26-letter words containing e, n, t, i, o
- common intermediate format — (communications, standard) (CIF) A video format used in videoconferencing systems, which supports both NTSC and PAL signals, with a data rate of 30 frames per second (fps), with each frame containing 288 lines and 352 luminance pixels per line. CIF is part of the ITU H.261 videoconferencing standard. CIF is also known as Full CIF (FCIF) to distinguish it from Quarter CIF (QCIF), a related video format standard that transfers one fourth as much data as CIF.
- communications decency act — (legal) (CDA) An amendment to the U.S. 1996 Telecommunications Bill that went into effect on 1996-02-08. The law, originally proposed by Senator James Exon to protect children from obscenity on the Internet, ended up making it punishable by fines of up to $250,000 to post indecent language on the Internet anywhere that a minor could read it. Thousands of outraged Internet users turned their web pages black in protest or displayed the Electronic Frontier Foundation's special icons. On 1996-06-12, a three-judge panel in Philadelphia ruled the CDA unconstitutional and issued an injunction against the United States Justice Department forbidding them to enforce the "indecency" provisions of the law. Internet users celebrated by displaying an animated "Free Speech" fireworks icon to their web pages, courtesy of the Voters Telecommunications Watch. The Justice Department appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- compassionate conservative — a political conservative who is motivated by concern for the needy but supports policies based on personal responsibility and limited government: George W. Bush ran for president as a compassionate conservative.
- compassionate-conservatism — a political conservative who is motivated by concern for the needy but supports policies based on personal responsibility and limited government: George W. Bush ran for president as a compassionate conservative.
- complementary distribution — a relation such that the members of a pair or set of phones, morphs, or other linguistic units have no environment in common, as aspirated “p” and unaspirated “p” in English, the first occurring only in positions where the second does not.
- computer aided engineering — (application) (CAE) The use of software to help with all phases of engineering design work. Like computer aided design, but also involving the conceptual and analytical design steps and extending into Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (CIM).
- computer-aided engineering — the use of computers to automate manufacturing processes
- computer-aided instruction — (application, education) (CAI, or "- assisted", "- learning", CAL, Computer-Based Training CBT, "e-learning") The use of computers for education and training. The programs and data used in CAI, known as "courseware", may be supplied on media such as CD-ROM or delivered via a network which also enables centralised logging of student progress. CAI may constitute the whole or part of a course, may be done individually or in groups ("Computer Supported Collaborative Learning", CSCL), with or without human guidance.
- computer-assisted learning — Computer-Aided Instruction
- computer-generated imagery — (graphics) (CGI) Animatied graphics produced by computer and used in film or television.
- concentrate someone's mind — If you say that an unpleasant fact or situation concentrates someone's mind, you mean that it makes them think clearly, because they are aware of the serious consequences if they do not.
- concurrent versions system — a system that allows more than one person to work on the same file at the same time, merging their changes but keeping records of the different versions
- conditional sale agreement — a type of hire-purchase agreement
- confidential communication — a confidential statement made to a lawyer, doctor, or pastor, or to one's spouse, privileged against disclosure in court if the privilege is claimed by the client, patient, penitent, or spouse.
- confirmed letter of credit — a letter that a buyer can request from their bank to confirm to the seller of something that they will receive payment
- consolidated balance sheet — a statement that shows the financial position of a parent company and its subsidiary companies at a specified date by listing the asset balances and the claims on such assets
- constantine xi palaeologus — (Dragases) 1404–53, last Byzantine emperor 1449–53.
- continuation passing style — (language) (CPS) An intermediate language for Scheme that implements continuation passing style. The CPS language is semantically clean and is used for the SML/NJ compiler.
- contrary to popular belief — You use contrary to popular belief to introduce a statement that is the opposite to what is thought to be true by most ordinary people.
- conversational implicature — an inference that can be drawn from an utterance, as from one that is seemingly illogical or irrelevant, by examining the degree to which it conforms to the canons of normal conversation and the way it functions pragmatically within the situation, as when “The phone is ringing,” said in a situation where both speaker and listener can clearly hear the phone, can be taken as a suggestion to answer the phone.
- convertible term insurance — A convertible term insurance is a life insurance policy which pays out if the policyholder dies within a specified period of time, but also allows them to convert to another type of plan.
- coordinated universal time — Universal Time as periodically adjusted to coordinate with atomic clocks: it serves as the official international basis for standard time
- copying garbage collection — A garbage collection method where memory is divided into two equal halves, known as the "from space" and "to space". Garbage collection copies active cells from the from space to the to space and leaves behind an invisible pointer (an "indirection") from the old position to the new copy. Once all active cells have been copied in one direction, the spaces are swapped and the process repeated in the opposite direction.
- damage limitation exercise — an activity pursued to make the bad results of something as small as possible, when it is impossible to avoid bad results completely
- data manipulation language — (language, database) (DML, or Data Management Language) A language for the manipulation of data in a database by applications and/or directly by end-users. See also Data Definition Language (DDL).
- davisson-germer experiment — an experiment that verified the wave properties of matter by showing that a beam of electrons is diffracted by a crystal at an angle dependent upon the velocity of the electrons.
- de bonis non administratis — of the part of the estate of a deceased person that has not been administered: administration or an administrator de bonis non administratis.
- degenerative joint disease — osteoarthritis
- department of the interior — the department of the U.S. federal government charged with the conservation and development of the natural resources of the U.S. and its possessions. Abbreviation: DOI.
- dichlorophenoxyacetic acid — a chloride derivative of phenol and acetic acid, C6H3Cl2OCH2COOH, used to destroy broad-leaved weeds without injuring grass; 2,4-D
- dinosaur national monument — a national monument in NE Utah and NW Colorado: site of prehistoric animal fossils. 322 sq. mi. (834 sq. km).
- direct-vision spectroscope — a simple spectroscope consisting of a collimating lens and an Amici prism.
- discrete fourier transform — (mathematics) (DFT) A Fourier transform, specialized to the case where the abscissas are integers. The DFT is central to many kinds of signal processing, including the analysis and compression of video and sound information. A common implementation of the DFT is the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). See also discrete cosine transform.
- distinguished flying cross — Military. a decoration awarded for heroic or extraordinary achievement while on aerial duty.
- electrochemical equivalent — the mass of an element liberated from its ions or converted into them by one coulomb of electric charge
- electronic countermeasures — (in electronic warfare) actions intended to interfere with an enemy's use of electromagnetic radiation equipment
- electronic data processing — 1. (application) (EDP) data processing by computers. 2. (company) The name of Honeywell's computer business between 1960, when it gained complete ownership of Datamatic Corporation, and 1963, when it was officially renamed Honeywell Inc.
- electronic piece of cheese — EPOC
- electronic programme guide — an on-screen guide that enables viewers of digital television to select programmes using a handheld device
- enhanced capabilities port — (hardware) (ECP) The most common parallel printer interface on current (1997) IBM PC compatibles. Enhanced Capabilities Port is defined in standard IEEE 1284. It is bi-directional and faster than earlier parallel ports. Not to be confused with Extended Capabilities Port.
- enhanced directory service — (operating system) (EDS) A common, distributed, integrated, directory service with centralized and/or replicated administration.
- equal opportunity employer — An equal opportunity employer is an employer who gives people the same opportunities for employment, pay, and promotion, without discrimination against anyone.
- european defence community — a plan proposed in 1950 to form a defence force including countries such as West Germany, France, and Italy. This plan was never carried out.
- event description language — (language) (EDL)
- exponential-time algorithm — (complexity) An algorithm (or Turing Machine) that is guaranteed to terminate within a number of steps which is a exponential function of the size of the problem. For example, if you have to check every number of n digits to find a solution, the complexity is O(10^n), and if you add an extra digit, you must check ten times as many numbers. Even if such an algorithm is practical for some given value of n, it is likely to become impractical for larger values. This is in contrast to a polynomial-time algorithm which grows more slowly. See also computational complexity, polynomial-time, NP-complete.
- extemporaneous preparation — An extemporaneous preparation is a drug specially prepared by a pharmacist because an appropriate drug is not readily available.
- extended capabilities port — (hardware) (ECP) A parallel printer interface for IBM PC compatibles, supported by several, mainly US, manufacturers. Not to be confused with the more common Enhanced Capabilities Port.
- external-combustion engine — a heat engine in which the working fluid is heated in an external boiler or heat exchanger and is thus isolated from the process of fuel combustion
- feast of st peter's chains — a former festival in England, held on August 1, in which bread made from the first harvest of corn was blessed.
- federal networking council — (FNC) The coordinating group of representatives from federal agencies involved in the development and use of federal networking, especially those networks using TCP/IP and the Internet. Current members include representatives from DOD, DOE, DARPA, NSF, NASA, and HHS.