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    fact : an information asserted to be true, e.g. something proven to exist, an event that has happened, or a statement true on the basis of reasoning; in that sense, fact is not merely a datum (or data) because it involves the criteria of truth.

datum, data

information

acronym

  FAO : Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations : leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Serving both developed and developing countries, FAO acts as a neutral forum where all nations meet as equals to negotiate agreements and debate policy. FAO is also a source of knowledge and information. FAO helps developing countries and countries in transition modernize and improve agriculture, forestry and fisheries practices and ensure good nutrition for all. Since the founding in 1945, FAO has focused special attention on developing rural areas, home to 70 percent of the world's poor and hungry people. FAO's activities comprise four main areas: (1) putting information within reach; (2) sharing policy expertise; (3) providing a meeting place for nations; (4) bringing knowledge to the field.                                    http://www.fao.org

Internet lingo

  FCOL : for crying out loud

acronym

  FDI : Foreign Direct Investment : an investment made to acquire lasting interest in enterprises operating outside of the economy of the investor; investment in the foreign operations, or establish-ment of a new ('greenfield') site. The FDI relationship consists of a parent enterprise and a foreign affiliate which together form a transnational corporation (TNC). In order to qualify as FDI the invest-ment must afford the parent enterprise control over its foreign affiliate. The UN defines control in this case as owning 10% or more of the ordinary shares or voting power of an incorporated firm or its equivalent for an unincorporated firm; lower ownership shares are known as portfolio investment.

biology

  fecundate : to impregnate or fertilize.

biology

  fertilize : to render the female gamete capable of development by uniting it with the male gamete.

botany

  fertilizer : an insect that fertilizes plant, e.g. bees are fertilizers of flowers.

gardening & agriculture

  fertilizer : a substance used to enrich (to make fertile) the soil, especially a commercial and chemical manure.

game : chess             acronym

  FIDE : Federation Internationale des Echecs (The International Chess Federation) : an international federation in the domain of chess, which was founded on July 20, 1924 in Paris; it organizes world championship competitions, draws up rules of the game, and awards the international titles to top players. FIDE is recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the supreme body responsible for the game of chess and its championships; it unites national chess federations throughout the world and oversees international competitions.

botany & gardening

  filament : the stalk of a stamen connecting the anther with the corolla; the stalklike portion of a stamen, supporting the anther.

computing & web

  file extension : the three letters which come after the dot in the name of a file, and indicate to the computer what kind of file it is. Examples: .jpg (an image file), .doc (a Microsoft Word document), .txt (a text file).

botany & gardening

  filiform : threadlike; filamentous; slender and of equal thickness from top to bottom, as a filiform style or peduncle.
    fire point : the temperature at which the flame becomes self-sustained so as to continue burning the liquid (at the flash point, the flame does not need to be sustained). The fire point is usually a few degrees above the flash point.

computing & web

  firewire : a  collection of wires that support data transfer from one part of a computer to another at a very high speed (up to 400 megabits/second). Firewire is intended for devices that contain large amounts of data such as camcorders, disk drives, and DVD players.

computing & web

  Flash : a Macromidia program that creates vector-based animations that can be embedded into web pages and viewed in a browser with the Flash player.
    flash point : the lowest temperature at which a liquid can form an ignitable mixture in air near the surface of the liquid. The lower the flash point, the easier it is to ignite the material; for example, gasoline has a flash point of -40oC (-40oF) and is more flammable than ethylene glycol (antifreeze) which has a flash point of 111oC (232oF). The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) requires that all substances transported have a flash point determined and that any materials with flash points lower than 60oC (140oF) be handled with extra caution. A closely related and less common term is fire point, the temperature at which the flame becomes self-sustained so as to continue burning the liquid (at the flash point, the flame does not need to be sustained).

OSHA's Standard 1910.106 mandates flash point determinations using one of two standardized testing methods specified by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). Other agencies and sections of the U.S. Code may specify alternative methods, but the general concept is similar in each case [ND00].

    foliage : the leaves of a plant, collectively, leafage; the representation of leaves, flowers, and branches in painting, architectural ornament, etc.

botany & gardening

  follicle : a dry, one-celled seed capsule or pod, which opens along only one side to release its seeds, as a milkweed pod.

botany & gardening

  footstalk : the stalk of a flower or stem of a leaf.

biology

  foraminifer : any chiefly marine protozoan of the sarcodinian order Foraminifera, typically having a liner, spiral, or concentric shell perforated by small holes or pores through which pseudopodia extend.
    formula : a standard or accepted way of doing or making something, or a mathematical expression in a set of numbers and symbols.

geography : toponym

  Fort Bragg (Mendocino Co., CA) : When the town was founded in 1885 it was named after the military post that had been established in 1857 by Lt. H.G. Gibson and named in honor of Lt. Col. Braxton Bragg, a hero of the Mexican War.

meteorology

  frost : formation of thin ice crystals on the ground or other surfaces in the form of scales, needles, feathers, or fans. Frost develops under conditions similar to dew, except the temperatures of the Earth's surface and earthbound objects falls below 32°F. As with the term 'freeze', this condition is primarily significant during the growing season. If a frost period is sufficiently severe to end the growing season or delay its beginning, it is commonly referred to as a 'killing frost'. Because frost is primarily an event that occurs as the result of radiational cooling, it frequently occurs with a thermometer level temperature in the mid-30s.
    frostbite : an injury to the body caused by freezing body tissue; the air temperature has to be below freezing in order for frostbite to develop on exposed skin. The most susceptible parts of the body are the extremities such as fingers, toes, ear lobes, or the tip of the nose. Symptoms include a loss of feeling in the extremity and a white or pale appearance. Medical attention is needed immediately for frostbite. The area should be slowly re-warmed.

botany & gardening

  fruit : the seed bearing product of a plant, usually derived by the transformation of the ovary; the result is then called a true fruit. When any other part is also involved. e.g. receptacle, sepals, petals, bracts, the3 result is known botanically as a false fruit or pseudocarp, e.g. the strowberry.

Internet lingo

  F2F : face to face; a personal meeting

acronym

FUD : Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt.
fume : particulate substance consisting of the solid particles of extremely small diameter (see [HANDBOOK]); generated by condensation from the gaseous state, generally after volatilization from melted substances (e.g. from molten metal as metal fume), and often accompanied by a chemical reaction, such as oxidation.

volatilization

botany & gardening

  funicle : the stalk of an ovule or seed.

Latin                    abbreviation

f.v. : folio verso : on the back of the page

Internet lingo

FWIW : for what it's worth
 
     
 

UPDATED : 2007-05-18

WEBSITE  EDITOR : Krešimir J. Adamić