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 term describes something "alive" with a "brain"?
What term describes something "alive" with a "brain"?
Plants are considered 'living' but without a brain, so alive or life don't work.
Fish have brains, jellyfish don't.
For my ...
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Is there a term for when people speak words with sounds connected together?
For example, "I must take control like Kevin" can be said like "I mus-tay-control-I-Kevin" in some dialects because it flows significantly more easily than if you enunciate every ...
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In equations, what single term represents =, >, <, >=, <=, or !=?
I've been doing research to find the terminology of equations, but I can't find a single term for the possible symbols that can go between the left-hand side and the right-hand side of an equation. On ...
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A term that captures translate and rotate
From this question, transform (or linear transform) was the consensus.
Say I have a broad phrase like:
Travel of the fluid urges a _____ of a partially-submerged bob.
Forgiving the lack of context, ...
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Can 'viability' refer to the difficulty of implementing a method?
I am writing a paper where I need to provide comparisons about different methods/instrumentations designed for a same task. One of the characteristics I would like to show is the amount of efforts one ...
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Vector space vs vectorspace
I've been using an algebra book called "abstract algebra" by Paul Garrett, and I noticed he makes the interesting choice of writing vectorspace instead of vector space. For example, he ...
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What are the exclamation and question marks/points called in variants of English?
As regards !, wikipedia reads
The exclamation mark, !, or exclamation point (American English)
but it doesn't use a corresponding wording for ?:
The question mark ? (also known as interrogation ...
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opposite of "atmospheric conditions"
I am currently working on a paper that involves describing the conditions under which a rover sent to a celestial body (eg. the moon) operates. As a part of that, I want to say,
The body of the rover ...
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Collective term for uncountable nouns for places, like "hospital", "school", "prison", "court", "church"?
Certain nouns for places, locations or buildings seem to have idiomatic uncountability.
This blog lists a couple of those.
Idiomatic uses:
Home / town: No article precedes ‘home’ unless you add ...
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When and why did the word "pasta" become commonly used?
I remember sometime around 1980 that people started calling pasta... "pasta". I was in a used book store this past weekend and stumbled across two copies of the Better Homes and Gardens New ...
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How to make it clear that there is no pun when using "irrational fear" in the subject of mathematics [closed]
Suppose I am writing to an audience of mathematics teachers, and I want very much to tell them that "I initially had an irrational fear of" a certain subject in mathematics.
But in that ...
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Delusional? delusions of grandeur? paranoid? Help!
How can I describe someone who thinks I have special connections with people such as the government, state, etc?
I am hoping for a special descriptive word for someone who keeps telling me to send ...
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Is the term "mobile set" correct?
Whenever I try to reach someone and their phone is switched off, it says "دستگاه مشترک مورد نظر خاموش میباشید - the mobile set is off".
Searching "mobile set" on the web yields ...
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What is it called when X of Xs is used with superlative meaning?
I often come across expressions such as
the heaven of heavens (the highest of the heavens - YourDict)
the king of kings (which can mean the best/greatest of kings - FreeDict)
a lunatic of lunatics (...
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Is there a word meaning both Sentient and Sapient?
Is there a single word to describe a being that is both Sentient and Sapient, but not necessarily “Human”? (Associated example scenarios and usage at end)
This word would be able to describe some ...
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Term for pronouns for which it is unclear what they refer to
A common mistake in writing is that the author uses a pronoun or similar, and it is not sufficiently clear to what this pronoun refers.
For example:
Alice saw Carol. She was visibly excited.
Here it ...
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Term for a multi-verb infinitive?
I understand that "to boldly go" is a split infinitive. Is there a term for a multi-verb infinitive, like "to divide and conquer"?
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Is there a specific term to describe text found in the format of a novel/short story?
Is there a specific term to describe text found in the format of a novel/short story, as opposed to text you would find in a script, dialog tree, poem, academic writing, copy, etc.? e.g., the format ...
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Logicalness/logicity/logicality
The nouns logicalness, logicity and logicality are all related to the noun logic.
Is there a grammatical term that describes these "-ness", "-ity" ... words?
Are these actual ...
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Word/phrase to be used as banter for someone who writes walls of text?
We have a guy who literally writes paragraphs and paragraphs of text in most of his forum posts. If I had to pull his leg and tag him as a <insert placeholder here>, what word or phrase would ...
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"Software rot" or is there a better term to convey the idea of a slow deterioration of software quality over time?
I just found this term https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_rot:
Software rot, also known as bit rot, code rot, software erosion,
software decay, or software entropy is either a slow deterioration ...
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What is the meaning of “chiefly dialect”? [closed]
I was researching the synonyms of a particular phrase and I noticed the website had a tag on some words in square brackets: [chiefly dialect]. On some words it had just [dialect].
This is something I’...
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Term for adverb not formed with -ly
Is there a term for adverbs that are adverb-only words, not adverbs constructed by modifying an adjective?
In other words, in English adverbs can be created by adding -ly to an adjective, so for ...
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Describe an event that will be held at a time other than its standard one [duplicate]
How to describe an event that is usually held in a specific time-frame but this time and based on the extraordinary conditions should be held at another time?
Specifically, FIFA World Cup usually held ...
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What is the animal adjective relating to tegu lizards (salvatorine, tupinambine etc.)?
If I were to go on a "corvine extermination expedition," we would understand an intent to exterminate crows, of genus corvus. The invasive tegu lizards in Florida are subject to such ...
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What's the etymology for the term "resilvering" as used in computer file systems like hardware RAID, btrfs, ZFS, etc?
Hardware systems like traditional RAID, or modern software systems like ZFS, btrfs, etc. are used for redundancy (and performance) of the storage of data. Whenever a drive dies in one of these ...
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Looking for a slang term to describe the act of picking valuable minerals from mining tailings
Someone once saw me picking out cashews from a bowl of mixed nuts and said I was [forgotten slang verb here]. I asked what that verb meant and she explained that it was a slang term that miners used ...
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Less formal term for "dimensions" for something that can be measured in units
In scientific/engineering writing and calculations we use terms that are considered "dimensions" and for each "dimension" we have to have "units" when we describe them.
...
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Meaning of "engineer" as a hotel employee
During a short stay at a hotel in Manhattan, I had a problem with the sink drain getting clogged. I rang the reception and described the problem. They replied: "I will send an engineer up right ...
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Term for inevitable outcome
Is there a term to concisely describe the following scenario and all similar like it:
Let's say Bob and Alice are in a predicament and Bob wants to do a Thing that he and many others believe will ...
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"We could unload the boat faster by making a ___ line."
My old PE teacher had us do an activity where we had to pass items down a chain of students (balls, sandbags, etc). There is a word for it.
A line of people used to move a lot of things quickly, like ...
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Word for when someone intentionally ignores someone's valid excuse from a punishment and then enforces that punishment anyway?
Is there a word (or legal term) for when someone (usually an authority figure) intentionally does not acknowledge a person's justification from an adverse action, then enforces that adverse action ...
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A proper computer term for a third level folder
In this example path
c:\abc\def\ghi
the def is a subfolder of c:\abc
But is ghi also a subfolder of abc? Or would it be more correct to say that ghi is a recursive subfolder of abc?
I know that the ...
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What is a formal word or term for forgetting what you were doing or saying while doing or saying it?
While running downstairs to do something important, I notice how sunny it is outside, and by the time I reach the bottom of the stairs I forget why I ran down the stairs in the first place! Or I’m in ...
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What is the word or term for forgetting what you’re doing while doing it [duplicate]
While running downstairs to do something important, I notice how sunny it is outside, and by the time I reach the bottom of the stairs I forget why I ran down the stairs in the first place! Or I’m in ...
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What is the word/phrase for what the end user of a computer sees and interacts with?
If you were to divide everything that makes up a computer and its software into what the average user interacts with, and everything else that works "behind the scenes", what would the "...
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What is the term for words such as Turkish, American, Canadian, Mexican, Polish, etc.?
Is there a word/term that relates to those? Usage examples of the words in the title:
Turkish cuisine
American passport
Canadian insignia
Mexican beadwork
Polish calculator
Use of this mystery word/...
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What do we call minimal pairs (words differ by only a single sound) that have similar meanings?
What is the term for minimal pairs that have minimal differences in sound as well as meaning?
Per Wikipedia:
In phonology, minimal pairs are pairs of words or phrases in a particular language, spoken ...
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Is "empowerment" condescending?
Many organizations claim that their mission is to empower a certain group of people. Common examples are women's empowerment, employee empowerment, healthcare patient empowerment.
I work in a ...
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Thieves who rob dead bodies on the battlefield
There are plenty of synonyms in English for thieves. I'm looking for a word or expression that describes people who rob dead bodies on the battlefield.
In the novel Les Misérables, by Hugo, Mr. ...
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Is there an expression to describe a cover band that still has members of the original band?
I recently went to a show that was played by a Heart by Heart. It's a cover band that focus on playing Heart songs, but with the added appeal of having two of the original band's members: Steve Fossen ...
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Word to group some interrelated computer programs [closed]
I am looking for a word to group some interrelated computer programs, to name my github repository
The group includes (or github repo) these programs:
dwm — a window manager for unix like operating ...
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What is the symbol connecting the letters "c" and "t" called, and when did it go out of style?
I have become so used to the long 's' that I read it as quickly as if they were the standard short 's', but it took me awhile to stop seeing them as 'f's. Luckily the "ct" connection thing ...
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Is there a name for (the shape of) linking two hands by gripping wrists?
Is there a term for this form of holding hands in which each person grips the other's wrist, as might be used to form a strong link in a kid's game like Red Rover or in an action movie after catching ...
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Is there a word for publishing old news online?
I wonder if there's a term or a word that describes the publishing of old/historic news from the archive to online in whatever way - for example, typing an article manually.
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What is Anterhise?
In the pirate song by Henry Every, there are the lines:
Then away from this Climate and temperate Zone,
To one that's more torrid, you'll hear I am gone,
With an hundred and fifty brave Sparks of ...
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Is there a term for when in Indian English stress is placed on the word "the" before a noun?
I often hear speakers of Indian English place stress-accent on the word "the", with a pause before finishing a sentence with a noun. There's a raised pitch and stress on the word "the&...
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Word for heavily foreign-influenced speech?
Is there a word for when someone uses words wrongly, or uses outright nonexistent words, due to influence from foreign languages? Examples:
I thought she loved me, but she bedragged me. (<- bedra(...
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Is there a linguistic term that describes words that change pronunciation when combined together? [closed]
Examples of this include Breakfast which is just 'break,' and 'fast.'
Of particular interest to me is helicopter, which is a combination of 'helico,' meaning spiral, and 'pter,' meaning wing.
This is ...
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What is it called when a word is abbreviated from the middle? (Ex: fridge from reFRIGErator)
Fridge, the middle part of the word refrigerator (ok, with an extra letter...), is often used as an abbreviation (mainly in British English).
Is there a name for such words where we use an abbreviated ...
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