24-letter words containing o, n, p, r, i
- knowledge representation — The subfield of artificial intelligence concerned with designing and using systems for storing knowledge - facts and rules about some subject. A body of formally represented knowledge is based on a conceptualisation - an abstract view of the world that we wish to represent. In order to manipulate this knowledge we must specify how the abstract conceptualisation is represented as a concrete data structure. An ontology is an explicit specification of a conceptualisation.
- komi autonomous republic — an autonomous republic in the NW Russian Federation in Europe. 145,221 sq. mi. (376,122 sq. km). Capital: Syktyvkar.
- lab for computer science — MIT. http://lcs.mit.edu/.
- laugh in a person's face — to show open contempt or defiance towards a person
- long-spined sea scorpion — Cottus bubalis or Taurulus bubalis
- make a production out of — to make an unnecessary fuss about
- mari autonomous republic — autonomous republic in the Russian Federation in Europe. 8994 sq. mi. (23,294 sq. km). Capital: Ioshkar-Ola.
- master-slave manipulator — any of various devices, guided by the hand of the operator, for imitating the motions and tactile sensitivity of the human hand to a greater or lesser extent: used in situations in which direct handling of the objects or materials involved would be dangerous or impossible.
- minister plenipotentiary — plenipotentiary.
- morphologic construction — a construction that forms a compound or complex word. Compare syntactic construction (def 1).
- mutual insurance company — an insurance company owned by the policyholders and not by shareholders
- nalbuphine hydrochloride — an opiate drug used as a painkiller
- narcissistic personality — a personality disorder characterized by extreme self-centeredness and self-absorption, fantasies involving unrealistic goals, an excessive need for attention and admiration, and disturbed interpersonal relationships.
- network operating system — (operating system) (NOS) The operating system on Control Data Corporation's Cyber Computer.
- neutrosophic probability — (logic) An extended form of probability based on Neutrosophy, in which a statement is held to be t true, i indeterminate, and f false, where t, i, f are real values from the ranges T, I, F, with no restriction on T, I, F or the sum n=t+i+f.
- new programming language — (language) (NEWP) A language which replaced ESPOL on the Burroughs Large System.
- newton-raphson iteration — (algorithm) An iterative algorithm for solving equations. Given an equation, f x = 0 and an initial approximation, x(0), a better approximation is given by: x(i+1) = x(i) - f(x(i)) / f'(x(i)) where f'(x) is the first derivative of f, df/dx. Newton-Raphson iteration is an example of an anytime algorithm in that each approximation is no worse than the previous one.
- non-proliferation treaty — an international agreement signed in 1968 which aims to reduce the spread of nuclear weapons
- nonparametric statistics — the branch of statistics that studies data measurable on an ordinal or nominal scale, to which arithmetic operations cannot be applied
- not ready for prime time — Usable, but only just so; not very robust; for internal use only. Said of a program or device. Often connotes that the thing will be made more solid Real Soon Now. This term comes from the ensemble name of the original cast of "Saturday Night Live", the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players". It has extra flavour for hackers because of the special (though now semi-obsolescent) meaning of prime time. Compare beta.
- officers' training corps — part of the British Army which provides military leadership training to students at UK universities
- open data-link interface — (networking, standard) (ODI) A Novell-developed network card API that provides media and protocol independence. It allows the sharing of a single card by multiple transport layer protocols and resolves conflicts.
- open shortest-path first — Open Shortest-Path First Interior Gateway Protocol
- open software foundation — (body) (OSF) A foundation created by nine computer vendors, (Apollo, DEC, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Bull, Nixdorf, Philips, Siemens and Hitachi) to promote "Open Computing". It is planned that common operating systems and interfaces, based on developments of Unix and the X Window System will be forthcoming for a wide range of different hardware architectures. OSF announced the release of the industry's first open operating system - OSF/1 on 23 October 1990.
- open system architecture — (operating system) (OSA) A competitor to IBM's SNA.
- operational requirements — (programming) Qualitative and quantitative parameters that specify the desired capabilities of a system and serve as a basis for determining the operational effectiveness and suitability of a system prior to deployment.
- optical signal processor — optical computing
- orographic precipitation — precipitation caused by the lifting of moist air over a mountain barrier.
- out of all proportion to — If you say that something is out of all proportion to something else, you think that it is far greater or more serious than it should be.
- parallel cousin marriage — marriage between the children of two brothers or two sisters.
- parliamentary government — government by a body of cabinet ministers who are chosen from and responsible to the legislature and act as advisers to a nominal chief of state.
- parochial church council — the ruling body of a parish, composed of the vicar, the churchwardens, and elected laypersons.
- particulate fluidization — Particulate fluidization is a condition when particles in a fluidized bed are individually suspended.
- passive balance of trade — a negative balance of trade
- people's liberation army — See under Huk (def 1).
- permeability coefficient — the volume of an incompressible fluid that will flow in unit time through a unit cube of a porous substance across which a unit pressure difference is maintained
- photomechanical transfer — a method of producing photographic prints or offset printing plates from paper negatives by a chemical transfer process rather than by exposure to light
- plantation walking horse — one of a breed of saddle horses developed largely from Standardbred and Morgan stock.
- polychlorinated biphenyl — PCB.
- port address translation — (networking) (PAT) A function provided by some routers which allows hosts on a LAN to communicate with the rest of a network (such as the Internet) without revealing their own private IP address. All outbound packets have their IP address translated to the routers external IP address. Replies come back to the router which then translates them back into the private IP address of the original host for final delivery. Compare SOCKS.
- potassium cobaltinitrite — a yellow, crystalline, slightly water-soluble powder, K 3 Co(NO 2) 6 , used as a pigment in oil and watercolor paints, and for coloring surfaces of glass, porcelain, etc.
- potentiometric titration — titration in which the end point is determined by measuring the voltage of an electric current of given amperage passed through the solution.
- prairie button snakeroot — a stout composite plant, Liatris pycnostachya, of prairies in the central U.S., having showy, rose-purple flower heads in dense spikes.
- preparatory to doing sth — If one action is done preparatory to another, it is done before the other action, usually as preparation for it.
- presumption of innocence — the rebuttable presumption of the innocence of the defendant in a criminal action in Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence, placing upon the prosecution the burden of proof of the defendant's guilt.
- privileged communication — a communication that one cannot legally be compelled to divulge, as that to a lawyer from a client
- probability distribution — a distribution of all possible values of a random variable together with an indication of their probabilities.
- professional association — a body of persons engaged in the same profession, formed usually to control entry into the profession, maintain standards, and represent the profession in discussions with other bodies
- professional corporation — a corporation formed by one or more licensed practitioners, especially medical or legal, to operate their practices on a corporate plan. Abbreviation: PC, P.C.
- professional programming — paranoid programming