to define a 
parameter value 3. to give a binary data bit 
the value of one 4. to compose a text into 
typeset characters O The page is set in 12 
point Times Roman. t> typeset 
SET /set/ plural noun the standards created 
by a group of banks and Internet companies 
that allow users to buy goods over the Inter- 
net without risk of hackers. Full form secure 
electronic transactions. Same as SSL 
setting /'setirj/ noun 1. the action of fixing 
or arranging something □ tab settings preset 
points along a line, where the printing head 
or cursor will stop for each tabulation com- 
mand 2. the action of composing text into 
typeset characters 

set up /'set Ap/ verbto configure, initialise, 
define or start an application or system O The 
new computer worked well as soon as the en- 
gineer had set it up. 

sex Changer /'seks ,tj"emd33/ noun a de- 
vice for changing a female connection to a 
male or vice versa 

Sf signalling /,es ef 'sign(3)lirj/ noun 
same as single-frequency signalling 
SGML /,es d3ii em'el/ noun a hardware-in- 
dependent standard which defines how docu- 
ments should be marked up to indicate bolds, 
italics, margins and so on. Full form Stand- 
ard Generalized Markup Language 
Shade /Jeid/ noun 1 . a variation in a printed 
colour due to added black 2. the quantity of 
black added to a colour to make it darker 
shading /'Jeidirj/ noun 1. the process of 
showing darker sections of a line drawing by 
adding dark colour or by drawing criss-cross 
lines 2. the adjustment of contrast in a televi- 
sion picture 

shadow /'Jaedau/ noun the area where 
broadcast signals cannot be received because 
of an obstacle that blocks the transmission 
medium O The mountain casts a shadow 



219 



shortcut 



over those houses, so they cannot receive any 
radio broadcasts. 

shadowmask /'Jaedaomaisk/ noun a 
sheet with holes placed just behind the front 
of a colour monitor screen to separate the 
three-colour picture beams 
shadow memory /.Jaedau 'mem(a)ri/, 
shadow page /'Jaedao peid3/ noun dupli- 
cate memory locations accessed by a special 
code 

shadow ROM /'Jaedau rom/ noun read- 
only shadow memory 

Shannon /'Jaenan/ noun a measure of the 
information content of a transmission 
Shannon's Law /'Jaenanz to:/ noun a law 
defining the maximum information-carrying 
capacity of a transmission line 
comment: Shannon's Law is defined as B 
lg(1 + S/N) where B = Bandwidth, Ig is log- 
arithm to the base two and S/N is Signal to 
Noise ratio. 
Share /Tea/ verb to own or use something 
together with someone else O The facility is 
shared by several independent companies. 
shared access /,Jead 'aekses/ noun the 
use of a computer or peripheral by more than 
one person or system 

shared file /,Jead 'fail/ noun a stored file 
which can be accessed by more than one user 
or system 

Shared folder /,Jead 'faolda/ noun a 
folder of files stored on a computer's local 
hard disk drive that can be used (or shared) 
by other users on the network 
Shareware /'Jea,wea/ noun software 
which is available free to try, but if kept the 
user is expected to pay a fee to the writer (of- 
ten confused with public domain software 
which is completely free) 
'Bulletin board users know the dangers of 'flam- 
ing' (receiving hostile comments following a na- 
ive or ridiculous assertion) and of being seen 
'troughing' (grabbing every bit of shareware on 
the network).' [Computing] 

Sheet /Jilt/ noun a large piece of paper 
Shelf life /'Jelf latf/ noun the maximum 
storage time of a product before it is no long- 
er guaranteed good to use O The developer 
has a shelf life of one year. 
Shel I /Jel/ noun software which operates be- 
tween the user and the operating system, of- 
ten to try and make the operating system 
more friendly or easier to use 
Shell Out /,Jel 'aut/ verb (when running an 
application) to exit to the operating system, 
whilst the original application is still in mem- 
ory; the user then returns to the application O 
/ shelled out from the word-processor to 
check which fdes were on the floppy, then 
went back to the program. 



Shell script /Jel 'skrtpt/ noun a scripting 
language (such as Perl) that is used to create 
programs that can enhance a website, e.g. to 
search a site for a key word 
Shell SOrt/,Jel 'sort/ noun an algorithm for 
sorting data items, in which items can be 
moved more than one position per sort action 
SHF abbr super high frequency 
Shield /Jiild/ noun a metal screen connect- 
ed to earth, used to prevent harmful voltages 
or interference reaching sensitive electronic 
equipment ■ verb to protect a signal or de- 
vice from external interference or harmful 
voltages 

Shift /fif t/ verb 1 . to move a bit or word of 
data left or right by a certain amount (usually 
one bit) 2. to change from one character set 
to another, allowing other characters (such as 
capitals) to be used 

Shift key /' Jif t ki:/ noun the key on a key- 
board which switches on secondary functions 
for keys, such as another character set, by 
changing the output to upper case 
Shockwave /'jDkweiv/ a trade name for a 
system developed by Macromedia that al- 
lows web browsers to display complex multi- 
media effects 

Shoot /Juit/ verb to take a picture or record 
a video sequence with a camera 
shopping agent /'jDpirj ,eid3ant/ noun 
a computer program used to browse websites 
searching for a product or service 
shopping basket /'Jrjpirj ,baiskit/, 
shopping cart /'Jrjpirj ko.it/ noun software 
that runs on a web server and provides an 
electronic version of a real shopping basket; 
the software allows a visitor to the website to 
view items in the catalogue, add items to 
their shopping basket and then pay for the 
goods at an electronic checkout. i> real-time 
authorisation, secure site 
Short Circuit /,Jait 'S3ikit/ noun an elec- 
trical connection of very low resistance be- 
tween two points ■ verb to connect two 
points together with a (very low resistance) 
link 

short-circuited /,Joit 's3ikit/ adjective 
used to describe two points that are electri- 
cally connected, usually accidentally 
Shortcut /'Jait ,kAt/ noun a feature of Win- 
dows that allows a user to define an icon that 
links to another file or application, e.g., you 
could place shortcut icons on the Windows 
Desktop to allow you to start an application 
without using the menu commands. The 
shortcut has the same icon as the original file 
but has a tiny arrow in the bottom left-hand 
corner. It is not a duplicate of the original, 
rather it is a pointer to the original file. 



short message service 



220 



short message service /,Jb:t 'mesid3 
, S3: vis/ noun a system that allows short text 
messages to be sent between and to mobile 
telephones; the service depends upon the tel- 
ephone company. Abbr SMS 
short-run /'Jo:t rAn/ adjective with a 
printrun of only a few hundred copies O a 
printer specialising in short-run printing O 
The laser printer is good for short-run leaf- 
lets. 

Short wave /'Jb:t weiv/ noun radio com- 
munications frequency below 60 metres 
short-wave receiver /,Jb:t weiv n 
'siiva/ noun a radio receiver able to pick up 
broadcasts on the short wave bands 
Shot /jDt/ noun the continuous recording of 
action or images by a film camera in a small 
number of frames 

Show copy /' Jao ,kDpi/ noun a selected 
copy of a finished film, video or programme 
which is to be shown to an audience 
Show-through /'JsuSru:/ noun text print- 
ed on one side of a piece of paper that can be 
seen from the other 

Shrink /JYirjk/ verb to become smaller O 
The drawing was shrunk to fit the space. 
(note: shrinks - shrank - has shrunk) 
S-HTTP /,es ,eit J ti: tii 'pi:/ noun a system 
developed to provide a secure link between a 
user's browser and a vendor's Website to al- 
low the user to pay for goods over the Inter- 
net. Full form secure hypertext transfer 
protocol. f> PGP, SEPP, SET, SSL, STT 
shut down /,jAt 'daon/ verb to switch off 
and stop the functions of a machine or system 
shut-off mechanism /'/At Df 
,mek3niz(3)m/ noun a device which stops a 
process in case of fault 
comment: Most hard disks have an auto- 
matic shut-off mechanism to pull the head 
back from the read position when the pow- 
er is turned off. 

Shutter /'jAts/ noun 1. a revolving device 
which protects a film from light at the aper- 
ture in a camera and diminishes the projec- 
tion light in a projector while the film is mov- 
ing at the aperture 2. a device to control in- 
tensity of a spotlight 

Shutter control /,jAta kan'traul/ noun 1 . 
a device on a camera which diminishes expo- 
sure by partly closing the shutter 2. a camera 
device which slowly opens and closes the 
shutter in order to attain fade-in and fade-out 
effects 

Shutter speed /' jAta spi:d/ noun the time 
span for which a shutter is open during the re- 
quired frame exposure 
shuttle search /'jAt(s)l S3:t JV noun the 
capacity to play back a film, video and audio 



tape in both directions and to duplicate the 
picture over a large range of speeds 
Sideband /'saidbaend/ noun the frequency 
band of a modulated signal, a little above or 
below the carrier frequency 
Side lobe /'said bub/ noun the side sec- 
tions of an aerial's response pattern 
Sideways ROM /'saidweiz ram/ noun 
software which allows selection of a particu- 
lar memory bank or ROM device 
SIG /sig/ noun a group within a larger club 
which is interested in a particular aspect of 
software or hardware O Our local computer 
club has a SIG for comms and networking. 
Full form special interest group 
Sign /sain/ noun polarity of a number or 
signal (whether it is positive or negative) ■ 
verb to identify oneself to a computer using a 
personalised signature 

Signal /'sign(a)l/ noun 1. a generated ana- 
log or digital waveform used to carry infor- 
mation O The signal received from the com- 
puter contained the answer. 2. a short mes- 
sage used to carry control codes ■ verb to 
send a message to a computer O Signal to the 
network that we are busy. 
Signalling /'sign(3)lirj/ noun 1. a method 
used by a transmitter to warn a receiver that a 
message is to be sent 2. a communication to 
the transmitter about the state of the receiver 
signal reflection /'sign(a)l n,flekj(3)n/ 
noun the amount of transmitted signal that is 
reflected at the receiver due to an impedance 
mismatch or fault 

signal to noise ratio /,sign(3)l ta noiz 
.reifiao/ noun the difference between the 
power of the transmitted signal and the noise 
on the line. Abbr S/N 

Signature /'signit Ja/ noun 1. a special au- 
thentication code, such as a password, which 
a user gives prior to access to a system or pri- 
or to the execution of a task (to prove identi- 
ty) 2. the name written in a special way by 
someone O Do you recognise the signature 
on the cheque? 3. a series of printed and fold- 
ed pages in a book (usually 8, 16 or 32 pages) 
Significance /sig'nifikans/ noun a spe- 
cial meaning 

significant /sig 'nif ikant/ adjective which 
has a special meaning 

Signify /'signi,fai/ verb to mean O A car- 
riage return code signifies the end of an input 
line. 

Silicon /'silikan/ noun an element with 
semiconductor properties, used in crystal 
form as a base for IC manufacture 
comment: Silicon is used in the electronics 
industry as a base material for integrated 
circuits. It is grown as a long crystal which 
is then sliced into wafers before being 



221 



single-sided disk 



etched or treated, producing several hun- 
dred chips per wafer. Other materials, such 
as germanium or gallium arsenide, are also 
used as a base for ICs. 

Silicon Valley /,silik3n 'vaeli/ noun an 
area in California where many US semicon- 
ductor device manufacturers are based 
SIMD /,es ai em 'dii/ noun the architecture 
of a parallel computer which has a number of 
ALUs and data buses with one control unit. 
Full form single instruction stream multi- 
ple data stream 

SIMM /,es ai em 'em/ noun a small, com- 
pact circuit board with an edge connector 
along one edge that carries densely-packed 
memory chips O You can expand the main 
memory of your PC by plugging in two more 
SIMMs. Full form single in-line memory 
module 

simple device /,simp(a)l di'vais/ noun a 
multimedia device that does not require a 
data file for playback, such as a CD drive 
used to play audio CDs 
simple mail transfer protocol 
/,simp3l meil 'traensf3i ,pr3ot3kDl/ noun 
full form of SMTP 

simple network management proto- 
col /,simp3l ,netw3:k 'maenid3m3nt 
,pr3ot3kr>l/ noun a network management 
system which defines how status data is sent 
from monitored nodes back to a control sta- 
tion; SNMP is able to work with virtually any 
type of network hardware and software. Abbr 
SNMP 

simplex /'simpleks/ noun full form of 
SPX. opposite duplex 
Simplify /'simpli.fai/ verb to make some- 
thing simpler O Function keys simplify pro- 
gram operation. 

Simulate /'simju,leit/ verb to copy the be- 
haviour of a system or device with another O 
This software simulates the action of an air- 
craft. 

Simulation / l simju'leiJ'(3)n/ noun an op- 
eration where a computer is made to imitate 
a real life situation or a machine, and shows 
how something works or will work in the fu- 
ture O Simulation techniques have reached a 
high degree of sophistication. 
simulator /'simju,leit3/ noun a device 
which simulates another system 
Simulcast /' simalkai st/ noun to broadcast 
a programme at the same time on both televi- 
sion and radio 

simultaneous /,sim(a)rtemias/ adjec- 
tive which takes place at the same time as 
something else 

simultaneously /,sim(3)l'terni3sh7 ad- 
verb at the same time 



simultaneous transmission 

/,sim(3)ltemi3s traenz'mij(3)n/ noun the 
transmission of data or control codes in two 
directions at the same time. Same as duplex 
Sin /sin/, sine noun a mathematical func- 
tion defined as: the sine of an angle (in a 
right-angled triangle) is equal to the ratio of 
opposite to hypotenuse sides 
Sine wave /'sam weiv/ noun a waveform 
that is the sine function with time (classic 
wave shape, changing between a maximum 
and minimum with a value of zero at zero 
time) 

Single /'sirjg(3)l/ adjective only one 
single attachment station /,smg(s)l a 
,taetjm3nt 'steij(3)n/ noun (in an FDDI 
network) a station with only one port through 
which to attach to the network; SAS stations 
are connected to the FDDI ring through a 
concentrator. Abbr SAS 
single board computer /,sirjg(a)l baid 
kam'pjuita/ noun full form of SBC 
single-frequency signalling /,sirjg(9)l 
'f riikwsnsi , sign(3)lirj/ noun the use of var- 
ious frequency signals to represent different 
control codes. Also called sf signalling 
single function software /,smg(9)l 
'fArjkfan .sDftwea/ noun an applications 
program used for one kind of task only 
single in-line memory module 
/,sirjg(3)l in lam 'mem(3)ri .irrodjuil/ noun 
full form of SIMM 

single in-line package /,sing(3)lm lam 
'paekid3/ noun an electronic component 
which has all its leads on one side of its pack- 
age. Abbr SIP 

single instruction stream multiple 
data Stream /,sirjg(a)l m.strAkTan 
striim ,mAltip(3)l 'deita ,stri:m/ noun full 
form of SIMD 

single instruction stream single 
data stream /,sirjg(a)l m.strAkJan 
striim ,sirjg(3)l 'deita striim/ noun full 
form of SISD 

single mode fibre /,sirjg(3)l maud 
'faiba/ noun an optic fibre that has a very 
narrow diameter (of 10 microns or less) and 
is designed to transmit a single light signal 
over a long distance; this type of fibre has a 
bandwidth of 5Gbits/second and is normally 
used for long distance telephone networks 
single sideband /,sirjg(3)l 'saidbaend/ 
noun a modulated signal filtered to leave just 
one sideband, usually the upper (this is very 
economical on bandwidth but requires more 
complex circuitry) 

single-sided disk /,sirjg(a)l .saidid 
'disk/ noun a floppy disk that can only store 
data on one side, because of the way it is 
manufactured or formatted. Abbr SSD 



single-user system 



222 



single-user system /,sirjg(a)l Juiza 
'sistam/ noun a computer system which can 
only be used by a single user at a time (as op- 
posed to a multi-user system) 
Sink /sirjk/ noun the receiving end of a com- 
munications line. Opposite source 
sinusoidal /,sama'soid(a)l/ adjective 
waveform or motion that is similar to a sine 
wave O The carrier has a sinusoidal wave- 
form. 

SIO abbr serial input/output 
SIP abbr single in-line package 
Siphoning /'saifsnirj/ noun the transmis- 
sion of a direct broadcast TV programme 
over a cable network 

SISD /,es ai es 'dii/ noun the architecture of 
a serial computer, which has one ALU and 
data bus, with one control unit. Full form sin- 
gle instruction stream single data 
stream 

SISO abbr serial input/serial output 
Site /sait/ noun a place where something is 
based 

site licence /'sait ,lais(3)ns/ noun a li- 
cence between a software publisher and a 
user which allows any number of users in that 
site to use the software O We have negotiated 
a good deal for the site licence for the 1200 
employees in our HQ. 

Site poll /,sait 'paul/ verb to poll all the ter- 
minals or devices in a particular location or 
area. : polling 

SI units /,es 'at Jumits/ plural noun inter- 
national measurement units such as candela, 
lumen, and ampere. Full form Systeme In- 
ternational units. : MKS 
sixteen-bit /,siks'ti:n bit/ adjective (of a 
microcomputer system or CPU) which han- 
dles data in sixteen bit words, providing 
much faster operation than older eight-bit 
systems 

16-bit sample /,sikstiin bit 'saimp(3)l/ 
noun a single sample of an analog signal 
which is stored as a 16-bit number, meaning 
that there are 65,536 possible levels. A '16- 
bit sound card' can sometimes mean that the 
card generates 16-bit samples, but it can also 
mean that it generates 8-bit samples, but fits 
into a 16-bit expansion slot. i> 8-bit sample, 
24-bit sample 

64-bit /.siksti 'fo: bit/ data that is trans- 
ferred sixty-four bits at a time along sixty- 
four parallel conductors; in a processor this 
refers to its ability to manipulate numbers 
that are sixty-four bits long 
Size /saiz/ noun the physical dimensions of 
an image, object or page ■ verb to calculate 
the resources available, and those required, to 
carry out a particular job 



Sizing /'saizirj/ noun the process of reduc- 
ing or enlarging a picture to fit O Photo- 
graphs can be edited by cropping, sizing, etc. 
Sketch /sket J/ noun a rough drawing made 
rapidly ■ verb to make a rough rapid drawing 
Skew /skju:/ noun 1. the amount by which 
something is not correctly aligned 2. a televi- 
sion picture distortion in a zig zag shape 
which can be caused by a mechanical fault in 
the video tape motion or tension ■ verb to 
align something incorrectly O This page is 
badly skewed. 

Skip /skip/ verb 1 . to ignore an instruction 
in a sequence of instructions O The printer 
skipped the next three lines of text. 2. to trans- 
mit radio waves over an abnormally long dis- 
tance due to the reflective properties of the 
atmosphere 

slashed zero /.slae/d 'ziareo/ noun a 
printed or written sign (0) 
Slave /sleiv/ noun 1. a remote secondary 
computer or terminal controlled by a central 
computer 2. a recorder which dubs playbacks 
from a master tape; the video tape used for 
this dubbing process 

Sleep /sli:p/ noun the state of a system that 
is waiting for a signal (log-on) before doing 
anything. i> wake 

Sleeve /sli:v/ noun a paper or plastic cover 
for a magnetic disk 

Slew /slui/ noun a rapid movement of paper 
in a printer, ignoring the normal line advance 
Slicing /'slaisirj/ noun the process of cut- 
ting thin round wafers from a bar of silicon 
crystal 

Slide /slaid/ noun 1 . one image in a presen- 
tation or a single frame of positive photo- 
graphic film 2. a transparency which is to be 
projected by transmitted light ■ verb to move 
smoothly across a surface O The disk cover 
slides on and off easily. 
Slide Show /'slaid Jau/ nouna feature of a 
presentation graphics software in which 
slides (static images) are displayed in a se- 
quence under the control of the presenter 
Slip pages /'slip ,peid3iz/, slip proofs 
/'slip pruifs/ noun proofs, where each page 
of text is printed on a separate piece of paper 
Slot /slDt/ noun a long thin hole O The sys- 
tem disk should be inserted into the left-hand 
slot on the front of the computer. ■ verb to in- 
sert an object into a hole O The disk slots into 
one of the floppy drive apertures. 
slow motion /,sbu 'm3uj(3)n/ noun 1. 
the playing back of a video tape or disk se- 
quence slower than recorded O The film 
switched to slow motion. O Play the film 
again in slow motion. 2. the process of film- 
ing with a motion picture camera with the 
film moving at a more accelerated speed than 



223 



snow 



normal so that when the film is projected at a 
normal rate, the action seems to be slowed 
down 

Slow scan /'sbu skaen/ noun a television 
transmission and scanning at a slower frame 
rate than usual 

slow scan TV /,sbu skaen tii 'vii/ noun a 
system used to transmit still video frames 
over a telephone line 
SLSI abbr super large scale integration 
Slur /sl3i/ noun 1 . a printed image which is 
blurred because of movement during printing 
2. distortion of voice during transmission 
small /smoil/ adjective not large 
small computer system interface 
/,smo:lk3m,pju:t3 'sistam ,int3feis/noun 
full form of SCSI 

small-scale /'smoil skeiU adjective work- 
ing with small amounts of data. Compare 
large-scale 

small scale integration /,smo:l skeil 
l mti'greiJ'(a)n/ noun an integrated circuit 
with 1 to 10 components. Abbr SSI 
smart /smait/ adjective intelligent 
smart card /'smait kaid/ noun a plastic 
card with a memory and microprocessor de- 
vice embedded in it, so that it can be used for 
electronic funds transfer or for identification 
of the user 

smart terminal /,sma:t 't3imm(3)l/ 
noun a computer terminal which can process 
information. Compare dumb terminal 
SMATV noun a distributor of cable or mi- 
crowave satellite broadcasts to separate 
viewers from a central antenna. Full form 
satellite master antenna television 
SMB /,es em 'bii/ noun a system developed 
by Microsoft which allows a user to access 
another computer's files and peripherals over 
a network as if they were local resources. Full 
form server message block 
Smiley /'smaili/ noun a face created with 
text characters, used to provide the real 
meaning to an email message; e.g., :-) means 
laughter or a joke, and :-( means sad 
smooth scroll /,smu:6 'skreol/ noun text 
which is moved up a screen pixel by pixel 
rather than line by line, which gives a 
smoother movement 

SMPTE /,es em pi: ti: 'i:/ noun an organi- 
sation that defines standards for television 
production systems; e.g., the SMPTE time 
code standard is widely used to synchronise 
audio and video equipment using hours, min- 
utes, seconds, frame data that is stored in an 
80-bit word. Full form Society for Motion 
Picture and TV Engineers 
SMPTE division type /,es em pi: ti: ,i: 
di'vi3(3)n ,taip/ noun a timing format 



which specifies the number of frames per 
second used, and in which time is shown as 
hours, minutes, seconds, frames; standard 
SMPTE division types are 24, 25 and 30 
frames per second 

SMPTE Offset /,es em pi: ti: i: 'rjfset/ 
noun a MIDI event that defines when a MIDI 
file is to be played back 
SMPTE time code /,es em pi: ti: i: 'taim 
,kaod/ noun a method of assigning a unique 
identifying number to each frame in a video 
sequence 

SMS abbr short message service 
SMT /,es em 'ti:/ noun a method of manu- 
facturing circuit boards in which the elec- 
tronic components are bonded directly onto 
the surface of the board rather than being in- 
serted into holes and soldered into place O 
Surface-mount technology is faster and more 
space-efficient than soldering. Full form sur- 
face-mount technology 
SMTP /,es em ti: 'pi:/ noun a standard pro- 
tocol which allows electronic mail messages 
to be transferred from one system to another, 
normally used as the method of transferring 
mail from one Internet server to another or to 
send mail from a computer to a server. Full 
form simple mail transfer protocol. Com- 
pare POP 3 

S/N abbr signal to noise ratio 
SNA /,es en 'til noun design methods de- 
veloped by IBM which define how communi- 
cations in a network should occur and allow 
different hardware to communicate. Full 
form Systems Network Architecture 
snail mail /'sneil meil/ noun a term used 
to refer to the usually slow postal delivery as 
opposed to nearly instant electronic mail de- 
livery (slang) 

snapshot /'snaepjDt/ noun 1 . a recording 
of all the states of a computer at a particular 
instant 2. the process of storing in main 
memory the contents of a screen full of infor- 
mation at an instant 3. a personal photograph 
taken quickly 

snapshot dump /'snaepjDt dAmp/ noun 
a printout of all the registers and a section of 
memory at a particular instant, used when de- 
bugging a program 

snd /saond/ noun a filename extension used 
to indicate a file that contains digitised sound 
data. Full form SouND 
SNMP abbr simple network management 
protocol 

SNOBOL /'snaobDl/ noun a high-level 
programming language which uses string 
processing methods. Full form string orien- 
tated symbolic language 
snow /snao/ noun interference displayed as 
flickering white flecks on a monitor 



s/n ratio 



224 



s/n ratio /,es 'en ,reiJ"i3o/ noun the ratio of 
the amplitude of the transmitted signal to the 
noise on the received signal. Full form sig- 
nal to noise ratio 

soak /saok/ verb to run a program or device 
continuously for a period of time to make 
sure it functions correctly 
Society for Motion Picture and TV 
Engineers /sa.saiati fa ,m3oJ(3)n 
.piktja an ,tii 'vii/ noun full form of 
SMPTE 

socket /'sDkit/ noun a device with a set of 
holes, into which a plug fits 
socket driver /'sDkit ,draiva/ noun same 
as Winsock 

SOCKS /sDks/ noun a network protocol de- 
veloped to support the transfer of TCP/IP (In- 
ternet) traffic through a proxy server. It is 
commonly used to provide a way for users on 
a local area network to access the Internet via 
a single shared connection. 
SOF /,es au 'ef/ noun an indication of syn- 
chronised picture and sound on film. Full 
form sound-on-film 

soft /soft/ adjective 1 . referring to material 
which loses its magnetic effects when re- 
moved from a magnetic field 2. referring to 
data which is not permanently stored in hard- 
ware. Soft usually refers to data stored on 
magnetic medium. Compare hard error 3. 
one shape that gradually changes to another 
soft copy /.sDt't 'kDpi/ noun text listed on 
screen (as opposed to hard copy on paper). i> 
hard copy 

soft error /,sDft 'era/ noun a random error 
caused by software or data errors which is 
very difficult to trace and identify since it 
only appears under certain conditions 
SOft-fail /,SDft 'fell/ adjective referring to a 
system which is still partly operational even 
after a part of the system has failed 
soft font /.soft 'font/ noun fonts or type- 
faces stored on a disk, which can be down- 
loaded or sent to a printer and stored in tem- 
porary memory or RAM 
soft goods /'soft godz/ plural noun soft- 
ware that can be purchased and paid for in an 
online shop, and which is then downloaded 
directly onto a computer instead of receiving 
a CD-ROM sent by post 
soft hyphen /,snft 'harf(3)n/ noun same 
as discretionary hyphen 
soft keyboard /,srjft 'ki:bo:d/ noun a 
keyboard where the functions of the keys can 
be changed by programs 
soft keys /.soft 'khz/ plural noun keys 
which can be changed by means of a program 



soft reset /,SDft 'riiset/ noun an instruc- 
tion that terminates any program execution 
and returns the user to the monitor or BIOS 
soft-sectored disk/,sDtt ,sektad 'disk/ 
noun a disk where the sectors are described 
by an address and start code data written onto 
it when the disk is formatted 
software /'sDftwea/ noun 1. any program 
or group of programs which instructs the 
hardware on how it should perform, includ- 
ing operating systems, word processors and 
applications programs 2. films, audio tapes 
and audio disks that are commercially acces- 
sible (note: no plural for software. For the 
plural say pieces of software.) 3. pro- 
grammes for broadcast which are presented 
on electronic equipment 
software compatible /.suftwea kam 
'paetib(3)l/ adjective referring to a computer 
which will load and run programs written for 
another computer 

software developer /'sDftwea di 
,vel3p3/ noun a person or company which 
writes software 

software development /'sDftwea di 
,vel3pm3nt/ noun the processes required to 
produce working programs from an initial 
idea 

software documentation /,sDftwea 
,dDkjumen'teiJ(3)n/ noun information, 
notes and diagrams describing the function, 
use and operation of a piece of software 
software engineer /'sDftwea ,end3ini3/ 
noun a person who can write working soft- 
ware to fit an application 
software engineering /'sDttwea 
,end3ini3rirj/ noun a field of study covering 
all software-related subjects 
software house /'softwea haos/ noun a 
company which develops and sells computer 
programs 

software library /'sDftwea .laibrari/ 
noun a number of specially written routines, 
stored in a library file which can be inserted 
into a program, saving time and effort. Abbr 
H 

software licence /'sDftwea ,lais(a)ns/ 
noun an agreement between a user and a soft- 
ware house, giving details of the rights of the 
user to use or copy the software 
software life cycle /.sDftwea laif 
,saik(3)l/ noun the period of time when a 
piece of software exists, from its initial de- 
sign to the moment when it becomes out of 
date 

software maintenance /'sDftwea 
.memtanans/ noun the process of carrying 
out updates and modifications to a software 
package to make sure the program is up to 
date 



225 



Sound Recorder 



software-only video playback 

/,sDftwea ,3unli ,vidbo 'pleibaek/ noun 
the ability to display full-motion video stand- 
ard on any multimedia computer, without re- 
quiring special hardware 
software package /'strftwes ,paekid3/ 
noun computer programs and manuals de- 
signed for a special purpose 
software piracy /'snftwes .pairasi/ 
noun the illegal copying of software for sale 
software quality assurance /.suftwea 
.kwrjliti a'Joarans/ noun the process of 
making sure that software will perform as in- 
tended. Abbr SQA 

software reliability /.softwea n.laia 
'biliti/ noun the ability of a piece of software 
to perform the task required correctly 
software specification /,st>ftwea 
,spesifi'keij(3)n/ noun detailed informa- 
tion about a piece of software's abilities, 
functions and methods 
software system /'sDftwes ,sistam/ 
noun all the programs required for one or 
more tasks 

soft zone /,sDft 'zaon/ noun a text area to 
the left of the right margin in a word-proc- 
essed document, where if a word does not fit 
completely, a hyphen is automatically insert- 
ed 

SOlar /'saob/ adjective referring to the sun 
SOlar cell /'saob sel/ noun a component 
that converts the light of the sun into electri- 
cal energy 

Solaris™ /sso'lains/ a multi-tasking, 
multiprocessing operating system and sys- 
tem utilities developed by SunSoft for 
SPARC computers and PCs with a 80386 
solarisation /s3obrai'zeiJ"(3)n/, solari- 
zation noun 1 . a flare in a film image due to 
the film having been struck by light during 
processing 2. a photographic effect where the 
picture image colours or tones are reversed, 
such as normally light areas becoming darker 
and vice versa; an almost identical effect can 
be created by video techniques 
SOlar power /'saob ,paoa/ noun (electri- 
cal) power derived from the sun 
solenoid /'sDbnoid/ noun a mechanical 
device operated by an electromagnetic field 
solid modelling /,srjlid 'mt>d(a)lirj/ 
noun a function in a graphics program that 
creates three-dimensional solid-looking ob- 
jects by shading 

solid-state /'st>lid steit/ adjective refer- 
ring to semiconductor devices 
solution /s3'luij(a)n/ noun 1. the answer 
to a problem 2. a liquid in which certain 
chemicals have been dissolved 



solve /sdIv/ verb to find the answer to a 
problem 

sonar /'saona:/ noun a device that uses 
sound waves to determine the state and depth 
of water 

son file /'sAn fail/ noun the latest working 
version of a file. Compare father file, 
grandfather file 

song /sDrj/ noun a complete musical tune 
song key /'st>rj kii/ noun a musical key 
used to play a MIDI song 
sonic /'sDnik/ adjective referring to sound; 
(sound signals) within the human hearing 
range (20 - 20,000Hz) 
sophisticated /sa'fistrkeitid/ adjective 
technically advanced O A sophisticated desk- 
top publishing program. 

sophistication /s3,fisti'keif(a)n/ noun 
the state of being technically advanced O The 
sophistication of the new package is remark- 
able. 

sort /sort/ verb to put data in order, accord- 
ing to a system, on the instructions of the user 
O To sort addresses into alphabetical order. 
sortkey /'soitkii/, sort field /'sort fi:ld/ 
noun a field in a stored file which is used to 
sort the file O The orders were sorted accord- 
ing to dates by assigning the date field as the 
sortkey. 

sound /saond/ noun a noise 
Sound Blaster /'saond ,bla:sta/a trade 
name for a type of sound card for PC compat- 
ibles developed by Creative Labs that allows 
sounds to be recorded to disk (using a micro- 
phone) and played back 
sound capture /'saond .kasptja/ noun 
the conversion of an analog sound into a dig- 
ital form that can be used by a computer 
sound card /,saond 'kaid/ noun an ex- 
pansion card which produces analog sound 
signals under the control of a computer O 
This software lets you create almost any 
sound - but you can only hear them if you 
have a sound card fitted. 
sound Chip /,saond 'tjip/ noun a device 
that will generate a sound or tune 
sound file /,saond 'fail/ noun a file stored 
on disk that contains sound data 
sound pressure level /,saond 'preja 
,lev(a)l/ noun full form of SPL 
soundproof /'saondpruif/ adjective 
which does not allow sound to pass through 
O The telephone is installed in a soundproof 
booth. 

Sound Recorder /'saond n.koida/ a 
utility included with Microsoft Windows that 
allows a user to play back digitised sound 
files or record sound onto disk and carry out 
very basic editing 



source 



226 



source /sois/ noun 1 . a point where a trans- 
mitted signal enters a network. Opposite 
sink 2. an original or initial point 3. the name 
of a terminal on an FET device 
source document /'sois ^Dkjomant/ 
noun a form or document from which data is 
extracted prior to entering it into a database 
source file /,so:s 'fail/ noun a program 
written in source language, which is then 
converted to machine code by a compiler 
source language /'so:s ,l£erjgwid3/ 
noun 1. a language in which a program is 
originally written 2. a language of a program 
prior to translation. Opposite object lan- 
guage, target language 
space /speis/ noun 1 . a gap between char- 
acters or lines 2. a transmitted signal repre- 
senting a binary zero. Opposite mark ■ verb 
to spread out text O The line of characters 
was evenly spaced out across the page. 
space bar /'speis bail noun a long bar at 
the bottom of a keyboard, which inserts a 
space into the text when pressed 
spacing /'speisirj/ noun the process of 
putting spaces between characters or lines of 
printed text O The spacing on some lines is 
very uneven. 

spam /spaem/ noun an article that has been 
posted to more than one newsgroup, so is 
likely to contain commercial messages 
(slang) 

spam killer /'spaem ,kila/ noun a piece of 
software that automatically identifies and 
deals with spam in incoming e-mail 
spanning tree /'spaemrj tri:/ noun a 
method of creating a network topology that 
does not contain any loops and provides re- 
dundancy in case of a network fault or prob- 
lem 

spark printer /'spaik , prints/ noun a 
thermal printer which produces characters on 
thermal paper by electric sparks 
sparse array /.spais s'rei/ noun a data 
matrix structure containing mainly zero or 
null entries 

spatial measurement /,speij(a)l 
'me33m3nt/ noun a method of allowing a 
computer to determine the position of a 
pointer within three dimensions (often using 
a sensitive glove) 

speaker /'spiika/ noun » loudspeaker 
spec /spek/ noun same as specifications 
(informal) 

special /'spej"(3)l/ adjective which is dif- 
ferent or not usual 

special character /,spej"(a)l 'kaenkta/ 
noun a character which is not a standard one 
in a certain font (such as a certain accent or a 
symbol) 



special interest group /,spej"(9)l 
'mtrest ,gru:p/ noun full form of SIG 
specialise /'spejalatz/ verb to study and 
be an expert in a subject O He specialises in 
the design of CAD systems. 
Specialist /'spejshst/ noun an expert in a 
certain field of study O You need a specialist 
programmer to help devise a new word- 
processing program. 

specifications /,spesifi'keij'(a)nz/ noun 
detailed information about what is to be sup- 
plied or about a job to be done O high spec 
cabling needs to be very carefully handled □ 
to work to standard specifications to work 
to specifications which are accepted any- 
where in the same industry □ the work is not 
up to specification, does not meet the cus- 
tomer's specifications the product was not 
manufactured in the way which was detailed 
in the specifications 

specific code /sp3,sifik 'kaod/ noun a 
binary code which directly operates the cen- 
tral processing unit, using only absolute ad- 
dresses and values 

specificity /.spesi'f isati/ noun the ratio of 
non-relevant entries not retrieved to the total 
number of non-relevant entries contained in a 
file, database or library 
specify /'spesi,fai/ verb to state clearly 
what is needed 

spectrum /'spektram/ noun a range of 
frequencies; range of colours 
spectrum analyser /'spektram 
,asnalaiz3/ noun electronic test equipment 
that displays the amplitudes of a number of 
frequencies in a signal 
speech /spilt J7 noun the act of speaking or 
making words with the voice 
'...speech conveys information, and the primary 
task of computer speech processing is the nans- 
mission and reception of that information' 
[Personal Computer World] 

speech recognition /,spiitj ,rekag 
'nij(3)n/ noun the process of analysing spo- 
ken words in such a way that a computer can 
recognise spoken words and commands 
speech synthesis /'spirt/ ,sin9asis/ 
noun the production of spoken words by a 
speech synthesiser 

speech synthesiser /'spirt/ 

^mSasaiza/ noun a device which takes data 
from a computer and outputs it as spoken 
words 

spellcheck /'spelt Jek/ verb to check the 
spelling in a text by comparing it with a dic- 
tionary held in the computer 
spellchecker /'speltjeka/, spelling 
checker /,spelirj 'tjeka/ noun a dictionary 
of correctly spelled words, held in a compu- 
ter, and used to check the spelling of a text O 



227 



sprocket holes 



The program will be upgraded with a word- 
processor and a spelling checker. 

spherical aberration /.sfenk(3)l ,aeba 
'reij(3)n/, spherical distortion noun opti- 
cal distortion causing lines to appear curved 
spherical optics /,sfenk(a)l 'optiks/ 

plural noun camera or spotlight lenses which 
have surfaces with different curvatures which 
are used to create changes in the paths fol- 
lowed by light rays 

spherisation /,sfi3rai'zeij(3)n/ noun a 
special effect provided by a computer graph- 
ics program that converts an image into a 
sphere, or 'wraps' the image over a spherical 
shape 

spider /'spaida/ noun a program that 
searches through the millions of pages that 
make up the world wide web for new infor- 
mation, changes or pages that have been de- 
leted. These changes are then added to a 
search engine index to ensure that it is always 
up to date. 

spike /spaik/ noun a very short duration 
voltage pulse 

spill /spil/, spill light /'spil lait/ noun un- 
wanted light created by a diffusion of light 
along the principal beam of a light source 
spillage /'spilid3/ noun a situation when 
too much data is being processed and cannot 
be contained in a buffer 
spin /spin/ verb to turn round fast O The 
disk was spun by the drive. 
Spindle /'spmd(3)l/ noun an object which 
grips and spins a disk in the centre hole 
spindling /'spindlirj/ noun the process of 
turning a disk by hand 

spine /spam/ noun the back edge of the 
book which is covered by the binding O The 
author's name and the title usually are shown 
on the spine as well as on the front cover. 

spirit duplicator /.spirit 'djuiphkeita/ 
noun a short-run printing method using spirit 
to transfer ink onto the paper 
SPL /,es pii 'el/ noun a measure of loud- 
ness, in decibels (dB). Full form sound 
pressure level 

splash screen /'splaej skriin/ noun the 
initial screen that is displayed for a few sec- 
onds when a program is started O The splash 
screen normally displays the product logo 
and gives basic copyright information. 
splice /splais/ verb to join two lengths of 
magnetic tape, forming a continuous length 
split-field lens /.split fiild 'lenz/, split- 
focus lens /.split 'faokas ,lenz/ noun a 
camera lens which is able to achieve perfect 
focus at two different planes 



split-focus shot /.split 'faokas .Jot/ 
noun a shot where the focus of the camera is 
altered from one plane to another 
split screen /'split skriin/ noun 1. soft- 
ware which can divide the display into two or 
more independent areas, to display two text 
files or a graph and a text file O We use split 
screen mode to show the text being worked on 
and another text from memory for compari- 
son. 2. a shot where two or more images are 
visible in different areas of the same picture 
Splitter /'splits/ noun a device which al- 
lows a number of other a devices to be 
plugged into one supply or line 
spoof /spuif/ verb to send e-mail using a 
false name or e-mail address 
spool /spuil/ noun a reel on which a tape or 
printer ribbon is wound ■ verb to transfer 
data from a disk to a tape 
spooler noun a device which holds a tape 
and which receives information from a disk 
for storage 

spooling /'spuilirj/ noun the process of 
transferring data to a disk from which it can 
be printed at the normal speed of the printer, 
leaving the computer available to do some- 
thing else 

spooling device /'spuilirj di.vais/ noun 
same as spooler 

spot /spDt/ noun a point on a CRT screen 
that is illuminated by the electron beam 
spot beam /'spDt biim/ noun narrow (sat- 
ellite) antenna coverage of a select region (on 
earth) 

spotting /'spuilirj/ noun the retouching, 
with an opaque substance, of undesirable 
marks on film which appeared during the de- 
veloping process 

spot wobble /'spot ,Wt)b(3)l/ noun verti- 
cal fluctuation of a television display's scan- 
ning beam in order to make the raster spacing 
less obvious 

Spreadsheet /'spredjiit/ noun a program 
which allows calculations to be carried out 
on several columns of numbers 
sprite /sprait/ noun an object which moves 
round the screen in computer graphics 
sprocket noun a wheel with teeth round it 
which fit into holes in continuous stationery 
or punched tape 

sprocket feed /'spmkit fiid/ noun a pa- 
per feed where the printer pulls the paper by 
turning sprocket wheels which fit into a se- 
ries of holes along each edge of the sheet. f> 
tractor feed 

sprocket holes /'sprokit haulz/ plural 
noun 1 . a series of small holes on each edge 
of continuous stationery, which allow the 



sprocket wheel 



228 



sheet to be pulled through the printer 2. per- 
forations in the edges of a strip of film 
sprocket wheel /'sprDkit wi:V noun 
same as sprocket 

spur /sp3i/ noun a connection point into a 
network 

spurious data /.spjoarias 'deita/ noun 
unexpected or unwanted data or an error in a 
signal, often due to noise 
SPX /,es pi: 'eks/ a trade name for a net- 
work transport protocol developed by Novell 
and used to carry IPX network traffic. Full 
form sequenced packet exchange ■ 
noun data transmission in only one direction. 
Full form simplex. Opposite duplex 
spyware /'spaiwea/ noun a type of soft- 
ware that can be installed on someone's hard 
disk without that person's knowledge. It is 
designed to send back encoded information 
about the computer owner's identity and the 
way he or she uses the Internet to the person 
who installed it. 

SQA abbr software quality assurance 
SQL/,es kjui 'el/ noun a simple, commonly 
used standard, database programming lan- 
guage that is only used to create queries to re- 
trieve data from the database. Full form 
structured query language 
square wave /,skwea 'weiv/ noun a 
pulse that rises vertically, levels off, then 
drops vertically; the ideal shape for a digital 
signal 

squeeze /skwiiz/ noun the horizontal 
compression of film images by using an an- 
amorphic lens 

squeeze room /'skwiiz ruim/ noun a 
system which alters the shape of a television 
image for an artistic effect 
SSD abbr single-sided disk 
SSI abbr small scale integration 
SSL/,es es 'el/ noun a protocol designed by 
Netscape that provides secure communica- 
tions over the Internet. Full form secure 
sockets layer, t) PGP, SEPP, SET, STT 
ST noun a range of personal computers de- 
veloped by Atari that use the Motorola 68000 
series CPU 

Stabiliser /'steibilaiza/, stabilizer noun a 
mount which holds the camera steady 
Stability /sta'bihti/ noun the condition of 
being stable 

Stable /'steib(a)l/ adjective not moving or 
not changing 

Stack /staek/ noun temporary storage for 
data, registers or tasks where items are added 
and retrieved from the same end of the list. i> 
LIFO 

stackable hub /,staekab(a)l 'hAb/ noun a 
hub device that has an external connector to 



allow several devices to be connected togeth- 
er so that network information can pass from 
one network ring to another 
Stage /steid3/ noun one of several points in 
a process O The text is ready for the printing 
stage. 

Staged /steid3d/ adjective carried out in 
stages, one after the other 
Stage window /,steid3 'wmdau/ noun a 
window in which a video or animation se- 
quence is viewed (normally refers to a win- 
dow in which a Movie Player sequence is 
played) 

Stand-alone /'staend a,aun/, standalone 
adjective referring to a device or system that 
can operate without the need of any other de- 
vices O The workstations have been net- 
worked together rather than used as stand- 
alone systems. ■ noun such a device or sys- 
tem 

Standard /'stasndad/ adjective normal or 
usual 

standard document /,staendad 
'dDkjumant/, standard form /'staendad 
fo:m/ noun a printed document or form 
which is used many times (with different 
names and addresses often inserted - as in a 
form letter) 

Standard function /,staendad 'fArjkfsn/ 
noun a special feature included as normal in 
a computer system 

Standard Generalized Markup Lan- 
guage /,staendad ,d3en(a)ralaizd 
'maikAp ,laerjgwid3/ noun full form of 
SGML 

Standardise /'staendadaiz/ verb to make 
a series of things conform to a standard O to 
standardise control of transmission links 
Standard letter /,staendad 'leta/ noun a 
letter which is sent without any change to the 
main text, but which is personalised by in- 
serting the names and addresses of different 
people 

standard paragraph /.staendad 
'paeragraif/ noun a printed paragraph which 
is used many times (with different names and 
addresses often inserted - as in a form letter) 
Standards /'staendadz/ plural noun nor- 
mal quality or normal conditions which are 
used to judge other things O this batch of 
disks is not up to standard a up to standard 
of an acceptable quality O this batch of disks 
is not up to standard 

standards converter /'staendadz kan 
, V3ita/ noun a device to convert received sig- 
nals conforming to one standard into a differ- 
ent standard 

Standard text /,staendad 'tekst/ noun a 
printed text which is used many times (with 



229 



different names and addresses often inserted 
- as in a form letter) 

Standby /'staendbai/ adjective referring to 
a device or program that is ready for use in 
case of failure ■ noun such a device or pro- 
gram 

standby equipment /'staendbai i 
,kwipm3nt/ noun a secondary system iden- 
tical to the main system, to be used if the 
main system breaks down 
Staple /'steip(a)l/ noun a bent metal pin 
which attaches pages together ■ verb to at- 
tach papers together with a bent metal pin O 
The booklet is stapled together. O The colla- 
tor gathers signatures together before sta- 
pling. 

Star filter /'star ,f ilts/ noun a filter with an 
engraved design which creates star effects on 
strong light sources 

Star network /'sta: ,netw3ik/ noun a net- 
work of several machines where each node is 
linked individually to a central hub. Compare 
bus network, ring topology network 
Start /sta:t/ noun the beginning or first part 
Start bit /'start ,bit/ noun a transmitted bit 
used (in asynchronous communications) to 
indicate the start of a character. Opposite 
stop bit 

Start button /'stent ,bAt(a)n/ noun a but- 
ton that is normally in the bottom left-hand 
corner of a Windows 95 Desktop screen and 
provides a convenient route to the programs 
and files on the computer 
Start of text /.stent av 'tekst/ noun a 
transmitted code indicating the end of control 
or address information and the start of the 
message. Abbr SOT, STX 
Start page /'stait peid3/ noun the web- 
page to which a visitor to a website is auto- 
matically taken first 

startup disk /'stcntAp disk/ noun a flop- 
py disk which holds the operating system and 
system configuration files which can, in case 
of hard disk failure, be used to boot the com- 
puter 

Startup folder /'staitAp .faulda/ noun a 
special folder on a hard disk that contains 
programs that will be run automatically when 
the user next starts Windows 
startup screen /'staitAp skrim/ noun 
text or graphics displayed when an applica- 
tion or multimedia book is run 
Statement /'steitmant/ noun 1 . an expres- 
sion used to convey an instruction or define a 
process 2. an instruction in a source language 
which is translated into several machine code 
instructions 

state-of-the-art /,steit av 6i 'art/ adjec- 
tive very modern or technically as advanced 
as possible 



step frame 

'...the main PCB is decidedly non-state-of-the- 
art' [Personal Computer World] 

Static /'staetik/ adjective 1. referring to 
data that does not change with time 2. refer- 
ring to a system that is not dynamic 
comment: Static RAM uses bistable devic- 
es such as flip-flops to store data; these 
take up more space on a chip than the ca- 
pacitative storage method of dynamic RAM 
but do not require refreshing. 

Static object /.stastik 'Dbd3ekt/ noun an 
object in an animation or video that does not 
move within the frame 
Station /'steij"(3)n/ noun a point in a net- 
work or communications system which con- 
tains devices to control the input and output 
of messages, allowing it to be used as a sink 
or source 

stationary /'steif(a)n(»riy adjective not 
moving 

stationery /'steij(9)n(a)ri/ noun office 
supplies for writing, especially paper, enve- 
lopes, labels, etc. 

Statistical /st9'tistik(a)V adjective based 
on statistics 

Statistician /,sta2ti'stiJX3)n/ noun a per- 
son who analyses statistics 
Statistics /sta'tistiks/ noun the study of 
facts in the form of figures ■ plural noun a 
collection of numerical data 
Status /'steitas/ noun importance or posi- 
tion of something 

Status bar/'steitas bail noun a line at the 
top or bottom of a screen which gives infor- 
mation about the task currently being worked 
on, e.g. position of cursor, number of lines, 
filename, time 

Status line /'steitas lain/ noun same as 
status bar 

ST connector /,es ti: ka'nekta/ noun a 
connector used to terminate optical fibres 
STD abbr subscriber trunk dialling 
STDM abbr statistical time division multi- 
plexing 

Steadicam /'stedikaem/ noun a device 
which prevents camera shake and provides 
smooth action with a hand-held camera 
steep learning curve /,sti:p 'l3:nirj 
,k3iv/ noun 1 . referring to a product that is 
very difficult to use 2. such a product 
Steg analysis /'steg 3,nael3sis/ noun the 
process of searching through computerised 
graphics or music files to find slight changes 
in the normal patterns that may show the 
presence of hidden messages 
Step /step/ noun a single unit 
Step frame /'step freim/ verb to capture a 
video sequence one frame at a time, used 
when the computer is not powerful or fast 



stepper motor 



230 



enough to capture real-time full-motion vid- 
eo 

Stepper motor, stepping motor noun a 
motor which turns in small steps as instructed 
by a computer (used in printers, disk drives 
and robots) 

Step printing /'step .prmtirj/ noun a 
printing process where the film is exposed 
one frame at a time 

Step through /'step 8ru:/ noun a function 
of a debugger that allows a developer to exe- 
cute a program one instruction at a time to 
see where the fault lies 
Steradion /sta'reidiDn/ noun a unit of sol- 
id angle 

Stereo /'steriao/, stereophonic /.steria 
'fDnik/ adjective referring to sound recorded 
onto two separate channels from two separate 
microphone elements and played back 
through a pair of headphones or two speakers 
Stereophony /.steri'Dfani/ noun sound 
reproduction using two or more channels to 
produce a three dimensional effect of sound 
Stereoscopy /,steri'Dskapi/ noun a pho- 
tography system which provides a three di- 
mensional effect 

Sti Cki n ess /' st ikinas/ noun the ability of a 
website to attract visitors and to keep them 
interested for a long time 
Sticky /'stiki/ adjective used to describe an 
Internet site that attracts visitors, especially 
one that keeps them interested for a long time 
Still /stil/ noun a single image or frame 
within a video or film sequence 
Still frame /'stil freim/ noun an individual 
film or video tape frame which is continuous- 
ly reproduced 

stochastic model /sta'kaestik ,mod(s)l/ 
noun a mathematical representation of a sys- 
tem which includes the effects of random ac- 
tions 

stock control program /,stt>k kan 
'traol .praugraem/ noun software designed 
to help manage stock in a business 
Stop /stDp/ verb to cease doing something 
Stop-action photos /.stop .aekfan 
'faotaoz/ noun images in which objects 
have been intermittently filmed one frame at 
a time so that when they are projected at a 
normal speed the changes that occur to these 
objects will be apparent 
stop and wait protocol /.stop an weit 
.prautakal/ noun communications protocol 
in which the transmitter waits for a signal 
from the receiver that the message was cor- 
rectly received before transmitting further 
data 

Stop bit /'stDp bit/ noun a transmitted bit 
used in asynchronous communications to in- 



dicate the end of a character. Opposite start 
bit 

Stop down /,stDp 'daun/ verb to decrease 
the width of a lens aperture by altering the di- 
aphragm of the iris 

Stop element /'stDp ,elimant/ noun same 
as stop bit 

Stop frame /'stDp freim/ noun » still 
frame 

Stop motion /,stDp 'mauj(a)n/ noun the 
filming, projecting or printing of one frame at 
a time 

Storage /'sta:nd3/ noun memory or the 
part of a computer system in which data or 
programs are kept for further use 
Storage device /'sta:nd3 di,vais/ noun 
any device which can store data and then al- 
low it to retrieved when required 
Storage medium /'sta:nd3 .miidiam/ 
noun any physical material that can be used 
to store data for a computer application 
Storage tube /'sta:nd3 tjuib/ noun a 
special CRT used for computer graphics, 
which retains an image on screen without the 
need for refresh actions 
Store /star/ noun memory or the part of a 
computer system in which data or programs 
are kept for further use ■ verb to save data, 
which can then be used again as necessary O 
Storing a page of high resolution graphics 
can require 3Mb. 
comment: Storage devices include hard 
and floppy disk, RAM, punched paper tape 
and magnetic tape. 

store and forward /,sta: an faawad/ 
noun an electronic mail communications 
system which stores a number of messages 
before retransmitting them 
Story board /'stairi bard/ noun a series of 
pictures or drawings that show how a video 
or animation progresses 
Straight cut /'streit kAt/ noun the cutting 
from one shot to another with no intervening 
visual effect 

Stray /strei/ adjective referring to some- 
thing that has avoided being stopped O The 
metal screen protects the CPU against stray 
electromagnetic effects from the PSU. 
Streaking /'striikirj/ noun 1. vertical 
stripes on a camera pick-up tube which can 
divide an image light into red-blue-green 
components without using dichroic mirrors 
2. horizontal television picture distortion 
Stream /striim/ noun a long flow of serial 
data 

Streaming /'striimirj/ noun the process of 
reading data from a storage device in one 
continuous operation, without processor in- 
tervention 



231 



sub- 



' ... the product has 1 6Mb of memory, 45Mb of 
Winchester disk storage and 95Mb streaming 
tape storage' [Minicomputer News] 

streaming audio /,stri:mir) 'oidiau/ 
noun digital audio data that is continuously 
transmitted (normally over the Internet) us- 
ing a streaming protocol to provide stereo 
sound 

streaming data /,stri:mirj 'derts/, 
streaming protocol noun a method of 
sending a continuous stream of data over the 
Internet to provide live video or sound trans- 
mission 
comment: Older methods of sending con- 
tinuous live data used a standard web 
server (an HTTP server) to transmit the da- 
ta. However, an HTTP server is designed 
to send data when it is ready rather than 
sending a regular stream of data that is re- 
quired by multimedia. If you have ever tried 
to view a video clip over the Internet, you 
may have encountered this burst-transmis- 
sion problem: when traffic or server load 
lightens, you can watch 20 frames per sec- 
ond, when the server is busy, you can 
watch one frame per minute. To provide a 
good multimedia server, the data delivery 
must be regulated and ideally synchro- 
nised. There are many different standards 
used to deliver sound and video over the 
Internet including Progressive Network's 
RealAudio, Microsoft's NetShow server, 
with supports both audio and video, and 
Netscape's MediaServer. Each of these 
streaming data technologies allows the 
user or publisher to limit the delivery of 
data to a maximum data rate. There are 
several standard formats used including 
Microsoft's multimedia delivery format, 
ASF (active streaming format) and other 
standards developed by Macromedia, 
VDOnet, Vivo, and VXtreme. 
streaming video /,stri:min 'vidiau/ 
noun video image data that is continuously 
transmitted (normally over the Internet) us- 
ing a streaming protocol to provide smooth 
moving images 

Strikethrough /'stratkOrui/ noun a hori- 
zontal line used for indicating deleted text 
String /stnrj/ noun any series of consecu- 
tive alphanumeric characters or words that 
are manipulated and treated as a single unit 
by the computer 

string orientated symbolic lan- 
guage /.stnrj ,3iri3nteitid sim,bDlik 
'laerjgwid3/ noun full form of SNOBOL 
Stringy floppy /.strirji 'flopi/ noun same 
as tape streamer 

Strip /strip/ noun a long thin piece of mate- 
rial ■ verb to remove the control data from a 
received message, leaving only the relevant 
information 

Stripe /straip/ noun a long thin line of col- 
our 



Striping /'straipirj/ noun the process of 
adding longitudinal time-code to video rush- 
es 

Strobe /straob/ verb to send a pulse, usual- 
ly on the selection line, of an electronic cir- 
cuit ■ noun the pulse of an electric circuit 
strobe lighting /.straub 'lartirj/ noun 
electronic flash lighting working at the same 
rate as a motion picture camera frame, creat- 
ing sharp images of fast-moving objects 
Stroboscope /straob/, strobe noun a 
light source which produces flashes of light 
Stroke /straok/ noun 1 . the width (in pix- 
els) of a pen or brush used to draw on-screen 

2. a basic curved or straight line that makes 
up a character 

Structure /'strAktJV noun a way in which 
something is organised or formed ■ verb to 
organise or to arrange in a certain way 
structured design /,strAkt Jad di'zam/ 
noun a number of interconnected modules 
which are intended to solve problems 
structured query language 
/,strAktJad 'kwtari ,laerjgwid3/ noun full 
form of SQL 

STT /,es ti: 'ti:/ noun a system developed to 
provide a secure link between a user's brows- 
er and a vendor's Website to allow the user to 
pay for goods over the Internet. Full form se- 
cure transaction technology. : PGP, 
SEPP, SET, S-HTTP, SSL 
Stub /stAb/ noun a short program routine 
which contains comments to describe the ex- 
ecutable code that will, eventually, be insert- 
ed into the routine 

Studio /'stjuidiau/ noun a place where a 
designer draws; a place where recordings 
take a place; a place where films are made 
STX abbr start of text 
Style /stall/ noun the typeface, font, point 
size, colour, spacing and margins of text in a 
formatted document 

Style Sheet /'stail Jilt/ noun 1 . a template 
which can be preformatted to generate auto- 
matically the style or layout of a document 
such as a manual, book or newsletter 2. a 
sheet giving the style which should be fol- 
lowed by an editor 

Stylus /'staibs/ noun 1. a pen-like device 
which is used in computer graphics systems 
to dictate cursor position on the screen 2. (in 
a transducer) a needle which converts sig- 
nals on an audio record into electrical signals 

3. a transducer that detects data stored on a 
videodisc 

Stylus printer /'staitas .prmta/ noun » 
dot-matrix printer 

Sub- /sAb/ prefix less than, less important 
than or lower than 



subdirectory 



232 



subdirectory /'sAbdi,rekt(3)ri/ noun a 
directory of disk or tape contents contained 
within the main directory 
'...if you delete a file and then delete the subdi- 
rectory where it was located, you cannot restore 
the file because the directory does not exist' 
[Personal Computer World] 

Sub-domain /'sAb d3o,mem/ noun a sec- 
ond level of addressing on the Internet that 
normally refers to a department name within 
a larger organisation 

subdomain name /.sAbda'mem ,neim/ 
noun an organisational name consisting of 
two or three letters, e.g. ac or .com, that pre- 
cedes the two-letter country domain name in 
an Internet address, as in 'xom.au', the ad- 
dress for Australian commercial sites. 
subjective camera /sab^ektiv 
'kaem(3)r3/ noun scenes shot from the point 
of view of the camera in order to intensify au- 
dience reaction 

Submenu /'sAbmenju:/ noun a secondary 
menu displayed as a choice from a menu 
Submit button /sab ,mit 'bAt(3)n/nouna 
button displayed on a webpage that sends in- 
formation entered by a user on a web form to 
a program running on a web server for 
processing, e.g., the submit button could be 
used to start a search query 
Subnet /'sAbnet/ noun a self-contained 
part of a large network, normally referring to 
one, independently-managed part of the In- 
ternet 

subnet address /'SAbnet a,dres/, sub- 
net number /'sAbnet .riAmbs/ noun the 
part of an IP address that identifies a subnet 
that is connected to a larger network. The 
first part of the IP address identifies the net- 
work, the next part of the IP address identi- 
fies the subnet and the last part of the IP ad- 
dress identifies a single host server. 
subnet mask/'sAbnet maisk/ noun a fil- 
ter that is used to select the portion of an IP 
address that contains the subnet address 
SubnotebOOk/sAb'naotbok/nouna very 
small portable computer, smaller and lighter 
than a standard full-size notebook or laptop 
computer. A subnotebook often has a smaller 
keyboard and display and often only includes 
a hard disk drive with any floppy disk drive 
or CD-ROM drive in a separate, external unit 
that can be plugged in when needed. 
subprogram /'sAbpraograem/ noun 1. a 
subroutine in a program 2. a program called 
up by a main program 

Subroutine /'sAbrui.tim/ noun a section 
of a program which performs a required 
function and can be called upon at any time 
from inside the main program 



comment: A subroutine is executed by a 
call instruction which directs the processor 
to its address; when finished it returns to 
the instruction after the call instruction in 
the main program. 
subscriber /sab'skraiba/ noun 1. a per- 
son who has a telephone 2. a person who 
pays for access to a service such as a BBS 
Subscript /'sAbskrtpt/ noun a small char- 
acter which is printed below the line of other 
characters. i> superscript (note: used in 
chemical formulae: C0 2 ) 
Subset /'sAb,set/ noun a small set of data 
items which forms part of a another larger set 
Substance /'sAbstans/ noun any matter 
whose properties can be described 
substitute /'sAbstitjuit/ verb to put 
something in the place of something else 
(note : you substitute one thing for another) 
substitution /.SAbsti'tjuiJXa)!!/ noun the 
act of replacing something by something else 
Substrate /'sAbstreit/ noun a base materi- 
al on which an integrated circuit is construct- 
ed. : integrated circuit 
Subsystem /'sAbsistam/ noun one small- 
er part of a large system 
Subtitle /'sAbtait(3)l/ noun a caption 
which is inserted over the filmed action, gen- 
erally at the bottom of the screen, to provide 
information, to give a direct translation of di- 
alogue in a foreign language, or as an aid to 
the hard of hearing 

subtotal /'sAb,t3ut(3)l/ noun the total at 
the end of a column, which when added to 
others makes the grand total 
subtractive primaries /sab.traektiv 
'praimariz/ plural noun the colours cyan, 
magenta and yellow 

subtrahend /'sAbtrshend/ noun in a sub- 
traction operation, the number to be subtract- 
ed from the minuend 

subvoice grade channel /.SAbvois 
gretd 'tjaen(3)l/ noun a communications 
channel using frequencies (240 - 300Hz) be- 
low a voice channel, used for low speed data 
transmission 

successive /sak'sesiv/ adjective which 
follow one after the other O Each successive 
operation adds further characters to the 
string. 

suffix notation /,sAfiks n3u'teij(3)n/ 
noun mathematical operations written in a 
logical way, so that the symbol appears after 
the numbers to be acted upon 
suitcase /'suitkeis/ noun (in the Apple 
Macintosh environment) an icon which con- 
tains a screen font and allows fonts to be eas- 
ily installed onto the system 
suite of programs /,swi:t av 
'praugraemz/ noun 1. a group of programs 



233 



SVGA 



which run one after the other O The word- 
processing system uses a suite of three pro- 
grams, editor, spelling checker and printing 
controller. 2. a number of programs used for 
a particular task 

summation check /sA'meif(3)n trek/ 
noun an error detection check performed by 
adding together the characters received and 
comparing with the required total 
sun outage /' saii ,autid3/ noun the length 
of time during which a satellite does not op- 
erate due to the position of the moon or earth, 
causing a shadow over the satellite's solar 
cells 

Super- /suipa/ prefix very good or very 
powerful 

super bit mapping /,su:pa 'bit .maeptrj/ 
noun full form of SBM 
supercomputer /^uipakam'pjuita/ 
noun a very powerful mainframe computer 
used for high speed mathematical tasks 
super high frequency /,su:pa hat 
'friikwansi/ noun the frequency range be- 
tween 3 - 30GHz. Abbr SHF 
superimpose /.suipanm'paoz/ verb 1 . to 
lay one picture over another so that they both 
remain visible 2. to add a graphic or a caption 
over a picture 

superior number /so.piaria 'nAmba/ 
noun a superscript figure 
super large scale integration /,su:pa 
,laid3 skeil ,inti'greij(3)n/ noun an inte- 
grated circuit with more than 100,000 com- 
ponents. Abbr SLSI 

super master group /,su:pa 'maista 
gruip/ noun a collection of 900 voice chan- 
nels 

superscript /'suipa.sknpt/ noun a small 
character printed higher than the normal line 
of characters. Compare subscript (note: 
used often in mathematics: 10 5 say: ten to 
the power five) 

supersede /.sinpa'siid/ verb to take the 
place of something which is older or less use- 
ful O The new program supersedes the earli- 
er one, and is much faster. 

superstation /'su:pa,steij(a)n/ noun US 
a TV system, where a single TV station 
broadcasts many programmes simultaneous- 
ly via satellite and cable 
superuser /'suipajuiza/ noun a UNIX 
user with all access rights, equivalent to an 
administrator under the Windows system 
super VGA /,su:pa vi: d3ii 'ei/ noun full 
form of SVGA 

super VHS /,suip3 ,vii eitj 'es/ noun full 
form of S-VHS 

Supervise /'suip3,vaiz/ verb to watch 
carefully to see if work is well done 



supervision /,suip3'vi3(3)n/ noun the act 
of supervising 

Supervisor /'suips.vaiza/ noun 1. a per- 
son who makes sure that equipment is always 
working correctly 2. a section of a computer 
operating system that regulates the use of pe- 
ripherals and the operations undertaken by 
the CPU 

supervisory /'suipavaizari/ adjective as 
a supervisor 

Supplier /sa'plaia/ noun a company which 
supplies something O a supplier of computer 
parts 

Supply /sa'plai/ noun the process of pro- 
viding goods, products or services O The 
electricity supply has failed. ■ verb to pro- 
vide something which is needed and for 
which someone will pay O The computer was 
supplied by a recognised dealer. 
Support /sa'poit/ verb to give help to or to 
help to run O The main computer supports six 
workstations. 

Suppress /sa'pres/ verb to remove O The 
filter is used to suppress the noise due to stat- 
ic interference. 

suppression /sa'pref(3)n/ noun the act 
of suppressing 

Suppressor /sa'presa/ noun a device 
which suppresses interference 
Surf /s3itV verb to explore a website looking 
at the webpages in no particular order, but 
simply moving between pages using the links 
surface-mount technology /,s3:fis 
maunt tek'nDlad3i/ noun full form of SMT 
Surge /S3:d3/ noun a sudden increase in 
electrical power in a system, due to a fault, 
noise or component failure 
comment: Power surges can burn out cir- 
cuits before you have time to pull the plug. 
A surge protector between your computer 
and the wall outlet will help prevent dam- 
age. 
surge protector /'s3:d3 pra.tekta/ noun 
an electronic device which cuts off the power 
supply to sensitive equipment if it detects a 
power surge that could cause damage 
Suspend /sa 1 spend/ noun a command that 
is used when running Windows on a battery- 
powered laptop computer to shut down al- 
most all of the electronic components of the 
laptop 

Sustain /ss'stem/ verb to keep a voltage at 
a certain level for a period of time ■ noun the 
body of a sound signal. Compare attack, de- 
cay 

SVGA /,es vii d3ii 'ei/ noun an enhance- 
ment to the standard VGA graphics display 
system which allows resolutions of up to 
800x600pixels with 16million colours. Full 
form super VGA 



S-VHS 



234 



S-VHS /,es vii eit J 'es/ noun a high-resolu- 
tion version of the standard VHS video cas- 
sette standard which can record 400 lines of 
a video signal rather than the usual 260 lines 
of VHS. Full form super VHS 
S-Video /,es 'vidiau/ noun a method of 
transmitting a video signal in which the lumi- 
nance and colour components (the luma, Y, 
and chroma, C) are transmitted over separate 
wires to improve the quality of the video, 
used in Hi8, S-VHS and other video formats 
to provide better quality than composite vid- 
eo. Also called Y/C video 
SW abbr short wave 

swap /swop/ noun same as swapping ■ 
verb to stop using one program, put it into 
store temporarily, run another program, and 
when that is finished, return to the first one 
Swap file /'swdp fail/ noun a file stored on 
the hard disk used as a temporary storage 
area for data held in RAM, to provide virtual 
memory 

swapping /'swopirj/ noun (in a virtual 
memory system) an activity in which pro- 
gram data is moved from main memory to 
disk, while another program is loaded or run. 
tf virtual memory. Also called swap 
Sweep /swiip/ noun the movement of the 
electron beam over the area of a television 
screen in regular horizontal and vertical 
steps, producing the image 
sweetening /'swiit(3)nirj/ noun A. the ad- 
dition of new sound to a voice track 2. the ad- 
dition of sound effects to the visual images 3. 
the improvement of the quality of image, col- 
our, etc., through electronic modification 
Swim /swim/ noun computer graphics 
which move slightly due to a faulty display 
unit 

switch /switJV noun 1. (in some com- 
mand-line operating systems) an additional 
character entered on the same line as the pro- 
gram command, which affects how the pro- 
gram runs 2. a point in a computer program 
where control can be passed to one of a 
number of choices 3. a mechanical or solid 
state device that can electrically connect or 
isolate two or more lines ■ verb to connect or 
disconnect two lines by activating a switch 
switchboard /'swrtfboid/ noun a central 
point in a telephone system, where the lines 
from various telephone handsets meet, where 
calls can be directed to any other telephone 
switchboard operator /'switjboid 
.Dpareita/ noun a person who works a cen- 
tral telephone switchboard, by connecting in- 
coming and outgoing calls to various lines 
Switching /'switjirj/ noun a constant up- 
date of connections between changing sinks 
and sources in a network 



Symbol /'simbal/ noun a sign or picture 
which represents something O This language 
uses the symbol ? to represent the print com- 
mand. 

Symbolic /sim'bDhk/ adjective which acts 
as a symbol or which uses a symbol name or 
label 

Sync /sirjk/ noun 1. two events or timing 
signals which happen at the same time 2. the 
exact aligning of the sound and picture com- 
ponents of a film so that they coincide 
synchronisation /, smkranai 'zeij"(a)n/ 
noun the action of synchronising two or more 
devices 

Synchronise /'sirjkra^aiz/ verb to make 
sure that two or more devices or processes 
are coordinated in time or action 
synchroniser /'sirjkranaiza/ noun 1. a 
device that will perform a function when it 
receives a signal from another device 2. a ma- 
chine used to edit the sound track and the film 
at the same time 

synchronous /'smkranas/ adjective 
which runs in sync with something else (such 
as a main clock) 

synchronous data link control 
/,sirjkranas 'deita lirjkkan^raol/ noun full 
form of SDLC 

Synonym /'sinanim/ noun a word which 
means the same thing as another word 
synonymous /si 'mommas/ adjective 
meaning the same O The words 'error' and 
'mistake ' are synonymous. 
syntactic error /sm,taektik 'era/ noun a 
programming error in which the program 
statement does not follow the syntax of the 
language 

Syntax /'smtaeks/ noun grammatical rules 
which apply to a programming language 
Synthesis /'smOasis/ noun the process of 
producing something artificially from a 
number of smaller elements 
synthesise /'smOasaiz/ verb to produce 
something artificially from a number of 
smaller elements 
'...despite the fact that speech can now be syn- 
thesized with very acceptable quality, all it con- 
veys is linguistic information' [Personal Compu- 
ter World] 

synthesiser /'smOasaiza/ noun a device 
which generates signals, sound or speech 
SyQuest /'saikwest/ a manufacturer of 
storage devices, including a range of remov- 
able hard disk drives and backup units. f> Zip 
disk 

system /'sistam/ noun any group of hard- 
ware or software or peripherals, etc., which 
work together 

System 7™ /,sistam 'sev(a)n/ a version 
of the operating system for the Apple Macin- 



235 



system tray 



tosh personal computer that introduces mul- 
titasking, virtual memory and peer-to-peer 
file sharing 

system administrator /.sistam ad 
'mmistreita/ noun » network administra- 
tor 

system backup /.sistsm'baekAp/ noun a 
copy of all the data stored on a computer, 
server or network 

system colours /.sistam 'kAtaz/ plural 
noun same as default palette 
system crash /'sistam kraeJV noun a sit- 
uation where the operating system stops 
working and has to be restarted 
system design /,sistam di'zam/ noun 
the process of identifying and investigating 
possible solutions to a problem, and deciding 
upon the most appropriate system to solve 
the problem 

Systeme Electronique Couleur 
Avec Memo ire noun full form of SECAM 
system life cycle /.sistam 'laif 
,saik(3)l/ noun the time when a system ex- 
ists, between its initial design and its becom- 
ing out of date 

system manager /, sistam 'maemd33/ 
noun a person responsible for the computers 
or network in a company 
System Monitor /'sist am .mtmits/ noun 
a Windows utility that allows a user to view 
how the resources on their PC are performing 
and, if they have shared the device, who else 
on the network is using the resources 
system operator /.sistam 'Dpareita/ 
noun a person who manages an online bulle- 
tin board or maintains a computer network 



system palette /.sistam 'paebt/ noun the 
range of colours that are available on a partic- 
ular operating system and can be shared by 
all applications 

systems analysis /'sistamz a.nasbsis/ 
noun 1 . the process of analysing a process or 
system to see if it could be more efficiently 
carried out by a computer 2. the process of 
examining an existing system with the aim of 
improving or replacing it 
Systems Application Architecture 
/,sist3mz ,aephkeij(3)n 'aikitektja/ noun 
full form of SAA 

system security /,sistam si'kjoanti/ 
noun measures, such as password, priority 
protection, authorisation codes, designed to 
stop browsers and hackers 
Systems Network Architecture 
/,sist3mz 'netw3ik .aikttektjb/ noun full 
form of SNA 

system software /.sistam 'sDftwea/ 
noun programs which direct the basic func- 
tions, input-output control, etc., of a compu- 
ter 

system specifications /.sistam 
,spesifi'keij(3)nz/ plural noun details of 
hardware and software required to perform 
certain tasks 

system support /.sistam sa'pait/ noun 
a group of people who maintain and operate 
a system 

system tray /'sistam trei/ noun (in Win- 
dows) an area of the taskbar normally in the 
bottom right-hand corner next to the clock. 
The system tray displays tiny icons that show 
which system software programs were run 
automatically when Windows started and are 
now running in the background. 



T abbrtea- 

T1 committee /,ti: 'waii ka.miti/ noun 
an ANSI committee which sets digital com- 
munications standards for the US, particular- 
ly ISDN services 

T1 link /,ti: 'waii ,lirjk/ noun (in the US) a 
high speed, long distance data transmission 
link not related to the Tl committee, that can 
carry data at 1.544Mbits per second 
tab /taeb/ verb 1. to tabulate or to arrange 
text in columns with the cursor automatically 
running from one column to the next in key- 
boarding O The list was neatly lined up by 
tabbing to column 10 at the start of each new 
line. 2. in a GUI, method of moving from one 
button or field to another without using the 
mouse, but by pressing the tab key to move 
the focus 

tabbing /'tiEbirj/ noun the movement of the 
cursor in a word-processing program from 
one tab stop to the next O Tabbing can be 
done from inside the program. 
table /'teib(3)l/ noun a list of data in col- 
umns and rows on a printed page or on the 
screen 

table of contents /,teib(a)l av 
'ktmtents/ noun 1. a list of the contents of a 
book, usually printed at the beginning 2. data 
at the start of a disc that describes how many 
tracks are on the CD, their position and 
length 3. a page with a list of the headings of 
all the other main pages in the title and links 
so that a user can move to them 
tablet /'taebtat/ noun a graphics pad or flat 
device which allows a user to input graphical 
information into a computer by drawing on 
its surface 

tab settings /'taeb ,setirjz/, tab stops 
/'taeb stops/ plural noun preset points along 
a line, where the printing head or cursor will 
stop for each tabulation command 
tabulate /'taebjo,leit/ verb to arrange text 
in columns, with the cursor moving to each 
new column automatically as the text is key- 
boarded 

tabulating /'taebjoleitirj/ noun the action 
of processing punched cards, such as a sort- 
ing operation 

tabulation /,taebju'leij(3)n/ noun 1. ar- 
rangement of a table of figures 2. the process 



of moving a printing head or cursor a preset 
distance along a line 

tabulator /'taebjoleita/ noun part of a 
word-processor which automatically sets 
words or figures into columns 
TACS noun a UK standard for cellular radio 
systems. Full form total access communi- 
cation system 

tactile /'taektail/ adjective using the sense 
of touch 

tag /taeg/ noun 1 . one section of a computer 
instruction 2. a set of identifying characters 
attached to a file or item (of data) O Each file 
has a three letter tag for rapid identification. 

tag image file format /,taeg ,imid3 'fail 
.foimaet/ noun full form of TIFF 
tail /teil/ noun 1 . data recognised as the end 
of a list of data 2. a control code used to sig- 
nal the end of a message 
take /teik/ noun a camera shot of an indi- 
vidual piece of action 

take-up /'teik Ap/ noun a device such as a 
reel on which film or tape is wound from a 
projector, camera gate or editing machine 
take-up reel /'teik Ap ,riil/ noun a reel 
onto which magnetic tape is collected 
talk /toik/ verb to speak or to communicate 
'...a variety of technologies exist which allow 
computers to talk to one another' [Which PC?] 

talkback /'taikbaek/ noun speech commu- 
nications between a control room and a stu- 
dio 

'...a variety of technologies exist which allow 
computers to talk to one another' [Which PC?] 

tape /teip/ noun a long thin flat piece of ma- 
terial 
comment: Cassettes or reels of tape are 
easy to use and cheaper than disks, the 
cassette casing usually conforming to a 
standard size. They are less adaptable and 
only provide sequential access, usually be- 
ing used for master copies or making back- 
ups. 
tape backup /'teip ,baekAp/ noun the 
process of using (usually magnetic) tape as a 
medium for storing back-ups from faster 
main or secondary storage, such as RAM or 
hard disk 

tape drive /'teip draiv/ noun a mecha- 
nism which controls magnetic tape move- 
ment over the tape heads O Our new product 
has a 96MB streaming tape drive. 



237 



technical support 



tape format /'teip ,f oimaet/ noun a way in 
which blocks of data, control codes and loca- 
tion data is stored on tape 
tape Streamer /'teip .striims/ noun a de- 
vice containing a continuous loop of tape, 
used as backing storage. Also called stringy 
floppy 

Targa /'taiga/ noun a graphics file format 
which uses the .TGA extension on a PC, de- 
veloped by Truevision to store raster graphic 
images in 16-, 24- and 32-bit colour. 
target /'taigit/ noun a goal which you aim 
to achieve 

targetcast/'taigitkaist/uefibto broadcast 
a website only to a group of people who are 
known to be potentially interested in it, and 
not to everyone on the Internet 
target computer /,ta:git kampjuita/ 
noun a computer on which software is to be 
run 

target disk /'taigit disk/ noun a disk onto 
which a file is to be copied 
target language /'taigit ,laengwid3/ 
noun a language into which a language will 
be translated from its source language O The 
target language for this PASCAL program is 
machine code. Opposite source language 
target program /.taigit 'prsugraem/ 
noun an object program or computer pro- 
gram in object code form, produced by a 
compiler 

target window /'taigit ,wmdao/ noun a 
window in which text or graphics will be dis- 
played 

tariff /'taerif/ noun a charge incurred by a 
user of a communications or computer sys- 
tem O There is a set tariff for logging on, then 
a rate for every minute of computer time 
used. 

TASI noun a method of using a voice chan- 
nel for other signals during the gaps and 
pauses in a normal conversation. Full form 
time assigned speech interpolation 
task /taisk/ noun a job which is to carried 
out by a computer 

taskbar /'taiskbai/ noun a bar that nor- 
mally runs along the bottom of the screen in 
Windows and displays the Start button and a 
list of other programs or windows that are 
currently active 

task management /'taisk 

,maenid3ni9nt/ noun system software which 
controls the use and allocation of resources to 
programs 

task swapping /'taisk .swDpirj/ noun the 
process of exchanging one program in mem- 
ory for another which is temporarily stored 
on disk. Task switching is not the same as 
multitasking which can execute several pro- 
grams at once. 



task switching /'taisk .switjirj/ noun 
same as task swapping 
TAT abbr turnaround time 
TBC abbr time-base corrector 
T carrier /'til .kaeris/ noun a US standard 
for digital data transmission lines, such as 
Tl, TIC, and corresponding signal standards 
DS1.DS1C 

TCIP noun discernable time-code numerals 
in video-tape editing. Full form time code in 
picture 

TCM abbr thermal control module 
T-COmmerce /,tii 'kt)m3is/ noun a busi- 
ness conducted by means of interactive tele- 
vision 

T connector /'til k3,nekta/ noun a coaxi- 
al connector, shaped like the letter 'T\ which 
connects two thin coaxial cables using BNC 
plugs and provides a third connection for an- 
other cable or network interface card 
TCP /,tii sii 'pii/ noun standard data trans- 
mission protocol that provides full duplex 
transmission, bundles data into packets and 
checks for errors. Full form transmission 
control protocol 

TCP/IP /,tii sii pii ai 'pi:/ noun a data 
transfer protocol used in networks and com- 
munications systems, often used in Unix- 
based networks. This protocol is used for all 
communications over the internet. Full form 
transmission control protocol/interface 
program 

TDM /,ti: dii 'em/ noun a method of com- 
bining several signals into one high-speed 
transmission carrier, each input signal being 
sampled in turn and the result transmitted to 
a the receiver which re-constructs the signals. 
Full form time division multiplexing 
TDR /,ti: dii 'a:/ noun a test that identifies 
where cable faults lie by sending a signal 
down the cable and measuring how long it 
takes for the reflection to come back. Full 
form time domain reflectometry 
TDS /, til dii 'es/ noun a computer system 
that will normally run batch processing tasks 
until interrupted by a new transaction, at 
which point it allocates resources to the new 
transaction. Full form transaction-driven 
system 

technical /'teknik(3)L/ adjective referring 
to a particular machine or process O The doc- 
ument gives all the technical details on the 
new computer. 

technically /'teknikli/ adverb in a techni- 
cal way O Their system is technically far 
more advanced than ours. 

technical support /,teknik(3)l sa'poit/ 
noun a person who provides such advice 



technician 



238 



technician /tek'nij(3)n/ noun a person 
who is specialised in industrial work 
technique /tek'niik/ noun a skilled way of 
doing a job O The company has developed a 
new technique for processing customers' 
disks. 

technological /,tekn3'lt>d3ik(3)l/ adjec- 
tive referring to technology 
technology /tek'nDbd3i/ noun the proc- 
ess of applying scientific knowledge to in- 
dustrial processes 
tel abbr telephone 
tele- /teli/ prefix long distance 
teleban king /'teli.baerjkirj/ noun a system 
by which an account holder can carry out 
transactions with his bank via a terminal and 
communications network 
telecommunications /,telik3,mjuini 
'keij(a)nz/ noun the technology of passing 
and receiving messages over a distance, as in 
radio, telephone, telegram, satellite broad- 
cast, etc. 

telecommuting /'telikamjuitirj/ noun 
the practice of working on a computer in one 
place (normally from home) that is linked by 
modem to the company's central office al- 
lowing messages and data to be transferred 
teleconference /'teli,kDnf(3)rens/ noun 
a meeting held among people in different lo- 
cations by means of telecommunications 
equipment 

teleconferencing /'teli,kDnf(3)rensrr)/ 
noun 1 . the process of linking video, audio 
and computer signals from different loca- 
tions so that distant people can talk and see 
each other, as if in a conference room 2. part 
of video-conferencing where the image is re- 
newed only at intervals in order to decrease 
the transmission bandwidth required 
telecontrol /'telikar^traol/ noun the con- 
trol of a remote device by a telecommunica- 
tions link 

telegram /'teligraem/ noun a message sent 
to another country by telegraph O to send an 
international telegram 
telegraph /'tehgraif/ noun a message 
transmitted using a telegraphy system ■ verb 
to send a telegram to another person; to send 
printed or written or drawn material by long- 
distance telegraphy O They telegraphed their 
agreement. O The photographs were tele- 
graphed to New York. 

telegraphic /,teli'gr3efik/ adjective refer- 
ring to a telegraph system 
telegraphic address /,teli,graefik s 
'dres/ noun a short address to which a tele- 
gram is sent 

telegraph office /'tehgraif ,ofis/ noun 
an office from which telegrams can be sent 



telegraphy /ta'legrafi/ noun a system of 
sending messages along wires using direct 
current pulses 

teleinformatic services /telim 
,fo:ni3tik 'S3ivisiz/ plural noun any of var- 
ious data only services, such as telex, facsim- 
ile, which use telecommunications 
telematics ^teh'maetiks/ noun the inter- 
action of all data processing and communica- 
tions devices 

telemessage /'telimesid3/ noun a mes- 
sage sent by telephone, and delivered as a 
card 

telemetry /ta'lemitri/ noun data from re- 
mote measuring devices transmitted over a 
telecommunications link 
teleordering /'teli.oidarirj/ noun a book 
ordering system, in which the bookseller's 
orders are entered into a computer which 
then puts the order through to the distributor 
at the end of the day 

telephone /'telifaon/ noun a machine 
used for speaking to someone or communi- 
cating with another computer (using mo- 
dems) over a long distance 
telephone line /'tehf aon lam/ noun a ca- 
ble used to connect a telephone handset with 
a central exchange 

telephonist /ta'lefamst/ noun a person 
who works a telephone switchboard 
telephony /ta'lefani/ noun a series of 
standards that define the way in which com- 
puters can work with a telephone system to 
provide voice-mail, telephone answering, 
and fax services 

telephony application programming 
interface /ta.lefani ,aeplikeij(3)n 
'praugraemirj .mtafeis/ noun a system de- 
veloped by Microsoft and Intel that allows a 
PC to control a single telephone. Abbr TAPI 
telephony services application pro- 
gramming interface /ta.lefani ,s3ivisiz 
,aeplikeij(3)n 'preograemirj .mtafeis/ 
noun a system developed by Novell and 
AT&T that allows a PC to control a PBX tel- 
ephone exchange. Abbr TSAPI 
telephoto distortion /.tehfsotao dis 
'to:J(3)n/ noun the compression result 
which occurs in shots filmed with a telephoto 
lens; objects far away from the camera seem 
to be closer, and a performer's movement to- 
wards or away from the camera seems to be 
slower 

telephoto lens /.telifaotao 'lenz/ noun a 
camera objective lens with long focal length 
and short back focus. This type of lens gives 
the impression that an object is closer than it 
really .is. 

teleprinter /'tel^prmta/ noun a device 
that is capable of sending and receiving data 



239 



10Base2 



from a distant point by means of a telegraphic 
circuit, and printing out the message on a 
printer O You can drive a teleprinter from this 
modified serial port. 

teleprinter interface /'teliprmta 
,mt3feis/ noun a terminal interface or hard- 
ware and software combination required to 
control the functions of a terminal 
teleprinter roll /'teliprmta .raul/ noun a 
roll of paper onto which messages are printed 
teleprocessing /'teli.prausesirj/ noun 
the processing of data at a distance (as on a 
central computer from outside terminals). 
Abbr TP 

telerecording /,telin'ko:dirj/ noun the 
transferral of a television or video pro- 
gramme to motion picture film 
telesales /'teli,seilz/ noun sales made by 
telephone 

teles hopping /'telijDpirj/ noun the use 
of a telephone-based data service such as 
viewdata to order products from a shop 
telesoftware /'teli.sDftwea/ noun soft- 
ware which is received from a viewdata or 
teletext service. Abbr TSW 
teletext /'teli.tekst/ noun a method of 
transmitting text and information with a nor- 
mal television signal, usually as a serial bit 
stream which can be displayed using a spe- 
cial decoder 

teletype /'telitaip/ noun a term used for 
teleprinter equipment. Abbr TTY 
teletypesetting /,teli'tarpsetirj/ noun a 
typesetter operated from a punched paper 
tape 

teletypewriter /.teh'taipraits/ noun a 
keyboard and printer attached to a computer 
system which can input data either direct or 
by making punched paper tape 
television /,teh'vi3(3)n/ noun 1. a device 
which can receive (modulated) video signals 
from a computer or broadcast signals with an 
aerial and display images on a CRT screen 
with sound 2. a system for broadcasting pic- 
tures and sound using high-frequency radio 
waves, captured by a receiver and shown on a 
screen 3. the actual broadcasts themselves, or 
the set on which they are seen ► abbr TV 
television monitor /,teh'vi3(s)n 
.mDnita/ noun a device able to display sig- 
nals from a computer without sound, but is 
not able to broadcast signals, usually because 
there is no demodulator 
television receiver/monitor 

/,telivi3(3)n ri.siiva 'mrmita/ noun a de- 
vice able to act as a TV receiver or monitor 
television scan /'teh,vi3(3)n skaen/ 
noun a horizontal movement of the picture 



beam over the screen, producing one line of 
an image 

television tube /'teli,vi3(3)n tjuib/ 
noun a CRT with electronic devices which 
provide the line by line horizontal and verti- 
cal scanning movement of the picture beam 
telex /'teleks/ noun a system for sending 
messages using telephone lines, which are 
printed out at the receiving end on a special 
printer O to send information by telex O The 
order came by telex. ■ verb to send a mes- 
sage using a teleprinter O Can you telex the 
Canadian office before they open? O He tel- 
exed the details of the contract to New York. 
O a telex 1 . a machine for sending and re- 
ceiving telex messages O he sent a telex to his 
head office 2. a message sent by telex O we 
received his telex this morning 
telnet /'telnet/ noun a TCP/IP protocol that 
allows a user to connect to and control via the 
Internet a remote computer as if they were 
there and type in commands as if they were 
sitting in front of the computer 
template /'tem,pleit/ noun 1. a plastic or 
metal sheet with cut-out symbols to help in 
the drawing of flowcharts and circuit dia- 
grams 2. (in text processing) standard text, 
such as a standard letter or invoice, into 
which specific details can be added O a tem- 
plate paragraph command enables the user 
to specify the number of spaces each para- 
graph should be indented 3. an opaque sheet 
which is placed in a spotlight and which has 
been cut into a certain shape in order to pro- 
duce a patterned shadow 
template command /templeit ka 
,ma:nd/ noun a command which allows 
functions or other commands to be easily set 
O A template paragraph command enables 
the user to specify the number of spaces each 
paragraph should be indented. 
tempo /'tempso/ noun 1. (in MIDI or mu- 
sic) the speed at which the notes are played, 
measured in beats per minute O A typical 
MIDI tempo is 120 beats per minute. 2. (in a 
multimedia title) the speed at which frames 
are displayed 

temporary /'tempered/ adjective not 
permanent 

temporary storage /,temp(3)r3ri 
'sto:rid3/ noun storage which is not perma- 
nent 

temporary swap file /.tempered 
'swDp ,fail/ noun a file on a hard disk which 
is used by software to store data temporarily 
or for software that implements virtual mem- 
ory, such as Microsoft's Windows 
1 0Base2 /,ten beis 'tu:/ noun IEEE stand- 
ard specification for running Ethernet over 
thin coaxial cable 



10Base5 



240 



10Base5 /,ten beis 'faiv/ IEEE standard 
specification for running Ethernet over thick 
coaxial cable 

1 0Base-FX noun IEEE standard specifica- 
tion for running Ethernet over optical fibre at 
speeds up to 1 0Mbps 

1 0BaseT /.ten beis 'til/ noun IEEE stand- 
ard specification for running Ethernet over 
unshielded twisted pair cable 
tera- /tera/ prefix 10 12 ; one million million. 
AbbrT 

terabyte /'terabait/ noun one thousand gi- 
gabytes or one million megabytes of data 
terahertz /'terari3:ts/ noun a frequency of 
one million million hertz 
terminal /'t3:mm(a)l/ noun 1. a device 
usually made up of a display unit and a key- 
board which allows entry and display of in- 
formation when on-line to a central computer 
system O The new intelligent terminal has a 
built-in text editor. 2. an electrical connection 
point 3. a point in a network where a message 
can be transmitted or received. (> source, 
sink 

terminal character set /,t3:mm(a)l 
'kaenkta ,set/ noun the range of characters 
available for a particular type of terminal, 
which might include graphics or customised 
characters 

terminate /'t3imi,neit/ verb to end 
terminate and stay resident pro- 
gram /,t3:mmeit an stei 'rezid(a)nt 
.praugraem/ noun a program which loads it- 
self into main memory and carries out a func- 
tion when activated O When you hit Ctrl-F5, 
you will activate the TSR program and it will 
display your day's diary. Also called TSR 
program 

termination /,t3:mi'nei.r(a)n/ noun the 
process of ending or stopping 
terminator /'t3:mmeita/ noun 1. (in a 
LAN) a resistor that fits onto each end of a co- 
axial cable in a bus network to create an elec- 
trical circuit 2. (in an SCSI installation) a re- 
sistor that fits onto the last SCSI device in the 
daisy-chain, creating an electrical circuit 3. 
same as rogue value 

ternary /'t3:nari/ adjective referring to a 
number system with three possible states 
test /test/ verb to carry out an examination 
of a device or program to see if it is working 
correctly 

test data /'test ,deita/ noun data with 
known results prepared to allow a new pro- 
gram to be tested 

test equipment /'test i.kwipmant/ noun 
special equipment which tests hardware or 
software 



text /tekst/ noun a set of alphanumeric 
characters that convey information 
text-editing facilities /'tekst .editirj fa 
.silitiz/ plural noun a word-processing sys- 
tem which allows the user to add, delete, 
move, insert and correct sections of text 
text editor /'tekst ,edita/ noun same as 
screen editor 

text file /'tekst fail/ noun a file that con- 
tains text rather than digits or data 
text message /'tekst ,mesid3/ noun a 
message sent in the form of text, especially 
one that appears on the viewing screen of a 
mobile phone or pager 
text processing /'tekst .prausesirj/ 
noun the use of a computer to create, store, 
edit and print or display text 
text retrieval /'tekst n,tri:v(a)l/ noun an 
information retrieval system that allows the 
user to examine complete documents rather 
than just a reference to a document 
textual /'tekst Jual/ adjective referring to 
text O The editors made several textual 
changes before the proofs were sent back for 
correction. 

texture mapping /'tekstja .maepirj/ 
noun 1. a special computer graphics effect 
using algorithms to produce an image that 
looks like the surface of something such as 
marble, brick, stone or water 2. the process of 
covering one image with another to give the 
first a texture 

text window /'tekst ,wmdao/ noun a 
window in a graphics system, where the text 
is held in a small space on the screen before 
being allocated to a final area 
TFT adjective a technology used in high-res- 
olution LCD flat-panel screens, in which 
each pixel is controlled by one or more tran- 
sistors. Full form thin film transistor 
TFT display noun a computer display that 
uses TFT technology. Also called active ma- 
trix display 

TFTP /,tii ef ti: 'pi:/ noun a simple form of 
the standard FTP (file transfer protocol) sys- 
tem, commonly used to load the operating 
system software onto a diskless workstation 
from a server when the workstation boots up 
when it is switched on. Full form trivial file 
transfer protocol. i> FTP 
TFT screen /,ti: ef 'ti: ,skri:n/ noun same 
as TFT display 

thaw /6a:/ nouna special effect in which ac- 
tion starts again after a freeze frame effect, 
especially in a videowall presentation (film) 
thermal /'93:m(a)l/ adjective referring to 
heat 

thermal printing /,93:m(a)l 'prmtiry 
noun 1 . a printing system which has a print 



241 



tilde 



head with a number of quick-heating ele- 
ments which work with heat-sensitive paper, 
or with ordinary paper when using a special 
ribbon 2. an imaging system which uses en- 
closed bubbles in an emulsion 
thermal transfer /,03:m(a)l traens'f3:/, 
thermal wax /'93im(a)l waeks/, thermal 
wax transfer printer /,93:m(a)l waeks 
,traensf3i 'prints/ noun a method of print- 
ing where the colours are produced by melt- 
ing coloured wax onto the paper O Thermal 
wax transfer technology still provides the 
best colour representation on paper for PC 
output. 

thermistor /93i'mista/ noun an electronic 
device whose resistance changes with tem- 
perature 

thermo-sensitive /,93:mau 'sensrtrv/ 
adjective which is sensitive to heat 
thesaurus /9i'sa:ras/ noun a file which 
contains synonyms that are displayed as al- 
ternatives to a misspelt word during a spell- 
check 

thick-Ethernet /,9ik 'ii9anet/ noun a net- 
work implemented using thick coaxial cable 
and transceivers to connect branch cables. i> 
Ethernet, thin-Ethernet 
thimble printer /'9imb(a)l .prints/ noun 
a computer printer using a printing head sim- 
ilar to a daisy wheel but shaped like a thimble 
thin /0m/ adjective with only a small dis- 
tance between two surfaces 
thin-Ethernet /,9m 'ii9anet/ noun the 
most popular type of Ethernet network im- 
plemented using thin coaxial cable and BNC 
connectors. (> Ethernet, thick-Ethernet 
(note: It is limited to distances of around 
1000 m) 

thin-film transistor /,9m film traen 
'zista/ noun full form of TFT 
32-bit /'93itii tui ,bit/ data that is trans- 
ferred thirty-two bits at a time along thirty- 
two parallel conductors; in a processor this 
refers to its ability to manipulate numbers 
that are thirty -two bits long 
thirty-two bit system /,93iti tui ,bit 
'sistam/, 32-bit system noun a microcom- 
puter system or CPU that handles data in 32 
bit words 

thrashing /'9raeJ"m/ noun 1 . excessive disk 
activity 2. a configuration or program fault in 
a virtual memory system that results in a 
CPU wasting time moving pages of data be- 
tween main memory and disk or backing 
store 

thread /9red/ noun 1. a program which 
consists of many independent smaller sec- 
tions or beads 2. the accurate positioning of 
film or tape in the path of a projector, or an- 
other film mechanism for take-up (note: 



'thread up' also used in the context of defi- 
nition (ii)) 
'WigWam makes it easier for a user to follow a 
thread in a bulletin-board conference topic by or- 
dering responses using a hierarchical indent sim- 
ilar to that found in outline processor.' [Comput- 
ing] 

threaded file /,9redid 'fail/ noun a file in 
which an entry contains data and an address 
to the next entry that contains the same data, 
allowing rapid retrieval of all identical entries 
threaded language /,9redid 

'laerjgwid3/ noun a programming language 
which allows many small sections of code to 
be written then used by a main program 
threaded tree /,9redid 'trii/ noun a struc- 
ture in which each node contains a pointer to 
other nodes 

three-colour process /,9rii ,kAla 
'prauses/ noun a process used to convert a 
colour image into three separate colours (red, 
blue and yellow) 

3D /,9rii 'dii/ adjective referring to an image 
which has three dimensions (width, breadth 
and depth), and therefore gives the impres- 
sion of being solid. Full form three-dimen- 
sional 

three-dimensional /,9ri: dai 

'menr(a)nal/ adjective full form of 3D 
three input adder /,9rii , input 'aeda/ 
noun » full adder 

threshold /'9reJ"hauld/ noun a preset level 
which causes an action if a signal exceeds or 
drops below it 

threshold howl /'9rerhauld haul/ noun 
acoustic feedback which is created by sound 
from the loudspeakers re-entering the micro- 
phone 

throughput /'9rui,put/ noun the rate of 
production by a machine or system, meas- 
ured as total useful information processed in 
a set period of time O For this machine 
throughput is 1.3 inches per second scanning 
speed. 

through-the-lens focus /,9rui da ,lenz 

'faukas/ noun a camera viewfinder which 

can focus through the camera lens without 

parallax 

thumbnail /'9Am,neil/ noun a miniature 

graphical representation of an image, used as 

a quick and convenient method of viewing 

the contents of graphics or DTP files before 

they are retrieved 

TIFF /tif/ noun standard file format used to 

store graphic images. Full form tag image 

file format 

tilde /'tilda/ noun a printed accent ( ~ ), 

commonly used over the letter 'n' in Spanish, 

vowels in Portuguese, etc. 



tile 



242 



tile /tail/ verb (in a GUI) to arrange a group 
of windows so that they are displayed side by 
side without overlapping (note: tiles -tiling 
-tiled) 

tilt /tilt/ verb 1 . to sweep a video camera up 
and down. Compare pan 2. to alter the slope 
of the frequency response in a sound repro- 
ducer 

tilt and swivel /,tilt an 'swiv(a)l/ adjec- 
tive referring to a monitor which is mounted 
on a pivot so that it can be moved to point in 
the most convenient direction for the opera- 
tor 

time /taim/ noun a period expressed in 
hours, minutes, seconds and related units ■ 
verb to measure the time taken by an opera- 
tion O If you do not answer this question 
within one minute, the program times out and 
moves onto the next question, (note: times — 
timing - timed) □ to time out (of an event 
or option) to become no longer valid after a 
period of time O If you do not answer this 
question within one minute, the program 
times out and moves onto the next question. 
time bomb /'taim bDm/ noun a computer 
virus that is designed to take effect on a par- 
ticular date or when a computer application is 
used for a particular length of time 
time COde /'taim kaod/ noun a sequence 
of timing information recorded on an audio 
track in a videotape 

time division multiplexing /,taim di 
,vi3(a)n 'mAltipleksirj/ noun full form of 
TDM 

time domain reflectometry /,taim dau 
,mem .niflek'tDmatri/ noun full form of 
TDR 

time of peak demand /,taim av ,pi:k di 
'ma:nd/ noun the time when something is 
being used most 

time out /,taim 'aut/ verb (of an event or 
option) to become no longer valid after a pe- 
riod of time O If you do not answer this ques- 
tion within one minute, the program times out 
and moves onto the next question. 
timeout /'taimaut/ noun 1 . a logoff proce- 
dure carried out if no data is entered on an on- 
line terminal 2. a period of time reserved for 
an operation 

timer /'taima/ noun a device which records 
the time taken for an operation to be complet- 
ed 

time-Sharing /'taim , rearirj/ noun an ar- 
rangement which allows several independent 
users to use a computer system or be online 
at the same time 
comment: In time-sharing, each user ap- 
pears to be using the computer all the time, 
when in fact each is using the CPU for a 
short time slice only. The CPU processes 



one user for a short time then moves on to 
the next. 

time slice /'taim slais/ noun the amount 
of time allowed for a single task in a time- 
sharing system or in multiprogramming 
tiny model /,tami 'mDd(a)l/ noun a mem- 
ory model of the Intel 80x86 processor fami- 
ly that allows a combined total of 64 Kb for 
data and code 

title /'tait(a)l/ noun an identification name 
given to a file or program or disk 
title bar /'tait(a)l bai/ noun a horizontal 
bar at the top of a window which displays the 
title of the window or application 
T junction /,ti: 'd3Arjkr(a)n/ noun a con- 
nection at right angles to a cable carrying the 
main signal or power 
TK a£>£>r telecine 

TMP noun the high-speed duplication of a 
videotape from a master tape. Full form ther- 
mal magnetic duplication 
TMSF time format /,ti: em es ef 'taim 
,fDima3t/ noun a time format used mainly by 
audio CD devices to measure time in frames 
and tracks. Full form tracks, minutes, sec- 
onds, frames time format 
T network /'ti: ,netw3ik/ noun a simple 
circuit network with three electronic compo- 
nents connected in the shape of a letter T 
T-number /'ti: .nAinba/ noun » T-stop 
toggle /'tDg(a)l/ verb to switch something 
between two states (note: toggles - tog- 
gling-toggled) 

token /'taokan/ noun 1. an internal code 
which replaces a reserved word or program 
statement in a high-level language 2. (in a lo- 
cal area network) a control packet which is 
passed between workstations to control ac- 
cess to the network 

token bus network /,taokan bAs 
,netw3ik/ noun an IEEE 802.4 standard for 
a local area network formed with a bus-topol- 
ogy cable, in which workstations transfer 
data by passing a token 
token-passing /'taokan ,pa:sin/ noun a 
method of controlling access to a local area 
network by using a token (note: A worksta- 
tion cannot transmit data until it receives the 
token.) 

Token Ring network /'taokan nn 
,netw3ik/ noun an IEEE 802.5 standard that 
uses a token passed from one workstation to 
the next in a ring network O Token Ring net- 
works are very democratic and retain per- 
formance against increasing load. (NOTE: A 
workstation can only transmit data if it cap- 
tures the token. Token Ring networks, al- 
though logically rings, are often physically 
wired in a star topology.) 



tone /taon/ noun 1 . sound at one single fre- 
quency 2. a shade of a colour O The graphics 
package can give several tones of blue. 
tone dialling /'taun .daialirj/ noun a 
method of dialling a telephone number using 
sounds to represent the digits of the number 
(note: This method of dialling is the current 
standard method of dialling numbers and 
has generally replaced the older pulse dial- 
ling system. A Hayes-compatible modem 
can dial the number '1 23' using tone dialling 
with the AT command 'ATDT123' or using 
pulse dialling with the AT command 
'ATDP123') 

toner /'taona/ noun a finely powdered ink, 
usually black, that is used in laser printers O 
If you get toner on your hands, you can only 
wash it off with cold water, (note: The toner 
is transferred onto the paper by electrical 
charge, then fixed permanently to the paper 
by heating.) 

tone signalling /'taun ,sign(a)lirj/ noun 
tones used in a telephone network to convey 
control or address signals 
tool /tuil/ noun (in a graphical front end) a 
function accessed from an icon in a toolbar, 
e.g. a circle-draw option 
toolbar /'tudbai/ noun a window that con- 
tains a range of icons that access tools 
ToolbOOk /'tuilbuk/ noun a multimedia 
authoring tool developed by Asymetrix 
which uses the OpenScript script language to 
control objects and actions 
toolbox /'tuilbDks/ noun a set of prede- 
fined routines or functions that are used when 
writing a program 

Toolbox /'tuilbDks/ noun (in an Apple 
Mac) a set of utility programs stored in ROM 
to provide graphic functions 
toolkit /'tuilkit/ noun a series of functions 
which help a programmer to write or debug 
programs 

tools /tuilz/ noun a set of utility programs 
such as backup and format in a computer sys- 
tem 

top /tDp/ noun a part which is the highest 
point of something 

top-level domain /,tDp ,lev(a)l dau 
'mem/ noun the part of an Internet address 
that identifies an Internet domain, e.g. a two- 
letter country code or a three-letter code such 
as .edu for education or .com for commercial 
when used without a country code. 
topology /tD'pDlad3i/ noun a way in 
which the various elements in a network are 
interconnected (note: The plural is topolo- 
gies.) 

total access communication sys- 
tem /,taut(a)l .aekses ka l mjuim l keij(a)n 
'sistam/ noun full form of TACS 



243 tracing 

touch /tAtJV verb to make contact with 
something with the fingers 
touch pad /'tAtJ paed/ noun a flat device 
which can sense where on its surface and 
when it is touched, used to control a cursor 
position or switch a device on or off 
touch screen /'tAtJ skriin/ noun a com- 
puter display which has a grid of infrared 
transmitters and receivers, positioned on ei- 
ther side of the screen used to control a cursor 
position (note: When a user wants to make 
a selection or move the cursor, he or she 
points to the screen, breaking two of the 
beams, which gives the position of the 
pointing finger.) 

touch up /,tAtJ 'Ap/ verb to remove 
scratches or other marks from a photograph 
or image 

TP abbr 1. teleprocessing 2. transaction 
processing 

TPI abbr tracks per inch 
trace /treis/ noun 1 . a method of verifying 
that a program is functioning correctly, in 
which the current status and contents of the 
registers and variables used are displayed af- 
ter each instruction step 2. a cathode ray tube 
image which is produced by a flowing elec- 
tronic stream 3. a function that can take a bit- 
map image and process it to find the edges of 
the shapes and so convert these into a vector 
line image 

trace program /'treis .praugraem/ noun 
a diagnostic program which executes a pro- 
gram that is being debugged, one instruction 
at a time, displaying the states and registers 
traceroute /'treisruit/ noun a software 
utility that finds and displays the route taken 
for data travelling between a computer and a 
distant server on the Internet 
comment: The display shows the different 
servers that the data travels through, to- 
gether with the time taken to travel be- 
tween each server (called a hop). Tracer- 
oute works by sending out a time-to-live 
(TTL) query data packet to the distant serv- 
er. It starts by sending out packets with a 
very low time-to-live, then gradually in- 
creases the length of time that the packet 
can survive until one is returned by trie host 
- this then provides the shortest time it will 
take to reach the host. If you are trying to 
view a website you can use traceroute to 
check which section of the link to the web- 
site's server is the slowest. Windows in- 
cludes a traceroute utility 'tracert'. Click the 
Start button and select the Run option then 
type in 'tracert' followed by the domain 
name of the distant web server, e.g. tracert 
'www.bloomsbury.com" 

tracing /'treisirj/ noun a function of a 
graphics program that takes a bitmap image 
and processes it to find the edges of the 



tracing function 



244 



shapes and so convert these into a vector line 
image that can be more easily manipulated 
tracing function /,treisrrj 'fArjkfarV 
noun the function of a graphics program that 
takes a bitmap image and processes it to find 
the edges of the shapes and so convert these 
into a vector line image that can be more eas- 
ily manipulated 

track /traek/ noun 1 . any one of a series of 
thin concentric rings on a magnetic disk 
which the read/write head accesses and along 
which the data is stored in separate sectors 2. 
a song 3. a method of separating the notes 
within a tune either by channel or by part or 
instrument 4. a series of instructions that de- 
fine how an object moves with time ■ verb 1 . 
to follow a path or track correctly O The read 
head is not tracking the recorded track cor- 
rectly. 2. to move a camera and its mount to- 
wards or away from the action, or to follow a 
moving subject 
comment: The first track on a tape is along 
the edge and the tape may have up to nine 
different tracks on it, while a disk has many 
concentric tracks around the central hub. 
The track and sector addresses are set up 
during formatting. 

trackball /'trakboil/ noun a device used to 
move a cursor on-screen which is controlled 
by turning a ball contained in a case 
tracking /'trakirj/ noun 1. the correct 
alignment of a read head and the tape in a 
tape player 2. degradation of a video clip be- 
cause the action moves too fast to be accu- 
rately captured by the camera 
tracks per inch /,traeks p3:r 'mtJV noun 
a measure of the number of concentric data 
tracks on a disk surface per inch. Abbr TPI 
tractor feed /'trakta fiid/ noun a method 
of feeding paper into a printer, in which 
sprocket wheels on the printer connect with 
the sprocket holes on either edge of the paper 
to pull the paper through 
traffic /'trafik/ noun the totality of mes- 
sages and other signals processed by a sys- 
tem or carried by a communications link O 
Our Ethernet network begins to slow down if 
the traffic reaches 60 per cent of the band- 
width. 

trail /treil/ noun a line or route followed by 
something 

trailer /'treib/ noun 1. the final byte of a 
file containing control or file characteristics 
2. a brief film which advertises a motion pic- 
ture that is about to be released 3. a leader or 
piece of non magnetic tape to the start of a 
reel of magnetic tape to make loading easier 
transaction /tran'zaekfan/ noun a single 
action which affects a database, e.g. a sale, a 
change of address or a new customer 



transaction processing /tran'zaekfan 
.praosestrj/ noun interactive processing in 
which a user enters commands and data on a 
terminal which is linked to a central compu- 
ter, with results being displayed on-screen. 
AbbrTP 
'At present, users implementing client-server 
strategies are focusing on decision support sys- 
tems before implementing online transaction 
processing and other mission-critical applica- 
tions.' {Computing] 

transborder data flow /.tranzboida 
'deits ,flau/ noun the passing of data from 
one country to another using communica- 
tions links such as satellites or land lines 
transceiver /tran'siiva/ noun a transmit- 
ter and receiver, or a device which can both 
transmit and receive signals, e.g. a terminal 
or modem 

transcoder /trans'kaoda/ noun an elec- 
tronic device used to convert television signal 
standards O Use the transcoder to convert 
PAL to SECAM. 

transcribe /tran'skraib/ verb to copy 
data from one backing storage unit or medi- 
um to another (note: transcribes - tran- 
scribing -transcribed) 
transcription /tran'sknpjan/ noun the 
action of transcribing data 
transducer /tranz'djuisa/ noun an elec- 
tronic device which converts signals in one 
form into signals in another O the pressure 
transducer converts physical pressure sig- 
nals into electrical signals 
transfer /'tr<Ensf3i/ verb 1 . to change com- 
mand or control of something O All process- 
ing activities have been transferred to the 
mainframe. 2. to copy a section of memory to 
another location (note: transferring - 
transferred) ■ noun the process of chang- 
ing command or control 
transfer rate /'transf3: reit/ noun the 
speed at which data is transferred from back- 
ing store to main memory or from one device 
to another O With a good telephone line, this 
pair of modems can achieve a transfer rate of 
14.4Kbps. 

transform /trans 'fo:m/ verb to change 
something from one state to another 
transformation /.transfa'meiJXsjn/ 
noun the action of changing, or changing 
something, from one state to another 
transformational rules /tranzfa 
'meij(3)n(3)l ruilz/ noun a set of rules ap- 
plied to data which is to be transformed into 
coded form 

transformer /trans 'forma/ noun a device 
which changes the voltage or current ampli- 
tude of an AC signal 



245 



trapezoidal distortion 



transient /'tranziant/ adjective referring 
to a state or signal which is present for a short 
period of time 

transistor /tran'zista/ noun an electronic 
semiconductor device which can control the 
current flow in a circuit (note: There are two 
main types of transistor, bipolar and unipo- 
lar.) 

transition /tran'zi.T(a)n/ noun 1. a short 
period of time between two events 2. the pe- 
riod between two frames in a slide show or 
animation. The user can normally define how 
one frame changes to the next. 
translate /trans'leit/ verb 1. to convert 
data from one form into another (note: 
translates - translating - translated) 2. to 
move an image on screen without rotating it 
{graphics) 

translation tables /trans 'leir(a)n 
,teib(a)lz/ plural noun same as conversion 
tables 

translator /traens'leita/, translator pro- 
gram /trans'leit a .praogram/ noun a pro- 
gram which translates a high level language 
program into another language, usually ma- 
chine code. t> interpreter, compiler 
translucent /trans'luis(a)nt/ adjective 
material which allows light to pass through 
transmission /tranz'mi.r(a)n/ noun the 
process of sending signals from one device to 
another 

transmission channel /tranz'mir(a)n 
,tjaen(3)l/ noun a physical connection be- 
tween two points which allows data to be 
transmitted, e.g. a link between a CPU and a 
peripheral 

transmission control protocol /tranz 
,mij(3)n kan'traol ,praotakt>l/ noun full 
form of TCP 

transmission control protocol/inter- 
face program /tranz, mi J"(a)n kan'traol 
.praotaokDl 'mtafeis ,praogram/ noun 
full form of TCP/IP 

transmissive disk /tranz'misiv disk/ 
noun an optical data storage disk in which 
the reading laser beam shines through the 
disk to a detector below 
transmit /tranz'mit/ verb to send infor- 
mation from one device to another, using any 
medium such as radio, cable or wire link 
(note: transmitting - transmitted) 
transmittance /tranz'mitans/ noun the 
amount of light transmitted through a materi- 
al in ratio to the total light incident on the sur- 
face of the material 

transmitter /tranz'mita/ noun a device 
which will take an input signal, process it, 
e.g. to modulate or convert it to sound, then 



transmit it by a medium such as radio or light. 
Abbr TX 

transparency /trans 'paeransi/ noun 1. 
transparent positive film, which can be pro- 
jected onto a screen or to make film for print- 
ing 2. the amount one image shows of anoth- 
er image beneath it 

transparent /trans 'paerant/ adjective 1. 
referring to an image that shows another im- 
age beneath it 2. referring to a computer pro- 
gram which is not obvious to the user or 
which cannot be seen by the user when it is 
running ■ noun a device or network that al- 
lows signals to pass through it without being 
altered in any way 

transparent GIF /trans, paerant ,d3ii ai 
'ef/ noun a graphic image stored in the GIF 
file format with one colour from the palette 
assigned as a transparent colour (note: 
When the image is displayed, any part of 
the image in this colour will be transparent 
to allow any image beneath to show 
through. This feature is used a lot in web- 
pages to place images on a patterned back- 
ground.) 

transphasor /tranz'feiza/ noun an opti- 
cal transistor constructed from a crystal 
which is able to switch a main beam of light 
according to a smaller input signal 
comment: This is used in the latest re- 
search for an optical computer that could 
run at the speed of light. 
transponder /tran'spDnda/ noun a com- 
munications device that receives and retrans- 
mits signals 

transport /trans'poit/ verb to carry some- 
thing from one place to another, often in a ve- 
hicle 

transportable /traens'po:t3b(a)I/ adjec- 
tive which can be carried, though perhaps re- 
quiring a vehicle O A transportable computer 
is not as small as a portable or a laptop. 
transposition /,transpa'zir(a)n/ noun 
the process of changing the order of a series 
of characters (as 'comupter' for 'computer' 
or '1898' for '1988') O A series of transposi- 
tion errors caused faulty results. 

transverse mode noise /,tranz'v3:s 
maud noiz/ noun interference which is ap- 
parent between power supply lines 
trap /trap/ noun a device or piece of soft- 
ware or hardware that will catch something 
such as a variable, fault or value 
trapezium distortion /tra,piiziam di 
'sto:J(a)n/ noun in a visual or video system, 
image distortion which produces a rectangu- 
lar shape 

trapezoidal distortion /,trapizaidal 
dis'ta:J"(a)n/ noun same as keystone dis- 
tortion 



trash can 



246 



trashcan /'traejkaen/ noun {in a GUI) an 
icon which looks like a dustbin that deletes 
any file that is dragged onto it 
tree of folders /,tri: sv 'fauldaz/ noun a 
view of all the folders stored on a disk ar- 
ranged to show folders and subfolders 
tremendously high frequency /tn 
.mendasli hai 'friikwansi/ noun the radio 
frequency between 300GHz and 3000GHz. 
Abbr THF 

triad /'traiaed/ noun a triangular shaped 
grouping of the red, green and blue colour 
phosphor spots at each pixel location on the 
screen of a colour RGB monitor 
trial /'traisl/ noun a test for new equipment 
to see if it works 

trials engineer /'traialz ,end3ini3/ noun 
a person who designs, runs and analyses tri- 
als of new equipment 

triangle /'traiaerjgal/ noun a spreader with 
three sides for tripod legs (film) 
triax /'traiaeks/ noun a coaxial cable with 
an additional screen which conveys power 
and coded commands to a television camera, 
and also receives the video signal from the 
camera (film) O Triax is used when the cam- 
era is far away from the control unit. 

tributary station /,tnbjut(a)ri 

'steij(a)n/ noun any station on a multilink 
network other than the main control station 
tri m /trim/ verb to cut off the edge of some- 
thing O The printed pages are trimmed to 198 
x 129mm. O You will need to trim the top part 
of the photograph to make it fit. 
triniscope /'trmiskaup/ noun a colour 
video display system which uses three differ- 
ent cathode ray tubes to produce the red, 
green and blue images 
Trinitron™ /'trinitrDn/ noun a colour tel- 
evision cathode ray tube which uses striped 
phosphors and aperture grille 
triple standard /,tnp(a)l 'staendad/ noun 
a video tape recorder, television monitor or 
other apparatus which can receive NTSC, 
PAL or SECAM standard video signals 
trivial file transfer protocol /.trivial 
'fail ,tra?nsf3: .praotakDl/ noun full form 
ofTFTP 

TRL abbr transistor-resistor logic 
Trojan Horse /'tr3od3(s)n hois/ noun a 
program inserted into a system by a hacker 
that will perform a harmless function while 
copying information held in a classified file 
into a file with a low priority, which the hack- 
er can then access without the authorised us- 
er's knowledge 

troposphere /'tropasfia/ noun a region of 
space extending up to six miles above the 



earth's surface, causing radio wave scatter. f> 
ionosphere 

troubleshoot /'trAb(a)l|u:t/ verb 1. to 
debug computer software 2. to locate and re- 
pair faults in hardware 
troubleshooter /'trAb(3)lfu:t3/ noun a 
person who troubleshoots hardware or soft- 
ware (note: troubleshot) 
trough /trail noun the lowest point in a 
waveform. Compare peak 
true /trui/ adjective referring to a logical 
condition representing a non-zero value 
TrueType /'truitaip/ a trade name for an 
outline font technology introduced by Apple 
and Microsoft as a means of printing exactly 
what is displayed on screen 
truncate /trArj'keit/ verb 1. to cut some- 
thing short 2. to give an approximate value to 
a number by reducing it to a certain number 
of digits O 3.5678 truncated to 3.56 (note: 
truncates - truncating - truncated) 
truncation /trArj'keir(3)n/ noun removal 
of digits from a number so that it is a partic- 
ular length 

trunk /trArjk/ noun a bus or communication 
link consisting of wires or leads which con- 
nect different parts of a hardware system 
trunk call /'trArjk kail/ noun a long-dis- 
tance telephone call 

trunk exchange /'trArjk iks,tjemd3/ 
noun a telephone exchange that only handles 
trunk calls 

truth table /'truiB ,teib(a)17 noun a meth- 
od of defining a logic function as the output 
state for all possible inputs 
Tseng Labs /'serj laebz/ a manufacturer of 
chipsets used in graphics adapters 
TSR abbr terminate and stay resident 
T-Stop /'til stDp/ noun a lens setting which 
shows the actual light transmission through 
the lens after being absorbed and reflected 
(film) 

TSW abbrtelesoftware 
TTL /,tii til 'el/ noun the most common 
family of logic gates and high-speed transis- 
tor circuit designs in which the bipolar tran- 
sistors are directly connected, usually collec- 
tor to base. Full form transistor-transistor 
logic 

tune/tjuin/ verb A. to seta system at its op- 
timum point by careful adjustment (note: 
tunes -tuning -tuned) 2. to adjust a trans- 
mitter to the correct frequency 3. to adjust a 
radio receiver's frequency until the required 
station is received clearly 
tuner /'tjuma/ noun an electronic circuit 
that detects a transmitted television carrier 
signal at a particular frequency and removes 



247 



twisted-pair cable 



the audio or video information to display on 
a CRT 

tunnelling /'tAn(a)lirj/ noun a method of 
enclosing a packet of data from one type of 
network within another packet so that it can 
be sent over a different, incompatible net- 
work 

Turing machine /'tjonrj ma, Jim/ noun a 
mathematical model of a device which could 
read and write data to a controllable tape stor- 
age while altering its internal states 
Turing test /'tjunrj test/ noun a test to de- 
cide if a computer is 'intelligent' 
turn /t3in/ verb O Turn off the power before 
unplugging the monitor. □ turn off to switch 
off or disconnect the power supply to a ma- 
chine O Turn off the power before unplug- 
ging the monitor, a turn on to switch on or 
connect the power supply to a machine O 
Turn on the computer and get to work. 

turnaround document /'t3in3,raund 
.dtskjumant/ noun a document which is 
printed out from a computer, sent to a user 
and returned by the user with new notes or in- 
formation written on it, which can be read by 
a document reader 

turnaround time /'tsmaraond ,taim/ 
noun 1 . the length of time it takes to switch 
data flow direction in a half duplex system 2. 
the time taken to activate a program and pro- 
duce the result which the user has asked for 
► abbr TAT 

turnkey system /'t3:nki: .sistam/ noun 
a complete system which is designed to a 
customer's needs and is ready to use (note: 
To operate it, the user only has to switch it 
on or turn a key.) 

turn off /,t3in 'nil verb to switch off or to 
disconnect the power supply to a machine O 
Turn off the power before unplugging the 
monitor. 

turn on /,t3in 'Dn/ verb to switch on or to 
connect the power supply to a machine 
turtle /'t3it(3)l/ noun a device whose move- 
ments and position are controllable, used to 
draw graphics with instructions in the com- 
puter language LOGO (note: It is either a 
device which works on a flat surface (floor 
turtle) or one which draws on a VDU screen 
(screen turtle), and is often used as a teach- 
ing aid.) 

turtle graphics /'t3:t(a)l ,graefiks/p/ura/ 
noun graphic images created using a turtle 
and a series of commands O The charts were 
prepared using turtle graphics. 
TV /,tii 'vii/ abbr television 
TV-OUt /,tii ' vi: aut/ noun a connector on a 
computer or graphics adapter that provides a 
modulated signal that can be displayed on a 



standard television or recorded on a video re- 
corder 

TVRO noun equipment for reception and 
display without transmission. Full form tele- 
vision receive only 

TWAIN /twem/ noun an application pro- 
gramming interface standard developed by 
Hewlett-Packard, Logitech, Eastman Kodak, 
Aldus, and Caere that allows software to con- 
trol image hardware 

tweak /twiik/ verb to make small adjust- 
ments to a program or hardware to improve 
performance 

tweening /'twimirj/ noun (in computer 
graphics) the process of calculating the inter- 
mediate images that lead from a starting im- 
age to a different finished image O Using 
tweening, we can show how a frog turns into 
a princess in five steps. 
tweeter /'twhts/ noun a small loudspeaker 
used for high frequency sounds only 
(informal) Compare woofer 
24/96 /,twenti fo: ,namti 'siks/ a popular 
standard for high-performance digital audio 
equipment that provides 24-bit samples and a 
sample rate of 96KHz 

24-bit sample /,twenti fo: bit 
'sa:mp(3)l/ noun a single sample of an ana- 
logue signal which is stored as three bytes (a 
24-bit digital number), meaning that there are 
16,777,216 possible levels. i> 8-bit sample, 
16-bit sample 

twisted-pair cable /,twtstid pea 
'keib(a)l/ noun a cable which consists of two 
insulated copper wires twisted around each 
other, to reduce induction and so interference 
comment: The EIA specifies five levels of 
cable for different purposes. The Category 
1 standard defines an older-style unshield- 
ed twisted-pair cable that is formed by 
loosely twisting two insulated wires togeth- 
er to reduce noise and interference; this 
type of cable is not suitable for data trans- 
mission. The Category 2 (part of the 
EIA/TIA 568 specification) standard de- 
fines a type of unshielded twisted-pair ca- 
ble that can be used to transmit data at 
rates up to 4MHz. The Category 3 (part of 
the EIA/TIA 568 specification) standard de- 
fines a type of unshielded twisted-pair ca- 
ble that can be used to transmit data at 
rates up to 10MHz; this type of cable is the 
minimum standard of cable required for a 
10BaseT network. The standard suggests 
that the cable should have three twists per 
foot of cable. The Category 4 (part of the 
EIA/TIA 568 specification) standard de- 
fines a type of unshielded twisted-pair ca- 
ble that is the minimum standard of cable 
required for data transmission rates up to 
16Mbs on a Token Ring network. The Cat- 
egory 5 (part of the EIA/TIA 568 specifica- 
tion) standard defines a type of cable that 



twisted-pair Ethernet 



248 



can carry data transmitted at up to 1 00MHz 
and is suitable for FDDI over copper wire, 
100BaseT or other high-speed networks. 

twisted-pair Ethernet /,twistid pea 
'iiOanet/ noun a star-topology network that 
uses twisted-pair cable and transmits data at 
10 Mbps;. Also called "lOBaseT 
twitter /'twita/ noun video picture distor- 
tion which produces a flicker at the horizon- 
tal edges of objects 

2D /,tu: 'dii/ an object in a graphic image 
that has only the appearance of width and 
height, not depth, so does not look like a solid 
object 

two-dimensional /,tu: dai'men[3n(3)l/ 
adjective which has two dimensions, i.e. flat, 
with no depth 

two-part /,tu:'pait/ adjective referring to 
paper with a top sheet for the original and a 
second sheet for a copy O two-part invoices 
two-way cable /,tui wei 'keib(a)l/ noun 
US a system of cable TV, where the viewer 
can take which programmes he wants by se- 
lecting them or where the viewer can respond 
to broadcast questions by sending his re- 
sponse down the cable 
two-way radio /,tui wei 'reidiau/ noun a 
radio transmitted and receiver in a single 
housing, allowing duplex communication 
with another user 

two-wire circuit /,tu: ,wai3's3:kit/noun 
two insulated wires used to carry transmitted 
and received messages independently 
TX abbr transmitter 

type /taip/ noun 1. a sort or category of 
something 2. printed characters on a page O 
they switched to italic type for the heading 3. 
the definition of the processes or sorts of data 
which a variable in a computer can contain 4. 
same as font 5. a metal bars with a raised 
character used for printing ■ verb to enter in- 
formation via a keyboard O / typed in the 
command again, but it still didn't work. 
(note: types - typing - typed) 
typeface /'taipfeis/ noun a set of charac- 
ters in a particular design and particular 
weight O Most of this book is set in the Times 
typeface. 



typescript /'taipskript/ noun a copy of a 
text written by an author on a typewriter 
typeset /'taipset/ verb to set text in type 
for printing O In desktop publishing, the fin- 
ished work should look almost as if it had 
been typeset. 

typesetter /'taipset a/ noun 1. a machine 
which produces very high-quality text output 
using a laser to create an image on photosen- 
sitive paper, usually at a resolution of 1275 or 
2450 dpi 2. a person who typesets O the text 
is ready to be sent to the typesetter 
typesetting /'taipsetirj/ noun the action 
of setting text in type O Typesetting costs can 
be reduced by supplying the typesetter with 
prekeyed disks. t> phototypesetting 
type Size /'taip saiz/ noun the size of a 
font, measured in points 
type Style /'taip stail/ noun the weight 
and angle of a font, e.g. bold or italic 
typewriter /'taipraits/ noun a machine 
which prints letters or figures on a piece of 
paper when a key is pressed by striking an 
inked ribbon onto the paper with a character 
type 

typewriter faces /'tarpraita ,feisiz/ plu- 
ral noun the spacing, size and font of charac- 
ters available on a typewriter 
typewritten /'taipnt(3)n/ adjective writ- 
ten on a typewriter O He sent in a typewritten 
job application. 

typing /'taipirj/ nounthe process of writing 
letters with a typewriter (note: no plural) 
typing error /'taipirj ,ere/ noun a mistake 
made when using a typewriter 
typo /'taipau/ noun a typographical error 
which is made while typesetting (informal) 
typographer /tai'prjgrafa/ noun a person 
who designs a section of art or text to be 
printed 

typographic /.tarpa'graefik/, typo- 
graphical /,taip3'graefik(3)l/ adjective re- 
ferring to typography or to typesetting O No 
typographical skills are required for this job. 
O A typographical error made while typeset- 
ting is called a 'typo '. 

typography /tai'pDgrafi/ noun the art and 
methods used in working with type 



u 



UART /'juiait/ noun a chip which converts 
asynchronous serial bit streams to a parallel 
form or parallel data to a serial bit stream. 
Full form universal asynchronous receiv- 
er/transmitter 

U-format cassette /ju: ,fo:maet ka'set/ 
noun a standard size videocassette which 
uses a three-quarter inch tape for use with the 
U-Matic system 

UHF/Ju: eitj 'ef/ noun a range of frequen- 
cies normally used to transmit television sig- 
nals. Full form ultra high frequency 
ULA /Ju: el 'ei/ noun a chip containing a 
number of unconnected logic circuits and 
gates which can then be connected by a cus- 
tomer to provide a required function. Full 
form uncommitted logic array 
Ultimedia /,Alti'midi3/ a trade name for a 
multimedia concept developed by IBM that 
combines sound, video, images and text, and 
defines the hardware required to run it 
ultra- /Altra/ prefix 1 . very large 2. further 
than 

Ultra ATA /,Altra ei ti: 'ei/ noun a version 
of the AT Attachment hard disk drive inter- 
face standard that can support a data transfer 
rate of up to 33 MBps (note: To manage this 
high-speed data transfer from the hard disk 
interface to the rest of your PC, it needs to 
have a high-speed version of DMA) 
ultra high frequency /.Altra hat 
'friikwansi/ noun full form of UHF 
ultrasonic /.Altra'sDnik/ adjective (sound 
pressure waves) at a frequency above the au- 
dio band (above 20kHz) 
U-Matic /ju: 'maetik/ noun a video tape 
format, 3/4-inch wide, used for professional 
video recording 

U-Matic SP noun an enhanced format of 
the U-Matic tape standard that offers better 
quality 

UMTS/,ju: em ti: 'es/ noun a third genera- 
tion mobile communication system that sup- 
ports voice data, and video signals to the 
handset. Full form universal mobile tele- 
communications system 
un- /An/ prefix meaning not O the use of a 
password is to prevent unauthorised access 
to the data 

unallowable digit /Ati3,lauab(a)l 

'did3it/ noun an illegal combination of bits 
in a word, according to predefined rules 



unary operation /Juinari ,Dp3'reiJ(3)n/ 
noun a computing operation on only one op- 
erand, e.g. the logical NOT operation 
unattended operation /.Anatendid 
,Dp3'reiJ(3)n/ noun an operation that can 
proceed without the need for a person to su- 
pervise 

unauthorised /An'o:93raizd/, unauthor- 
ized adjective which has not been authorised 
O The use of a password is to prevent unau- 
thorised access to the data. 

unbundled software /An,bAnd(a)ld 
'sDt'twea/ noun software which is not in- 
cluded in the price of the equipment 
unclocked /An'klDkd/ adjective referring 
to an electronic circuit or flip-flop which 
changes state as soon as an input changes, not 
with a clock signal 

uncommitted logic array /.Anksmitid 
'k>d3ik 3,rei/ noun full form of ULA 
unconditional /,Ank3n'dir(3)n3l/ adjec- 
tive which does not depend on any condition 
being met 

undelete /' Andnht/ verb to restore deleted 
information or a deleted file O Don 't worry, 
this function will undelete your cuts to the let- 
ter, (note: undeletes - undeleting - unde- 
leted) 

underflow /' Andaf bo/ noun the result of a 
numerical operation that is too small to be 
represented with the given accuracy of a 
computer 

underline /'Andalam/ noun a line drawn 
or printed under a piece of text. Also called 
underscore ■ verb to print or write a line 
under a piece of text (note: underlines - 
underlining - underlined) 
underscore /'Andasko:/ verb same as un- 
derline (note: underscores - underscor- 
ing - underscored) 

undertake /, Anda'teik/ verb to agree to do 
something O He has undertaken to repro- 
gram the whole system, (note: undertakes 
- undertaking - undertook - undertak- 
en) 

undetected /,Andi'tektid/ adjective 
which has not been detected O The program- 
ming error remained undetected for some 
time. 

undetected error /,Anditektid 'era/ 
noun an error which is not detected by a cod- 
ing system 



undo 



250 



undo /An'dui/ verb to reverse the previous 
action, normally an editing command O 
You 've just deleted the paragraph, but you 
can undo it from the option in the Edit menu. 
(note: undoes - undoing - undid) 
unedited /An'editid/ adjective which has 
not been edited 

unformatted /An'foimaetid/ adjective 1. 
referring to a text file which contains no for- 
matting commands, margins or typographi- 
cal commands O It is impossible to copy to 
an unformatted disk. 2. referring to a disk 
which has not been formatted O The car- 
tridge drive provides 12. 7Mbyte of unformat- 
ted storage. 

ungroup /An'gruip/ verb to convert a sin- 
gle complex object back into a series of sep- 
arate objects 

uni- /juini/ prefix one or single 
unidirectional microphone 

/Juinidairekj3n(3)l 'maikrefaon/ noun a 
microphone that is most sensitive in one di- 
rection only. Compare omnidirectional 
uniform resource locator /,ju:nifo:m 
n'zois bu.keita/ noun full form of URL 
uninstall /.Anin'staiV verb to remove a 
piece of software from a computer 
uninterruptible power supply 
/,Anint3rAptib(3)l 'paua S3,plai/ noun full 
form of UPS 

unipolar /juini'paob/ adjective 1. (refer- 
ring to a transistor) which can act as a varia- 
ble current flow control (note: An external 
signal varies the resistance of the device.) 
2. referring to a transmission system in which 
a positive voltage pulse and zero volts repre- 
sents the binary bits 1 and 
unique /jui'niik/ adjective which is differ- 
ent from everything else O Each separate 
memory byte has its own unique address. 

unique identifier /ju:,ni:k ai'dentifaia/ 
noun a set of characters used to distinguish 
between different resources in a multimedia 
book 

unit /'juinit/ noun 1. the smallest element 
2. a single machine, possibly with many dif- 
ferent parts 

universal /,ju:ni'v3is(3)l/ adjective which 
applies everywhere or which can be used 
everywhere or used for a number of tasks 
universal asynchronous receiv- 
er/transmitter /,jUiniV3IS3l 
.eisirjkrenas ri,siiv3 traenz'mita/ noun 
full form of UART 

universal mobile telecommunica- 
tions system /,juiniv3:s(3)l .maobail 
,telik3mjuini'keij(3)nz .sistam/ noun full 
form of UMTS 



universal product code/,juiniv3is(3)l 
'prodAkt ,kaod/ noun a standard printed bar 
coding system used to identify products in a 
shop using a bar code reader or at a EPOS. 
Abbr UPC 

universal resource locator 
/Juiniv3is(3)l n'zois lau.keita/ noun full 
form of URL 

universal serial bus /,ju:nrv3:s(a)l 
'siarial ,bAs/ noun full form of USB 
universal synchronous asynchro- 
nous receiver/transmitter 
/Juiniv3is3l .sirjkranas .eisirjkranas ri 
,si:vs traenz'mita/ noun full form of US- 
ART 

UNIX /'jumiks/ noun a popular multiuser, 
multitasking operating system developed by 
AT&T Bell Laboratories to run on almost any 
computer, from PCs to minicomputers and 
large mainframes 
'Hampshire fire brigade is investing £2 million in 
a command and control system based on the new 
SeriesFT fault-tolerant Unix machine from Mo- 
torola.' [Computing] 

unjustified /An'd3AStifaid/ adjective re- 
ferring to text which has not been justified 
unlock /An'lDk/ verb to make it possible for 
other users to write to a file or access a sys- 
tem 

unmoderated list /An.mDdareitid 'list/ 
noun a mailing list that sends any material 
submitted to the listserv on to all the sub- 
scribers without a person reading or checking 
the content 

unmodulated /An'rriDdjuleitid/ adjec- 
tive referring to a signal which has not been 
modulated 

unmount /An'maunt/ verb 1. to remove a 
disk from a disk drive 2. to inform the oper- 
ating system that a disk drive is no longer in 
active use 

unpack /An'paek/ verb to remove packed 
data from storage and expand it to its former 
state O This routine unpacks the archived file. 
unplug /An'pUg/ verb to take a plug out of 
a socket O Do not move the system without 
unplugging it. (note: unplugging - un- 
plugged) 

unpopulated /An'pDpjuleitid/ adjective 
referring to a printed circuit board which 
does not yet contain any components or 
whose sockets are empty 
unprotected /.Anpre'tektid/ adjective re- 
ferring to data which can be modified and is 
not protected by a security measure 
unrecoverable error /Ann,kAV3rab(a)l 
'era/ noun a computer hardware or software 
error which causes a program to crash 



251 



URL 



unshielded twisted-pair cable 

/,An[iildid ^wistid 'pea ,keib(3)l/ noun 
full form of UTP cable 
unsigned /An'samd/ adjective referring to 
a number system which does not represent 
negative numbers 

unsolicited mail /.Anss'hsitid meil/ 
noun an advertising email message that has 
not been requested. (> spam (note: Do not 
send out unsolicited mail to unknown email 
addresses unless you want to annoy the re- 
cipients and damage your company's repu- 
tation) 

unsorted /An'sDitid/ adjective referring to 
data which has not been sorted O It took four 
times as long to search the unsorted file. 
unsqueezed Avn'swiizd/ adjective (film 
print) where the compressed picture of an an- 
amorphic negative has been altered for nor- 
mal projection 

unsubscribe /.Ansab'skraib/verdto can- 
cel a subscription to or registration with 
something, especially an email mailing list 
(note: unsubscribes - unsubscribing - 
unsubscribed) 
'All commercial messages will have to include 
full details of the sender's name and physical ad- 
dress, as well as an unsubscribe option allowing 
recipients to stop any further messages.' 
[The Guardian] 

unsupported /,Ans3'poitid/ adjective 
having no technical support system 
unwanted /An'wDntid/ adjective which is 
not needed O Use the global delete command 
to remove large areas of unwanted text. 
unzip /An'zip/ verb to restore a compressed 
computer file to its original size (note: un- 
zipping - unzipped) 

up /Ap/ adverb referring to a computer or 
program that is working or running O They 
must have found the fault - the computer is fi- 
nally up and running. 

up and down propagation time /,ap 
an daun ,prDp3'geiJ(3)n ,taim/ noun the 
total length of time that a transmission takes 
to travel from earth to a satellite and back to 
an earth station 

UPC abbr universal product code 
update /'Apdett/ noun 1. a master file 
which has been made up -to date by adding 
new material 2. a piece of printed informa- 
tion which is an up-to-date revision of earlier 
information 3. a new version of a system 
which is sent to users of the existing system 
■ verb /Ap'deit/ to change or add to specific 
data in a master file so as to make the infor- 
mation up -to date O He has the original and 
updated documents on disks, (note: up- 
dates - updating - updated) 



up/down counter /,Ap 'daun .kaonta/ 
noun an electronic counter which can incre- 
ment or decrement a counter with each input 
pulse 

upgrade /Ap'gretd/ verb to make a system 
more powerful or more up -to date by adding 
new equipment or facilities O They can up- 
grade the printer, (note: upgrades - up- 
grading - upgraded) 
upkeep /'Apkiip/ noun 1. the process of 
keeping data up-to-date O The upkeep of the 
fdes means reviewing them every six months. 
2. the process of keeping devices in working 
order 

uplink /'Aplirjk/ noun a transmission link 
from an earth station to a satellite 
upload /'Ap,bod/ verb to transfer data files 
or programs from a small computer to a main 
CPU O The user can upload PC data to up- 
date mainframe applications. Opposite 
download 

uploading /'Apbodin/ noun the action of 
transferring files to a main CPU 
uppercase /,Ap3'keis/ noun the style of 
capital letters and other symbols on a key- 
board which are accessed by pressing the 
shift key 

upper memory /,Apa 'mem(3)ri/ noun 
(in an IBM PC) 384 Kb of memory located 
between the 640 Kb and 1 Mb limits, after the 
640 Kb conventional memory but before the 
high memory areas above the 1 Mb range 
UPS /ju: pii 'es/ noun a power supply 
which can continue to provide a regulated 
supply to equipment even after a mains pow- 
er failure, using a battery. Full form uninter- 
ruptible power supply 
'Magnum Power Systems has launched a new 
UPS for PCs. The BI-UPS prevents loss of data 
due to power dips or 'brown-outs' - voltage 
drops because of circuit overload.' [Computing] 

uptime, up time noun the time during 
which a device is operational and error-free. 
Opposite downtime 
upward compatible /,Apwad kam 

'paetib(a)l/, upwards compatible 

/,Apwadz k3m'paetib(3)l/ adjective refer- 
ring to hardware or software designed to be 
compatible either with earlier models or with 
future models which have not yet been devel- 
oped 

URL /Ju: a: 'el/ noun an Internet system 

used to standardise the way in which World 

Wide Web addresses are written. Full form 

uniform resource locator 

comment: It is made up of three parts: the 

first is the protocol, e.g. HTTP or FTP, then 

the domain name of the service and finally 

the directory or file name - 'ht- 

tp://www.bloomsbury.com/index.html' 



usability 



252 



usability /Juiza'bihti/ noun the ease with 
which hardware or software can be used O 
We have studied usability tests and found that 
a GUI is easier for new users than a com- 
mand line. 

usable /'juiz3b(3)l/ adjective which can be 
used or which is available for use O The PC 
has 512K of usable memory. 
USART /'j uizait/ noun a chip which can be 
instructed by a CPU to communicate with 
asynchronous or synchronous bit streams or 
parallel data lines. Full form universal syn- 
chronous asynchronous receiver/trans- 
mitter 

USASCII /,jui es 'asskii/ abbr USA stand- 
ard code for information interchange. i> AS- 
CII 

USB /,ju: es 'bii/ noun a standard defining 
a high-speed serial interface that transfers 
data at up to 12Mbps and allows up to 127 
compatible peripherals to be connected to a 
computer. Full form universal serial bus. i> 
Firewire 

use noun 1 . the state or fact of being em- 
ployed for a particular purpose O Sorry, the 
printer is already in use □ in use already in 
operation O Sorry, the printer is already in 
use 2. the purpose, value or usefulness of 
something O What use is an extra disk drive? 
O It's no use, I cannot find the error. ■ verb 
1 . to operate something or employ something 
for a particular purpose O If you use the com- 
puter for processing the labels, it will be 
much quicker. 2. to consume a resource such 
as heat or light O It's using too much electric- 
ity. 

used /ju:zd/ adjective which is not new O 
special offer on used terminals 
Usenet /'j u:z,net/ noun a section of the In- 
ternet that provides forums, called news- 
groups, in which any user can add a message 
or comment on any other message 
user /'jutza/ noun 1. a person who uses a 
computer, machine or software 2. a keyboard 
operator 
'.. .the user' s guides are designed for people who 
have never seen a computer, but some sections 
have been spoiled by careless checking' 
[PC User] 

user-definable /'juizs di,fam3b(3)l/ ad- 
jective referring to a feature or section of a 
program that a user can customise as required 
O The style sheet contains 125 user-definable 
symbols. 

user documentation /Juizs 

,dDkjumen'teiJ(3)n/ noun documentation 
provided with a program which helps the 
user run it O Using the package was easy 
with the excellent user documentation. 



user-friendly /juiza 'frendli/ adjective 
referring to a language, system or program 
which is easy to use and interact with 
'ModelMaker saves researchers a great deal of 
time and effort, and provides a highly user- 
friendly environment using menus and 'buttons', 
instant output, and instant access to a wide varie- 
ty of mathematical techniques built into the sys- 
tem.' [Computing] 

user-friendly software /Juiza ,frendli 
'sDftwea/ noun a program which is easy for 
a nonexpert to use and interact with 
user group /'juiza gru:p/ noun an associ- 
ation or club of users of a particular system or 
computer O I found how to solve the problem 
by asking people at the user group meeting. 
user guide /'juiza gaid/ noun a manual 
describing how to use a software package or 
system 

user ID /Jutza at 'di:/ noun a unique iden- 
tification code which allows a computer to 
recognise a user O If you forget your user ID, 
you will not be able to log on. 

user interface /'juiza .mtafeis/ noun 
hardware or software designed to make it 
easier for a user to communicate with a ma- 
chine 

user level /'juizs ,lev(a)l/ noun (in au- 
thoring software) one of two modes that al- 
lows a user to run and interact with a multi- 
media application but not to modify it in any 
way 

user name /'juiza neim/ noun (in a net- 
work or multi-user system) a name by which 
a user is known to the system and which 
opens the correct user account 
user-selectable /juiza st'lekt3b(3)l/ 
adjective which can be chosen or selected by 
the user 

user's manual /'juizaz ,maenjo3l/ noun 
a booklet showing how a device or system 
should be used 

utility program /jut'tiliti .praugraem/ 
noun a program which is concerned with 
such routine activities as file searching, cop- 
ying files, file directories, sorting and debug- 
ging and various mathematical functions 
UTP cable /,ju: tii "pi: ,keib(3)l/ noun a 
cable consisting of two insulated copper 
wires twisted around each other, to reduce in- 
duction and so interference. Full form un- 
shielded twisted-pair cable 
comment: UTP is normally used for tele- 
phone cabling, but is also the cabling used 
in the IEEE 802.3 (10BaseT) standard that 
defines Ethernet running over UTP at rates 
of up to 10 Mbits per second. Unlike STP 
cable, the pair of wires are not wrapped in 
any other layer. 



253 Uuencoding 

Uuencoding /,ju: jui m'kaudirj/ noun a comment: This gets around the Internet's 

method of converting documents and files to inability to transfer messages that are not 

a pseudo-text format that allows them to be text. It has now been largely replaced by 

_ ■„ j -i MIME, 

transmitted as an email message 



V 



V/vii/ abbr voltage 

V20 noun a range of processor chips made 
by NEC, which are compatible with the Intel 
8088 and 8086. Also called V30 
V30 noun » V20 

V.34 noun an outdated full-duplex modem 
communication standard that can transfer 
data at up to 28,800 bps. Like V.32, the V.34 
standard allows the modem to automatically 
adjust its speed based on the quality of the 
telephone line to avoid errors. 
vaccine /'vasksim/ noun a software utility 
used to check a system to see if any viruses 
are present, and remove any that are found 
vacuum /'vaskjuam/ noun a state with no 
air 

vacuum tube /'vaekjoam tjuib/ noun an 
electronic current flow control device con- 
sisting of a heated cathode and an anode in a 
sealed glass tube with a vacuum inside it 
valid /'vaelid/ adjective correct, according 
to a set of rules 

validate /'vaeh.deit/ verb to check that an 
input or data is correct according to a set of 
rules (note: validates - validating - vali- 
dated) 

validation /.vasli'deiJXajn/ noun a check 
performed to validate data. i> verification 
validity /va'hditi/ noun the correctness of 
an instruction or password 
value /'vaeljui/ noun what something is 
worth, either in money or as a quantity 
value-added /.vaslju: 'aedid/ adjective 
(with extra benefit for a user 
value-added network 1 /.vaelju: ,aedid 
'netw3ik/ noun a commercial network 
which offers information services, e.g. stock 
prices, weather, email or advice, as well as 
basic file transfer. Abbr VAN 
value-added network 2 /, vaelju: ,aedid 
'netw3ik/ noun a network where the trans- 
mission lines are leased from a public utility 
such as the telephone service, but where the 
user can add on private equipment. Abbr 
VAN 

value-added reseller 1 /.vaelju: aedid 
'riisela/ noun a company that buys hardware 
or software and adds another feature, cus- 
tomises or offers an extra service to attract 
customers. Abbr VAR 

value-added reseller 2 /.vaelju: aedid 
'riisela/ noun a retailer who sells equipment 



and systems which are specially tailored to 
certain types of operation. Abbr VAR 
valve /vaelv/ noun an electronic current 
flow control device consisting of a heated 
cathode and an anode in a sealed glass vacu- 
um tube 

VAN /vaen/ abbr value-added network 
V & V /,vii and 'vii/ noun the process of 
testing a system to check that it is functioning 
correctly and that it is suitable for the tasks 
intended. Full form verification and valida- 
tion 

vanishing point perspective 
/'vaenijirj point pa.spektiv/ noun graphics 
displayed in two dimensions that have the ap- 
pearance of depth as all lines converge at a 
vanishing point and objects appear smaller as 
they are further from the user 
vapourware /'veipawea/ noun products 
which exist in name only (informal) 
'Rivals dismissed the initiative as IBM vapour- 
ware, designed to protect its installed base of ma- 
chines running under widely differing operating 
systems.' [Computing] 
VAR abbr value-added reseller 
variable /'veariab^)!/ adjective which is 
able to change ■ noun 1 . a register or storage 
location which can contain any number or 
characters and which may vary during the 
program run. Opposite constant 2. a com- 
puter program identifier for a variable 
variable data rate video /,vesri3b(s)I 
.deita reit 'vidiau/ noun full form of VDRV 
variable resistor /,veariab(a)l n'zista/ 
noun a component whose resistance can be 
changed by turning a knob 
varifocal lens /,ve3rif3ok(3)l 'lenz/ 
noun same as zoom lens (see) 
varispeed /'vearisphd/ noun a variable 
speed control on magnetic audio recorders 
which generally provide a large range; can 
also be a pitch control 

vary /'veari/ verb to change, or to change 
something O The clarity of the signal can 
vary with the power supply. 
VB abbr Visual Basic 

VbOX /'viibrtks/ noun a device that allows 
several VCRs, videodiscs and camcorders to 
be attached and controlled by one unit, devel- 
oped by Sony. Full form video box 
VBScript /, vi: 'bi: .skript/ abbr Visual Ba- 
sic Script. Compare JavaScript 



255 



vertical format unit 



VBX abbr Visual Basic Extension (note: 
Originally developed as a way of adding ex- 
tra programming features to the Microsoft 
VB programming language, it is now a 
standard that can be used by many Win- 
dows programming tools; a VBX can be 
used in 16-bit or 32-bit Windows (versions 
3.x or 95) whereas an OCX control will only 
work with 32-bit Windows (version 95 and 
later).) 

VCPS abbr Video Copyright Protection So- 
ciety 

VCR /,vii sii 'a:/ noun a machine that can 
record analog video signals onto a magnetic 
cassette tape and play back the tape to display 
video on a monitor. Full form video cas- 
sette recorder 
comment: The most popular formats are: 
1-inch tape, used for studio-quality master- 
ing; 3/4-inch tape, which was widely used 
but has now been mostly replaced by 1/2- 
inch tape; 1/2-inch VHS format tape, which 
was first used only in the home but has now 
mostly replaced 3/4-inch tape; 1/2-inch 
Beta format tape, which was the first home 
VCR format but is no longer used. Some 
VCRs can be used to store digital data for 
data backup. 
VDRV /,vii dii a: 'vii/ noun a digital video 
system that can adjust the amount of data 
used to represent each different frame and so 
adjust image quality or stay within band- 
width limits. Full form variable data rate 
video 

VDT/,vii dii 'jui/ a£>£>rvisual display termi- 
nal 

VDU abbr visual display unit 
'...it normally consists of a keyboard to input in- 
formation and either a printing terminal or a VDU 
screen to display messages and results' 
[Practical Computing] 

'...a VDU is a device used with a computer that 
displays information in the form of characters 
and drawings on a screen' [Electronics & Power] 
vector /'vekts/ noun 1 . the address which 
directs a computer to a new memory location 
2. a coordinate that consists of a magnitude 
and direction 3. a line which connect points 
on a cathode ray tube 

vectored interrupt /.vektad 'mtarApt/ 
noun an interrupt signal which directs the 
processor to a routine at a particular address 
vector font /'vekta font/ noun the shape 
of characters within a font that are drawn 
vector graphics, allowing the characters to be 
scaled to almost any size without changing 
the quality 

vector graphics /'vekta ,graeftks/, vec- 
tor image /, vekta 'tmtd3/ noun a system of 
drawing objects using curves and lines. Also 
called vector scan. Compare bit-mapped 
graphics 



comment: The images are described by 
line length and direction from an origin to 
plot lines and so build up an image rather 
than a description of each pixel, as in a bit- 
map. A vector image can be easily and ac- 
curately resized with no loss of detail. 

vector processor /'vekta .preusesa/ 
noun a coprocessor that operates on one row 
or column of an array at a time 
vector scan /'vekta skaen/ noun same as 
vector graphics 

vectorscope /'vektaskaop/ noun in tele- 
vision, an oscilloscope to show the form of 
the chroma signals in colour television sys- 
tems 
'. . .the great advantage of the vector-scan display 
is that it requires little memory to store a picture' 
[Electronics & Power] 

velocity /va'lositi/ noun speed O The disk 
drive motor spins at a constant velocity. 
vendor /'vends/ noun a person who manu- 
factures, sells or supplies hardware or soft- 
ware products 

vendor-independent /.vends ,mdi 
'pendant/ adjective referring to hardware or 
software that will work with hardware and 
software manufactured by other vendors 
Venn diagram /'ven .datagram/ noun a 
graphical representation of the relationships 
between the states in a system or circuit 
verification /,venfi'kei,f(8)i]/ noun the 
process of checking that data has been key- 
boarded correctly or that data transferred 
from one medium to another has been trans- 
ferred correctly 

verification and validation 

/,verifikeij(3)n an ,vaeli'deij(3)n/ noun 
full form ofV&V 

verifier /'venfaia/ noun a special device 
for verifying input data 
verify /'veri,fai/ verb to check that data re- 
corded or entered is correct (note: verifies - 
verifying - verifies) 

versamodule eurocard bus 
/,v3:s3mDdju:l 'josraokaid ,bAs/nounfull 
form of VME bus 

version /'v3ij"(3)n/ noun a copy or pro- 
gram or statement which is slightly different 
from others O The latest version of the soft- 
ware includes an improved graphics routine. 
verso /'v3isau/ noun the left hand page of 
a book (usually given an even number) 
vertical /'v3itik(3)l/ adjective at right an- 
gles to the horizontal 

vertical format unit /,v3:tik(a)l 'f aimaet 
Juinit/ noun a part of the control system of 
a printer which governs the vertical format of 
the document to be printed, e.g. vertical spac- 
ing or page length. Abbr VFU 



vertical interval time code 



256 



vertical interval time code /,v3:tik(a)l 

,mt3v(3)l 'taim ,kaod/ noun full form of 
VITC 

vertically /'v3itikli/ adverb from top to 
bottom or going up and down at right angles 
to the horizontal O The page has been justi- 
fied vertically. 

vertical portal /,v3rtik(a)l 'po:t(a)l/ 

noun full form of VORTAL 

vertical scan frequency /,v3:tik(a)l 

'skaen ,friikwansi/ noun the number of 
times a picture beam in a monitor moves 
from the last line back up to the first 
vertical scrolling /,v3itik(a)l 'skrsuliry 
noun displayed text which moves up or down 
the computer screen one line at a time 
very high frequency /,veri hai 
'friikwansi/ noun the range of radio fre- 
quencies between 30-300 MHz. Abbr VHF 
very large scale integration /,veri 
la:d3 skeil ,inti'greij(3)n/ noun full form 
of VLSI 

very low frequency /,veri tao 
'friikwansi/ noun the range of radio fre- 
quencies between 3-30 KHz. Abbr VLF 
VESA abbr Video Electronics Standards 
Association 

VESA local bus /,vi: i; es ei 'teuk(a)l 
bAs/ noun full form of VL-bus 
vestigial side band /ves,tid3ial 'said 
,baend/ noun full form of VSB 
VFU abbr vertical format unit 
VFW abbr Video for Windows 
VGA /,vii d3ii 'ei/ noun (in an IBM PC) a 
standard of video adapter developed by IBM 
that can support a display with a resolution 
up to 640 x 480 pixels in up to 256 colours, 
superseded by SVGA 

VHF noun radio frequency between 30MHz 
and 300MHZ (used for broadcasting radio 
and TV programmes). Full form very high 
frequency 

VHS noun a video cassette tape format, us- 
ing 1/2-inch wide tape, developed by JVC 
and now the standard for home and consumer 
markets. Full form video home system 
VHS-C /,vii eitj 'es si:/ noun a video cas- 
sette system which uses the VHS format 
via /'vaia/ preposition going through some- 
thing or using something to get to a destina- 
tion O The signals have reached us via satel- 
lite. 

VIBGYOR noun the colours in the visible 
spectrum: violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, 
orange and red 

VidCap /'vidkaep/ noun a utility program 
used in the Microsoft VFW system to capture 
a video sequence 



video /'vidiau/ noun 1. text or images or 
graphics viewed on television or a monitor 2. 
an electronic system which records, stores 
and reproduces visual images 
video adapter /' vidiau 3,daept3/ noun an 
add-in board which converts data into electri- 
cal signals to drive a monitor and display text 
and graphics. Also called video board, vid- 
eo controller 

video bandwidth /,vidiao 'baendwidO/ 
noun the maximum display resolution, meas- 
ured in MHz, and calculated by horizontal x 
vertical resolution x refreshes/sec (note: TV 
studio recording is limited to 5 MHz; TV 
broadcasting is limited to 3.58 MHz) 
video board /'vidiso boid/ noun same as 
video adapter 

video box /'vidiao bDks/ noun full form 
of Vbox 

video buffer /'vidiao ,bAfa/ noun memo- 
ry in a video adapter that is used to store the 
bitmap of the image being displayed 
video capture board /,vidiau 'kaeptja 
,boid/ noun a board that plugs into an expan- 
sion socket inside a PC and lets a user capture 
a TV picture and store it in memory so that it 
can then be processed by a computer 
video cassette recorder /,vidiau ka 
'set n,ko:d3/ noun full form of VCR 
video-CD /.vidiau ,sii 'dii/ noun a CD- 
ROM that stores digital video data conform- 
ing to the Philips White Book standard and 
uses MPEG compression for the full-motion 
video data 

video Clip /'vidi3o,klip/ noun a short vid- 
eo sequence 

video codec /,vidi3o 'kaodek/ noun an 
electronic device to convert a video signal to 
or from a digital form 

video compression /,vidiau kam 
'prej(a)n/ noun algorithms used to compress 
analog television signals so that they can be 
efficiently broadcast over a digital channel 
video conferencing /'vidiau 

,kDnf(3)r3nsirj/ noun the linking of video, 
audio and computer signals from different lo- 
cations so that distant people can talk and see 
each other, as if in a conference room 
video controller /.vidiau kan'traola/ 
noun same as video adapter 
video digitiser /,vidiao 'did3itaiza/ 
noun a high-speed digital sampling circuit 
which stores a TV picture in memory so that 
it can then be processed by a computer 
videodisc /'vidiaodisk/ noun a read-only 
optical disc that can store up to two hours of 
video data, usually used either to store a com- 
plete fdm, as a rival to video cassette, or to 
use in an interactive system with text, video 
and still images (note: For interactive use, a 



257 



viewdata 



videodisc can store 54,000 frames of infor- 
mation. If the videodisc contains a complete 
film, the data is recorded using a constant 
linear velocity format; if it is used to store in- 
teractive data, it is stored in a constant an- 
gular velocity format.) 

video display /'vidiau di,splei/ noun a 
device which can display text or graphical in- 
formation, e.g. a CRT 

video editing /,vidiau 'editig/ noun a 
method of editing a video sequence in which 
the video is digitised and stored in a compu- 
ter 

video editor /'vidiau ,edita/ noun a com- 
puter that controls two videotape recorders to 
allow an operator to play back sequences 
from one and record these on the second ma- 
chine 

Video Electronics Standards Asso- 
ciation /,vidiao elek,trDniks 'staendadz a 
,saosiei J"(a)n/ noun full form of VESA 

Video for Windows /.vidisu fa 

'wmdaoz/ a trade name for a set of software 
drivers and utilities for Microsoft Windows 
3.1, developed by Microsoft, that allows 
AVI-format video files to be played back in a 
window. Abbr VFW 

video game /'vidiao geim/ noun a game 
played on a computer, with action shown on 
a video display 

video graphics array /,vidiau 'grafiks 
a.rei/ noun (in an IBM PC) a standard of vid- 
eo adapter developed by IBM that can sup- 
port a display with a resolution up to 640 x 
480 pixels in up to 256 colours, superseded 
by SVGA. Abbr VGA 

video graphics card /.vidiau 'graefiks 
,kaid/ noun an expansion card that fits into 
an expansion slot inside a PC and that allows 
a computer to display both generated text and 
graphics and moving video images from an 
external camera or VCR. Also called over- 
lay card 

video home system /,vidiao 'haum 
.sistam/ noun full form of VHS 
video interface chip /,vidiau 'mtafeis 
,t Jip/ noun a chip which controls a video dis- 
play allowing information such as text or 
graphics stored in a computer to be displayed 
video lookup table /,vidiau 'lukAp 
,teib(a)l/ noun a collection of precalculated 
values of the different colours that are stored 
in memory and can be examined very quickly 
to produce an answer without the need to re- 
calculate 

video memory /,vidiau 'mem(a)ri/ noun 
a high speed random access memory used to 
store computer-generated or digitised images 



video monitor /'vidiao ,iriDnita/ noun a 
device able to display, without sound, signals 
from a computer 

video RAM /,vidiau 'ram/ noun full form 
of VRAM 

video random access memory 
/,vidiau .randam .aekses 'mem(a)ri/, vid- 
eo RAM /,vidiao 'ram/ noun full form of 
VRAM, same as video memory 
video scanner /'vidiau .skaena/ noun a 
device which allows images of objects or pic- 
tures to be entered into a computer O New 
video scanners are designed to scan three-di- 
mensional objects. 

video server /'vidiau ,S3iva/ noun a ded- 
icated computer on a network used to store 
video sequences 

video signal /'vidiau ,sign(a)l/ noun a 
signal which provides line picture informa- 
tion and synchronisation pulses (informal) 
video system control architecture 
/,vidiau .sistam kan'traul ,aikitekt Ja/ 
noun full form of ViSCA 
video tape /'vidiau teip/ noun a magnetic 
tape on which pictures and sound can be re- 
corded 

video tape recorder /.vidiau 'teip n 
,koida/ noun full form of VTR 
video teleconferencing /,vidiau 'teli 
,kDnf(a)ransin/ noun the linking of comput- 
ers that can capture and display video so that 
distant people can talk to and see each other, 
as if in a conference room 
video terminal /'vidiau ,t3imm(a)l/ 
noun a keyboard with a monitor 
videotext /'vidiautekst/, videotex 
/'vidiauteks/ noun a system for transmitting 
text and displaying it on a screen 
comment: This covers information trans- 
mitted either by TV signals (teletext) or by 
signals sent down telephone lines (viewda- 
ta). 
video window /'vidiau ,wmdau/ noun a 
window that displays a moving video image, 
independent of other displayed material 
view /vjui/ verb to look at something, espe- 
cially something displayed on a screen O The 
user has to pay a charge for viewing pages on 
a bulletin board. 

viewdata /'vjuideita/ noun an interactive 
system for transmitting text or graphics from 
a database to a user's terminal by telephone 
lines, providing facilities for information re- 
trieval, transactions, education, games and 
recreation 
comment: The user calls up the page of in- 
formation required, using the telephone 
and a modem, as opposed to teletext, 
where the pages of information are repeat- 
ed one after the other automatically. 



viewer 



258 



viewer /' vjuia/ noun 1 . a utility that allows 
a user to see what is contained in an image or 
formatted document file without having to 
start the program that created it 2. a device 
with an eyepiece through which a person can 
look at film or transparencies 3. a person who 
watches television 

viewfinder /'vjuifamds/ noun the eye- 
piece in a camera that allows a user to see 
what is being filmed 

viewfinder objective, objective lens 
noun the lens of a visual monitoring view- 
finder, in which the picture is formed 
vignetting /vi'njettrj/ noun the shading of 
the borders of a picture (film) 
viral /' vairal/ adjective referring to unsolic- 
ited emails that automatically forward them- 
selves from one user to another, or to activi- 
ties that use such emails 
viral marketing /'vairel .maikitirj/ noun 
a form of marketing in which an organisa- 
tion's customers act as advertisers for its 
products by spreading knowledge of them to 
other people, especially over the Internet 
virgin /'V3id3in/ adjective referring to a 
medium that has not been recorded on before 
virtual /'v3it Jusl/ adjective referring to a 
feature or device which does not actually ex- 
ist but which is simulated by a computer and 
can be used by a user as if it did exist 
virtual assistant /,v3it Jual 3'sist(a)nt/ 
noun an employee who works as a personal 
assistant to somebody but does the job from 
another place solely by using computer and 
phone links 

virtual community /,v3itju3l ka 
'mjuiniti/ noun a group of people who com- 
municate with each other via the Internet 
virtual desktop /.vaitjual desktop/ 
noun an area that is bigger than the physical 
limits of the monitor, and which can contain 
text, images, windows and other facilities. 
Also called virtual screen 
virtual device driver /,v3itju3l di'vais 
.draiva/ noun full form of VxD 
virtual machine /,v3:tjual ma'Jiin/ 
noun a piece of software that allows a Java 
application to run on a computer. Abbr VM 
comment: When a developer writes a pro- 
gram in Java, it is compiled to a file format 
called bytecode (or pseudocode). This file 
can then be run using another application 
(the virtual machine) that is specific to the 
particular computer platform - there are 
virtual machine applications for PCs, Apple 
Macs and Sun computers, and each can 
run the same Java bytecode file, making 
Java a platform-independent language. 

virtual memory /,v3:tjusl 'mem(3)ri/ 
noun a system of providing extra main mem- 



ory by using a disk drive as if it were RAM. 
Also called virtual storage 
virtual reality /,v3itju3l ri'aehti/ noun 
full form of VR O This new virtual reality 
software can create a three-dimensional 
room that you can navigate around. 
'Autodesk suggests that anyone wishing to build 
Virtual Reality applications with the Cyberspace 
Developer's Kit should have solid knowledge of 
programming in C++ along with general knowl- 
edge of computer graphics.' [Computing] 

virtual reality modelling language 

/,v3itju3l ri.aeliti 'mDd(3)lirj .laerjgwidV 
noun full form of VRML 
virtual storage /,v3itj"ual 'sto:nd3/ 
noun abbr VS. same as virtual memory 

virus /'vairas/ noun a program which adds 
itself to an executable file and copies itself to 
other executable files each time an infected 
file is run O If your PC is infected with a vi- 
rus, your data is at risk. 
comment: Viruses can corrupt data, dis- 
play a message, or do nothing. They are 
spread by downloading unchecked files 
from a bulletin board system or via unregu- 
lated networks or by inserting an un- 
checked floppy disk into your PC - always 
use a virus detector. 

virus Checker /'vairas ,tjeka/ noun a 
piece of software that is used to try and detect 
and remove unwanted virus programs from 
the hard disk of a computer 
virus detector /'vairas di,tekt3/ noun a 
utility software which checks executable files 
to see if they contain a known virus 
ViSCA /'viska/ noun a protocol used to 
synchronise multiple video devices, devel- 
oped by Sony. Full form video system con- 
trol architecture 

visible /'vizib(3)l/ adjective which can be 
seen 

visual /'vi3usl/ adjective which can be 
seen or which is used by sight 
Visual Basic /,vi3U3l 'beisik/ a trade 
name for a programming tool, developed by 
Microsoft, that allows users to create Win- 
dows applications very easily. Abbr VB 
Visual Basic Extension /.vi^oo! 
,beisik ik'stenj(3)n/ a trade name for a 
Windows custom software module that adds 
functionality to another application, similar 
to the OCX control. Abbr VBX 
Visual Basic for Applications /,vi3ual 
,beisik far ,aepli'keij(3)nz/ a trade name 
for a complex macro language developed by 
Microsoft from its VB programming tool. 
AbbrVBA 

Visual Basic Script /,vi3U3l ,beisik 
'skript/ a trade name for a set of program- 
ming commands that can be included within 



259 



VORTAL 



a normal webpage, written using HTML 
commands. Abbr VBScript 
visual display terminal /,vizjusl di 
'splei ,t3:min3l/, visual display unit 

/,vi3U3l di'splei juinit/ noun full form of 
VDT, VDU 

visualisation /,vi3U9lai'zeir(a)n/, visu- 
alization noun the conversion of numbers or 
data into a graphical format that can be more 
easily understood 

visualize /'vrjua.laiz/ verb to imagine 
how something will appear, even before it 
has been created 

VITC /,vii ai til "si:/ noun a time code re- 
corded onto tape between video frames. Full 
form vertical interval time code 
comment: This is preferred to LTC be- 
cause it does not use the audio track and 
can be read at slow playback speeds. 

VL-buS, VL local bus noun a standard de- 
fined by the Video Electronics Standards As- 
sociation which allows up to three special ex- 
pansion slots that provide direct, bus-master 
control of the central processor and allow 
very high speed data transfers between main 
memory and the expansion card without us- 
ing the processor O For a high-performance 
PC, choose one with a VL-bus. Full form 
VESA local bus 

VLF noun radio frequency between 30Hz 
and 30KHz. Full form very low frequency 
VLSI /,vii el es 'ai/ noun a system with be- 
tween 10,000 and 100,000 components on a 
single IC. Full form very large scale inte- 
gration 

VM abbr virtual machine 
V-mail /'vi: ,meil/ noun an email message 
with a video clip as an attachment 
VME bus /,vi: em 'ii das/ noun an expan- 
sion bus standard that supports 32-bit data 
transfer, mostly used in industrial and test 
equipment. Full form versamodule euro- 
card bus 

voice /vols/ noun 1. the sound of human 
speech 2. another name for a note or sound 
effect (such as a whistle) O Instruments that 
are multi-voice can play several notes at the 
same time. 

voice data entry /,vois ,deits 'entri/, 
voice data input /,vois ,deita 'inpot/ noun 
the input of information into a computer us- 
ing a speech recognition system and the us- 
er's voice 

VOicemail /'voismetl/ noun a computer 
linked to a telephone exchange that answers 
a person's telephone when no one is there and 
allows messages to be recorded, in digital 
form O / checked my voice mail to see if any- 
one had left me a message. 



voice-over /'vois,3ov3/ noun spoken 
commentary by an actor who does not appear 
on the screen (as the text of a TV commer- 
cial) 

voice over Internet protocol /,vois 
Suva 'mtanet ,pr3ot3kDl/ noun full form of 
VoIP 

voice-over-the-Net /,vois suvs ds 'net/ 
adjective used to describe voice communica- 
tion using VoIP technology 
voice recognition /,vois ,rek3g'nij(3)n/ 
noun the ability of a computer to recognise 
certain words in a human voice and provide a 
suitable response 

voice synthesis /'vois .smGssis/ noun 
the reproduction of sounds similar to those of 
the human voice 

voice synthesiser /'vois ,sm03saiz3/ 
noun a device which generates sounds which 
are similar to the human voice 
voice unit /'vois Juinit/ noun a unit of 
signal measurement equal to a one millivolt 
signal across a 600 ohm resistance 
'...the technology of voice output is reasonably 
difficult, but the technology of voice recognition 
is much more complex' [Personal Computer 
World] 
VoIP /voip/ noun a technology that enables 
voice messages to be sent over the Internet, 
often at the same time as data in text or other 
forms. Full form voice over Internet proto- 
col 

volatile memory /,vDb,tatl 'mem(o)ri/, 
volatile store /'vrjbtail stoi/, volatile dy- 
namic storage /.vDb.tail dai,naemik 
'sto:rid3/ noun memory or storage medium 
which loses data stored in it when the power 
supply is switched off 

volatility /,VDb'tiliti/ noun the number of 
records that are added or deleted from a com- 
puter system compared to the total number in 
store 

volt /vaolt/ noun an SI unit of electrical po- 
tential, defined as voltage across a one ohm 
resistance when one amp is flowing 
voltage /'v3olttd3/ noun an electromotive 
force expressed in volts. Abbr V 
comment: Electricity supply can have 
peaks and troughs of current, depending 
on the users in the area. Fluctuations in 
voltage can affect computers; a voltage 
regulator will provide a steady supply of 
electricity. 

volume /'vrjljuim/ noun 1. a disk or stor- 
age device 2. the total space occupied by data 
in a storage system 

VORTAL /'voital/ noun a portal website 
that contains information for just one partic- 
ular industry or interest group. Full form ver- 
tical portal 



VR 



260 



comment: General-interest portals such as 
AOL, Yahoo!, and Excite provide a whole 
range of general-interest information for 
users, including news, weather, sports and 
financial information. An example of a ver- 
tical portal is Buzzsaw (www.buzz- 
saw.com), which provides news and re- 
sources for the construction industry. 

VR /,vii 'ai/ noun a simulation of a real-life 
scene or environment by computer. Full form 
virtual reality 

VRAM /'vii raem/ noun high speed random 
access memory used to store computer-gen- 
erated or digitised images. Full form video 
random access memory. Also called vid- 
eo RAM 

VRML /,vi: a:r em 'el/ noun a system that 
allows developers to create three-dimension- 
al worlds within a webpage. Full form virtu- 
al reality modelling language 
VS abbr virtual storage 
VSB /, vii es 'bii/ noun a method of transfer- 
ring data over coaxial cable, used to modu- 
late and transmit digital television signals. 
Full form vestigial side band 



V series /'vii .siariiz/ noun a series of 
CCITT standards for data transmission using 
a modem, used in the UK and Europe 
VT abbr videotape 

VT-52 /,vii tii ,fifti 'tui/ noun a popular 
standard of a terminal that defines the codes 
used to display text and graphics 
VTR /,vi: tii 'ai/ noun a machine used to 
record and play back video signals that are 
stored on open reels of magnetic tape rather 
than on the sealed, enclosed cassette used by 
a VCR. Full form video tape recorder 
VT-terminal emulation /,vii tii 
't3imm(3)l emju,leij(3)n/ noun a standard 
set of codes developed by Digital Equipment 
Corporation to control how text and graphics 
are displayed on its range of terminals 
VU abbr voice unit 

VxD/,vii eks 'dii/nouna device driver used 
to control one part of the Windows operating 
system or to link a peripheral to the Windows 
operating system. Full form virtual device 
driver 

Vxtreme /,vi: eks'triim/ noun a format 
used to deliver streaming video sequences 
over the Internet 



w 



W abbr Watt 

W3C /,dAb(3)l jui 9rii 'si:/ noun a group of 
international industry members that work to- 
gether to develop common standards for the 
World Wide Web. Full form World Wide 
Web Consortium 
comment: Visit the www.w3.org website for 
new standards and developments. 

wafer /'weifa/ noun a thin round slice of a 
large single crystal of silicon onto which 
hundreds of individual integrated circuits are 
constructed, before being cut into individual 
chips 

wafer scale integration /,weifa skeil 
,inti 'gretj(3)n/ noun one large chip, the size 
of a wafer, made up of smaller integrated cir- 
cuits connected together (note: These are 
still in the research stage.) 
wait condition /'weit kan.di r(3)n/ noun 
1 . a state in which a processor is not active, 
but waiting for input from peripherals 2. a 
null instruction which is used to slow down a 
processor so that slower memory or a periph- 
eral can keep up ► also called wait state 
wait loop /'weit Imp/ noun a processor 
that repeats one loop of program until some 
action occurs 

wait State /'weit steit/ noun same as wait 
condition 

wake /weik/ verb □ to wake up to switch 
on a device or start or initiate a process 
wallpaper /'woil,peip3/ noun (in a GUI) 
an image or pattern used as a background in 
a window 

WAN /waen/ noun a network in which the 
various terminals are far apart and linked by 
radio or satellite. Full form wide area net- 
work. Opposite LAN 

wand /wDnd/ noun a bar-code reader or op- 
tical device which is held in the hand to read 
bar codes on products in a store 
WAP lws.pl noun 1 . a system that allows a 
user to access information on an Internet 
server using a wireless handheld device such 
as a mobile telephone. Full form Wireless 
Application Protocol 2. a device that con- 
nects to a LAN and allows a computer to ac- 
cess the network using a wireless data trans- 
mission O The WAP has an aerial and a 
built-in hub. Full form wireless access 
point 



comment: WAP can be used over almost 
all of the current wireless networks, includ- 
ing the popular GSM mobile telephone 
standard, and can run on almost any oper- 
ating system or hardware device. A device 
that supports WAP provides a very simple 
browser that can display basic graphics 
and text-based pages of information on a 
small, monochrome, 6-10 line display, 
similartoatiny, simple web page. The user 
can navigate between pages using two or 
three buttons on the handheld device or 
mobile telephone. The arrival of WAP al- 
lows users to access email and news- 
based websites from a mobile telephone, 
but users have been put off by the very 
slow speed (no more than 9,600bps) at 
which data can be transferred over current 
wireless telephone systems. 

WAP markup language /,waep 
'maikAp .laerjgwidj/ noun full form of 
WML 

WAP markup language script /,waep 
,maikAp ,liErjgwid3 'skript/ noun same as 
WMLScript 

warm /worm/ verb a to warm up to allow 
a machine to stand idle for a time after 
switching on, to reach the optimum operating 
conditions 

warm boot /,wo:m 'buit/ noun the act of 
restarting a computer without switching it 
off. Compare cold boot 
warmbOOt /'woimbuit/ verb to restart a 
computer without switching it off. Compare 
coldboot 

warm Standby /,wo:m 'staendbai/ noun 
a secondary backup device which can be 
switched into action a short time after the 
main system fails. Compare cold standby, 
hot standby 

warm Start /,wo:m 'stent/ noun the proc- 
ess of restarting a program which has 
stopped, without losing any data. Compare 
cold start 

warn /worn/ verb to say that something dan- 
gerous is about to happen or that there is a 
possible danger O He warned the keyboard- 
ers that the system might become overloaded. 
(note: You warn someone of something, or 
that something may happen) 
warning /'wo:nirj/ noun a notice of possi- 
ble danger O to issue a warning 
warning light /'woinirj lait/ noun a small 
light which lights up to show that something 



warrant 



262 



dangerous may happen O When the warning 
light on the front panel comes on, switch off 
the system. 

warrant /'wnrant/ verb to guarantee O All 
the spare parts are warranted. 
warrantee /,WDr3n'ti:/ noun a person who 
is given a warranty 

warrantor /, WDran'toi/ noun a person who 
gives a warranty 

warranty /'wDrsnti/ noun 1 . a guarantee or 
legal document which promises that a ma- 
chine will work properly or that an item is of 
good quality O The printer is sold with a 
twelve-month warranty. O The warranty cov- 
ers spare parts but not labour costs. 2. a 
promise in a contract 

watermark /'woitamaik/ noun a pattern 
of bits that is digitally embedded in a data file 
in order to make it possible to detect unau- 
thorised copies 

watt /wDt/ noun an SI unit of measurement 
of electrical power, defined as power pro- 
duced when one amp of current flows 
through a load that has one volt of voltage 
across it 

wave Aveiv/ noun a signal motion which 
rises and falls periodically as it travels 
through a medium 

WAVE /weiv/ noun a standard method of 
storing an analog signal in digital form under 
Microsoft Windows. Also called WAV file 
(note: Files have the .WAV extension.) 
waveform /'weivfoim/ noun the shape of 
a wave 

waveguide /'weivgaid/ noun a physical 
system used to direct waves in a particular di- 
rection, usually metal tubes for microwave 
signals or optical fibres for light signals 
wavelength /'weiv,lerj9/ noun the dis- 
tance between two adjacent peaks of a wave, 
equal to the speed divided by the frequency 
WAV file /'weiv fail/ noun same as WAVE 
WBFM abbr wideband frequency modula- 
tion 

wearable computer /,we3r3b(3)l ksm 
'pjuita/ noun a battery-powered computer 
small enough to be worn on the body 
web /web/ noun same as World Wide Web 
web application /'web .aephkeiJXajn/ 
noun a software program that works behind 
the scenes at a website, runs on a web server 
and uses the HTTP protocol to deliver infor- 
mation to a user (note: An example is a da- 
tabase of information that can be searched 
from a webpage or a method of ordering 
and paying for a product using a webpage.) 
WebBot /'webbDt/ a trade name for a util- 
ity used in Microsoft Internet software that 



helps a user create a particular function in a 
webpage 

web browser /'web .brauza/ noun same 
as browser 

web cam /'web kaem/ noun a video cam- 
era linked to a website that allows visitors to 
see live video images of a scene 
comment: These devices have become 
very popular and have been used to dis- 
play the inside of an office, the view over a 
city, an office coffee machine, the inside of 
a bedroom and many other scenes. 

webcast /'webkaist/ noun a broadcast 

made on the World Wide Web 
'It is spending S450m on a community support 
programme for developers: webcasts, free on-site 
training, seminars, roadshows and 125 new 
books.' [The Guardian] 

web crawler /'web .kroils/ noun software 
that moves over every new webpage on the 
Internet and produces an index based on the 
content of the webpages 
web designer /'web Sixains/ noun a 
person who designs websites 
weber /'veiba/ noun a unit of magnetic flux 
(film) 

Weblog /'weblog/ noun a frequently updat- 
ed personal journal on a website, intended for 
public viewing 

webmaster /'webmaista/ noun a person 
in charge of a website 

webpage /'webpeid3/ noun a single file 
stored on a web server that contains format- 
ted text, graphics and hypertext links to other 
pages on the Internet or within a website 
webpage design software /,webpetd3 
di,zam 'strftwes/ noun software that pro- 
vides features that make it easier for a user to 
create webpages 
comment: The design software is similar to 
desktop publishing software and allows 
you to drag text and images onto a page, 
create tables and change the style of text 
from menu options, without having to edit 
complex HTML commands. 

web portal /'web ,po:t(3)l/ noun a web- 
site that provides a wide range of information 
and resources that include everything a par- 
ticular user might want from the Internet, on 
one site 
comment: The biggest web portals include 
AOL, MSN, Yahoo! and Excite, which offer 
a wide range of general services including 
news, sports, email, weather, shopping 
and a search engine. 

web ring /'web nrj/ noun a series of linked 
websites that are designed to be visited one 
after the other until the visitor reaches the 
first website again 



263 



window 



web server /'web ,S3:va/ noun a compu- 
ter that stores the collection of webpages that 
make up a website 

website /'websait/ noun a collection of 
webpages that are linked and related and can 
be accessed by a user with a web browser O 
The Bloomsbury website, ht- 

tp://www. bloomsbury. com, contains infor- 
mation about all the books Bloomsbury pub- 
lish. 

WebTV /,web til ' vii/ a trade name for a tel- 
evision that also lets a user view webpages 
comment: Some TVs include a computer 
and modem, other systems use an external 
box that links to the TV and a telephone 
socket. Some interactive television and ca- 
ble television installations do not use a tel- 
ephone socket but instead download and 
display webpages via the television cable. 
webzine /'webzim/ noun same as e-zine 
weigh /wei/ verb to have a certain weight O 
The packet weighs twenty-five grams. 

weighted average /,weitid 'aev(3)nd3/ 

noun an average which is calculated taking 
several factors into account, giving some 
more value than others 
weighting /'weitin/ noun the sorting of 
users, programs or data by their importance 
or priority 

wetware /'wetwea/ noun US the human 
brain, intelligence which writes software to 
be used with hardware (informal) 
What-You-See-ls-AII-You-Get /,wot 
ju: si: iz ,o:ljui 'get/ noun full form of WY- 
SIAYG 

What-You-See-ls-What-You-Get 
/,wDt ju: si: iz .wot ju: 'get/ noun full form 
of WYSIWYG 

white /wait/ adjective, noun the colour of 
snow 
comment: With a white writer, the black ar- 
eas are printed evenly but edges and bor- 
ders are not so sharp. 
White Book /'wait buk/ noun a formal 
video-CD standard published by Philips and 
JVC that defines how digital video can be 
stored on a CD-ROM 

white pages /.wait 'pad^x/ plural noun a 
database of users and their email address 
stored on the Internet to help other users find 
an email address 

white writer /'wait ,raita/ noun a laser 
printer which directs its laser beam on the 
points that are not printed. Opposite black 
writer 
comment: With a white writer, the black ar- 
eas are printed evenly but edges and bor- 
ders are not so sharp. 
whois /'hu: iz/ noun an Internet utility that 
displays information about the owner of a 
particular domain name 



wholesale /'haolseil/ noun, adverb buy- 
ing goods from manufacturers and selling in 
large quantities to traders who then sell in 
smaller quantities to the general public 
(note: no plural) □ he buys wholesale and 
sells retail he buys goods in bulk at a whole- 
sale discount and then sells in small quanti- 
ties to the public 

wholesale dealer /'haulseil ,di:la/ noun 
a person who buys in bulk from manufactur- 
ers and sells to retailers 
wholesaler /'haulseila/ noun a person 
who buys goods in bulk from manufacturers 
and sells them to retailers 
wide area network /,waid ,earia 
'netw3ik/ noun full form of WAN 
wideband /'waidbaend/ noun same as 
broadband 

widescreen /'waidskriin/ adjective pic- 
tures presented with a larger aspect ratio than 
1.4:1 

widescreen display /,waidskri:n di 
'splei/ noun a film, video or TV display with 
an aspect ratio greater than 1.37, or the same 
as the full size of a 35 mm film image 
widow /'widau/ noun the first line of a par- 
agraph which is printed by itself at the bot- 
tom of a column. Compare orphan 
width /wid0/ noun the size of something 
from side to side 

wild Card /'waildkcnd/ noun a symbol 
used when searching for files or data that rep- 
resents all files O A wild card can be used to 
find all files names beginning DIC. 
wild track /'waild traek/ noun sound re- 
corded without a synchronised picture 
WIMP /wimp/ noun a program display 
which uses graphics or icons to control the 
software and make it easier to use. Full form 
window, icon, mouse, pointer. : environ- 
ment, GUI. Compare command line inter- 
face 
comment: WIMPs normally use a combina- 
tion of windows, icons and a mouse to con- 
trol the operating system. In many GUIs, 
such as Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac 
System 7 and DR-GEM, you can control all 
the functions of the operating system just 
using the mouse. Icons represent pro- 
grams and files; instead of entering the file 
name, you select it by moving a pointer 
with a mouse. 
Winchester disk /draiv/, Winchester 
drive noun a compact high-capacity hard 
disk which is usually built into a computer 
system and cannot be removed 
window /'wmdao/ noun 1 . a reserved sec- 
tion of screen used to display special infor- 
mation, which can be selected and looked at 
at any time and which overwrites information 
already on the screen O Several remote sta- 



window, icon, mouse, pointer 264 



tions are connected to the network and each 
has its own window onto the hard disk. 2. a 
part of a document currently displayed on a 
screen O The operating system will allow 
other programs to be displayed on-screen at 
the same time in different windows. 3. an area 
of memory or access to a storage device ■ 
verb to set up a section of screen by defining 
the coordinates of its corners, allowing infor- 
mation to be temporarily displayed and over- 
writing previous information without alter- 
ing information in the workspace 
'. . .when an output window overlaps another, the 
interpreter does not save the contents of the ob- 
scured window' [Personal Computer World] 

window, icon, mouse, pointer 

/,wmd3o ,aikDn ,maus 'points/ noun full 
form of WIMP 

windowing /'wmdauin/ noun 1. the ac- 
tion of setting up a window to show informa- 
tion on the screen O The network system uses 
the latest windowing techniques. 2. the proc- 
ess of displaying or accessing information 
via a window 
'...windowing facilities make use of virtual 
screens as well as physical screens' [Byte] 
'. . .the network system uses the latest windowing 
techniques' [Desktop Publishing] 
'...the functions are integrated via a windowing 
system with pull-down menus used to select dif- 
ferent operations' [Byte] 
Windows /'wmdaoz/ a trade name for a 
family of operating systems developed by 
Microsoft that interacts with users through a 
Graphical User Interface. Windows is the op- 
erating system used by most of the world's 
PCs. Also called Microsoft Windows, MS- 
Windows 

Windows Explorer /.wmdauz tk 
'spbire/ a trade name for a software utility 
included with Windows that lets a user view 
the folders and files on the hard disk, floppy 
disk, CD-ROM and any shared network 
drives 

Windows Internet Naming Service 
/,wmd3uz .mtanet 'neimin ,s3ivis/ full 
form of WINS 

Windows NT /.wmdauz en 'ti:/ a trade 
name for a high-performance GUI derived 
from Windows that does not use DOS as an 
operating system and features 32-bit code 
Windows XP /.wmdaoz eks 'pi:/ a trade 
name for a version of the Windows operating 
system designed for home and business users 
that provides a 32-bit multitasking operating 
system with the standard Windows graphical 
user interface together with improved net- 
work and Internet connectivity 
windshield /'windjiild/ noun a device 
which is attached to a microphone in order to 
reduce wind noise (film) 



WINS /wins/ noun a system that works with 
a network of computers running Windows 
and provides a database of the IP addresses of 
each computer on the network. Full form 
Windows Internet Naming Service 
comment: This is more difficult than it 
sounds, since a computer is usually given 
a different IP address every time it is 
switched on. The WINS service provides 
'name resolution' for Windows networks, 
DNS provides a similar service for net- 
works with fixed IP addresses, including 
the public Internet. 

Winsock /'wmsDk/ noun a utility software 
that is required to control the modem when 
connecting to the Internet and allows the 
computer to communicate using the TCP/IP 
protocol. Also called socket driver 
wipe /waip/ verb to clean data from a disk 
O By reformatting you will wipe the disk 
clean, (note: wipes - wiping - wiped) 
wire /'waia/ noun a thin metal conductor ■ 
verb to install wiring in something (note: 
wires - wiring - wired) 

wire frame model /.ware freim 
'mDd(3)l/ noun (in graphics and CAD) a 
method of displaying objects using lines and 
arcs rather than filled areas. Also called wire 
mesh model, stick model 
wireless /'waiabs/ noun a device that can 
receive radio broadcasts (old use) ■ adjec- 
tive communication system that does not re- 
quire wires to carry signals 
wireless access point /.warebs 
'aekses ,pomt/ noun full form of WAP 2 
Wireless Application Protocol 
/,wai3bs ,aepli'keij(3)n .preutaokDl/ 
noun full form of WAP 1 
wireless LAN /,waiabs 'laen/ noun same 
as wireless network 

wireless microphone /,waiabs 
'maikrafaun/ noun an audio microphone 
with a small transmitter attached allowing the 
transmission of signals without interconnect- 
ing wires 

wireless modem /,waiabs 'maodem/ 
noun a modem that can be used with a wire- 
less mobile telephone system (note: A wire- 
less modem normally includes the tele- 
phone hardware and an aerial, so does not 
need to be plugged into a separate mobile 
telephone.) 

wireless network /,waiabs 'netw3ik/, 
wireless LAN /,waiabs 'laen/ noun a net- 
work that does not use cable to transmit data 
between computers, but instead uses radio 
signals to transmit signals, normally using 
the 802.11b or 802.11a transmission proto- 
col. Also called wireless LAN 



265 



World Wide Web 



wire tap /' waia taep/ noun an unauthorised 
connection to a private communications line 
in order to listen to conversations or obtain 
private data 

wiring /'waianrj/ noun a series of wires O 
The wiring in the system had to be replaced. 
WISC Avisk/ noun a CPU design that al- 
lows a programmer to add extra machine 
code instructions using microcode, to cus- 
tomise the instruction set. Full form writable 
instruction set computer 
wizard /'wizad/ noun a software utility that 
helps you create something 
WML /,dAb(3)l jui em 'el/ noun a webpage 
formatting language that is similar to a very 
simple version of the standard HTML web- 
page coding system, but does not include 
many of the extra features that cannot be dis- 
played on the small screen of a WAP hand- 
held device or navigated with two or three 
buttons. Full form WAP markup language 
WMLScript /,dAb(a)l jui em 'el .skript/ 
noun a scripting language similar to a very 
simple version of JavaScript that allows 
WML webpages to include scripting func- 
tions. Full form WAP markup language 
script 

woofer /'wufa/ noun a large loudspeaker 
used to produce low frequency sounds 
(informal) 

word /w3id/ noun 1 . a separate item of lan- 
guage, which is used with others to form 
speech or writing which can be understood 2. 
a separate item of data on a computer, formed 
of a group of bits, stored in a single location 
in a memory 

word count /'w3id kaont/ noun the 
number of words in a file or text 
WordPad /'w3idpaed/ a software utility in- 
cluded with versions of Microsoft Windows 
later than Windows 95 that provides the basic 
functions of Microsoft Word 6 
word-process /,w3id 'prsuses/ verb to 
edit, store and manipulate text using a com- 
puter O It is quite easy to read word-proc- 
essed files. 

word-processing /,w3id 'praosesirj/ 
noun the process of using a computer to key- 
board, edit and output text, in forms such as 
letters, labels and address lists O Load the 
word-processing program before you start 
keyboarding. Abbr WP 

word-processor /,w3id 'prsu.sesa/ 
noun 1. a small computer used for word- 
processing text and documents 2. a word- 
processing package or program for a compu- 
ter which allows the editing and manipula- 
tion and output of text, in forms such as let- 
ters, labels and address lists 



word wrap /'w3:d raep/ noun a system in 
word-processing in which the operator does 
not have to indicate the line endings, but can 
keyboard continuously, leaving the program 
to insert word breaks and to continue the text 
on the next line. Also called wraparound 
work file /'w3ik fail/ noun a temporary 
work area which is being used for current 
work. Also called scratch file 
workflow /'w3ikfbu/ noun software de- 
signed to improve the flow of electronic doc- 
uments around an office network, from user 
to user 

workgroup /'w3ikgruip/ noun a small 
group of users who are working on a project 
or connected with a local area network 
workgroup software /'w3ikgruip 
,SDftwea/ noun an application designed to 
be used by many users in a group to improve 
productivity, e.g. a diary or scheduler 
working /'w3ikirj/ adjective operating cor- 
rectly 

workload /'w3ik,bod/ noun the amount of 
work which a person or computer has to do O 
He has difficulty in dealing with his heavy 
workload. 

workplace /'w3ikpleis/ noun a place 
where you work 

work print /'w3ik print/ noun a positive 
print of a film scene which has been selected 
by the editor (film) 

work-Sharing /'w3ik .Jeanrj/ noun a sys- 
tem where two part-timers share one job 
worksheet /'w3ik,Jiit/ noun (in a spread- 
sheet program) a two-dimensional matrix of 
rows and columns that contains cells which 
can, themselves, contain equations 
workspace /'w3ikspeis/ noun a space on 
memory which is available for use or is being 
used currently by an operator 
workstation /'w3ik,steij(3)n/ noun a 
place where a computer user works, with 
equipment such as a terminal, VDU, printer 
and modem O The system includes five work- 
stations linked together in a ring topology 
network. 
'...an image processing workstation must pro- 
vide three basic facilities: the means to digitize, 
display and manipulate the image data' [Byte] 
world /w3ild/ noun a three-dimensional 
scene that is displayed on a website and al- 
lows a user to move around the scene explor- 
ing the objects visible. i> VRML 
World Wide Web /,w3ild ,waid 'web/ 
noun a collection of the millions of websites 
and webpages that together form the part of 
the Internet that is most often seen by users. 
Abbr www, W3. Also called web 
comment: Each website is a collection of 
webpages containing text, graphics and 



World Wide Web Consortium 266 



links to other websites. Each page is creat- 
ed using the HTML language and is viewed 
by a user with a web browser. Navigating 
between webpages and websites is called 
surfing; this requires a computer with a link 
to the Internet and a web browser to view 
the webpages stored on the remote web 
servers. The Internet itself includes email, 
Usenet and newsgroups as well as web- 
sites and webpages. 
World Wide Web Consortium /,w3:ld 
waid 'web kan^Ditiam/ noun full form of 
W3C 

WORM /w3im/ noun an optical disk storage 
system that allows the user to write data to 
the disk once, but the user can then read the 
data from the disk many times. Full form 
write once, read many times memory 
WOW /wau/ noun the fluctuation of the fre- 
quency of a recorded signal at playback (usu- 
ally caused by uneven tape movement) 
WP abbr word-processing 
wraparound /'ra3p3,raond/ noun same as 
word wrap 

writable instruction set computer 
/,rait3b(3)l m,strAkj3n set kauj'pjuita/ 
noun full form of WISC 
write /rait/ verb 1 . to put words or figures 
onto paper O She wrote a letter of complaint 
to the manager. 2. to put text or data onto a 
disk O Access time is the time taken to read 
from or write to a location in memory. (NOTE: 
writes - writing - wrote - written. You 
write data to a file.) 



write black printer /,rart 'blaek .prmta/ 
noun a printer in which toner sticks to the 
points hit by the laser beam when the image 
drum is scanned. Compare white writer 

comment: A write black printer produces 
sharp edges and graphics, but large areas 
of black are muddy. 

write once, read many times memo- 
ry /,rait ,wAns riid 'meni ,taimz 
,mem(3)ri/ noun full form of WORM 
write-on Slides /,rait Dn 'slaidz/ plural 
noun during a film's production, slides with 
a matte covering are used, on which informa- 
tion is hand drawn to show the final image 
write-permit ring /,rait pa'mit nrj/ noun 
a ring on a reel of magnetic tape which allows 
the tape to be overwritten or erased 
write protect /,rait pra'tekt/ verb to 
make it impossible to write to a floppy disk 
or tape by moving a special write-protect tab 
writing /'raitirj/ noun something which has 
been written 

WYSIAYG /'wiziieig/ noun a program in 
which the output on screen cannot be printed 
out in any other form, as it contains no hidden 
print or formatting commands. Full form 
What-You-See-ls-AII-You-Get 
WYSIWYG /'wiziiwig/ noun a program in 
which the output on the screen is exactly the 
same as the output on printout, including 
graphics and special fonts. Full form What- 
You-See-ls-What-You-Get 



X 1 /eks/ noun same as X-Window System 

'X is the underlying technology which allows 
Unix applications to run under a multi-user, mul- 
titasking GUI. It has been adopted as the standard 
for the Common Open Software Environment, 
proposed recently by top Unix vendors including 
Digital, IBM and Sun.' [Computing] 

X 2 /eks/ abbr extension 
X2 noun a communications standard devel- 
oped by US Robotics for its range of high- 
speed modems that can transfer data at 
56,000 bits per second. i> V series 
X.25 noun a CCITT standard that defines 
the connection between a terminal and a 
packet-switching network 
X.400 noun a CCITT standard that defines 
an email transfer method 
X.500 noun a CCITT standard that defines a 
method of global naming that allows every 
user to have a unique identity and allows any 
user to address an email message to any other 
user, tf directory services 
XA » CD-ROM Extended Architecture 
X-axis /,eks ,aut 'aeksis/ noun the horizon- 
tal axis of a graph 

x-coordinate /,eks kau'oidmat/ noun a 
horizontal axis position coordinate 
x direction /,eks ,aut di'rekj"(3)n/ noun a 
movement horizontally 
x distance /,eks ,aut 'distans/ noun the 
distance along an x-axis from an origin 
xerographic /.ziareo'graeftk/ adjective 
referring to xerography 
xerographic printer /.zwragraeftk 
'print a/ noun a printer such as a photocopier 
in which charged ink is attracted to areas of a 
charged picture 

xerography /zia'rDgrefi/ noun a copying 
method that relies on ink being attracted to 
dark regions of a charged picture 
Xerox Network System /.ziaroks 
'netw3ik ,sist3m/ a network protocol devel- 
oped by Xerox that has provided the basis for 
the Novell IPX network protocols. Abbr XNS 
Xerox PARC a Xerox development centre 
that has developed a wide range of important 
products including the mouse and GUI 
XGA /.eks d3ii 'ei/ noun a standard for col- 
our video graphics adapter for PCs, devel- 
oped by IBM, which has a resolution of 1 ,024 
x 768 pixels with 256 colours on an inter- 



laced display. Full form extended graphics 
array 

XHTML /,eks eitj tii em 'el/ noun a com- 
bination of the HTML and XML webpage 
markup languages. Full form extensible hy- 
pertext markup language 

comment: XHTML is actually written using 
the XML language and provides a simpler 
way of creating webpages that will be dis- 
played in the same way over a wide range 
of web browser platforms. 

XML /,eks em 'el/ noun a webpage markup 
language that is a simplified version of the 
SGML system and allows a designer to cre- 
ate his or her own customised markup tags to 
improve flexibility. Full form extensible 
markup language 

XMODEM /'eks .maudem/ noun a stand- 
ard file transfer and error-detecting protocol 
used in asynchronous, modem data transmis- 
sions 

XMS /.eks em 'es/ noun a set of rules that 
define how an MS-DOS program should ac- 
cess extended memory fitted in a PC. Full 
form extended memory specification 
XNS abbr Xerox Network System 
XON/XOFF /,eks Dn eks 'r>f/ noun an 
asynchronous transmission protocol in which 
each end can regulate the data flow by trans- 
mitting special codes 

X/OPEN /,eks 'aopan/ noun a group of 
vendors that are responsible for promoting 
open systems 

XP abbr 1 . Athlon XP 2. Windows XP 
X-ray /'eks ,rei/ noun 1 . a ray with a very 
short length, which is invisible, but can go 
through soft tissue and register as a photo- 
graph on a film 2. a photograph taken using 
X-rays O The medical text is illustrated with 
X-ray photographs. 3. a lighting unit that 
hangs above the set (film) 
X-ray imaging /'eks rei ,imid3irj/ noun 
the process of showing images of the inside 
of a body using X-rays 
X-series /,eks ,aut 'siariiz/ noun a set of 
recommendations for data communications 
over public data networks 
X-Sheet /'eks Jilt/ noun written orders for 
the exposure of animation film 
XT /,eks 'ti:/ noun a trade name for a version 
of the original IBM PC, developed by IBM, 



X-Window System 



268 



that used an 8088 processor and included a 
hard disk 

X-Window System /,eks .wmdao 
'sistam/, X-Windows a graphical interface, 
usually used on Unix workstation computers, 
made up of a set of API commands and dis- 
play handling routines that provide a hard- 
ware-independent programming interface for 
applications 
'X is the underlying technology which allows 
Unix applications to run under a multi-user, mul- 
titasking GUI. It has been adopted as the standard 



for the Common Open Software Environment, 
proposed recently by top Unix vendors including 
Digital, IBM and Sun.' [Computing] 
comment: Originally developed for UNIX 
workstations, it can also run on a PC or 
minicomputer terminals. The Open Soft- 
ware Foundation has a version of X-Win- 
dows called Motif; Sun and Hewlett Pack- 
ard have a version called OpenLook. 

X-y /,eks 'aut wai/ noun the set of coordi- 
nates for drawing a graph, where x is the hor- 
izontal and y the vertical value 



Y noun the luminance part of a video image 
yaw /jo:/ noun the rotation of satellite about 
a vertical axis with the earth 
y-axis /'wai .aeksis/ noun the vertical axis 
of a graph 

Y/C /,wai 'si:/ noun two parts of a video sig- 
nal representing the luminance (Y) and the 
chrominance (C) parts of the image 
Y/C delay /,wai "si: di.lei/ noun an error 
caused by wrong synchronisation between 
the luma and chroma signals in a video trans- 
mission, seen as a colour halo around objects 
on the screen 

y-coordinate /'wai kau,a:dmat/ noun 
the vertical axis position coordinate 
Y/C video /,wai si: 'vidiau/ noun same as 
S-Video 

y-direction /'wai dai.rekfan/ noun a ver- 
tical movement 

y-distance /'wai .distans/ noun the dis- 
tance along a y-axis from an origin 



Yellow Book /'jelau bok/ noun a formal 
specification for CD-ROM published by 
Philips, which includes data storage formats 
and has an extension to cover the CD-ROM 
XA standard 

yellow-magenta-cyan-black /Jehu 
magenta 'saian blaek/ noun full form of 
YMCK 

YMCK /,wai em si: 'kei/ noun colour defi- 
nition based on the four colours used in DTP 
software when creating separate colour film 
to use for printing. Full form yellow-magen- 
ta-cyan-black 

YMODEM /'wai ,maodem/ noun a varia- 
tion of the XMODEM file transfer protocol 
that uses 1024-byte blocks and can send mul- 
tiple files 

YUV encoding /,wai ju: vi: m'kaaodirj/ 
noun a video encoding system in which the 
video luminance (Y) signal is recorded at full 
bandwidth but the chrominance signals 
(U&V) are recorded at half their bandwidth 



Z symbol impedance 

Z80 /,zed 'eiti/ noun an 8-bit processor de- 
veloped by Zilog, used in many early popular 
computers 

zap /zaep/ verb to wipe off all data currently 
in the workspace O He pressed CONTROL Z 
and zapped all the text, (note: zapping - 
zapped) 

Z-axiS /'zed .aeksis/ noun an axis for depth 
in a three-dimensional graph or plot 
Z buffer /'zed ,bAf 3/ noun an area of mem- 
ory used to store the z-axis information for a 
graphics object displayed on screen 
zero /'zisrsu/ noun 1. the digit O The 
code for international calls is zero one zero 
(010). 2. the equivalent of logical off or false 
state (note: The plural is zeros or zeroes.) 
■ verb to erase or clear a file or the contents 
of a programmable device 
zero insertion force socket /.ziarau m 
,s3:J(3)n t'ois 'sDkit/ noun a chip socket that 
has movable connection terminals, allowing 
the chip to be inserted without using any 
force, then a small lever is turned to grip the 
legs of the chip. Also called ZIF socket 
zero slot LAN /.ziarau slttt 'ken/ noun a 
local area network that does not use internal 
expansion adapters, but instead the serial port 
or, sometimes, an external pocket network 
adapters connected to the printer port 
zero wait state /.zwrau 'weit ,steit/ 
noun the state of a device (normally proces- 
sor or memory chips) that is fast enough to 
run at the same speed as the other compo- 
nents in a computer, so does not have to be ar- 
tificially slowed down by inserting wait 
states 

ZIF socket /'zif ,SDkit/ noun same as zero 
insertion force socket 
zine /zim/ noun a paper, Internet magazine 
or other periodical published by its author, is- 
sued at irregular intervals and usually aimed 
at specialist readers 

ZIP /zip/ noun a filename extension given to 
files that contain compressed data, usually 
generated by the PKZIP shareware utility 
program 

zip code /'zip 'kaod/ noun US letters and 
numbers used to indicate a town or street in 
an address on an envelope 



Zip disk /'zip disk/ noun a proprietary type 
of removable storage device, similar to a re- 
movable hard disk drive, manufactured by 
Iomega Corp. to provide a convenient backup 
and storage medium with 100 Mb or 1Gb 
disk capacity. 

zip file /'zip fail/ noun a computer file with 
the extension .zip containing data that has 
been compressed for storage or transmission. 
ZMODEM /'zed ,m3odem/ noun an en- 
hanced version of the XMODEM file transfer 
protocol that includes error detection and the 
ability to restart a transfer where it left off if 
the connection is cut 

zone /zaon/ noun 1 . a region or part of a 
screen defined for specialised printing 2. the 
division of the area of a television picture 
raste. Usually, zone 1 is the part held within 
a circle of 0.8 of picture height, zone 2 is the 
circle equal to picture width, and zone 3 is the 
rest of the area outside zone 2. 
zoom /zuim/ verb 1. to enlarge an area of 
text or graphics to make it easier to work on 
2. to change the focal length of a lens to en- 
large the object in the viewfinder 
'...any window can be zoomed to full-screen size 
by pressing the F-5 function key' [Byte] 
'...there are many options to allow you to zoom 
into an area for precision work' [Electronics 
& Wireless World] 

zoomed video port /,zuimd 'vidiau 
,poit/ noun full form of ZV Port 
zooming /'zuimirj/ noun the process of en- 
larging an area of text or graphics O Variable 
zooming from 25% to 400% of actual size. 
zoom lens /'zuim lenz/ noun a lens whose 
focal length can be varied to make an object 
larger in the viewfinder 
zoom microphone /,zuim 'maikrafaon/ 
noun a microphone which can give a zoom 
effect by moving towards or away from 
sound 

ZV Port /,zed 'vii ,pa:t/ noun an interface 
port that allows data to be transferred from a 
PC Card directly to the computer's video 
controller without passing through the com- 
puter's central processor. Full form zoomed 
video port (note: It is used to allow a lap- 
top computer to display live images from a 
video camera plugged into the computer's 
PC Card socket.) 



SUPPLEMENTS 



HTML codes 

The following is a list of the basic HTML codes (or tags) used to format webpages. 

<a> ... </a> 

creates a hyperlink target or source. For example, 

<a href ="www.bloomsbury. com" >link to Bloomsbury</a> 
will create a hyperlink to the Bloomsbury Publishing Pic webpage. 

<address> ... </address> 

enclosed text is formatted in smaller typeface as an address 

<applet> ... </applet> 

defines an applet within the document 

<area> 

defines the area of a graphic image that will respond to a mouse click using a 
client-side imagemap 

<b> ... </b> 

formats enclosed text in a bold typeface 

<base> 

defines the URL that is added in front of all relative URLs used within the document 

<basefont> 

defines the point size of the font used to format for the following text 

<bgsound> 

defines the audio file played as a background sound to the document (used in MS-IE) 

<big> ... </big> 

formats enclosed text in a bigger typeface 

<blockquote> ... </blockquote> 

formats the enclosed text as a quotation 

<body> ... </body> 

defines the start and finish of this document's body text; also used to define a graphic 
image used as a background, and to set the default colour of the text, hyperlinks and 
margins for the document 

<br> 

inserts a line break in the text; the <p> code also inserts a carriage return 

<caption> ... </caption> 

defines the caption for a table 

<center> ... </center> 

formats enclosed text to be centered across the line 

<cite> ... </cite> 

formats enclosed text as a citation 

<code> ... </code> 

formats enclosed text as program code, normally using the Courier typeface 

<col> 

defines the properties for a column that has been defined using <colgroup> 



HTML codes continued 

<colgroup> 

defines a column 

<comment> ... </comment> 

defines the enclosed text to be a comment. Only works in MS IE; with any other 
browser you should use the <!> comment <> tag format 

<dd> ... </dd> 

defines one element of a definition list 

<dfn> ... </dfn> 

formats enclosed text as a definition 

<dir> ... </dir> 

creates a directory list using the <li> to create entries 

<div> ... </div> 

divides the text within a document and formats each division 

<dl> ... </dl> 

creates a definition list using the <dd> and <dt> tags to create entries 

<dt> ... </dt> 

defines the definition part of an entry within a definition list 

<em> ... </em> 

formats enclosed text with emphasis (similar to bold typeface) 

<embed> ... </embed> 

points to an object to embed in a document 

<font> ... </font> 

defines the size, colour and typeface of the font to use for the enclosed text 

<form> ... </form> 

defines the following tags to be treated as one form; also defines how to process the 
form and where to send the encoded information 

<frame> ... </frame> 

defines a frame, including its border, colour, name and text 

<frameset> ... </frameset> 

defines a collection of frames 

<h> ... </h> 

defines a pre-set font size, such as <hl> for a large headings, <h4> for small headings 

<hr> 

breaks the current line of text and inserts a horizontal rule across the page 

<html> ... </html> 

defines the start and end of the entire html document 

<i>... </i> 

formats enclosed text using an italic typeface 

<iframe> ... </iframe> 

defines a floating frame 



HTML codes continued 

<img> 

includes an image within a document, also defines a border for the image, size, 
alternative caption text and whether the image is a video clip 

<input type=checkbox> 

defines a checkbox button within a form 

<input type=file> 

defines a file-selection list within a form 

<input type=image> 

defines an image input element within a form 

<input type=password> 

defines a text input that displays an asterisk when text is entered 

<input type=radio> 

defines a radio button within a form 

<input type=reset> 

defines a button to reset the form's contents 

<input type=submit> 

defines a button to submit the form's contents to the named process 

<input type=text> 

defines a text input element to allow users to enter a line of text 

<isindex> 

defines the html document to be searchable by a defined search engine 

<kbd> ... </kbd> 

formats enclosed text as a keyboard input 

<li> ... </li> 

defines an item in a list; the list can be ordered using <ol> or unordered using <ul> 

<link> 

defines a link within a document header 

<listing> ... </listing> 

an old tag that is the same as the <pre> tag 

<map> ... </map> 

defines an image map that contains hotspots 

<marquee> ... </marquee> 

creates an animated scrolling text line, used in MS-IE 

<menu> ... </menu> 

defines a menu that has items created using the <li> tag 

<meta> 

allows the programmer to include extra information about the document 

<multicol> ... </multicol> 

defines multiple columns within the document; only used in Netscape Navigator 



HTML codes continued 

<nextid> 

used by automated html document generators as a reference point within a file 

<nobr> ... </nobr> 

prevents the browser adding breaks within the enclosed text 

<noframes> ... </noframes> 

defines content that should be displayed if the browser does not support frames 

<noscript> ... </noscript> 

defines content that should be used if the browser does not support Java; only used in 
Netscape Navigator 

<object> ... </object> 

defines an object, applet or OLE object to be inserted into the document 

<ol> ... </ol> 

defines the start and end of a numbered list; items are inserted using the <li> tag 

<option> ... </option> 

defines one option within a <select> tag 

<p> ... </p> 

defines the start and end of a paragraph 

<param> ... </param> 

defines the parameters to be passed to an applet or object 

<plaintext> 

formats the rest of the document as plain text with spaces and breaks 

<pre> ... </pre> 

formats the enclosed text as plaintext with spaces and breaks 

<s> ... </s> 

formats enclosed text with a strikethrough (horizontal line) 

<samp> ... </samp> 

defines enclosed text as an example (sample) 

<script> ... </script> 

defines the start and end of a script written in a language such as JavaScript or 
VBScript 

<select> ... </select> 

defines a list of options within a form, each created using the <option> tag 

<small> ... </small> 

formats enclosed text in a small type size 

<spacer> 

inserts a character space within a line of text; only used in Netscape Navigator 

<span> ... </span> 

define a style sheet that formats text over several tags 

<strike> ... </strike> 

formats enclosed text with a strikethrough (horizontal line) 



HTML codes continued 

<strong> ... </strong> 

formats enclosed text with emphasis, similar to bold typeface 

<style> ... </style> 

defines a collection of text formatting commands that can be referred to with this style 
command 

<sub> ... </sufc» 

formats enclosed text as subscript 

<sup> ... </sup> 

formats enclosed text as superscript 

<table> ... </table> 

defines a table including border, colour, size and width; columns are added with <td> 
and rows with <tr> 

<tbody> 

a group of rows within a table 

<td> ... </td> 

defines a cell within a table, effectively adds a column to the table 

<textarea> ... </textarea> 

defines a multiple line text input element for a form 

<tfoot> 

defines rows within a table that are formatted as a footer to the table 

<th> ... </th> 

defines the header to each column in a table 

<thead> 

defines rows within a table that are formatted as a header to the table 

<title> ... </title> 

defines the title of an html document 

<tr> ... </tr> 

defines a row of cells within a table 

<tt> ... </tt> 

formats enclosed text in a monospaced typewriter-style font 

<ul> ... </ul> 

defines the start and end of a bulleted list of elements; each element is added using <li> 

<var> ... </var> 

enclosed text is the name of a variable 

<wbr> 

defines a possible point for a word break within a <nobr> line 

<xmp> ... </xmp> 

an old tag that formats enclosed text, similar to <pre> 



Prefixes 



Symbols 



T 


tera- 


10 


G 


giga- 


10 ; 


M 


mega- 


10' 


k 


kilo- 


10 : 


d 


deci- 


10 


c 


centi- 


10 


m 


milli- 


10 


M 


micro- 


10 


n 


nano- 


10 


P 


pico- 


10 


f 


femto- 


10 


a 


atto- 


10 



/o 



per cent 

equals 

approximately equal to 

is not equal to 

is less than 

is more than 

plus 

minus 

divided by 

multiplied by 

therefore 

and 



Decimal Conversion Table 



base 



Decimal 


BCD 


Binary 


Octal 


Hexadecimal 


10 


2 


2 


8 


16 


00 


0000 0000 


0000 


00 





01 


0000 0001 


0001 


01 


1 


02 


0000 0010 


0010 


02 


2 


03 


0000 001 1 


0011 


03 


3 


04 


0000 0100 


0100 


04 


4 


05 


0000 0101 


0101 


05 


5 


06 


0000 0110 


0110 


06 


6 


07 


0000 01 1 1 


0111 


07 


7 


08 


0000 1000 


1000 


10 


8 


09 


0000 1001 


1001 


11 


9 


10 


0001 0000 


1010 


12 


A 


11 


0001 0001 


1011 


13 


B 


12 


0001 0010 


1100 


14 


C 


13 


0001 001 1 


1101 


15 


D 


14 


0001 0100 


1110 


16 


E 


15 


0001 0101 


1111 


17 


F 



Unicode Characters - 207 in Decimal and Hexadecimal 



dec 


hex 


char 


dec 


hex 


char 


dec 


hex 


char 


dec 


hex 


char 








NUL 


52 


34 


4 


104 


68 


h 


156 


9C 


ST 


1 


1 


SOH 


53 


35 


5 


105 


69 


i 


157 


9D 


OSC 


2 


2 


STX 


54 


36 


6 


106 


6A 


i 


158 


9E 


PM 


3 


3 


ETX 


55 


37 


7 


107 


6B 


k 


159 


9F 


APC 


4 


4 


EOT 


56 


38 


8 


108 


6C 


I 


160 


AO 


NBSP 


5 


5 


ENQ 


57 


39 


9 


109 


6D 


m 


161 


A1 


i 


6 


6 


ACK 


58 


3A 




110 


6E 


n 


162 


A2 





7 


7 


BEL 


59 


3B 


j 


111 


6F 





163 


A3 


£ 


8 


8 


BS 


60 


3C 


< 


112 


70 


P 


164 


A4 


a 


9 


9 


HT 


61 


3D 


= 


113 


71 


q 


165 


A5 


¥ 


10 


0A 


LF 


62 


3E 


> 


114 


72 


r 


166 


A6 


I 


11 


OB 


VT 


63 


3F 


? 


115 


73 


s 


167 


A7 


§ 


12 


OC 


FF 


64 


40 


@ 


116 


74 


t 


168 


A8 




13 


OD 


CR 


65 


41 


A 


117 


75 


u 


169 


A9 


© 


14 


OE 


SO 


66 


42 


B 


118 


76 


V 


170 


AA 


« 


15 


OF 


SI 


67 


43 


C 


119 


77 


w 


171 


AB 


« 


16 


10 


DLE 


68 


44 


D 


120 


78 


X 


172 


AC 


-i 


17 


11 


DC1 


69 


45 


E 


121 


79 


y 


173 


AD 


SHY 


18 


12 


DC2 


70 


46 


F 


122 


7A 


z 


174 


AE 


® 


19 


13 


DC3 


71 


47 


G 


123 


7B 


{ 


175 


AF 


- 


20 


14 


DC4 


72 


48 


H 


124 


7C 


I 


176 


BO 


° 


21 


15 


NAK 


73 


49 


I 


125 


7D 


} 


177 


B1 


± 


22 


16 


SYN 


74 


4A 


J 


126 


7E 


- 


178 


B2 


2 


23 


17 


ETB 


75 


4B 


K 


127 


7F 


DEL 


179 


B3 


3 


24 


18 


CAN 


76 


4C 


L 


128 


80 


XXX 


180 


B4 




25 


19 


EM 


77 


4D 


M 


129 


81 


XXX 


181 


B5 


V 


26 


1A 


SUB 


78 


4E 


N 


130 


82 


BPH 


182 


B6 


H 


27 


1B 


ESC 


79 


4F 


O 


131 


83 


NBH 


183 


B7 




28 


1C 


FS 


80 


50 


P 


132 


84 


IND 


184 


B8 




29 


1D 


GS 


81 


51 


Q 


133 


85 


NEL 


185 


B9 


1 


30 


1E 


RS 


82 


52 


R 


134 


86 


SSA 


186 


BA 


9 


31 


1F 


US 


83 


53 


S 


135 


87 


ESA 


187 


BB 


»» 


32 


20 


SP 


84 


54 


T 


136 


88 


HTS 


188 


BC 


1 /4 


33 


21 


! 


85 


55 


U 


137 


89 


HTJ 


189 


BD 


y 2 


34 


22 


" 


86 


56 


V 


138 


8A 


VTS 


190 


BE 


% 


35 


23 


# 


87 


57 


w 


139 


8B 


PLD 


191 


BF 


6 


36 


24 


$ 


88 


58 


X 


140 


8C 


PLU 


192 


CO 


A 


37 


25 


% 


89 


59 


Y 


141 


8D 


Rl 


193 


C1 


A 


38 


26 


& 


90 


5A 


z 


142 


8E 


SS2 


194 


C2 


A 


39 


27 


' 


91 


5B 


[ 


143 


8F 


SS3 


195 


C3 


A 


40 


28 


( 


92 


5C 


\ 


144 


90 


DCS 


196 


C4 


A 


41 


29 


) 


93 


5D 


] 


145 


91 


PU1 


197 


C5 


A 


42 


2A 


* 


94 


5E 


A 


146 


92 


PU2 


198 


C6 


/E 


43 


2B 


+ 


95 


5F 




147 


93 


STS 


199 


C7 





44 


2C 


, 


96 


60 




148 


94 


CCH 


200 


C8 


E 


45 


2D 


- 


97 


61 


a 


149 


95 


MW 


201 


C9 


E 


46 


2E 




98 


62 


b 


150 


96 


SPA 


202 


CA 


E 


47 


2F 


/ 


99 


63 


c 


151 


97 


EPA 


203 


CB 


E 


48 


30 





100 


64 


d 


152 


98 


SOS 


204 


CC 


I 


49 


31 


1 


101 


65 


e 


153 


99 


XXX 


205 


CD 


f 


50 


32 


2 


102 


66 


f 


154 


9A 


SCI 


206 


CE 


I 


51 


33 


3 


103 


67 


g 


155 


9B 


CSI 


207 


CF 


I 



Unicode Characters 208 - 255 in Decimal and Hexadecimal 



dec 


hex 


char 


dec 


hex 


char 


dec 


hex 


char 


dec 


hex 


char 


208 


DO 


D 


220 


DC 


U 


232 


E8 


e 


244 


F4 


6 


209 


D1 


N 


221 


DD 


Y 


233 


E9 


e 


245 


F5 


6 


210 


D2 


6 


222 


DE 


P 


234 


EA 


e 


246 


F6 


6 


211 


D3 


6 


223 


DF 


B 


235 


EB 


e 


247 


F7 


-^ 


212 


D4 


6 


224 


E0 


a 


236 


EC 


i 


248 


F8 





213 


D5 


6 


225 


E1 


a 


237 


ED 


i 


249 


F9 


u 


214 


D6 


6 


226 


E2 


a 


238 


EE 


i 


250 


FA 


u 


215 


D7 


X 


227 


E3 


a 


239 


EF 


T 


251 


FB 


u 


216 


D8 





228 


E4 


a 


240 


FO 


a 


252 


FC 


u 


217 


D9 


U 


229 


E5 


a 


241 


F1 


n 


253 


FD 


y 


218 


DA 


U 


230 


E6 


as 


242 


F2 


6 


254 


FE 


t> 


219 


DB 


U 


231 


E7 


9 


243 


F3 


6 


255 


FF 


y 



Notes: 

1 . Characters - 

2. Characters 32 



127 form the ASCII character set. 

- 1 27 and 1 60 - 255 are the same in the ANSI character set. 



Unicode CO and CI controls 



NUL 


null 


EM 


SOH 


start of heading 


SUB 


SOT 


start of text 


ESC 


ETX 


end of text 


FS 


EOT 


end of transmission GS 


ENQ 


enquiry 


RS 


ACK 


acknowledge 


US 


BEL 


bell 


SP 


BS 


backspace 


DEL 


HT 


horizontal tab 


BPH 


LF 


linefeed 


NBH 


VT 


vertical tab 


IND 


FF 


form feed 


NEL 


CR 


carriage return 


SSA 


SO 


shift out 


OSC 


SI 


shift in 




DLE 


data link escape 


ESA 


DC 


device control 


HTS 


NAK 


negative ack. 


HTJ 


SYN 
ETB 


synchronous idle 

end of transmission VTS 




block 


PLD 


CAN 


cancel 


PLU 



end of medium 

substitute 

esape 

file separator 

group separator 

record separator 

unit separator 

space 

delete 

break permitted here 

no break here 

indent 

next line 

start of selected area 

operating system 

command 

end of selected area 

character tabulation set 

character tabulation 

with justification 
line tabulation set 

partial line forward 

partial line backward 



Rl reverse line feed 

552 single shift two 

553 single shift three 
DCS device control string 
PU1 private use one 
PU2 private use two 
STS set tranmit state 
CCH cancel character 
MW message waiting 
SPA start of guarded area 
EPA end of guarded area 
SOS start of string 

SCI single character 

introducer 

CSI control sequence 

introducer 

ST string terminator 

PM privacy message 

APC application program 

command 
NBSP no-break space 

SHY soft hyphen 



Logic Function Tables 



Written as Drawn as 



logic table 



A AND B 



A OR B 



A EXOR B 



NOT A 



A NAND B 






A NOR B 



A EXNOR B 



3L> 



A 


A 








1 


1 



A 


B 


A*B 














1 





1 








1 


1 


1 



A 


B 


A+B 














1 


1 


1 





1 


1 


1 


1 



A 


B 


A exor B 














1 


1 


1 





1 


1 


1 






A 


A 





1 


1 






A 


B 


A.B 








1 





1 


1 


1 





1 


1 


1 






A 


B 


A+B 








1 





1 





1 








1 


1 






A 


B 


AexnorB 








1 





1 





1 








1 


1 


1
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