
@node Glossary, Manifesto, Intro, Top
@unnumbered Glossary

@table @asis
@item Abbrev
An abbrev is a text string which expands into a different text string
when present in the buffer.  For example, you might define a short
word as an abbrev for a long phrase that you want to insert
frequently.  @xref{Abbrevs}.

@item Aborting
Aborting means getting out of a recursive edit (q.v.@:).  You can use
the commands @kbd{C-]} and @kbd{M-x top-level} for this.
@xref{Quitting}.

@item Auto Fill mode
Auto Fill mode is a minor mode in which text you insert is
automatically broken into lines of fixed width.  @xref{Filling}.

@item Auto Saving
Auto saving means that Emacs automatically stores the contents of an
Emacs buffer in a specially-named file so the information will not be
lost if the buffer is lost due to a system error or user error.
@xref{Auto Save}.

@item Backup File
A backup file records the contents that a file had before the current
editing session.  Emacs creates backup files automatically to help you
track down or cancel changes you later regret.  @xref{Backup}.

@item Balance Parentheses
Emacs can balance parentheses manually or automatically.  Manual
balancing is done by the commands to move over balanced expressions
(@pxref{Lists}).  Automatic balancing is done by blinking the
parenthesis that matches one just inserted (@pxref{Matching,,Matching
Parens}).

@item Bind
To bind a key is to change its binding (q.v.@:).  @xref{Rebinding}.

@item Binding
A key gets its meaning in Emacs by having a binding which is a
command (q.v.@:), a Lisp function that is run when the key is typed.
@xref{Commands,Binding}.  Customization often involves rebinding a
character to a different command function.  The bindings of all keys
are recorded in the keymaps (q.v.@:).  @xref{Keymaps}.

@item Blank Lines
Blank lines are lines that contain only whitespace.  Emacs has several
commands for operating on the blank lines in a buffer.

@item Buffer
The buffer is the basic editing unit; one buffer corresponds to one
piece of text being edited.  You can have several buffers, but at any
time you are editing only one, the `selected' buffer, though several
buffers can be visible when you are using multiple windows.  @xref{Buffers}.

@item Buffer Selection History
Emacs keeps a buffer selection history which records how recently each
Emacs buffer was selected.  Emacs uses this list when choosing a buffer to
select.  @xref{Buffers}.

@item C-
@samp{C} in the name of a character is an abbreviation for Control.
@xref{Keystrokes,C-}.

@item C-M-
@samp{C-M-} in the name of a character is an abbreviation for
Control-Meta.  @xref{Keystrokes,C-M-}.

@item Case Conversion
Case conversion means changing text from upper case to lower case or
vice versa.  @xref{Case}, for the commands for case conversion.

@item Characters
Characters form the contents of an Emacs buffer; also, Emacs commands
are invoked by keys (q.v.@:), which are sequences of one or more
characters.  @xref{Keystrokes}.

@item Command
A command is a Lisp function specially defined to be able to serve as a
key binding in Emacs.  When you type a key (q.v.@:), Emacs looks up its
binding (q.v.@:) in the relevant keymaps (q.v.@:) to find the command to
run.  @xref{Commands}.

@item Command Name
A command name is the name of a Lisp symbol which is a command
(@pxref{Commands}).  You can invoke any command by its name using
@kbd{M-x} (@pxref{M-x}).

@item Comments
A comment is text in a program which is intended only for the people
reading the program, and is marked specially so that it will be
ignored when the program is loaded or compiled.  Emacs offers special
commands for creating, aligning, and killing comments.
@xref{Comments}.

@item Compilation
Compilation is the process of creating an executable program from
source code.  Emacs has commands for compiling files of Emacs Lisp
code (@pxref{Lisp Libraries}) and programs in C and other languages
(@pxref{Compilation}).

@item Complete Key
A complete key is a character or sequence of characters which, when typed
by the user, fully specifies one action to be performed by Emacs.  For
example, @kbd{X} and @kbd{Control-f} and @kbd{Control-x m} are keys.  Keys
derive their meanings from being bound (q.v.@:) to commands (q.v.@:).
Thus, @kbd{X} is conventionally bound to a command to insert @samp{X} in
the buffer; @kbd{C-x m} is conventionally bound to a command to begin
composing a mail message. @xref{Keystrokes}.

@item Completion
When Emacs automatically fills an abbreviation for a name into the
entire name, that process is called completion.  Completion is done for
minibuffer (q.v.@:) arguments when the set of possible valid inputs is
known; for example, on command names, buffer names, and file names.
Completion occurs when you type @key{TAB}, @key{SPC}, or @key{RET}.
@xref{Completion}.@refill

@item Continuation Line
When a line of text is longer than the width of the frame, it
takes up more than one screen line when displayed.  We say that the
text line is continued, and all screen lines used for it after the
first are called continuation lines.  @xref{Basic,Continuation,Basic
Editing}.

@item Control-Character
ASCII characters with octal codes 0 through 037, and also code 0177,
do not have graphic images assigned to them.  These are the control
characters.  Any control character can be typed by holding down the
@key{CTRL} key and typing some other character; some have special keys
on the keyboard.  @key{RET}, @key{TAB}, @key{ESC}, @key{LFD}, and
@key{DEL} are all control characters.  @xref{Keystrokes}.@refill

@item Copyleft
A copyleft is a notice giving the public legal permission to redistribute
a program or other work of art.  Copylefts are used by leftists to enrich
the public just as copyrights are used by rightists to gain power over
the public.

@item Current Buffer
The current buffer in Emacs is the Emacs buffer on which most editing
commands operate.  You can select any Emacs buffer as the current one.
@xref{Buffers}.

@item Current Line
The line point is on (@pxref{Point}).

@item Current Paragraph
The paragraph that point is in.  If point is between paragraphs, the
current paragraph is the one that follows point.  @xref{Paragraphs}.

@item Current Defun
The defun (q.v.@:) that point is in.  If point is between defuns, the
current defun is the one that follows point.  @xref{Defuns}.

@item Cursor
The cursor is the rectangle on the screen which indicates the position
called point (q.v.@:) at which insertion and deletion takes place.
The cursor is on or under the character that follows point.  Often
people speak of `the cursor' when, strictly speaking, they mean
`point'.  @xref{Basic,Cursor,Basic Editing}.

@item Customization
Customization is making minor changes in the way Emacs works.  It is
often done by setting variables (@pxref{Variables}) or by rebinding
keys (@pxref{Keymaps}).

@item Default Argument
The default for an argument is the value that is used if you do not
specify one.  When Emacs prompts you in the minibuffer for an argument,
the default argument is used if you just type @key{RET}.
@xref{Minibuffer}.

@item Default Directory
When you specify a file name that does not start with @samp{/} or @samp{~},
it is interpreted relative to the current buffer's default directory.
@xref{Minibuffer File,Default Directory}.

@item Defun
A defun is a list at the top level of parenthesis or bracket structure
in a program.  It is so named because most such lists in Lisp programs
are calls to the Lisp function @code{defun}.  @xref{Defuns}.

@item @key{DEL}
The @key{DEL} character runs the command that deletes one character of
text.  @xref{Basic,DEL,Basic Editing}.

@item Deletion
Deleting text means erasing it without saving it.  Emacs deletes text
only when it is expected not to be worth saving (all whitespace, or
only one character).  The alternative is killing (q.v.@:).
@xref{Killing,Deletion}.

@item Deletion of Files
Deleting a file means removing it from the file system.
@xref{Misc File Ops}.

@item Deletion of Messages
Deleting a message means flagging it to be eliminated from your mail
file.  Until the mail file is expunged, you can undo this by undeleting
the message.

@item Deletion of Frames
When working under the multi-frame X-based version of XEmacs,
you can delete individual frames using the @b{Close} menu item from the
@b{File} menu.

@item Deletion of Windows
When you delete a subwindow of an Emacs frame, you eliminate it from
the frame.  Other windows expand to use up the space.  The deleted
window can never come back, but no actual text is lost.  @xref{Windows}.

@item Directory
Files in the Unix file system are grouped into file directories.
@xref{ListDir,,Directories}.

@item Dired
Dired is the Emacs facility that displays the contents of a file
directory and allows you to ``edit the directory'', performing
operations on the files in the directory.  @xref{Dired}.

@item Disabled Command
A disabled command is one that you may not run without special
confirmation.  Commands are usually disabled because they are
confusing for beginning users.  @xref{Disabling}.

@item Dribble File
A file into which Emacs writes all the characters that the user types
on the keyboard.  Dribble files are used to make a record for
debugging Emacs bugs.  Emacs does not make a dribble file unless you
tell it to.  @xref{Bugs}.

@item Echo Area
The area at the bottom of the Emacs frame which is used for echoing the
arguments to commands, for asking questions, and for printing brief
messages (including error messages).  @xref{Echo Area}.

@item Echoing
Echoing refers to acknowledging the receipt of commands by displaying them
(in the echo area).  Emacs never echoes single-character keys; longer
keys echo only if you pause while typing them.

@item Error
An error occurs when an Emacs command cannot execute in the current
circumstances.  When an error occurs, execution of the command stops
(unless the command has been programmed to do otherwise) and Emacs
reports the error by printing an error message (q.v.).  Type-ahead
is discarded.  Then Emacs is ready to read another editing command.

@item Error Messages
Error messages are single lines of output printed by Emacs when the
user asks for something impossible to do (such as killing text
forward when point is at the end of the buffer).  They appear in the
echo area, accompanied by a beep.

@item @key{ESC}
@key{ESC} is a character used as a prefix for typing Meta characters on
keyboards lacking a @key{META} key.  Unlike the @key{META} key (which,
like the @key{SHIFT} key, is held down while another character is
typed), the @key{ESC} key is pressed and released, and applies to the
next character typed. 

@item Fill Prefix
The fill prefix is a string that Emacs enters at the beginning
of each line when it performs filling.  It is not regarded as part of the
text to be filled.  @xref{Filling}.

@item Filling
Filling text means moving text from line to line so that all the lines
are approximately the same length.  @xref{Filling}.

@item Frame
When running Emacs on a TTY terminal, ``frame'' means the terminal's
screen.  When running Emacs under X, you can have multiple frames,
each corresponding to a top-level X window and each looking like
the screen on a TTY.  Each frame contains one or more non-overlapping
Emacs windows (possibly with associated scrollbars, under X), an
echo area, and (under X) possibly a menubar.

@item Global
Global means `independent of the current environment; in effect
@*throughout Emacs'.  It is the opposite of local (q.v.@:).
Examples of the use of `global' appear below.

@item Global Abbrev
A global definition of an abbrev (q.v.@:) is effective in all major
modes that do not have local (q.v.@:) definitions for the same abbrev.
@xref{Abbrevs}.

@item Global Keymap
The global keymap (q.v.@:) contains key bindings that are in effect
unless local key bindings in a major mode's local
keymap (q.v.@:) override them.@xref{Keymaps}.

@item Global Substitution
Global substitution means replacing each occurrence of one string by
another string through a large amount of text.  @xref{Replace}.

@item Global Variable
The global value of a variable (q.v.@:) takes effect in all buffers
that do not have their own local (q.v.@:) values for the variable.
@xref{Variables}.

@item Graphic Character
Graphic characters are those assigned pictorial images rather than
just names.  All the non-Meta (q.v.@:) characters except for the
Control (q.v.@:) character are graphic characters.  These include
letters, digits, punctuation, and spaces; they do not include
@key{RET} or @key{ESC}.  In Emacs, typing a graphic character inserts
that character (in ordinary editing modes).  @xref{Basic,,Basic Editing}.

@item Grinding
Grinding means adjusting the indentation in a program to fit the
nesting structure.  @xref{Indentation,Grinding}.

@item Hardcopy
Hardcopy means printed output.  Emacs has commands for making printed
listings of text in Emacs buffers.  @xref{Hardcopy}.

@item @key{HELP}
You can type @key{HELP} at any time to ask what options you have, or
to ask what any command does.  @key{HELP} is really @kbd{Control-h}.
@xref{Help}.

@item Inbox
An inbox is a file in which mail is delivered by the operating system.
Some mail handlers transfers mail from inboxes to mail files (q.v.) in
which the mail is then stored permanently or until explicitly deleted.

@item Indentation
Indentation means blank space at the beginning of a line.  Most
programming languages have conventions for using indentation to
illuminate the structure of the program, and Emacs has special
features to help you set up the correct indentation.
@xref{Indentation}.

@item Insertion
Insertion means copying text into the buffer, either from the keyboard
or from some other place in Emacs.

@item Justification
Justification means adding extra spaces to lines of text to make them
come exactly to a specified width.  @xref{Filling,Justification}.

@item Keyboard Macros
Keyboard macros are a way of defining new Emacs commands from
sequences of existing ones, with no need to write a Lisp program.
@xref{Keyboard Macros}.

@item Key
A key is a sequence of characters that, when input to Emacs, specify
or begin to specify a single action for Emacs to perform.  That is,
the sequence is considered a single unit.  If the key is enough to
specify one action, it is a complete key (q.v.); if it is less than
enough, it is a prefix key (q.v.).  @xref{Keystrokes}.

@item Keymap
The keymap is the data structure that records the bindings (q.v.@:) of
keys to the commands that they run.  For example, the keymap binds the
character @kbd{C-n} to the command function @code{next-line}.
@xref{Keymaps}.

@item Kill Ring
The kill ring is the place where all text you have killed recently is saved.
You can re-insert any of the killed text still in the ring; this is
called yanking (q.v.@:).  @xref{Yanking}.

@item Killing
Killing means erasing text and saving it on the kill ring so it can be
yanked (q.v.@:) later.  Some other systems call this ``cutting.''
Most Emacs commands to erase text do killing, as opposed to deletion
(q.v.@:).  @xref{Killing}.

@item Killing Jobs
Killing a job (such as, an invocation of Emacs) means making it cease
to exist.  Any data within it, if not saved in a file, is lost.
@xref{Exiting}.

@item List
A list is, approximately, a text string beginning with an open
parenthesis and ending with the matching close parenthesis.  In C mode
and other non-Lisp modes, groupings surrounded by other kinds of matched
delimiters appropriate to the language, such as braces, are also
considered lists.  Emacs has special commands for many operations on
lists.  @xref{Lists}.

@item Local
Local means `in effect only in a particular context'; the relevant
kind of context is a particular function execution, a particular
buffer, or a particular major mode.  Local is the opposite of `global'
(q.v.@:).  Specific uses of `local' in Emacs terminology appear below.

@item Local Abbrev
A local abbrev definition is effective only if a particular major mode
is selected.  In that major mode, it overrides any global definition
for the same abbrev.  @xref{Abbrevs}.

@item Local Keymap
A local keymap is used in a particular major mode; the key bindings
(q.v.@:) in the current local keymap override global bindings of the
same keys.  @xref{Keymaps}.

@item Local Variable
A local value of a variable (q.v.@:) applies to only one buffer.
@xref{Locals}.

@item M-
@kbd{M-} in the name of a character is an abbreviation for @key{META},
one of the modifier keys that can accompany any character.
@xref{Keystrokes}.

@item M-C-
@samp{M-C-} in the name of a character is an abbreviation for
Control-Meta; it means the same thing as @samp{C-M-}.  If your
terminal lacks a real @key{META} key, you type a Control-Meta character by
typing @key{ESC} and then typing the corresponding Control character.
@xref{Keystrokes,C-M-}.

@item M-x
@kbd{M-x} is the key which is used to call an Emacs command by name.
You use it to call commands that are not bound to keys.
@xref{M-x}.

@item Mail
Mail means messages sent from one user to another through the computer
system, to be read at the recipient's convenience.  Emacs has commands for
composing and sending mail, and for reading and editing the mail you have
received.  @xref{Sending Mail}.

@item Major Mode
The major modes are a mutually exclusive set of options each of which
configures Emacs for editing a certain sort of text.  Ideally, each
programming language has its own major mode.  @xref{Major Modes}.

@item Mark
The mark points to a position in the text.  It specifies one end of the
region (q.v.@:), point being the other end.  Many commands operate on
the whole region, that is, all the text from point to the mark.
@xref{Mark}.

@item Mark Ring
The mark ring is used to hold several recent previous locations of the
mark, just in case you want to move back to them.  @xref{Mark Ring}.

@item Message
See `mail'.

@item Meta
Meta is the name of a modifier bit which a command character may have.
It is present in a character if the character is typed with the
@key{META} key held down.  Such characters are given names that start
with @kbd{Meta-}.  For example, @kbd{Meta-<} is typed by holding down
@key{META} and at the same time typing @kbd{<} (which itself is done,
on most terminals, by holding down @key{SHIFT} and typing @kbd{,}).
@xref{Keystrokes,Meta}.

@item Meta Character
A Meta character is one whose character code includes the Meta bit.

@item Minibuffer
The minibuffer is the window that Emacs displays inside the
echo area (q.v.@:) when it prompts you for arguments to commands.
@xref{Minibuffer}.

@item Minor Mode
A minor mode is an optional feature of Emacs which can be switched on
or off independent of the major mode.  Each minor mode has a
command to turn it on or off.  @xref{Minor Modes}.

@item Mode Line
The mode line is the line at the bottom of each text window (q.v.@:),
which gives status information on the buffer displayed in that window.
@xref{Mode Line}.

@item Modified Buffer
A buffer (q.v.@:) is modified if its text has been changed since the
last time the buffer was saved (or since it was created, if it
has never been saved).  @xref{Saving}.

@item Moving Text
Moving text means erasing it from one place and inserting it in
another.  This is done by killing (q.v.@:) and then yanking (q.v.@:).
@xref{Killing}.

@item Named Mark
A named mark is a register (q.v.@:) in its role of recording a
location in text so that you can move point to that location.
@xref{Registers}.

@item Narrowing
Narrowing means creating a restriction (q.v.@:) that limits editing in
the current buffer to only a part of the text in the buffer.  Text
outside that part is inaccessible to the user until the boundaries are
widened again, but it is still there, and saving the file saves the
invisible text.  @xref{Narrowing}.

@item Newline
@key{LFD} characters in the buffer terminate lines of text and are
called newlines.  @xref{Keystrokes,Newline}.

@item Numeric Argument
A numeric argument is a number, specified before a command, to change
the effect of the command.  Often the numeric argument serves as a
repeat count.  @xref{Arguments}.

@item Option
An option is a variable (q.v.@:) that allows you to customize
Emacs by giving it a new value.  @xref{Variables}.

@item Overwrite Mode
Overwrite mode is a minor mode.  When it is enabled, ordinary text
characters replace the existing text after point rather than pushing
it to the right.  @xref{Minor Modes}.

@item Page
A page is a unit of text, delimited by formfeed characters (ASCII
Control-L, code 014) coming at the beginning of a line.  Some Emacs
commands are provided for moving over and operating on pages.
@xref{Pages}.

@item Paragraphs
Paragraphs are the medium-size unit of English text.  There are
special Emacs commands for moving over and operating on paragraphs.
@xref{Paragraphs}.

@item Parsing
We say that Emacs parses words or expressions in the text being
edited.  Really, all it knows how to do is find the other end of a
word or expression.  @xref{Syntax}.

@item Point
Point is the place in the buffer at which insertion and deletion
occur.  Point is considered to be between two characters, not at one
character.  The terminal's cursor (q.v.@:) indicates the location of
point.  @xref{Basic,Point}.

@item Prefix Key
A prefix key is a key (q.v.@:) whose sole function is to introduce a
set of multi-character keys.  @kbd{Control-x} is an example of a prefix
key; any two-character sequence starting with @kbd{C-x} is also
a legitimate key.  @xref{Keystrokes}.

@item Prompt
A prompt is text printed to ask the user for input.  Printing a prompt
is called prompting.  Emacs prompts always appear in the echo area
(q.v.@:).  One kind of prompting happens when the minibuffer is used
to read an argument (@pxref{Minibuffer}); the echoing which happens
when you pause in the middle of typing a multi-character key is also a
kind of prompting (@pxref{Echo Area}).

@item Quitting
Quitting means cancelling a partially typed command or a running
command, using @kbd{C-g}.  @xref{Quitting}.

@item Quoting
Quoting means depriving a character of its usual special significance.
In Emacs this is usually done with @kbd{Control-q}.  What constitutes special
significance depends on the context and on convention.  For example,
an ``ordinary'' character as an Emacs command inserts itself; so in
this context, a special character is any character that does not
normally insert itself (such as @key{DEL}, for example), and quoting
it makes it insert itself as if it were not special.  Not all contexts
allow quoting.  @xref{Basic,Quoting,Basic Editing}.

@item Read-only Buffer
A read-only buffer is one whose text you are not allowed to change.
Normally Emacs makes buffers read-only when they contain text which
has a special significance to Emacs, such as Dired buffers.
Visiting a file that is write-protected also makes a read-only buffer.
@xref{Buffers}.

@item Recursive Editing Level
A recursive editing level is a state in which part of the execution of
a command involves asking the user to edit some text.  This text may
or may not be the same as the text to which the command was applied.
The mode line indicates recursive editing levels with square brackets
(@samp{[} and @samp{]}).  @xref{Recursive Edit}.

@item Redisplay
Redisplay is the process of correcting the image on the screen to
correspond to changes that have been made in the text being edited.
@xref{Frame,Redisplay}.

@item Regexp
See `regular expression'.

@item Region
The region is the text between point (q.v.@:) and the mark (q.v.@:).
Many commands operate on the text of the region.  @xref{Mark,Region}.

@item Registers
Registers are named slots in which text or buffer positions or
rectangles can be saved for later use.  @xref{Registers}.

@item Regular Expression
A regular expression is a pattern that can match various text strings;
for example, @samp{l[0-9]+} matches @samp{l} followed by one or more
digits.  @xref{Regexps}.

@item Replacement
See `global substitution'.

@item Restriction
A buffer's restriction is the amount of text, at the beginning or the
end of the buffer, that is temporarily invisible and inaccessible.
Giving a buffer a nonzero amount of restriction is called narrowing
(q.v.).  @xref{Narrowing}.

@item @key{RET}
@key{RET} is the character than runs the command to insert a
newline into the text.  It is also used to terminate most arguments
read in the minibuffer (q.v.@:).  @xref{Keystrokes,Return}.

@item Saving
Saving a buffer means copying its text into the file that was visited
(q.v.@:) in that buffer.  To actually change a file you have edited in
Emacs, you have to save it.  @xref{Saving}.

@item Scrolling
Scrolling means shifting the text in the Emacs window to make a
different part ot the buffer visible.  @xref{Display,Scrolling}.

@item Searching
Searching means moving point to the next occurrence of a specified
string.  @xref{Search}.

@item Selecting
Selecting a buffer means making it the current (q.v.@:) buffer.
@xref{Buffers,Selecting}.

@item Self-documentation
Self-documentation is the feature of Emacs which can tell you what any
command does, or can give you a list of all commands related to a topic
you specify.  You ask for self-documentation with the help character,
@kbd{C-h}.  @xref{Help}.

@item Sentences
Emacs has commands for moving by or killing by sentences.
@xref{Sentences}.

@item Sexp
An sexp (short for `s-expression,' itself short for `symbolic
expression') is the basic syntactic unit of Lisp
in its textual form: either a list, or Lisp atom.  Many Emacs commands
operate on sexps.  The term `sexp' is generalized to languages other
than Lisp to mean a syntactically recognizable expression.
@xref{Lists,Sexps}.

@item Simultaneous Editing
Simultaneous editing means two users modifying the same file at once.
If simultaneous editing is not detected, you may lose your
work.  Emacs detects all cases of simultaneous editing and warns the
user to investigate them.  @xref{Interlocking,,Simultaneous Editing}.

@item String
A string is a kind of Lisp data object which contains a sequence of
characters.  Many Emacs variables are intended to have strings as
values.  The Lisp syntax for a string consists of the characters in
the string with a @samp{"} before and another @samp{"} after. Write a
@samp{"} that is part of the string as @samp{\"} and a
@samp{\} that is part of the string as @samp{\\}.  You can include all
other characters, including newline, just by writing
them inside the string. You can also include escape sequences as in C, such as
@samp{\n} for newline or @samp{\241} using an octal character code.

@item String Substitution
See `global substitution'.

@item Syntax Table
The syntax table tells Emacs which characters are part of a word,
which characters balance each other like parentheses, etc.
@xref{Syntax}.

@item Tag Table
A tag table is a file that serves as an index to the function
definitions in one or more other files.  @xref{Tags}.

@item Termscript File
A termscript file contains a record of all characters Emacs sent to
the terminal.  It is used for tracking down bugs in Emacs redisplay.
Emacs does not make a termscript file unless explicitly instructed to do
so. 
@xref{Bugs}.

@item Text
Text has two meanings (@pxref{Text}):

@itemize @bullet
@item
Data consisting of a sequence of characters, as opposed to binary
numbers, images, graphics commands, executable programs, and the like.
The contents of an Emacs buffer are always text in this sense.
@item
Data consisting of written human language, as opposed to programs,
or something that follows the stylistic conventions of human language.
@end itemize

@item Top Level
Top level is the normal state of Emacs, in which you are editing the
text of the file you have visited.  You are at top level whenever you
are not in a recursive editing level (q.v.@:) or the minibuffer
(q.v.@:), and not in the middle of a command.  You can get back to top
level by aborting (q.v.@:) and quitting (q.v.@:).  @xref{Quitting}.

@item Transposition
Transposing two units of text means putting each one into the place
formerly occupied by the other.  There are Emacs commands to transpose
two adjacent characters, words, sexps (q.v.@:), or lines
(@pxref{Transpose}).

@item Truncation
Truncating text lines in the display means leaving out any text on a
line that does not fit within the right margin of the window
displaying it.  See also `continuation line'.
@xref{Basic,Truncation,Basic Editing}.

@item Undoing
Undoing means making your previous editing go in reverse, bringing
back the text that existed earlier in the editing session.
@xref{Undo}.

@item Variable
A variable is Lisp object that can store an arbitrary value.  Emacs uses
some variables for internal purposes, and has others (known as `options'
(q.v.@:)) you can set to control the behavior of Emacs.  The variables
used in Emacs that you are likely to be interested in are listed in the
Variables Index of this manual.  @xref{Variables}, for information on
variables.

@item Visiting
Visiting a file means loading its contents into a buffer (q.v.@:)
where they can be edited.  @xref{Visiting}.

@item Whitespace
Whitespace is any run of consecutive formatting characters (spaces,
tabs, newlines, and backspaces).

@item Widening
Widening is removing any restriction (q.v.@:) on the current buffer;
it is the opposite of narrowing (q.v.@:).  @xref{Narrowing}.

@item Window
Emacs divides the frame into one or more windows, each of which can
display the contents of one buffer (q.v.@:) at any time.
@xref{Frame}, for basic information on how Emacs uses the frame.
@xref{Windows}, for commands to control the use of windows. Note that if
you are running Emacs under X, terminology can be confusing: Each Emacs
frame occupies a separate X window and can, in turn, be divided into
different subwindows. 

@item Word Abbrev
Synonymous with `abbrev'.

@item Word Search
Word search is searching for a sequence of words, considering the
punctuation between them as insignificant.  @xref{Word Search}.

@item Yanking
Yanking means reinserting text previously killed.  It can be used to
undo a mistaken kill, or for copying or moving text.  Some other
systems call this ``pasting''.  @xref{Yanking}.
@end table
