Questions tagged [terminology]
This tag is for questions seeking or discussing a term (or terms) belonging or peculiar to a science, art, or specialized subject (e.g. linguistics, mathematics, physics, biology, finance, theatre, music, philosophy, astronomy, medical, nautical etc.). Consider adding [single-word-requests] and [phrase-requests] tags also if relevant.
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What’s the term for the common part of coordination?
What do you call the part that is common to a list?
Example:
I buy apples, bananas and citrus fruit.
can be expanded to three sentences
I buy apples.
I buy bananas.
I buy citrus fruit.
How do you ...
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What is the origin of the term "post" as in "post a journal to the general ledger"?
I understand what it means to post a journal, but I'd love to know the origin of the term.
I've not been able to find an explanation from Google. My intuition is that it might refer to a historic time ...
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Origin of “best-in-class”
This snippet was taken from the Stack Overflow Blog, featured 29 February, 2024
Defining socially responsible AI: How we select partners
[…] Together with Stack's strong developer community and ...
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What's a pithy term to describe what a spy does when he/she socializes with a target to get information?
I'm working on a roleplaying game, and I want a pithy name for a skill that modern intelligence agents call "elicitation of intelligence." Setting is the interwar period in Europe (between ...
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What is the metric name or designation for nominal ½″ copper pipe in the various English dialects where metric dimensions are used?
I hope this question is as on-topic as this question about distances.
I need to know what people call nominal ½″ copper pipe (the stiff unbendable kind used in domestic plumbing) in English dialects ...
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Word for the final instance of awarding a perpetual trophy
We have a perpetual trophy that has been awarded for almost four decades. The Award is being retired, and presented to a worthy recipient one last time. How do I refer to this instance of the awarding?...
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What kind of word is "Brother" or "Sister"? [duplicate]
Some Christians use "Brother" or "Sister" before referring to someone, and usually they prefix the word before their name (e.g. Brother Aaron).
I am asking what the use of this ...
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Why ternary not ternal?
Why is is the base-2 numeral system called binary, the base-3 one called ternary, when base-8 is octal and base-10 is decimal?
The different suffixes, -ary vs -al, are what I am concerned about.
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Is there a term for when people use a definition from a different context?
This type of thing happens a lot online.
People will say something like "strawberries aren't actually berries technically" or "tomatoes are actually fruit" when people are taking ...
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What term describes a phrase like "in English, please"? [duplicate]
The phrase "in English, please" has different meanings in different social contexts. In one context it might mean literal English language, and in another it could imply a response in layman'...
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What do you call an answer that disagrees with the question?
For example, if person A said "Why should we do x?" and person B said "I don't think we should do x", what would you call this?
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What is a more inclusive version of "pedestrian"?
A pedestrian [noun] is a "person going on foot" (Merriam Webster).
Is there a more inclusive term that also includes people in wheelchairs and other mobility devices, but excluding people in ...
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What is the category name used for words describing mathematical operations?
Refer to this question for more examples.
We have multiplication, which has "multiply" as the verb. But we say "a times b".
Similarly, we have division, which has "divide"...
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Is there a word for when the name of something describes or defines how it is made?
I am wondering if there is a word for this as described in the title.
My example: I am writing about a SWANA ingredient/food product by the name of "Freekeh", which is based on the Arabic ...
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interlock vs intersect, which one is precise?
I would like to use word interlock for FIG.A
and not sure I could use it for FIG.B, is insert or slide better for FIG.B,
anyone could help with this?
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Drinking vs drinkable
Knowing that drinkable refers to safe to drink, why do we often say drinking water in stead of drinkable water?
I find potable water (i.e.water fit/ safe to drink) synonymous with drinking water. So, ...
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What word can be used for one who values the original version of literature over the altered one?
I'm wanting to refer to someone who would not appreciate anyone overlooking the fact that monks altered Beowulf and I'm wanting to say "be sensitive to the originalists" when speaking about ...
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Is there a name for this kind of loose pseudo alliteration? for example, gold -> glitter, crown -> king
In Norse poetry, to the fastidious skald, a word like take is not considered to alliterate with train, but a word like track does alliterate with a word like troop, and tear does alliterate with tin.
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Is the "convert to decimal form" usage of "decimate" still used?
Recently, I came across a page in an olden-day arithmetic book (early 20th century)
It seems that the word decimate was used in the sense "convert [a vulgar fraction] into a decimal fraction&...
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Rising Pitch as the only minimal pair differentiator? The "cot" - "caw" [split? semi-merge? something else?]
Canonically, English is not a tonal language, and there are a number of posts on this site discussing why the use of rising tone in asking a question does not qualify (the reason being that it doesn't ...
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What is the technique that produces phrases like "Miss Anne Thrope" called and is there a master list of names?
Misanthrope, as a word, can be converted into the pseudonym "Miss Anne Thrope" (bonus points if the meaning reflects the writer's style).
But what is this technique called and is there a ...
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Is there a term like "antonym" but for words of opposite sentiment?
I like to play a game where I take a descriptive word with an emotional bias (i.e. describing something "good" or "bad") and I try to think of a word with roughly the same meaning ...
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Phrases only differing by spaces [duplicate]
Is there a name for phrases that differ from another only by spaces? For example, "superb rain" differs from "super brain" only by spaces. So if the name of this is X, we could say ...
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Word equivalent to "prestation" in French in the administrative field
I'm searching for an English word which could have the same meaning than the word "prestation" in french, in the sense of "some service (paid or not) that has been executed by an ...
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Term to quantify a parameter in a decision-making procedure which affects multiple individuals?
Suppose a group of people are purchasing ice cream, and a flavor must be chosen for each member of the group. One possible procedure would be for a single, trusted member to decide which flavor each ...
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What do you call the person or character being spoken to in a poem or song?
This question asks what to call the person who is speaking in a lyric poem. The terms "narrator", "speaker", "persona", etc. may be used to refer to the "I" in &...
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Is there a better word for the sound of a mechanical "whirr"?
I am struggling to find an adequate word that represents the buzz or whirr of mechanical movement, I want something that feels more technical.
If anyone is familiar with engineering jargon that might ...
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Is there a term for websites that answer a question contained in the domain name?
There exist sites such as https://shouldiblamecaching.com/, https://isitdns.com/, and https://isitchristmas.com/ that use the domain name to ask a question and show a simple yes or no answer.
Is there ...
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A hole carved out in wall for a wooden crossbeam
I once saw a word for a hole carved out in a wall on purpose to accept a wooden crossbeam that fits into the hole. I think it had a "p" in it, something like "pit hole" ?...
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Is there a (current or historical) word for the extremes on the left-right axis?
Is there, or has there ever been, an unambiguous word for "the leftmost extreme" or "the rightmost extreme"? Such words exist for the other two dimensions.
Imagine you are ...
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Term for words which can have the same or opposite meanings in same contexts [duplicate]
In Term for words which can have the same or opposite meanings in different contexts?,
hot and cool are opposite temperatures, but can also both be used to mean fashionably attractive/impressive.
I ...
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What is the origin of the verb 'foxed' in reference to book condition?
I ordered a book online, unseen, and the invoice told me the book, or at least its pages, were 'foxed'. I had never come across the expression, did not know the word could be a verb and discovered :
...
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“Core” as the name of a class in school
When I was in middle school (roughly ages 10–13 years old) in the US in the early 1970s, they combined English—or what might now be called language arts—with social studies into a single class that ...
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What are the things with information that are under or next to museum exhibits called? [duplicate]
I'm trying to figure out what the things the arrows are pointing to are called. (For a school assignment.)
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Is there a word for fans making excuses for their favorite artist? [duplicate]
The example I'm thinking of is Bethesda and Starfield. Other than the graphics it's not a well designed game, but people keep making excuses for it, when smaller teams have done far more with far less ...
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What is the grammatical structure of {the + superlative substantive}?
Example 1: This was the deepest a submarine had ever dived.
Example 2: The longest a person can hold their breath for is...
I've looked at a couple grammar resources including "the Cambridge ...
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Is there a word for discrimination at a level higher than species?
Richard Ryder coined the term speciesism to describe discrimination on grounds of species. This is concept is explored by Peter Singer in Animal Liberation Now and described by nature:
Singer rests ...
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Referring to the winter period [duplicate]
Since the winter period passes over the end of the year, which is the correct way to refer to the winter period which starts at the end of, say, this year 2023? Is it "this year's winter" or ...
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A term (or phrase) for when a person tries to represent the rarest scenario as the most common
For context:
This term or phrase is what it's called when a person (very often used in political debates) will try to take the rarest occurrence of any particular topic and present it as if it's the ...
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What is the grammatical name for “the countless flashes of red from swords and spears”? [closed]
What is the grammatical name and function for this string?
the countless flashes of red from swords and spears
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Term for a false implication trap like "if you're smart you'd agree with me"?
I hear this kind of false implications pretty often, e.g.:
If you're smart you'd agree with me
People who understand the situation would all agree that ...
Anyone who says something else must be ...
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Is there a term for the device of repeating the exact same word twice immediately to emphasize its sincerity or power? [duplicate]
I already know the term anaphora exists for repeating the same word for emphasis. I'm specifically interested in a term for repeating a word twice without additional clarification to express that ...
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How to characterize Machiavelli's phrase, "The ends justify the means"? [closed]
This question has been raised and thoroughly discussed: "How to characterize the phrase, 'The ends justify the means.'" I wish to add a thought. As I was writing a book for publication, I ...
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What is the overall-encompassing term for the "fruit-like" plant growths that we use for harvest and consumption
What is a good term for plants whose parts, either as tubers, roots, or fruit/seeds are harvested and consumed? I exclude plants such as hemp and flax whose fibres are used, or, for example, poppies ...
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Word for terminology related to mathematical premises
I have seen some mathematical texts that use words like Lemma, Theorem, Corollary, etc. What would be the appropriate description of such terms? Do they fall under some linguistic category? Is ...
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Is there a better term than "Jargon" to describe words like Phishing, Vishing, Smishing, and Qishing? [duplicate]
Assuming "phreak" is a portmanteau of "phone" and "freak," giving us the term "phreaking" to describe the illicit act of hacking telephone networks, and "...
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What is an object (talisman, amulet, salt circle etc.) that hinders or stops an evil spirit called?
What is an object that hinders or stops a spirit (specifically evil) called? I.e. a talisman, salt circle, or any other enchanted object.
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Specific type of deception or logic error
The word I'm looking for should describe a case where, during a logical argument, a person uses a word with multiple definitions in sense (1) in one part of the argument, but in another part of the ...
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What is the word for the fusing of, for example, "-ed" and the final consonant "d" to give the ending (with voice removed) of "bent"?
Instead of giving the past tense form bended, the verb bend fuses together bend and -ed and removes voice, producing bent.
Lent and sent are produced in similar fashion.
What's the word for the fusion ...
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Use of the verb ‘output’ [closed]
I need some advice on the use of output as a verb.
To put it in context, I am working on a desktop app that uses some of the functionality of MS Word. In the app, there is an element called a binding ...