symbol
& abbreviation |
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A
: symbol and abbreviation of ampere, SI
unit of electric current. |
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ampere
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acronym |
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AAAS
: American Association for the Advancement of
Science |
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Latin
abbreviation |
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ab
init. : ab initio : from the beginning |
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abode
: a place of residence; a dwelling; a habitation. |
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materials |
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ABS
: polyacrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene; amorphous engineering
thermoplastic, relatively hard and reasonably tough; brand names:
Cycolac, Lustran, Novodur, Ronfalin. |
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abundance
: physical quantity introduced to measure
the
size of a physical system (an object) in terms of system's (object's) constituents. It is primarily
intended
to measure the amount of substance expressed as a number of chemical species
(atoms,
ions, molecules) in the given volume, but it could be used to measure
the
size of any system as a number of system's constituents.
Abundance is a basic
quantity in SI; unit:
mole
(abbr. mol) |
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SI
basic
quantity
mol
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acceleration
: physical quantity introduced to measure velocity change with time,
i.e. acceleration is the rate of velocity change; vector quantity;
SI unit (derived unit): m s-2. |
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velocity
derived
unit
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acronym |
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ACGIH
: American Conference of Governmental Industrial
Hygenists : an organization open to all practitioners in
industrial hygiene, occupational health, environmental health, or
safety. |
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botany
& gardening |
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achene
: a small, dry, hard, one-seeded fruit that does not open when
mature. |
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Latin
acronym |
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ACN
(or a.C.n.) : Ante
Christum Natum : see AD
(Anno Domini) |
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acre
: the area of a square measuring approximately 209 feet on a side; 1
acre = 43,560 square feet = 4047 sq meter = 0.4047 hectare. |
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acre-foot
: a common unit to measure volumes of water, typically for use in
irrigation. One acre-foot is the volume of water sufficient to cover
an acre of land to a depth of 1 foot (43,560 cubic feet,
approximately 325,851 U.S. gallons, or approximately 1,233.48 cubic
meters). On average, 1 acre-foot of water is enough to meet the
demands of 4 people for a year. |
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acronym
: a word formed from the initial letters of other words in the same
sequence; for example, the acronym NATO is formed from North
Atlantic Treaty Organisation. |
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computing
& web |
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ActiveX
: a software component used in browsers (traditionally Internet
Explorer, but also others) to display embedded web content. Most
often, ActiveX controls are used to install additional functionality
into the browser, such as the ability to play Flash or Shockwave
content. |
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Flash
Shockwave
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acute
angle : an angle that is less than 90 degrees. |
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Latin
acronym |
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AD
: Anno Domini (In the Year of the Lord); more completely:
Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi (In the Year of Our Lord Jesus
Christ) : the conventional designation used to number years in the
Julian and Gregorian calendars; it defines an epoch based on the
traditionally reckoned year of the birth of Jesus. Originally, years
before the epoch were denoted ACN (or a.C.n.) for Ante Christum
Natum (before the birth of Christ), but BC (Before Christ) is now
usually used in English. While it is increasingly common to place AD
after a date (e.g.,135 AD), by analogy to the use of BC, formal
English usage adheres to the traditional practice of placing the
abbreviation before the year, as in Latin (e.g., 586 BC, but AD
135). |
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Latin
abbreviation |
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ad
inf. : ad infinitum
: to infinity |
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Latin
abbreviation |
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ad
init. : ad initium
: at the beginning |
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Latin
abbreviation |
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ad
int. : ad interim
: in the meantime |
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Latin
abbreviation |
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ad
lib. : ad libitum
: at will |
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Latin
abbreviation |
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ad
loc. : ad locum
: at the place |
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botany
& gardening |
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adventitious
: appearing in an abnormal or unusual position or place, as a root. |
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aerobic : an
organism, environment, or cellular process that requires oxygen. |
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aerosol
: a suspension of liquid or solid particles in air. |
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Latin
abbreviation |
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aet.
: aetatis : aged |
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aging
: permanent loss of capacity due either to repeated use or to
passage of time. |
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agriculture
: the production of plants and animals useful to humans, involving
soil cultivation and the breeding and the management of crops and
livestock. |
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air
: composition :
mixture of gases, approx. 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, with small amount of
water vapor (humidity),
argon, and carbon dioxide, and traces of neon, methane, and various other components; it is
usually modeled as a uniform (no variations or fluctuations) gas with
properties that are averaged from all the individual components.
The composition of air is unchanged until the height of approx. 10 km. See
[HANDBOOK]. |
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humidity
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air
: density : at temperature T
(K) and absolute pressure P
(Pa), the air density D
(kg/m3 = g/L) is
D
= P / (R * T)
where
universal gas constant R = 8.314472 J mol-1 K-1
= 287.05 J kg-1 K-1 for dry air. Sometimes it
is more practical to calculate air density as related to normal
atmospheric pressure at sea level Po
and temperature To
= 273.15 K = 0oC.
Note:
temperature T has to
be expressed in oC, while P
and Po could be
in any units as long as both are expressed in same units. For the
value of normal pressure Po
see atmospheric
pressure.
Dry air density at 25oC :
sea level D = 1.18393 g/L
Boulder D = 0.97611 g/L |
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acronym |
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ALARA
: As Low As Reasonably Achievable;
most often used in reference to chemical or radiation exposure
levels; ALARA is not simply a phrase, but a work principle, a
mindset, a culture of professional excellence. |
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algorithm
: a set of instructions, like a recipe, that performs functions or
solves mathematical problems. |
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linguistics
: phonetics noun |
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allophone
: predictable phonetic variant of a phoneme; any of various
acoustically different forms of the same phoneme. For example, the
aspirated t of top, the unaspirated t of stop,
and the tt (pronounced as a flap) of batter are
allophones of the English phoneme /t/. |
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phoneme |
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alphabet
: a collection of symbols that, in the context of a particular
written language, represent the sounds of that language. The
correspondence between symbols and sounds may be either more or less
exact; most alphabets do not exhibit a one-to-one correspondence
between distinct sounds (phonemes) and
distinct symbols (graphemes). |
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phoneme
grapheme |
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alphabet,
Latin : the alphabet of the ancient
Romans, consisting of 21 letters; the ancestor of the modern
alphabets of western European languages (j, u, w,
y, and z lacking when compared to the modern English
alphabet); the term is also used to distinguish these western
alphabets from such forms as the Greek, Cyrillic, and Hebrew
alphabets. |
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botany
& gardening |
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alternate
: arranged not opposite each other on the central stem, but singly
at regular intervals at different levels; placed singly at different
heights on the axis, on each side in succession, or at definite
angular distances from one another, as leaves. |
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ambient
temperature : the average temperature of the surroundings; in
research and development it is commonly assumed as 20oC,
unless stated otherwise.
NOTE: The term "ambient
temperature" is nowadays replacing older term "room temperature". |
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botany
& gardening |
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ament
(also: amentum) : a
dry scaly spike of small, closely clustered flowers, usually
unisexual, such as the inflorescences of willows, birches, poplars;
commonly known as a catkin. |
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Amerindian
(American Indian) : a name for the indigenous
peoples of the Americas. Many English terms have been used or
considered for such purposes, such as American Indians (or simply
Indians), Native Americans, First Nations, Indigenous Peoples of
America, Amerindians, Amerinds, and more. However, none have found
universal acceptance; an ongoing controversy over the acceptable
ways to refer to the indigenous peoples of the Americas has much to
do with connotations more than with the meanings of the words.
Once-common term ‘Indian’ remain in use, despite political
correctness having preferred ‘Native American’ since the 1980s;
the term ‘Amerindian’ is preferred in this website. |
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amount
of substance : see abundance |
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SI
|
measurement
unit
|
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ampere
: SI unit of electric current;
symbolized: A; basic
unit; |
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basic
unit
|
measurement
unit
|
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ampere-hour
(Ah) : a unit
for the quantity of electric charge ('electricity', less precise
term), obtained by integrating current flow in amperes over the time
in hours for its flow; used as a measure of battery capacity;
abbreviated: Ah. NOTE:
Do not use obsolete abbreviation amp-hr. |
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ampersand
: the name for the character & . |
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measurement
unit |
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AMU
(amu)
: atomic mass unit : a mass unit that is exactly 1/12th the mass of
a carbon 12 (C12) atom (approx. 1.67 E-24 g). |
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computing
& web |
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anchor
(also referred to as a bookmark
by Microsoft applications) : the destination of a hyperlink within a
Web page. Anchors are common on single Web pages containing lots of
text where the text section titles appear at the top of the page and
clicking the link causes the browser to jump down the page and
display the selected portion of text. |
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botany
& gardening |
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angiosperm
: a plant having its seeds enclosed in an ovary; a flowering plant. |
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acronym |
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ANSI
: American National Standards Institute : a private,
non-profit organization representing over 1,000 public and private
organizations, businesses and government agencies; they seek to
develop technical, political and policy consensus among various
groups.
ANSI does not develop
American National Standards (ANS's), but they accredit qualified
groups to do so in their areas of technical expertise; there are
over 14,000 ANSI-approved standards in use today. ANSI-approved
standards are voluntary, however it is possible that some of the
content of these standards could be made into law by a governmental
body. ANSI is the official US representative to the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO). |
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computing
& web
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ANSI
: the Microsoft
collective name for all Windows code pages; sometimes used
specifically for code page 1252, which is a superset of ISO/IEC
8859-1. |
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botany
& gardening
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anther
: the pollen-bearing part of a stamen. |
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computing
& web
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antialias
: to blend the edges of text or an image with its background so it
looks smoother. In digital signal processing, anti-aliasing
is the technique of minimizing aliasing (jagged, blocky or moiré
patterns, popping, strobing, or unwanted sparkling) when
representing a high-resolution signal at a lower resolution. |
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antonym
: a word opposite in meaning to another, e.g. fast is an
antonym of slow. |
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botany
& gardening
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apetalous
: having no petals. |
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apex
(Lat. apex, a point) : the tip, point, or summit of anything. |
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botany
& gardening
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apex
: the end farthest from the point of attachment, or from the base,
of an plant organ. |
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computing
& web acronym
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API
: Application Programming Interface :
an interface between the user and an application that enables the
developer to change (customize) the user interface with scripting or
another application. |
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apophthegm
(apothegm) : a short, pithy, instructive saying; a terse
remark or aphorism. |
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computing
& web
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applet
: a small application written in Java that is embedded in a web page
and requires the user to have the plug-in control installed. An
applet can perform calculations, display graphics, and do other
simple tasks without accessing the server. |
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archetype
: the original pattern or model of a work, or the model from which
all things of the same kind are made; a generic,
idealized model of a person, object, or concept from which similar
instances are derived, copied, patterned, or emulated. |
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botany
& gardening
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arista
: a bristlelike appendage of the spikelets of grains or grasses;
having a 'beard', an awn. |
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botany
& gardening
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aristate
: having stiff bristle-shaped appendages, aristae; awned. |
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Armageddon
: (in the Bible) the scene of a the final conflict between
the forces of good and evil at the end of the world, an apocalyptic
catastrophe mentioned in the Book of Revelation in
the Christian New Testament; (informal) any decisive
conflict. |
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geography
: toponym
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Arroyo
: the Spanish word for 'creek' or its bed appears in place names
like Arroyo Alta ('upper creek', Alameda Co., California) and Arroyo
de en Medio ('in-between creek', San Mateo Co., California); it has
become a generic term in the southwestern US and is frequently
applied in pace of 'creek' or 'canyon'; sometimes the word seco
('dry') is added to indicate the lack of water. |
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artifact
(also: artefact) : any
object or process resulting from human activity; |
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archipelago : a group or chain of
islands. |
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botany
& gardening |
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arista |
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computing
& web
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ASCII
: (1) The American Standard Code for Information Interchange, a
7-bit coded character set for information interchange. It is the
U.S. national variant of ISO/IEC 646, and is formally the U.S.
standard ANSI X3.4. It was proposed by ANSI
in 1963 and finalized in 1968. (2) The set of 128 Unicode characters
from U+0000 to U+007F, including control codes, as well as graphic
characters. (3) ASCII has been incorrectly used to refer to various
8-bit character encodings that include ASCII characters in the first
128 positions. |
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ANSI
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economics |
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assets
: a business accounting term : everything that an economic agent
owns and which has a money value; total assets being equal to total
liabilities. |
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liabilities
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acronym |
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ASTER
: Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer
: |
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acronym |
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ASTM
: American Society for Testing
and Materials : a not-for-profit organization that
develops and provides voluntary consensus standards, related
technical information, and services having internationally
recognized quality and applicability. |
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atmospheric pressure, normal
:
normal pressure |
atm |
Pa |
bar |
mm
Hg |
in
Hg |
psi |
sea level |
1 |
101,325 |
1.01325 |
760 |
29.92126 |
14.69595 |
Boulder, CO |
0.82447 |
83,539 |
0.83539 |
626.6 |
24.66918 |
12.11634 |
Note: mm Hg = torr;
pound/inch2 = psi; |
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atomic
number : the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom;
this determines an element's structure, properties and location on
the periodic table of elements. |
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atomic
time : a highly accurate time scale based on atomic or
molecular resonance phenomena. Passage of time is measured by
counting cycles of a frequency linked to an atomic or molecular
transition. Other scales reference mechanical devices such as quartz
crystals or are based on the rotation rate of the earth. See also:
International Atomic Time (TAI). |
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game :
tennis
acronym |
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ATP
: Association of Tennis Professionals : professional
men's tennis association; formed in 1972 to protect the interests of
male professional tennis players by managing ATP tour; the
association releases a weekly ranking of the players performance in
the tour: entry ranking and race to championship ranking. As of
2005, the ranking of a player is based on 18 performances in the ATP
tour: the four Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon
and U.S. Open), the nine Tennis Masters Series events (Indian Wells,
Calif.; Miami, Fla.; Monte-Carlo, Monaco; Rome, Italy; Hamburg,
Germany; Toronto, Canada; Cincinnati, Ohio; Madrid, Spain and Paris,
France) and his best five additional results from International
Series and International Series Gold events. |
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game :
tennis |
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ATP
entry ranking : a rolling 52-week points calculation
based on 18 performances in the ATP tour (same as for race ranking)
to determine seedings and tournament entry status. The Race ranking,
while indicating the hottest players in the game at any stage, does
not necessarily indicate an overall standing in the game which is
the intend of tournament entry status; this is especially valid at
the start of the year when early tournament winners may well be
leading the Race but are not yet established top players for the
purposes of seeding and tournament entry. |
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game :
tennis |
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ATP
race ranking : ATP champions race ranking : points
calculation method on a calendar-year basis; the player who
accumulates the most points by season's end is the 'World Number 1'.
Every player, regardless of his performances in the previous year,
starts with zero points; as of 2005, players count 18 performances
in the ATP tour; the Tennis Masters Cup will count as an additional
19th tournament for the eight players who qualify. |
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average,
weighted : an average in which each item in the series
being averaged is multiplied by a 'weight' relevant to its
importance, the result summed and the total divided by the sum of
the weights. |
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avoirdupois
(weight) : a system of weights based on the pound of 16
ounces and the ounce of 16 drams. |
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social
slogan
acronym |
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AWIS
: Another World Is Possible : the main
political slogan of the alter-globalization movement World Social
Forum. |
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botany
& gardening |
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awn
: a bristle-shaped appendage of a plant, as seen on the glumes of
many grasses; such appendages collectively, as those forming the
beard of wheat and barley. |
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botany
& gardening |
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axil
: the angle formed between two parts of a plant, e.g. between the
upper side of a leaf or stem and the supporting stem or branch. |
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