15-letter words containing c, o, m, p, s
- compromissorial — Relating to compromise.
- comptrollership — controller (def 1).
- computer ethics — (philosophy) Ethics is the field of study that is concerned with questions of value, that is, judgments about what human behaviour is "good" or "bad". Ethical judgments are no different in the area of computing from those in any other area. Computers raise problems of privacy, ownership, theft, and power, to name but a few. Computer ethics can be grounded in one of four basic world-views: Idealism, Realism, Pragmatism, or Existentialism. Idealists believe that reality is basically ideas and that ethics therefore involves conforming to ideals. Realists believe that reality is basically nature and that ethics therefore involves acting according to what is natural. Pragmatists believe that reality is not fixed but is in process and that ethics therefore is practical (that is, concerned with what will produce socially-desired results). Existentialists believe reality is self-defined and that ethics therefore is individual (that is, concerned only with one's own conscience). Idealism and Realism can be considered ABSOLUTIST worldviews because they are based on something fixed (that is, ideas or nature, respectively). Pragmatism and Existentialism can be considered RELATIVIST worldviews because they are based or something relational (that is, society or the individual, respectively). Thus ethical judgments will vary, depending on the judge's world-view. Some examples: First consider theft. Suppose a university's computer is used for sending an e-mail message to a friend or for conducting a full-blown private business (billing, payroll, inventory, etc.). The absolutist would say that both activities are unethical (while recognising a difference in the amount of wrong being done). A relativist might say that the latter activities were wrong because they tied up too much memory and slowed down the machine, but the e-mail message wasn't wrong because it had no significant effect on operations. Next consider privacy. An instructor uses her account to acquire the cumulative grade point average of a student who is in a class which she instructs. She obtained the password for this restricted information from someone in the Records Office who erroneously thought that she was the student's advisor. The absolutist would probably say that the instructor acted wrongly, since the only person who is entitled to this information is the student and his or her advisor. The relativist would probably ask why the instructor wanted the information. If she replied that she wanted it to be sure that her grading of the student was consistent with the student's overall academic performance record, the relativist might agree that such use was acceptable. Finally, consider power. At a particular university, if a professor wants a computer account, all she or he need do is request one but a student must obtain faculty sponsorship in order to receive an account. An absolutist (because of a proclivity for hierarchical thinking) might not have a problem with this divergence in procedure. A relativist, on the other hand, might question what makes the two situations essentially different (e.g. are faculty assumed to have more need for computers than students? Are students more likely to cause problems than faculty? Is this a hold-over from the days of "in loco parentis"?).
- computer screen — the working area on the monitor of a computer
- computer system — a computer or a set of computers that works together
- computer vision — a robot analogue of human vision in which information about the environment is received by one or more video cameras and processed by computer: used in navigation by robots, in the control of automated production lines, etc.
- computerisation — (chiefly, British) alternative spelling of computerization.
- consumption tax — a tax, as a sales tax, levied on consumer goods or services at the time of sale.
- contemporaneous — If two events or situations are contemporaneous, they happen or exist during the same period of time.
- corpus callosum — the band of white fibres that connects the cerebral hemispheres in mammals
- corpus striatum — a striped mass of white and grey matter situated in front of the thalamus in each cerebral hemisphere
- cosmopolitanism — free from local, provincial, or national ideas, prejudices, or attachments; at home all over the world.
- cosmopolitanize — to make cosmopolitan.
- counterexamples — Plural form of counterexample.
- craftswomanship — The body of skills, techniques, and expertise of (a) feminine craft(s).
- crash programme — a short intensive programme to learn a skill, language, etc
- cryptosporidium — any parasitic sporozoan protozoan of the genus Cryptosporidium, species of which are parasites of birds and animals and can be transmitted to humans, causing severe abdominal pain and diarrhoea (cryptosporidiosis)
- customer appeal — attractiveness to customers
- cytophotometers — Plural form of cytophotometer.
- cytoplasmically — by means of a cytoplasm
- decomposability — (uncountable) The condition of being decomposable.
- decompositional — Of or pertaining to decomposition.
- dermatoglyphics — the lines forming a skin pattern, esp on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet
- dynamic scoping — dynamic scope
- dysmorphophobic — relating to or affected with dysmorphophobia
- eclipse scotoma — a blind spot; a permanent or temporary area of depressed or absent vision caused by viewing the sun directly
- emancipationist — An advocate of the emancipation of slaves.
- episodic memory — the recollection of events within their historical setting
- epistemological — Of or pertaining to epistemology or theory of knowledge, as a field of study.
- geodemographics — the study and grouping of the people in a geographical area according to socioeconomic criteria, esp for market research
- gnome computers — (company) A small UK hardware and software company. They make transputer boards for the Acorn Archimedes among other things. E-mail: Chris Stenton <[email protected]>.
- hopper casement — a casement with a sash hinged at the bottom.
- humpback salmon — a pink salmon inhabiting North Pacific waters: so-called because of the hump that appears behind the head of the male when it is ready for spawning.
- hypercatabolism — an abnormally high metabolic breakdown of a substance or tissue which leads to weight loss and physical deterioration
- hypersomnolence — sleepy; drowsy.
- hypocortisolism — (medicine) A cortisol deficiency.
- hypoinsulinemic — Having hypoinsulinemia.
- hystricomorphic — relating to a suborder of rodents
- impecuniousness — The property of being impecunious.
- implied consent — a manifestation of consent to something through conduct, including inaction or silence.
- impressionistic — a person who follows or adheres to the theories, methods, and practices of impressionism, especially in the fields of painting, music, or literature.
- improvvisatrice — Alternative form of improvisatrice.
- incompatibilism — (philosophy) The doctrine that free will and determinism are incompatible, that one necessarily precludes the other.
- incomprehension — lack of comprehension or understanding: The audience listened politely but with incomprehension.
- incomprehensive — not comprehensive.
- inspection arms — a position in military drill in which the missile chamber of a weapon is open for inspection.
- intercomparison — mutual comparison
- isoperimetrical — having equal perimeters
- isotopic number — the number of neutrons minus the number of protons in an atomic nucleus.
- king's champion — a hereditary official at British coronations, representing the king (King's Champion) or the queen (Queen's Champion) who is being crowned, and having originally the function of challenging to mortal combat any person disputing the right of the new sovereign to rule.