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19-letter words containing i, n, t, a

  • difference equation — (mathematics)   A relation between consecutive elements of a sequence. The first difference is D u(n) = u(n+1) - u(n) where u(n) is the nth element of sequence u. The second difference is u(n+2) + a u(n+1) + b u(n) = 0 can be converted to a difference equation (in this case, a second order linear difference equation): D2 u(n) + p D u(n) + q u(n) = 0 and vice versa. a, b, p, q are constants.
  • differential backup — (operating system)   A kind of backup that copies all files that have changed since the last full backup. Each differential backup will include all files in previous differential backups since the full backup so to restore a version of a file, you only need to search the full backup and the relevant differential backup. Some systems support differential backup by associating an "Archive" flag with each file and setting this flag whenever the file is modified to indicate that it should be included in the next backup. A differential backup does not change this flag, whereas an incremental backup resets it.
  • differential driver — (hardware)   An electronic device (commonly an integrated circuit), containing two amplifiers, used to drive a differential line.
  • diffraction grating — a band of equidistant, parallel lines, usually more than 5000 per inch (2000 per centimeter), ruled on a glass or polished metal surface for diffracting light to produce optical spectra.
  • diffraction pattern — the phenomenon exhibited by wave fronts that, passing the edge of an opaque body, are modulated, thereby causing a redistribution of energy within the front: it is detectable in light waves by the presence of a pattern of closely spaced dark and light bands (diffraction pattern) at the edge of a shadow.
  • digital electronics — (electronics)   The implementation of two-valued logic using electronic logic gates such as and gates, or gates and flip-flops. In such circuits the logical values true and false are represented by two different voltages, e.g. 0V for false and +5V for true. Similarly, numbers are normally represented in binary using two different voltages to represented zero and one. Digital electronics contrasts with analogue electronics which represents continuously varying quantities like sound pressure using continuously varying voltages. Digital electronics is the foundation of modern computers and digital communications. Massively complex digital logic circuits with millions of gates can now be built onto a single integrated circuit such as a microprocessor and these circuits can perform millions of operations per second.
  • digital linear tape — (storage)   (DLT) A kind of magnetic tape drive originally developed by DEC and now marketed by Quantum. DLT drives implement the Digital Lempel Ziv 1 (DLZ1) compression algorithm in a combination of hardware and firmware. They use a popular chip by Stac (now hi/fn) to do the string searching. Counting, sorting and Huffman coding are done in firmware (with hardware support for the Huffman algorithm?). In April 1997 DLT drives can transfer 5 megabytes per second and can store 35 gigabytes on a single cartridge. Compression might roughly double these figures.
  • dimethylnitrosamine — a yellow, water-soluble carcinogenic liquid, C 2 H 6 N 2 O, found in tobacco smoke and certain foods: known to be a potent carcinogen. Abbreviation: DMN, DMNA.
  • diplomatic immunity — exemption from taxation, searches, arrest, etc., enjoyed by diplomatic officials and their dependent families under international law, and usually on a reciprocal basis.
  • direct grant school — (in Britain, formerly) a school financed by endowment, fees, and a state grant conditional upon admittance of a percentage of nonpaying pupils nominated by the local education authority
  • direction indicator — aerial used in wireless communication
  • directional coupler — (communications)   (tap) A passive device used in cable systems to divide and combine radio frequency signals. A directional coupler has at least three ports: line in, line out, and the tap. The signal passes between line in and line out ports with loss referred to as the insertion loss. A small portion of the signal power applied to the line in port passes to the tap port. A signal applied to the tap port is passed to the line in port less the tap attenuation value. The tap signals are isolated from the line out port to prevent reflections. A signal applied to the line out port passes to the line in port and is isolated from the tap port. Some devices provide more than one tap output line (multi-taps).
  • disablement benefit — (in Britain) a noncontributory benefit payable to a person disabled through injury or disease caused by their work
  • disadvantageousness — The state or quality of being disadvantageous.
  • disambiguation page — a page on a website that lists various websites or web pages that have or could have the same title. The user is able to select from the list that page, site etc that he or she actually wants
  • disciplinary action — punishment or caution
  • discretionary trust — a trust in which the beneficiaries' shares are not fixed in the trust deed but are left to the discretion of other persons, often the trustees
  • discriminated union — (theory)   The discriminated union of two sets A and B is A + B = {(inA, a) | a in A} U {(inB, b)| b in B} where inA and inB are arbitrary tags which specify which summand an element originates from. A type (especially an algebraic data type) might be described as a discriminated union if it is a sum type whose objects consist of a tag to say which part of the union they belong to and a value of the corresponding type.
  • disenfranchisements — Plural form of disenfranchisement.
  • dispatch department — the department of an organization responsible for the dispatch of orders
  • dispersion relation — the relationship between the angular frequency (ω;) of a wave and the magnitude of its wave vector (k). Thus the wave's speed is ω/k
  • displacement engine — any engine employing the rectilinear motion of one or more pistons in cylinders.
  • display advertising — display ads taken collectively.
  • disseminated cancer — a cancerous tumour that has spread from the site of original growth to a secondary site
  • distance university — a degree-granting institution operating wholly or mainly by correspondence courses for students not resident on or within commuting distance of the campus.
  • distillation column — a type of still fitted with interior baffles, used for fractional distillation. Compare still2 (def 1).
  • distinctive feature — a feature of the sound system of a language that serves as the crucial distinguishing mark between two phonemes, as the distinctive feature of voicing, which distinguishes b from p in English, or nasality, which distinguishes m from b and p.
  • distinguishableness — The state or quality of being distinguishable.
  • diversional therapy — the structured use of leisure time in recreation and play as a form of or supplement to conventional therapy
  • dobsonian telescope — a relatively inexpensive Newtonian telescope, suitable for visual but not photographic use, in which the tube assembly slips freely in the lower base.
  • domain architecture — (systems analysis)   A generic, organisational structure or design for software systems in a domain. The domain architecture contains the designs that are intended to satisfy requirements specified in the domain model. A domain architecture can be adapted to create designs for software systems within a domain and also provides a framework for configuring assets within individual software systems.
  • dominant wavelength — the wavelength of monochromatic light that would give the same visual sensation if combined in a suitable proportion with an achromatic light
  • draw the color line — to impose or accept the color line
  • draw the curtain on — to end
  • drink the health of — to salute or celebrate with a toast
  • duplicating machine — a duplicator, especially one for making identical copies of documents, letters, etc.
  • dynamic positioning — Dynamic positioning is the use of computers to control the position of a semi-submersible rig.
  • dynamic translation — (architecture)   A virtual machine implementation approach, used to speed up execution of byte-code programs. To execute a program unit such as a method or a function, the virtual machine compiles its bytecodes into (hardware) machine code. The translated code is also placed in a cache, so that next time that unit's machine code can be executed immediately, without repeating the translation. This technique was pioneered by the commercial Smalltalk implementation currently known as VisualWorks, in the early 1980s. Currently it is also used by some implementations of the Java Virtual Machine under the name JIT (Just In Time compilation).
  • dynatron oscillator — type of oscillator
  • earthquake engineer — a civil engineer who studies the effects of seismic activity on structures and consults on earthquake-resistant design and construction.
  • east dunbartonshire — a council area of central Scotland to the N of Glasgow: part of Strathclyde region from 1975 until 1996: mainly agricultural and residential. Administrative centre: Kirkintilloch. Pop: 106 970 (2003 est). Area: 172 sq km (66 sq miles)
  • east-west relations — relations between the United States and its allies in the western alliance and the Soviet Union, it allies and other Communist countries, especially during the period between the end of World War II and the fall of the Soviet regime
  • economic management — the management of the resources, finances, income, and expenditure of a community, business enterprise, etc
  • ecumenical movement — See under ecumenical (def 4).
  • education committee — a committee that discusses the education of children in a particular local authority
  • educational adviser — a person who provides advice and training to teachers about teaching methods and educational policies
  • eilean donan castle — a castle near the Kyle of Lochalsh in Highland, Scotland: built in the 13th century; famous for its picturesque setting
  • elastic deformation — In elastic deformation a material changes shape when a stress is applied to it but goes back to its original state when the stress is removed.
  • electrical engineer — An electrical engineer is a person who uses scientific knowledge to design, construct, and maintain electrical devices.
  • electrode potential — the potential difference developed when an electrode of an element is placed in a solution containing ions of that element
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