Co-education
Co-education is the education of the two sexes together, not only in the same institution, but also in the same classes. The idea is coincident with the belief that the mental capacities of boys and girls are equal, and that their roles should to a large extent be interchangeable.
Co-respondent
A co-respondent is the person charged with adultery jointly with the defendant spouse on a divorce petition, or a joint defendant to an appeal.
Coal
Coal is a solid combustible material of vegetable origin occurring in a fossilised state.
Coal-tar
Coal-tar is a thick black viscous liquid produced by the destructive distillation of coal. Coal-tar yields benzene, creosote, paraffin, aniline and dyes.
Coalition
A coalition is an alliance of States or political parties for common action on a specified policy.
Coast
In geography, the coast is the edge of land in contact with the sea.
Coastal Trade
Coastal trade is sea-borne trade between different ports in the same country.
Coaster
A coaster is a ship which carries cargo around a country's coast.
Coastguard Service
The British Coastguard Service was established in 1923 as a department of the Board of Customs and Excise for the protection of British shores. The Coastguard Service is involved with life-saving, providing aid to ships, the prevention of smuggling and certain customs services.
Coaxial Cable
A coaxial cable is a cable in which one conductor surrounds the other. The electromagnetic wave travels between the grounded outer shield and the central conductor. Coaxials can carry much wider bandwidth and higher frequencies than twisted wire pair, while suffering less interference problems due to the grounded outer conductor. Where the maximum frequency capable on twisted pair wiring is about 16 megahertz and then only for short distances, coaxial cable readily carries several hundred megahertz for 300 metres.
Cobalt
Cobalt is a metal element with the symbol Co. It was discovered among the ore veins in Cornwall in early times and called mundic by the miners. It was identified as a metal in 1733 by Brandt.
Cobden Club
The Cobden Club was an institution formed to spread and develop Codben's principles. It held its first meeting in 1866 with Gladstone in the chair.
Coble
A coble was a low, flat-bottomed boat with a square stern formerly used in the cod and turbot fishing industries. It weighed about one ton, was twenty feet long and five feet wide, rowed by three pairs of oars and fitted with a lug-sail. It was well adapted for encountering a heavy swell and were extensively used on the north-east coast of Britain in the early twentieth century. The term is also applied to a smaller boat used in salmon fishing.
COBOL
COBOL (COmmon Business-Oriented Language) is a computer programming language described by hackers as "a weak, verbose, and flabby language used by card wallopers to do boring mindless things on dinosaur mainframes".
Coca
Coca is the dried leaves of the South American shrub, Erythroxylon Coca, from which cocaine is extracted.
Cocamidopropyl betaine
Cocamidopropyl betaine (CAPB) is a surfactant used in shampoos, detergents, and cleansing lotions. CAPB is an aklkylamidobetaine and functions as an amphoteric surfactant with anionic and cationic properties depending on pH. Betaines are less foaming than other surfactants and are expensive; however, they are relatively gentle to the skin, have a low potential to irritate the eyes, have good conditioning characteristics, and have antibacterial activity.
Cock-Lane Ghost
The Cock-Lane Ghost was a hoax conducted by William Parsons, his wife, daughter and a female ventriloquist during 1760 and 1761 at number 33 Cock-lane, London. In the house, unaccountable noises were heard and a number of persons declared to have seen a ghost. To spite a previous lodger, Kemt, the owner of the house claimed the ghost was a lady poisoned by Kemt. The truth was discovered and the parents were condemned to the pillory and two years imprisonment in 1762.
Cockade
A cockade is a kind of rosette worn in the hat by men-servants of naval and military officers, or of individuals holding office under the Crown. It was formerly worn in the hats of soldiers.
Cocoon
Cocoon is the name given to the silken case enveloping the chrysalis of several Lepidoptera, especially the silk moths. The term is also applied to the silk sack in which spiders wrap their eggs.
Codeine
Codeine is an alkaloid derived from opium used as a pain killer and a sedative.
Coefficient
In science a coefficient is a pure numeric characteristic of some property of a material. It appears in the form of a constant multiplying a term or terms in an equation expressing the behaviour of the material in question.
Coemption
In Roman law, coemption was a form of civil marriage by a fictious sale of the two parties to each other.
Coercion
In law, coercion is moral or physical pressure employed to force a person to do some act. In civil law, where an act is required to be done freely, such as in marriage etc., it will be invalidated by the element of coercion.
Cofferdam
A cofferdam is a particular form of temporary dam used to exclude water from the site of docks, quay-walls, or the abutments of bridges during construction.
Cognitive Development
Cognitive Development was an English bulletin board system (BBS) operated during the early 1990s specialising in artificial intelligence and computer virus information. The BBS was deemed controversial for its open distribution of computer viruses and was condemned by the British computer press (notably Personal Computer World) but its activities were found not to be aimed at computer crime, but at assisting PC users in combating virus attacks.
Coiffeur-Schieber Jass
Coiffeur-Schieber is a card game of the Swiss Jass group for three or four players.
Coke
Coke is the residue, mainly amorphous carbon, left on heating bituminous coal and thus driving off its volatile constituents, or on heating hydrocarbons to a point at which they decompose with deposition of carbon (cracking).
Col
In geography, a col is a narrow, high pass through a mountain chain formed by the meeting of river or glacier valleys from opposite sides of the range.
Colchicine
Colchicine is an alkaloid derived from meadow saffron.
Coley's Fluid
Coley's fluid was a fluid obtained by the culture of the bacili of erysipelas, streptococci, and staphtlococci used in the treatment of cancer.
Colic
Colic is severe abdominal griping pains.
Colitis
Colitis is inflammation of the colon.
Collectivism
Collectivism is a social system in which capital, natural resources, productive plant and all the means of wealth are held by the community. The word was first used by the anarchist, Bakunin to differentiate his policy from Marxism.
Collier
A collier is a medium-sized bulk carrier ship normally operated on coastal and short-sea routes.
Collodion
Collodion is a solution of nitro-cellulose in a mixture of alcohol and ether. Collodion is a thick and very inflammable liquid used in the manufacture of artificial silk, artificial leather, artificial pearls and photography. Iodised collodion, used in photography, was invented by Scott Archer in 1851.
Colloids
In chemistry, colloids are particles which are intermediate in size between crystalloids that form true solutions and suspensions that eventually settle.
Colonnade
A colonnade is a row of columns, frequently covered with a roof projecting from an adjacent building. Colonnades were common in ancient Greece.
Colophon
A colophon is the notice found in manuscripts and printed books which gives the name of the printer and the date and place of issue etc.
Colorimetry
Colorimetry is the measurement of the depth of colour of liquids for the purpose of inferring their chemical compositions.
Colosseum
The Colosseum is a famous building in Rome. Its construction started under Emperor Vespasian in 72 and was completed in 80. The Colosseum was intended for gladiatorial combats and is shaped in a large ellipse with tiers of stone benches around a central space, and no roof.
Colossus
A colossus is a statue exceeding life size. The famous Colossus of Rhodes was a bronze statue of Helios which was reckoned to be about 30 meters tall.
Colt 45s
see "Houston Astros"
Columbium
Columbium is an alternative name for the element Niobium, so named from being discovered in the mineral columbite.
Column
In architecture, a column is an upright support in a building, usually of stone, with a decorated base and capital.
Coma
A coma is a state of deep unconsciousness.
Coma Berenices
Coma Berenices is a constellation of small stars situated east of Leo and above Virgo. According to legend, it is the beautiful hair of Queen Berenice of Egypt who consecrated it to Aphrodite.
Comb
A comb is a toothed instrument for arranging and smoothing hair. Combs have been used at least since the times of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans.
Combining weight
In chemistry, the combining weight is the weight of an element which will combine with 8 grams of oxygen,or 1.008 grams of hydrogen.
Combustion
Combustion is the process of oxidation when it proceeds with sufficient violence and velocity to give rise to the easily apparent phenomena of heat and light.
Comet
A comet is a small body orbiting the sun on an elliptical path with a long tail of dust and ice.
Commedia dell Arte
The Commedia dell Arte (Also lnown as the Commedia dell'Arte or Commedia dell-Arte) was a type of comedy popular in Italy in the 1500s and 1600s, performed by specialty troupes who improvised on stock characters in stock situations. It influenced French farce, English pantomime, harlequinade and punch-and-judy. The characters included: Arlecchino (Harlequin), the young male suitor of the beautiful young ingenue Columbine; Pantaloon (comic relief father of Columbine), Pierrot (Pedrolino, a childlike character in a dunce cap), and Pulcinella, a humpback servant in a striped costume, who later evolved into Punch in Punch-and-Judy.
Commensalism
Commensalism is the regular association of different species and genera of plants and animals living together, but independently. Either or both species may benefit by the association. For example, certain bacteria and fungi grow together on a substratum on which either will grow separately, but when the bacteria are present the fungi grow better and are more fruitful.
Commode
A commode is an occasional table supported by a cupboard, sometimes also with drawers. They were very popular in the 18th century. The term is also applied to a bedside cupboard.
Commune of Paris
The Commune of Paris was a period of anarchy and bloodshed in Paris at the end of the Franco-German war. It lasted from March 18th until May 28th 1871, and began with the refusal of the Paris National Guards to give up their arms, their murder of General Thomas and General Lecomte and their organisation of themselves into a Central Committee. On March the 18th, Thiers, the head of the national government, retired with the regular troops to Versailles, and the Parisian central committee assumed the executive power in Paris. They proceeded to elect a communal council of seventy-five members on March the 26th and April the 16th. This body passed resolutions for the abolition of conscription, free rent for the quarters October 1870 to April 1871, complete separation of the church and state, the supression of the budget for public worship and the restitution to the nation of all property held by ecclesiastical bodies in mortmain, enforced enrolment in the National Guard of every man between 19 and 35, the institution of a labour commission, the establishment of cooperative workshops, all education to be in the hands of the laity only. They were finally defeated by the army who shot their communist prisoners without trial.
Communism
Communism is a political system in which major industries are operated by and for the benefit of the entire society, as opposed to the benefit of a small number of shareholders or the owner. Often dismissed as an unworkable system by opponents, communist societies function splendidly among less industrial people such as the Chiquitos of South America, however the system is very prone to being wrecked by individual greed.
Compactor
A compactor is a device which crushes and compresses rubbish into small and convenient parcels.
Companion of Honour
The Companion of Honour is a British order of chivalry, founded by George V in 1917. It is of one class only, and carries no title, but Companions append 'CH' to their names. The number is limited to 65 and the award is made to both men and women.
Compass
A compass is an instrument for finding direction.
Compiler
A compiler is a computer program that translates high level language code into machine language code. It was invented by Grace Murray Hopper in 1951.
Compost
Compost is a mixture of manures, or earths and manures, varying in proportions and quality to suit different plants and used by gardeners to feed their plants and improve soil quality.
Compound
A compound is a substance made of two or more elements and differing from a mixture in that the elements are present in a constant proportion no matter how or where the compound is prepared.
Compton Effect
The Compton Effect is the experimental proof by A. H. Compton in 1923 that X-rays, scattered by falling on a solid such as carbon are altered in frequency. The experiment affords proof that light is at once wave-like and particle-like in nature.
Compurgation
Compurgation was an ancient form of procedure in criminal cases whereby a prisoner succeeded if he could find a sufficient number of people, depending on the gravity of the charge, to swear to his innocence.
Computer
A computer is a programmable electronic device.
Conacre
Conacre is a term applied to a system common in Ireland of under-letting a portion of a farm for a single crop, the rent being paid to the farmer in money or labour.
Conation
In psychology, conation is a term used by Sir William Hamilton to designate one of the three great divisions of the mind, the other two being cognition and feeling. As used by him it included the mental states of desire and volition alone; but modern writers make the term broad enough to include every state of mental change, so that we find conation wherever consciousness, of itself, drifts from one state to another. Although akin to feeling and attention, it is distinct from both. The word is occasionally applied to those sensations, whether painful or pleasant, which accompany muscular activity. The adjective ''conative'' was first used by Cudworth in 1688.
Concertina
A concertina is a wind musical instrument comprised of bellows and two keyboards. It was invented in 1829 by Wheatstone.
Conchology
Conchology is the scientific study of shells. It was first reduced to a system by John Major of Kiel in 1675.
Conciliation
Conciliation is the settlement of a dispute by reference to a commission which makes a report, but does not give an award or judgement.
Concordat
Originally a concordat was any pact or agreement; later one between ecclesiastical and secular authorities, and especially one between the Pope and a temporal ruler concerning ecclesiastical matters within the latter's domains.
Concorde
Concorde is an all-in-one graphics program for business and presentation applications. It combines text, business graphics, free-form drawing and also painting and has a slideshow capability with animation, into one integrated program. There is also a large clip-art library of images spanning almost 20 diskettes. Concorde has an image database of over 2000 symbols, maps, icons and pictures which can be incorporated into charts or you can create your own drawings. All images can be flipped, rotated or cut and pasted. The product includes a library of animations for show-time presentations. Slide shows can be created as self running or manually controlled. A library of catchy tunes is included to accompany any portion of the presentation. Concorde creates numerous graphs, including three dimensional, clustered, stacked, single and multiple line bar charts, pie and exploded pie charts, x-y, scatter, stretched and stacked icon and also multiple area graphs. You can automatically label and size any chart and can select colours and textures. Text can be moved, copied, merged with images and graphs or saved as a text slide. Any graph can be edited horizontally and vertically or rescaled. There are fifteen medium and high resolution font styles, which can be scaled to any size. All text is proportionally spaced. Concorde reads DIF, Lotus 1-2-3, Symphony and SYLK files. You can capture any graphics or text screen with Concorde's Capture program. While Concorde offers a multitude of presentation capabilities, its strength is in putting together PC-based slide shows. Copied to self-running disks, these shows produce effective marketing or training tools. Concorde is useful for creating tutorials or program demonstrations.
Concrete
Concrete is a building material of cement, sand, stone and water.
Conductor
In physics, a conductor is a substance in which free electrons and/or ions are available to move under the influence of an electric field and thus to produce the phenomenon known as electric current. A conductor must therefore exist in a state of at least partial ionisation.
Confucianism
Confucianism is an ancient Chinese doctrine. It takes its name from its supposed founder - Confucious, but predates him and Confucious never claimed to do more than preserve the virtues of the past. Confucianism inculates no worship of a god, and is probably then an adaptation of Tao. It is widely practised in China and Korea.
Conga
The conga is an Afro-Cuban dance usually performed in a long line using simple repetitive steps.
Congo Red
Congo Red is a dye belonging to the azo-dyes. It is manufactured from benzidine and napthionic acid, and can be used directly on cotton without employing a mordant.
Conia
Conia is the volatile alkaloid poison found in hemlock.
Consanguinity
Consanguinity is the relation between persons descended from a common ancestor.
Conscience Clause
A conscience clause is a clause in certain British Acts of Parliament which dispenses people from certain duties if they have religious objections to their performance.
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory training of every eligible man for military service.
Consecration
Consecration is the act of dedicating a thing or person to the special service of a god.
Conservatives
The Conservatives are a political party, the name being invented by John Croker in 1830, whose leading principal is the preservation of national institutions. The Conservatives evolved from the earlier Tory party, and are still referred to as Tories.
CONSIGHT
CONSIGHT is an industrial machine vision object-recognition system which uses lighting effects to produce silhouette-like images.
Consistory Court
The Consistory Court is the spiritual court of a diocesan bishop in the Church of England presided over by a lawyer, his Chancellor, administering ecclesiastical law. In the Church of Rome it is a meeting of Cardinals presided over by the Pope to discuss important ecclesiastical affairs.
Console
In architecture, a console is an ornamental bracket used to support a cornice, usually in a curved form.
Consomme
Consomme is a thin clear soup made from stock.
Constant
In mathematics a constant is a fixed value.
Constantan
Constantan is an alloy of copper and nickel.
Constellation
A constellation, in astronomy, is a divisional area of the sky. Generally it is a group of fixed stars named after a mythological person or animal.
Constipation
Constipation is irregular and insufficient evacuation of the bowels.
Constituency
A constituency is a body of electors.
Consulate
A consulate is a building in which a consul transacts his official business.
Contempt of Court
Contempt of Court is the disobedience to, or disregard of the rules, orders, or dignity of a court, and is punishable by fine or committal to prison. Less serious offences may sometimes be purged by an apology.
Continental System
The Continental System was a plan devised by Napoleon to exclude Britain from all intercourse with the continent of Europe. It began with the decree of Berlin November 21st 1806, by which the British Islands were declared to be in a state of blockade; all commerce, intercourse and correspondence were prohibited; every Briton found in France, or a country occupied by French troops, was declared a prisoner of war; all property belonging to Britons, fair prize, and all trade in goods from Britain or British colonies entirely prohibited. Britain replied by orders in council prohibiting trade with French ports, and declaring all harbours of France and allies subjected to the same restrictions as if they were closely blockaded. Further decrees on the part of France, of a still more stringent kind, declared all vessels of whatever flag, which had been searched by a British vessel or paid duty to Britain, denationalised, and directing the burning of all British goods. The decrees were annulled at the fall of Napoleon in 1814.
Contraband
Contraband is the term used to describe goods which are prohibited to be imported or exported by the laws of a state.
Contract
Contract is a legal term for an agreement made between two or more persons which is recognised by law and whereby each party to the agreement undertakes to do, or to refrain from doing, a particular act in consideration of the other party undertaking to do, or refraining from doing, some other specified act.
Contract Bridge
Contract Bridge is a variety of Auction Bridge in which only the exact number of tricks which the declarer contracts to make score towards the game. The variety evolved around 1912, and gained popularity from 1930 onwards.
Contract Note
A contract note is the summary of a contract sent by a broker or agent to his principal.
Contralto
In music, contralto is the highest voice of a male adult, or the lowest of a woman or boy. It is also known as Alto or counter-tenor.
Convention of Gastein
The Convention of Gastein was signed by Austria and Prussia in 1865 at the close of the Schleswig-Holstein War. By it Schleswig was ceded to Prussia and Holstein to Austria.
Conveyancing
Conveyancing is the transfer by mutual consent of the parties of real property by means of written documents, or conveyances.
Convocation
A convocation is an assembly of the clergy of England, belonging either to the province of Canterbury or to that of York, to consult on ecclesiastical matters.
Convulsions
Convulsions are involuntary contractions of muscles which are usually under conscious control.
Conway's Law
In computing, Conway's Law is the rule that the organisation of the software and the organisation of the software team will be congruent; originally stated as "If you have four groups working on a compiler, you'll get a 4-pass compiler". This was originally promulgated by Melvin Conway, an early proto-hacker who wrote an assembler for the Burroughs 220 called SAVE. The name `SAVE' didn't stand for anything; it was just that you lost fewer card decks and listings because they all had SAVE written on them.
Cooked Mode
In computing, cooked mode is the normal character-input mode, with interrupts enabled and with erase, kill and other special-character interpretations done directly by the tty driver. Most generally, `cooked mode' may refer to any mode of a system that does extensive pre-processing before presenting data to a program.
Coon-can
Coon-can is a card game for between 2 and 7 players, and is derived from an old Spanish game called Conquian.
Cooperage
Cooperage is the making of wooden vessels by binding strips or staves of wood with hoops to form cylinders (barrels, casks etc.). The art probably started for preserving wine. The coopers of London were incorporated in 1501.
Copaiba
Copaiba is a mixture of resin and volatile oil which pours from the cut stems of species of Copaifera trees indigenous to tropical America. In small doses copaiba is a diuretic.
Copal
Copal is a naturally occurring resin used in varnish where it is dissolved in alcohol or turpentine.
Cope
A cope is a silken vestment, open in the front and reaching to the feet, used in the Roman Catholic Church and more rarely in the Church of England.
Copophone
The copophone is a musical instrument consisting of a series of glass tumblers connected with a sounding board. The sounds are produced by moving wet fingers around the edge of the glasses. It was invented by Chevalier Coelho who first demonstrated it at parties in London in 1875.
Copper Sulphate
Copper Sulphate (blue stone) is a copper salt found naturally as chalcanthite and made by the action of sulphuric acid on copper oxide. It usually exists as blue crystals and is used in electroplating and in plant sprays.
Coppice
A coppice or copse is a small wood.
Copra
Copra is the dried flesh of the coconut.
Coprolite
Coprolite is the fossilised excrement of reptiles (dinosaur dung, so to speak). They occur in the form of nodules and contain a lot of phosphatic material. The term has come to apply to any phosphatic nodule.
Coprophilia
Coprophilia is the rather unusual condition of deriving sexual pleasure from faeces and excrement.
Coptic
Coptic is a Hamitic language descended from ancient Egyptian, and extinct from about 1700.
Cordovan
Cordovan is a fine leather which took its name from the Spanish city of Cordova where it was manufactured in large quantities.
Corduroy
Corduroy is a thick cotton material corded, or ribbed on one surface.
Cordwain
Cordwain is a Spanish shoe-leather made of goat skin or split horse hide. It was much used throughout Europe in the Middle Ages.
Core Dump
In computing (especially UNIX) a core dump is a copy of the contents of core, produced when a process is aborted by certain kinds of internal error
Core Wars
Core Wars is a game between `assembler' programs in a simulated machine, where the objective is to kill your opponent's program by overwriting it. It was popularised by A. K. Dewdney's column in `Scientific American' magazine, this was actually devised by Victor Vyssotsky, Robert Morris, and Dennis Ritchie in the early 1960s (their original game was called `Darwin' and ran on a PDP-1 at Bell Labs).
Corel Draw
Corel Draw is a powerful, vector-based graphics package that works under Microsoft Windows. It includes a variety of well-integrated features and offers extensive compatibility with other Windows-based programs. The drawing tools are icon-based and are very powerful. Although there are fewer basic tools in Corel Draw than in other graphics programs, each tool has multiple capabilities. The toolbox lets you draw freehand; autotrace or import images; scale, rotate, mirror, and edit images; and fill, pattern, or colour images. The program automatically smooths Bezier curves, and includes calligraphic pen shapes and special fountain fills with radial or linear effects. Type can be added to any image, skewed, stretched, rotated, mirrored, fit to a curve, kerned, or altered to create custom letter shapes, or printed in any of 102 fonts. Corel Draw supports the Pantone Colour Matching System and colour blending. The program is compatible with many popular word processing and desktop publishing programs and has extensive import/export utilities. Users can cut and paste graphics between Corel Draw and other Windows applications via the Windows clipboard and output to slidemakers via the SCODL format.
Cork
Cork is the bark of a species of oak tree (Cork Oak) native to south Europe and north Africa. The bark is first stripped off when the tree is about 20 years old, and the process is repeated roughly every 9 years. The best cork is produced when the tree is about 40 years old, though the tree is productive for about 150 years.
Corn Laws
Corn Laws are various enactments designed to ensure an adequate supply of cereal foods to a country, usually by protection allotted to its own farmers. In England from the 11th to the 15th centuries all exports of grain were forbidden except with special permission in times of a glut. This attempted protection ironically resulted in making agriculture inefficient and diminishing supplies, and in 1436 exports were allowed when the price dropped below a certain level.
Cornell University
Cornell University is an American university at Ithaca, in New York state. It was founded in the latter part of the 19th century mainly through the benefactions of Ezra Cornell.
Cornish
The Cornish language was a Celtic language spoke in Cornwall as recently as the 19th century, but is now all but extinct except in certain place names.
Corolla
Corolla is a botanical term referring to a flower's petals collectively. What in popular terms may be thought of as the ''flower'' of a plant.
Corona Club
The Corona Club was founded in 1900 by Sir William Hamilton to unite the Colonies and Great Britain more closely by social intercourse.
Coronet
A coronet is a special crown worn by nobles on State occasions and represented above their coats of arms. The designs vary according to the rank of the wearer. In England, the Prince of Wale's coronet is distinguished from the royal crown by having a single instead of a double arch. A duke's coronet has on the rim 8 strawberry leaves; that of a marquis, 4 strawberry leaves and 4 silver balls alternately; that of an earl has 8 silver balls on long spikes alternating with strawberry leaves set lower; a viscount's coronet has 16 silver balls close together, and a baron's 6. Coronets for earls were first allowed by Henry II; for viscounts by Henry VIII and for barons by Charles II.
Corporal Punishment
Corporal Punishment is the striking or beating of a person as punishment. Caning in schools is corporal punishment, and is a subject of continuous debate as to whether or not it should be allowed. In the past in England certain criminals were whipped, such as incorrigible rogues, perpetrators of robbery with violence and larceny. The whipping of women was banned in England in 1820.
Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi is the festival in the Roman Catholic Church held on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. It was established as a general festival in 1264 by a bull of Pope Urban IV. It commemorates the institution of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper and among Roman Catholics is the occasion of outdoor processions.
Corrosion
Corrosion is the external chemical changes which take place in materials in ordinary use, resulting in their injury or destruction. The corrosion of metal is very important, but the corrosion of stone is also a major problem. The corrosion or iron is commonly known as rusting.
Corrosive Sublimate
Corrosive Sublimate is the popular name for mercuric chloride.
Corrugated Iron
Corrugated iron is sheet-iron strengthened by being bent into parallel furrows. It is largely used for roofing, and when dipped in melted zinc to give it a thin coating, is commonly known as galvanized iron.
Corsned
In Saxon times, corsned was a piece of bread consecrated by exorcism, to be swallowed by any person suspected of a crime. If guilty, it was expected that the swallower would fall into convulsions, or turn deadly pale, and that the bread would find no passage. If innocent, it was believed the morsel would turn to nourishment.
Corvee
Corvee is a form of forced labour. The term is especially applied to the unpaid labour owed by tenants in France to their lord under the feudal system. The system died out with serfdom in Europe, except in France where it was continued in the form of a labour or money payment for the upkeep of roads.
Cosmetics
Cosmetics are materials used to improve the personal appearance. They fall into two categories. Those which improved the natural appearance of the skin and hair and remove blemishes; and those which camouflage. Soap is the most commonly used cosmetic. It is used to loosen and remove dirt and dead skin cells.
Cosmology
Cosmology is the study of the structure of the universe.
Costermonger
A costermonger is an itinerant dealer in fruit, vegetables, fish etc. deriving the name from costard, a favourite apple. The London costermongers were viewed as useful at relieving the markets when glutted during the 19th century.
Cotswold Games
The Cotswold Games are an obsolete English rural sports meeting, probably dating back to the sixteenth century. the games were revived in 1604, with royal approval, by Robert Dover, who called them Cotswold's Olympick Games. They became known as Dover's Games and lasted until 1850.
Cotswold's Olympick Games
see "Cotswold Games"
Cottage
The term cottage was originally applied to a small house without land, and is mentioned in 1275.
Cotton Mills Act
The Cotton Mills Act was passed in 1819 laying down a minimum age for the employment of children and a maximum working week of 72 hours.
Cotton-seed oil
Cotton-seed oil is an oil expressed from the seeds of the cotton plant. It is obtained in large quantities in the USA where the higher grade oil is used as an edible cooking oil and the cheaper grades are used for making soap.
Cotton-wool
Cotton-wool is the term used for cotton when used in the open form, without being spun or woven. It is usually composed of short fibres which are no use for spinning, and is used in medicine for applying antiseptic material and for removing make-up and for wadding and stuffing.
Cottonian Library
The Cottonian Library was formed by Sir Robert Cotton around 1600 and secured to the public by a statute of 1700. In 1731 part of the collection was damaged by fire and the remainer of the books were removed to the British Museum in 1757.
Cotyledon
The cotyledon is the first leaf of an embryo plant and is formed within the seed.
Coumarone
Coumarone is a liquid organic compound found in coal-tar. It belongs to the benzo-furfurane class of compounds and is used as a source of resin for making varnish.
Counter-irritant
A counter-irritant is a remedy applied to the body externally which relieves a discomfort somewhere else by producing a local irritation. They effect relief by reflex action due to the sensation they impart to the nerves of the skin below.
Coup d'Etat
A Coup d'Etat is a sudden, forcible assumption of power in the State by a party or person in defiance of constitutional rights.
Coupe
A coupe is a small four-wheeled closed carriage for 2 persons. The term has come to also describe a motor car with a single-compartment body containing two or three seats or a half-compartment in a railway coach.
Couplet
A couplet is two rhymed lines of verse, either comprising a self-contained poem, or forming a unit in a longer poem.
Coupon
A coupon is a small certificate which entitles the holder to some payment, gift or benefit.
Courage Best
Courage Best is one of the most popular cask conditioned ales in the south of England. It is a copper-coloured, medium strength ale.
Court
Court is the suite of the sovereign, or the place where the sovereign sojourns with his suite. A court is also a place where the sovereign administers justice through his judges.
Court Martial
A Court Martial is a court for the trial of offences against the military or naval discipline or for the administration of martial law.
Covalence
In chemistry, covalence is the combining of atoms by means of the sharing of electrons.
Covalency
Covalency is the bonding of two atoms in a molecule by the mutual sharing of a pair of electrons, one from each atom.
Coventicle Act
The Coventicle Act of 1664 declared that a meeting of more than five persons (except the household) for religious worship not in accordance with the Book of Common Prayer was a seditious assembly. It was repealed by the Toleration Act of 1689.
Coventry Act
The Coventry Act was passed to prevent malicious maiming and wounding in 1671, in consequence of Sir John Coventry being maimed in the streets of London by Sir Thomas Sandy's and others on 21st December 1670. The act was repealed in 1828.
Cow-catcher
A cow-catcher is a frame of steel bars projecting forwards and downwards from the front of a locomotive in order to prevent cattle and other obstructions from getting under the wheels of the train.
Cowl
A cowl is a sleeveless garment with a hood worn by members of certain religious orders in the Catholic Church.
CP/M
CP/M (Control Program for Microcomputers) is an early microcomputer OS written by hacker Gary Kildall for 8080 and Z80 based machines. It was very popular in the late 1970s but was virtually wiped out by MS-DOS after the release of the IBM PC in 1981. Legend has it that Kildall's company blew its chance to write the OS for the IBM PC because Kildall decided to spend a day IBM's reps wanted to meet with him enjoying the perfect flying weather in his private plane. Many of CP/M's features and conventions strongly resemble those of early DEC operating systems such as TOPS-10, OS/8, RSTS, and RSX-11.
Crack
Crack is the crystalline form of cocaine.
Cracking
In the petro-chemical industry, the term cracking applies to the heating of a hydrocarbon to the point at which it decomposes with deposition of carbon.
Crambo
Crambo is an old guessing game which was very popular in the 17th century. One player thinks of a word and mentions another word with which it rhymes. The other players try to guess the word by defining the word guessed by a synonym without actually naming it. For example; "A word rhyming with dog"; "Is it a mist?"; "No it's not fog"; "Is it a pig?"; "Yes it is hog". In Dumb Crambo the word guessed has to be portrayed in pantomime without speaking.
Cramp
Cramp is a severe spasm of certain muscles, usually of a limb, but often of the chest or abdomen.
Cran
A cran was a British measure used for herrings, equal to 37.5 gallons.
Craniology
see "Phrenology"
Crap-shooting
Crap-shooting (Craps) is a form of gambling with dice which is especially popular in America. Two dice are rolled or "shot" from the open hand; a throw of 7 or 11 (nick or natural) wins all stakes; 2, 3 or 12 (crap) loses all. Any other number (a point) entitles the thrower to continue until he wins by throwing the same number again, or loses by throwing the 7.
Craps
see "Crap-shooting"
Crater
A crater was a large earthenware vessel used for mixing wines in Greece and Rome. The term also describes the outlet of a volcano or the hole made in the earth by an explosion.
Crates
see "Crazy Eights"
Crazy Eights
Crazy Eights is a card game for two or more players, in which the object is to get rid of the cards in your hand onto a discard pile by matching the number of suit of the previous discard. There are a huge number of variations of this game, and many alternative names. It is sometimes called Crates, Switch, Swedish Rummy, Last One or Rockaway. In Germany it is Mau-Mau; in Switzerland it is Tschausepp. Some British players call it Black Jack. The basic game of Crazy Eights uses a standard 52-card deck, or two such packs shuffled together if there are a lot of players. The dealer deals (singly) five cards to each player (seven each if there are only two players). The undealt stock is placed face down on the table, and the top card of the stock is turned face up and placed beside the stock to start the discard pile. Starting with the player to the dealer's left, and continuing clockwise, each player in turn must either play a legal card face up on top of the discard pile, or draw a card from the undealt stock. The following plays are legal: if the top card of the discard pile is not an eight, you may play any card which matches the rank or suit of the previous card (for example if the top card was the king of hearts you could play any king or any heart); an eight may be played on any card, and the player of the eight must nominate a suit, which must be played next; if an eight is on top of the pile, you may play any card of the suit nominated by the person who played the eight. The first player who gets rid of all their cards wins, and the other players score penalty points according to the cards they have left in their hands - 50 for an eight, 10 for a picture, and spot cards at face value. Crazy Eights is one of the easiest games to elaborate by adding variations, and is not often played in its basic form. There are variations in the number of cards dealt, the rules about drawing cards and the scoring system. Frequently special meanings are given to particular cards;
when played these cards affect the sequence of play, or have other effects. In the normal game, you may always use your turn to draw a card. However, some people play that you may only draw if you are unable to play - if you can play you must. Some allow the drawn card to be played immediately if it is a legal play. Some allow more than one card to be drawn - either up to a fixed number of cards, after which if you still cannot (or will not) play the turn passes to the next player. Others require you to continue drawing until you can play. There may be a rule that you must alert the other players when you have just one card left. If you fail to do so you must draw cards (usually two) from the stock as a penalty. Traditionally an eight can be played at any time and the player can nominate any suit. Some play that you can only play an eight that matches (either the same suit or another eight). Some play that you can play an eight at any time but cannot nominate another suit - the next player must match the suit of the eight you played or play another eight. Some players use jacks or aces rather than eights as the cards which have the power to change suit. Some play that when a queen (or some other designated rank) is played, the next player in rotation misses a turn, and the turn passes to the following player. Some play that when an ace (or some other designated rank) is played, the direction of play reverses, becoming anticlockwise if it had been clockwise, or vice versa. Some play that when a two is played the next player must either draw two cards or play another two. If several consecutive twos have been played the next player must either play another two or draw two cards for each two in the sequence.
CRC
CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) is a powerful error checking method for data and digital communications. The transmitting terminal computes a numeric value representative of the number of marking bits in the associated block of data and sends that value to the receiver, where the number is recomputed to compare against the block as received. Depending on the number of bits in the CRC numeric value the error trapping efficiency ranges from about 97 percent at CRC-6 to 99.997 percent at CRC-32. Values of CRC-8 and CRC-16 are adequate for most data message block sizes, while CRC-32 is needed mainly for very long blocks of tens of thousands of characters.
Cream
Cream is the thicker substance that rises to the top of milk which is allowed to stand. It contains all the constituents of milk, with a larger but variable quantity of solids. A medium cream contains 36 percent butterfat, 6 percent albuminoids and 2.5 percent milk sugar. The butterfat content varies between 15 and 56 per cent.
Cream of Tartar
see "Tartar"
Creatine
see "Methyl-guanidine-acetic acid"
Creative Evolution
Creative Evolution is a tenet of philosophy put forward by Bergson that asserts that evolution is not purely mechanistic (as Darwin claimed) but that inherited characteristics and the effect of the environment are used by the individual, perhaps unconsciously, in an act of self-creation.
Credence Table
A credence table was a "tasting" table used in Italy at a time when attempts to poison princes and nobles was a common practice. Today a credence table is a small table in a church by the side of the altar on which the bread and wine are placed ready for the Eucharist.
Credentials
Credentials are official documents issued to a representative or agent, guaranteeing his status and authority.
Creosote
Creosote is a generic term applied to acid liquors which are obtained during the destructive distillation of wood, and also to a fraction obtained in the distillation of coal-tar.
Crepe de Chine
Crepe de Chine was originally a mixed silk and wool fabric, today it is a usually pure wool fabric, woven so as to give a slightly crinkled effect when put through a special finishing process.
Crescent
Crescent is a geometrical form resembling the moon in its first quarter, and used as a charge in heraldry. It is perhaps bet known as the symbol of the Ottoman Turks and a symbol of Islam.
Cresol
The cresols (hydroxy-toluenes, methyl-phenols) are organic compounds present in the crude phenol obtained from coal-tar. They are used in antiseptics.
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous was the eleventh geological period, 95,000,000 years ago. The first marsupials evolved.
Cribbage
Cribbage is a card game usually for two players, but also played in pairs by four players. It was invented by John Suckling in the first half of the 17th century and is very popular in London, and pubs throughout Britain where it is played for money and in competition leagues.
Criminology
Criminology is the science dealing with the nature and causes of crime. It is a branch of sociology and psychology. It was first developed by Lombroso, of Turin, who published a work on the subject in 1875.
Crimping-House
A crimping-house was a place used to entrap people into the army and later into the mercantile marine. Some of them in London were destroyed by the populace following the death of a young man killed while trying to escape from one in 1794. The Merchant Shipping Act of 1894 made crimping illegal and subject to punishment by a heavy fine.
Crochet
Crochet is a form of knitting done with a hooked needle and cotton or thin wool.
Croquet
Croquet is a lawn game which was introduced into England around 1850. It comprises 4 balls - blue, red, black and yellow, always played in that order - which are struck with a wooden mallet through 6 hoops and against a peg in a prescribed order.
Crosstalk for Windows
Crosstalk for Windows is an asynchronous communications package that takes advantage of the Microsoft Windows graphical user environment. Similar to Crosstalk XVI, this product uses menus to help link a PC to any other PC, minicomputer, mainframe, or subscription information service. It was the first communications product available for Windows. The program's script language and macro capabilities are limited compared to other PC comunications programs that automate script building. Except for the automatic scripts created for logging into public databases, the user must manually create and edit scripts to automate tasks such as logging into local systems or using a line editor such as EDLIN in DOS.
Crosstalk XVI
Crosstalk XVI is a flexible menu or command-driven communication program that links your PC to any other PC, minicomputer, mainframe, or subscription information service. Crosstalk XVI has full support for auto-dial and auto-answer modems and works as a smart terminal that emulates most popular dumb terminals. It can transfer data and programs using popular error-checking protocols such as XMODEM and KERMIT. Because all important communications parameters are available on the main status screen, you can view a single screen instead of searching through layers of screens to change particular parameters. Incoming data can be routed to any display, printer, or disk. Data can be sent from the keyboard or a disk file. The screen display shows characters seIlt and received by the modem and whether the modem is on or offline. The product stores and transmits login information and commands to a remote system, and public databases such as CompuServe
Crown Jewels
Crown Jewels are jewelled emblems of royalty. The British Crown Jewels are kept on public display at the Tower of London and comprise crowns, orbs, sceptres, swords and an anointing spoon.
Crown Lands
Crown Lands are lands belonging to the sovereign.
Crozier
The crozier is a bishop's staff of office. It resembles a shepherd's crook in shape, and may have developed from the hooked staff carried by the Roman augurs.
Crwth
The crwth was a Welsh form of violin with 6 strings. 4 of the strings were played with a bow, the other 2 being plucked by the fingers.
Cryophorus
The cryophorus is an instrument inveneted by Wollaston about 1812 to demonstrate the relation between evaporation at low temperatures and the production of cold.
Crypt
A crypt is a chamber or compartment under a church or public building. In early Christian churches it was usually built to hold a saint's tomb or the relics of saints.
Cryptography
Cryptography is writing in cipher with the intention of hiding the meaning from all who do not possess the key.
Crystal
A crystal is a body, usually bounded by symmetrically arranged plane surfaces possessing properties which differ in magnitude in different directions.
Crystal Gazing
Crystal Gazing, or Crystallomancy was a mode of divining by means of a transparent body, such as a precious stone or crystal globe. The operator first muttered over it certain formulas of prayer, and then gave the crystal (a beryl was preferred) into the hands of a young man or virgin who received an answer from the spirits within the crystal.
Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace was a large building with a central hall, 1600 ft long, built entirely of iron and glass, with towers at either end 282 ft high, at Sydenham in London. It was designed by Sir Joseph Paxton and reconstructed in 1854 from the building used for the Great Hyde Park Exhibition of 1851.
Crystalloids
In chemistry, crystalloids are substances which, when dissolved in liquid, will diffuse through a semipermeable membrane.
Crystallomancy
see "Crystal Gazin"
Cuarenta
Cuarenta is a card game played in Ecuador, mostly by people from the mountains, including the cities of Cuenca and Quito. Cuarenta means "40" in Spanish; this is the number of cards in the deck as well as the points required to win. The play is supposed to be full of bravado, loud, exciting, even silly.
Cuarenta can be played by two or four people. If there are four players, then there are two teams (partners sit across from each other). One of the teammates keeps the score; the other collects cards as they are won.
Cuarenta is played with 40 cards from a standard 52-card deck. The eights, nines and tens are removed leaving the numbers ace-2-3-4-5-6-7 (ace is low) and the pictures.
The removed 8's 9's and 10's are not used in the play, but they are used to keep score. At the start of the game they are placed in a face up stack between the two players who will be keeping score for their teams.
Cubebs
Cubebs is an eastern condiment made from dried unripe berries of a plant closely related to the pepper.
Cubit
The cubit was a Hebrew, Roman and English unit of measurement. The English cubit was equal to 18 inches, the Hebrew 22 inches and the Roman 17.5 inches.
Cuckoo
Cuckoo is a simple round card game which can be played by a large number of people. It dates back to the 17th century, maybe earlier. Other names for this game are Ranter Go Round and Chase the Ace. In the USA it is also known as Screw Your Neighbor. Cuckoo can be played with a standard 52 card pack. The direction of play differs in different countries - in what follows we assume clockwise. Each player starts with an equal number of lives, say 3. Deal one card to each player. The object is not to be left holding the lowest card. Suits are irrelevant and the cards rank K (high), Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A (low). Each player has one turn, beginning with the player on dealer's left, continuing clockwise round the table and ending with the dealer. At your turn you may either keep your card or exchange it with your left hand neighbour, in the hope of getting a better one. Your neighbour must exchange unless she has a king, in which case she exposes it and you keep your card. The dealer, whose turn comes last, can try to exchange with a card cut from the undealt stock. After everyone has had a turn, the cards are exposed and whoever has the lowest card loses a life. If several players tie for lowest they all lose a life. Players who have lost all their lives are out of the game, and the last person left in wins. In various countries of Europe, special cards have been made for this game. These cards consist of a single suit with numbers from 1 to 10 or 12 and several picture cards ranking above and below the numbers; there are generally two copies of each card in the pack. When played with these cards, the basic cuckoo game is normally elaborated by giving several of the picture cards special properties when a player tried to exchange with them.
Cucullus
A cucullus was a hooded cloak of coarse woollen material worn by lower orders in Rome.
Cullinan Diamond
The Cullinan Diamond was a diamond of over 3000 carats found in Cullinan mine in the Transvaal in 1907. It was bought by the Transvaal government for 150,000 pounds and presented to King Edward VII as the largest diamond known. It has subsequently been cut into 9 large stones.
Cummann na nGaedheal
see "Fine Gael"
Cuneiform
Cuneiform describes the form of writing used in inscriptions by the ancient Babylonians, Persians and Hittites. The characters are all in the form of a wedge and were developed from earlier ideographs and represent not so much individual characters as syllables or entire words.
Cupel
A cupel is a receptacle made from bone-ash and used in cupellation.
Cupellation
Cupellation is an ancient method of extracting silver from its ores by alloying the silver with lead, and then removing the lead from the lead-silver alloy by melting it in a receptacle made from bone-ash and called a cupel. Air is then passed over the surface of the metal, oxidising the lead to litharge which is blown off.
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a spherical roof. The term is also used to describe the cover of gun emplacements.
Cupro nickel
Cupro nickel is an alloy of copper and nickel
Curare
Curare is a poison derived from the bark of a South American tree.
Curcumin
Curcumin is a colouring matter formed from turmeric dissolved in alcohol.
Curfew
A curfew is a signal given, generally by the ringing of a bell, to warn inhabitants of a town to extinguish their fires. It was used to avoid the danger of fires at night when houses were built of wood. The practice generally died out from 1100, and today the term describes ordering citizens to remain indoors between certain hours.
Curia Regis
Curia Regis was a court of law established by William I and attended by all the great officers of state as a final Court of Appeal.
Curia Romana
Curia Romana is the name given to the judicial and administrative organisations for the Government of the Roman Catholic Church, including the body of Cardinals and officials who reside at Rome.
Curie
Curie is the unit of measurement of radioactivity.
Curling
Curling is a Scottish national game played with stones on the ice, said to have been introduced from the Low Countries in the 16th century.
Current account
In economics, a current account is that part of the balance of payments concerned with current transactions, as opposed to capital movements. It includes trade (visibles) and service transactions, such as investment, insurance, shipping, and tourism (invisibles). The state of the current account is regarded as a barometer of overall economic health.
Curtilage
Curtilage is the land which surrounds and belongs to a dwelling-house.
Cut-water
The cut-water is the sharp part of the bow of a ship, so called because it cuts or divides the water.
Cutter
A cutter is a small vessel resembling a sloop, with one mast and a straight running (not fixed) bowsprit, the sails being usually a fore-and-aft mainsail, gaff topsail, stay foresail and jib.
Cuttle-bone
Cuttle-bone is the dorsal plate of Sepia officinalis, formerly used in medicine as an absorbent and now used for polishing wood and as a tooth powder.
Cutty-stool
A cutty-stool was a low stool of repentance. It was a seat set apart in Presbyterian churches in Scotland, on which offenders against chastity were exhibited before the congregation and submitted to the minister's rebukes before they were readmitted to church priviledges.
CWT
see "Hundredweight"
Cyanamide
Cyanamide is a colourless crystalline substance. It is the amide of cyanic acid and is prepared by the interaction of ammonia and cyanogen chloride.
Cyanic Acid
Cyanic Acid (HCNO) is a volatile liquid prepared by the distillation of urea. It is very unstable and if heated above zero degrees Celsius explodes with the formation of a polymer cyanmelide.
Cyanide
Cyanide is a salt of hydrocyanic acid. Notably potassium cyanide.
Cyanocobolamin
see "Vitamin B12"
Cyanogen
Cyanogen is a colourless gas with a peculiarly characteristic odour. It is inflammable and extremely poisonous. It is derived from Prussian Blue, and was first obtained in the free state by Gay Lussac in 1815, being the first instance of the isolation of a compound radical.
Cybernetics
Cybernetics is the study of systems in which the action of a mechanism is controlled by information received from an external source.
Cyclone
A cyclone is an area of low atmospheric pressure.
Cyclotron
A cyclotron is an apparatus for imparting energies in the order of millions of electron-volts to charged particles by causing them to follow a spiral path inside a pair of hollow semicircular electrodes between which an oscillating voltage is applied.
Cymbal
The cymbal is a brass musical instrument, and the oldest recorded known musical instrument. Generally it consists of a suspended brass disk which is struck with a stick.
Cyrillic
The Cyrillic alphabet (Cyrillitza) was invented by St Cyril in 845. It contains forty-two letters and is fashioned from ancient Greek.
Cyrillitza
see "Cyrillic"
Cystitis
Cystitis is an inflammation of the bladder.
Cytochrome
Cytochrome is a type of protein.
Czapka
A czapka, or lancer cap, was a distinctive headdress worn by the Uhlans.
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