# General Information (O-P)

Oasis
An oasis is an isolated patch of vegetation in a desert region.

Obeah
Obeah is a form of witchcraft practised in the Caribbean.

Oboe
The oboe is a musical instrument of the woodwind family.

Obsidian
Obsidian is volcanic glass.

Ocarina
The ocarina is a small wind instrument consisting of a pipe pierced with holes for the fingers. They are usually made of terra-cotta, but sometimes of metal.

Occlusion
Occlusion is the property possessed by certain solids, notably some metals, of retaining gases either within the solid or on the surface. There is no chemical combination in the accepted sense.

Octli
see "Pulque"

Octroi
An octroi is a station at the entrance of a town or department for the collection of local dues and tariffs within a country.

Ode
An ode is a short poem, frequently of irregular or complicated lyrical form, usually written for some special occasion. The term was originally applied to the choric songs of the Greek dramas, and also to the poems of Pindar, Sappho, Horace etc.

Ohm
The ohm is the SI unit of electrical resistance. It was originally defined with reference to the resistance of a column of mercury, but is now taken as the resistance between two points when a potential difference of one volt between them produces a current of one ampere.

Ohm's law
Ohm's law is that the steady current in a metal circuit is directly proportional to the constant total electromotive force in the circuit, that is e/i = r

Oil
Oil is a large group of viscid liquids which have a characteristic smooth and sticky feel, are lighter than water, are inflammable and chemically neutral.

Old Maid
Old Maid is a card game for any number of players. A full deck of 52 cards is used from which the Queen of Hearts has been removed and the remainder dealt. Pairs are discarded and remaining cards are passed face down to the player to the left who picks one at random. Play continues until all cards have been played and one player is left holding the odd Queen (the Old Maid).

Olefines
Olefines are unsaturated hydrocarbons of the aliphatic series. They resemble the parrafins but chemically they are more reactive. Methylene is an example of a very reactive olefine.

Oleic acid
Oleic acid is a colourless, odourless liquid unsaturated acid with the formulae C18H34O2. It is obtained from animal tallow and natural vegetable oils (olive oil) in which it occurs as the glycerol ester. It is chiefly used in the manufacture of soap, commercial oleates and cosmetics where it is used as a moisturiser.

Oligarchy
Oligarchy is government by a limited number of persons, as distinct from democracy (government by all classes) and monarchy (government by one person).

Oligocene
The Oligocene was the fifteenth geological period, 42,000,000 years ago.

Olpe
An olpe is a Greek oil-flask or small jug for storing oil.

Olympic Games
The Olympic Games originated at Olympia, in Elis, Peloponnesus and were said to have been originated by Hercules in honour of the Olympian Zeus, and to have been revived by Iphitus in 776 BC. Thereafter they were held every 4 years without a break until 393. Today the Olympic Games are still held every 4 years and are a general sporting contest held between supposedly amateur athletes of all countries. In recent years the amateur status of many athletes from larger and more industrial countries has become very dubious casting a shadow over the spirit of the games.

Omber
Omber was a popular card game played in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was played by three persons and with 40 cards.

Omega
Omega is the 24th and last letter of the Greek alphabet.

Omega-minus particle
In physics, an omega-minus particle is a baryon with strangeness -3, isotopic spin 0, and negative charge.

Omni Page
OmniPage by the Caere Corporation is an optical character recognition program capable of reading documents into a Macintosh II or Macintosh SE or PC running Windows in word processing or TIFF format. OmniPage augments desktop publishing systems by solving the input side of the desktop publishing, just as desktop publishing programs and laser printers solve the output side. OmniPage scans in documents and the results appear in a file for editing. This file can be preset as a text file, a text file without returns, a MacWrite file (essentially unformatted), or an Excel-compatible (tab-delimited) file, which can be read by most spreadsheet and database programs. Additional file formats include WordPerfect and Microsoft Word. Characters that cannot be read are replaced with the tilde (~) character. You can then edit the scanned text in your favorite application or using the programs Transitional Editor. On average, OmniPage scans with an accuracy of 95% or better. The product removes graphics so they do not interfere with text scanning. The graphics can be scanned into a separate graphics file. OmniPage lets users choose only paragraphs they want, and allows resequencing them before recognition takes place, saving editing time. OmniDraft recognizes 8- or 9-pin dot-matrix draft text. OmniSpell is an internal spellchecker, which corrects typical optical errors such as a "5" in place of an "S" or a "cl" in place of a "d."

Omnibus
Omnibus (latin for 'for all') is the old term for a bus (public passenger carrying vehicle). The first modern bus to make regular journeys was first introduced in Paris in 1828 and introduced to London by Shillibeer in 1829 when one carrying 22 passengers ran from Paddington to the Bank.

Omnis 5.0
Omnis 5 is a relational database package designed to be run under MS Windows. This is a database package designed to make the the most of the graphical Front end using Windows and allows you to create applications using a graphical interface to make things easier to use for the end user. Within the package you can design various datatabases and then using the applications generator you can create a front end for this database using pictures and icons and you also have full access to all the fonts that windows can handle. Alternatively you may use the programming language that comes with this package to write the applications yourself. Omnis 5 is compatible with Omnis running on the Apple Mac so it is possible to create applications under the Mac version then use it on the PC and vice versa. You may also run the two versions over a network and have the version running the same applcation on the network sharing common data. There is also a feature within Omnis to access CL/1 SQL server to incorpoate SQL functions within an application. Omnis 5 is suited to developers wanting to develop relational database applications with a graphical front end. Also a good use for this package is developing multi user applications to bridge between Mac and PC.

Omnis Quartz
Omnis Quartz is a database manager operating within the Windows environment. This environment uses pull-down menus, scaleable fonts, scrollable lists, dialog boxes, overlapping windows and most of the other elements common to this graphical interface. These elements are used to make selections, assemble sequences of commands from the set of Quartz programming commands and functions and to define the look and functions of the database application, when completed. End-users will interact with database applications through layout windows. While the number of windows in a layout cannot be greater than twelve, multiple windows may be opened at once. Only the uppermost window is active and available for data entry. Layout windows can hold a maximum of 120 fields from up to twelve files, with files being opened when a layout is chosen for data entry. With most databases, any programming instructions are usually held separately, often as text files. Omnis Quartz stores the programming instructions - the sequences - as part of the menu structure. A sequence of commands can be associated with every menu line - sequences can be up to 5K long with a storage limit of 30K for each menu. Each of the menu lines has a number and can also be assigned a name to appear on the menu line. When "writing" an application, a window opens to show the sequences associated with each line of the menu. Sequences may be called by other sequences or accessed from push buttons or menu choices on entry layouts. Quartz comes into its own for turnkey applications where the advantages of the Windows interface can be fully exploited.

Ondograph
An ondograph is an instrument for graphically recording oscillatory variations, as in alternating current.

One and Thirty
One and Thirty was a card game played in England in the 17th century. Each player is dealt a three-card hand. Face cards count 10 points and pip cards count face value. Players can draw further cards aiming to get as near 31 as possible without going over that total.

One Hundred
One Hundred is a card game played with a normal deck of 52 cards for three to six players. If there are seven or more players two decks are used. Each player begins with three chips and the object of the game is to be the last player to have any chips left.

Oneg Shabbat
Oneg Shabbat is a Jewish celebration in honour of the Sabbath that takes place on Friday evening or Saturday afternoon and usually includes a programme of songs, a lecture and refreshments.

Ontology
In philosophy, ontology is the branch of metaphysics that deals with the nature of being.

Oocyte
An oocyte is an immature female germ cell that gives rise to an ovum after two meiotic divisions.

Oolong
Oolong is a kind of dark tea, grown in China, that is partly fermented before being dried.

Oosphere
An oosphere is a large female gamete produced in the oogonia of algae and fungi.

Oospore
An oospore is a thick-walled sexual spore that develops from a fertilised oosphere in some algae and fungi.

Ootheca
An ootheca is a capsule containing eggs that is produced by some insects and molluscs.

Ootid
In Zoology, an ootid is an immature female gamete that develops into an ovum.

Opera
Opera is a stage entertainment consisting of a play sung to music in its entirety, with no spoken dialogue at all. Opera originated in Italy around 1600 and has subsequently spread throughout the world.

Opera bouffe
An opera bouffe was a type of light or satirical opera common in France during the 19th century.

Opera comique
An opera comique was a type of opera, not necessarily comic, current in France during the 19th century and characterised by spoken dialogue. It originated in satirical parodies of grand opera.

Operating System
In computing, an operating system (OS) is the foundation software of a machine that schedules tasks, allocates storage, and presents a default interface to the user between applications.

Ophicleide
The ophicleide was a brass musical instrument, now replaced by the brass tuba.

Opti-Net
In the days when CD ROMs were expensive, companies with a NetBIOS compatible network and a CD ROM application could provide up to 100 network users simultaneous access to one CD ROM drive with Opti-Net. Opti-Net was installed on a network workstation and not on a network file server, so there was no speed degradation of the network. The product was installed as a dedicated CD ROM server or run as a TSR, with other applications running simultaneously. Opti-Net supported up to 32 CD ROM drives attached to the CD ROM server. Each CD ROM drive was accessed as a separate local drive.

Optophone
The optophone is an instrument invented by Fournier d'Albe, by means of which the letters of ordinary print are caused to produce characteristic musical sounds by being projected optically on to a screen composed of a number of selnium cells connected to an AC electrical source of audio frequency, and to a loud speaker.

Oratorio
An oratorio is a musical setting of religious incidents scored for an orchestra, choir, or solo voices on a scale larger and more dramatic than a cantata. The term originates from the 16th century when the first oratory was performed in Rome.

Oratory
see "Oratorio"

Orbit
An orbit is the path or trajectory of a body through space. A force of attraction or repulsion from a second body usually causes the path to be curved. A familiar type of orbit occurs when one body revolves around a second, strongly attracting body. In the solar system the force of gravity causes the moon to orbit about the earth and the planets to orbit about the sun, whereas in an atom electrical forces cause electrons to orbit about the nucleus. In astronomy, the orbits resulting from gravitational forces are the subject of the scientific field of celestial mechanics.

Ordeal
Ordeal is a primitive mode of trial of testing the guilt of an accused person based upon the belief that heaven will protect the innocent and allow the guilty to suffer. Methods employed include walking barefoot on hot coals, dipping the hands into boiling water and carrying red hot irons.

Order of the Garter
The Order of the Garter is a dignitary awarded for chivalry. It was implemented in 1349.

Ordovician
The Ordovician period was the fourth geological period, 375,000,000 years ago.

Orekhovo Klub Sport
see "Dynamo Moscow"

Org Plus
Org Plus is a computer flowcharter program with a single purpose - to help you draw up and manage the personnel structure within your organisation. Because it is dedicated to a single job, Org Plus offers a range of options that other more generalist charting software can't.

Organic
In chemistry, the term organic refers to substances which occur naturally as constituents of organised bodies.

Organic Chemistry
Organic chemistry is the chemistry of the compounds of carbon.

OrgPlus Advanced
OrgPlus Advanced by Banner Blue offers an easy way to create organisation charts with your PC. The program reduces the time it takes to create and maintain data for organization charts and helps keep your organisation chart up-to-date. To create a chart, you begin with the top level and work down. You can enter names, titles, and comments for each entry, and then define further branching entries. The product automatically draws and spaces boxes, centres text, and lays out the connecting lines. There are seven chart styles and eight box styles to choose from. Each box can contain a name, title, four comments, and six amount fields. You can customise charts on-screen and print sideways without additional software. The product lets you create organisation charts with up to 600 positions, if you have sufficient memory. After OrgPlus Advanced automatically draws your chart, you can electronically cut and paste it on the screen. Features include the ability to draw vertical and horizontal lines, enhance text with bold, underline, or italics, add boxes and notes anywhere on a chart, make chart titles larger, and move, copy, or delete blocks of information.

Origami
Origami is the art of paper folding.

Orion
Orion is a constellation located on the celestial equator east of Taurus. It is a rectangular configuration with three stars in line near its center. It is represented on pictorial charts as the figure of Orion, the hunter in Greek mythology, standing with uplifted club. Three bright stars represent his belt and three fainter stars aligned south of the belt represent his sword.

Ormolu
Ormolu is an alloy of brass used in making candlesticks, small statues and other articles. The composition is generally 58 per cent copper, 26 per cent zinc and 16 per cent tin.

Ornithology
Ornithology is the scientific study of birds.

Orris Root
Orris root is the powdered root of Iris florentina, the common white flowered iris. It was used in making perfume before the advent of synthetic scents.

Orthicon
An orthicon is a form of television camera tube in which the optical image to be transmitted is projected on a photo-sensitive mosaic on the far side of a transparent signal plate, a charge pattern thus being produced on the mosaic.

Ortho-Toluidine
Ortho-Toluidine is a form of toluidine used in the manufacture of rosaniline.

OS
see "Operating System"

OS/2
OS/2 was the anointed successor to MS-DOS for Intel 286 and 386 based micros. Some say it was proof that IBM/Microsoft couldn't get it right the second time, either. On January the 28th, 1991, Microsoft announced that it was dropping its OS/2 development to concentrate on Windows, leaving the OS entirely in the hands of IBM.

Osmiridium
Osmiridium (iridosmine) is a naturally occurring alloy of osmium and iridium.

Osmium
Osmium is a blue-white metal element with the symbol Os. It is volatile and very poisonous.

Osmosis
In chemistry, osmosis is the passage of fluid from a less concentrated solution to a more concentrated solution through a semipermeable membrane.

Otis
Otis is the world's largest manufacturer of elevators (lifts).

Otto of Roses
see "Attar"

Ottocento
Ottocento is a Tarot game for four players that comes from Bologna. Tarot games have been played in that city for over 500 years, and the game of Ottocento as currently played preserves distinct characteristics (both of the games and of the pack of cards) which go back at least to the 16th century. Ottocento is a point-trick game, with trumps. The cards have point values individually (as in other Tarot games) but also score in combinations. There is no bidding, but players can score by declaring card combinations held in their hands at the start of play, as well as for combinations taken in tricks. There are four players, two against two in fixed partnerships. Play is anticlockwise. The pack is known as the Tarocco Bolognese - the version of the Tarot pack that has been used at Bologna since the 16th century. This pack is produced and sold by the main Italian playing-card manufacturers. It is somewhat similar to other Italian-suited Tarot packs, but omits the two to the five of each plain suit, and has other peculiarities found only at Bologna.

Ounce
The ounce is a unit of measurement of the avoirdupois scale equivalent to 16 drams or 28.350 grams.

Ounces
see "ounce"

Overcoil
In clock and watch making an overcoil is a fixed end of a spiral hairspring, consisting of an upwardly and inwardly bent continuation of the outermost coil of the spring and used to offset the asymmetry of the common spiral spring when tight, which impairs isochronism.

Oxalic acid
Oxalic acid (acid of sugar) is a poison found in rhubarb.

Oxgang
see "Bovate"

Oxidation
Oxidation is the chemical combination of atoms with oxygen atoms to form oxides. In metals, the process appears as rust, iron rust being iron oxide, a molecule formed of iron atoms combined with oxygen atoms.

Oxide
In chemistry, an oxide is a compound of oxygen and some other element.

Oxidise
The term oxidise refers to the chemical reaction of oxidation.

Oxygen
Oxygen is an element that is found free as a colourless, odourless, tasteless gas in the atmosphere, of which it constitutes 21%. It is found in water, most rocksand minerals, and in numerous compounds; it is capable of combining with all of the elements, except for the inert gases; it is active in physiological processes and especially in combustive processes. It has the symbol O.

Oxytocin
Oxytocin is a hormone that stimulates the uterus in late pregnancy to initiate and sustain labour.

Ozone
Ozone is a blue gas. The molecules are comprised of three oxygen atoms.

P Band
The P band is the frequency band from 225 to 390 mhz employed in radar.

P-80 Systems
P-80 systems are an American bulletin board (BBS) and CD-ROM supplier specialising in pirated computer software (warez) for the PC and also information on computer hacking, phreaking and other illegal activities.

Pacemaker
A pacemaker is an electronic device that stimulates the heart muscles by delivery small electric shocks to it.

Pack
a pack was a British measurement for wool and flax equal to 240 or 480 lbs.

Pack-Fong
see "Nickel Silver"

Packet
In the sense of communications, a packet is a structured group of binary digits in a prearranged sequence containing synchronism, address, control an error-checking data. Specialised synonym for a 'block' of data in CCITT Packet Data Network standards.

Packet Switched Network
A Packet Switched Network is a network dedicated to the routing and delivery of data put in the form of standardised 'packets.'

Packet Switching
Packet Switching is the technique in which a stream of data is broken into standardised units called 'packets,' each of which contains address, sequence, control, size and error checking information in addition to the user data. Specialised packet switches operate on this added information to move the packets to their destination in the proper sequence and again present them in a contiguous stream.

PageMaker
PageMaker is a very popular, easy to use, WYSIWYG desktop publisher that allows the design, layout, and production of typeset-quality documents on the Macintosh and PC running Windows. The product, one of the first desktop publishers for the Macintosh, provides a comprehensive set of tools for integrating text and graphics from virtually any Macintosh application into a professional-looking document. Nearly identical to PageMaker for the PC, this program offers user-defined style sheets, automatic text flow through a document, and 20 design templates. Rather than using a grid approach, PageMaker works like a paste-up board on which to define the placement of elements on-screen after defining the number of columns the document will have. PageMaker has a wide range of uses, from the occasional quick memo and graphics based publication, to a complex, content-oriented document with graphics (it was used to typeset the magazine Here's Health during the early 1990s). It is ideal for an environment using both PCs and Macs because a version is available for each machine and files can be transferred between the two environments. When PageMaker, is run a blank page is seen on-screen. Text and graphics can be imported using a place command to position the material as it is to appear on the printed output. The product retains formatting from word processing files such as tabs, type styles, justification, and proportional spacing. PageMaker has a built-in text editor which can also act as a basic word processor. Changes made in PageMaker are automatically reflected in the word processing document. The program automatically flows text throughout the document and wraps text around graphics. Its editing features control text size, style, typeface, multiple columns, and automatic hyphenation. Imported graphics can be sized, scaled, and cropped on-screen. Rules and line styles help to position graphic images and text, and allow easy creation of boxed text, headlines, and framed
es. Ruler guides control layout and column guides assist in the actual placement and margins of graphics and text. PageMaker allows the creation of style sheets. Users can see and work with multiple views of a page layout or two pages at once so that a double-page spread can be designed.

Pahari
Pahari is a language with a number of different dialects spoken from the Punjab to Nepal along the southern spurs of the Himalayas.

Pai Gow
Pai Gow is a gambing game played with Chinese dominoes. The set consists of all pairs of numbers from 1-1 to 6-6, with the following eleven tiles duplicated: 6-6, 6-5, 6-4, 6-1, 5-5, 5-1, 4-4, 3-3, 3-1, 2-2, 1-1. There are 32 tiles in all.

Pai Gow Poker
Pai Gow Poker is a poker variation based on the Chinese Domino game Pai Gow. It can be played by up to seven players. A pack of 52 cards plus one joker is used. The joker is a wild card which can be used only as an ace, or to complete a straight, a flush or a straight flush. On each deal the dealer plays against the other players. Before the deal, each of the other players puts up a stake.

Painter's Colic
see "Devonshire Colic"

Palaeocene
The Palaeocene was the thirteenth geological period, 80,000,000 years ago.

Palaeography
Palaeography is the study of ancient manuscripts written on papyrus, parchment or similar material, as distinct from epigraphy which is the study of ancient inscriptions incised on hard materials such as wood, stone or metal.

Palaeontology
Palaeontology is a branch of biology and geology which deals with fossils. It is divided into palaeozoology and palaeobotany, which respectively have animals and plants as their subject matters.

Pali
Pali is an old language related to Sanskrit, in which the Buddhist classical literature was written.

Palindrome
A palindrome is a word, phrase or sentence the letters of which read the same left to right as right to left, such as 'was it a cat I saw'.

Palladium
Palladium is a rare grey-white metal element with the symbol Pd. It has the power of absorbing a very large amount of hydrogen to which it is permeable when heated. It is used in an alloy with gold in dentistry and jewellery. In its pure form it is used for making watch springs and mirrors.

Pallas
Pallas is the second largest asteroid and the second to be discovered. It was first observed by the German astronomer Heinrich Olbers in 1802. It is about 480 km in diameter, and orbits about the sun in 1684 days.

Palm Kernel Oil
Palm kernel oil is a fatty oil obtained from the kernels of the palm fruit and used in the manufacture of soap and margarine.

Palm Oil
Palm oil is a fatty oil obtained from the pericarp of the palm fruit and used in the manufacture of soap and edible fat.

Palmitic Acid
Palmitic acid is a widely distributed naturally occurring fatty acid with the formula C16H32O2.

Pampas
The pampas are natural grasslands of South America.

Pancratium
A pancratium is an athletic contest in wrestling and boxing.

Pandoeren
Pandoeren is a trick-taking card game for four players. It used to be popular in the Netherlands, but nowadays few people play it.

Panthenol
Panthenol (Pro vitamin B5) is the alcohol analogue of pantothenic acid. Whilst its vitamin properties are not proven in cosmetics and toiletries, it does have pronounced moisturising properties and gives and excellent 'skin feel' to products containing it.

Panthenol
Panthenol is a vitamin B-complex derivative used as a moisturiser and hair conditioner in cosmetics.

Pantothenic acid
Pantothenic acid is a hydroxy acid found in plant and animal tissues that is one of the vitamin B complex of substances and is used for cell growth.

Pantoum
A pantoum is a Malay verse consisting of an indefinite number of quatrains with the second and fourth lines of each quatrain repeated as the first and third lines of the following one.

Papagayo Winds
see "Tehuantepec winds"

Papain
Papain is a substance found in the juice of papaw. It has an identical action to Trypsin.

Para-cresol
Para-cresol is a cresol found in bad eggs.

Paradichlorobenzene
Paradichlorobenzene is a white crystalline, volatile substance which is insoluble in water of the benzene series. It has a penetrating odour and is used chiefly as a moth repellent.

Paradox
Paradox 3.0 is a relational database manager from Borland International, that strikes a balance between functionality and ease of use. It offers the power of many of the advanced database products, yet is easy enough for the novice to use. It includes enhanced relational operations, presentation-quality graphics, crosstab views, and enhanced query-by-example operators. Paradox appeals to a wide range of users because it has menus as well as a programming language. The menus, which resemble the Lotus 1-2-3 interface, provide advanced capabilities to the beginning user, while the command language, Paradox Application Language (PAL), allows sophisticated users to create complex turnkey systems and custom applications. PAL provides all the functions of competitive database programming languages. For those who use PAL to develop applications, Paradox also includes an application generator that creates PAL code which can be edited. Paradox employs the artificial intelligence technique, query-by-example, to let users make multiple-file queries and database manipulations by giving an example of the kind of data wanted. Paradox also uses artificial intelligence to speed queries by searching for the best path. Any index which Paradox creates to answer a question will be used to answer a later query when appropriate. Paradox's multiforms capability lets you display records from multiple tables within a form and create forms with scrolling regions without any programming. Paradox supports a multitable feature in its reporting capabilities. The most visual feature is the ability to create presentation-quality colour graphics such as pie charts, line, bar, and XY graphs. An automatic lookup function lets you fill entire records just by filling in one field only. This feature is excellent for creating invoices that automatically enter customer information on the invoice based on the entry of a customer number. As long as two files have a common field, information can be shared
tween them. This feature lets you have small manageable files instead of files that are cumbersome and difficult to work with. When searching for specific information, simply check off the fields wanted to see in the answer table.

Paraffin
Paraffin is a family of hydrocarbons.

Parallax
The term parallax describes the apparent movement of an object when viewed from two different positions.

Parallel Transmission
Parallel Transmission is the simultaneous transmission of all parts of a signal at one time; in data transmission, requiring a separate signal path for each of the bits of a character; internal to computers, this is called a 'parallel bus.'

Parchment
Parchment is a type of fine writing paper traditionally made from sheep or goat skin.

Parest
see "Methaqualone"

Parity
In communications systems and computers, parity is a constant state of equality; one of the oldest and simplest methods of error checking data transmission. Characters are forced into parity (total number of marking bits odd or even as selected by choice) by adding a one or zero bit as appropriate when transmitted; parity is then checked as odd or even at the receiver.

Parity Bit
A Parity Bit is a check bit appended to an array of binary digits to make the sum of all the digits always odd or always even.

Parity Check
Parity Check is a checking method that determines if the sum of all the digits in an array is odd or even.

Parliament
see "Sevens"

Parsec
A parsec is an astronomical unit of distance equivalent to 3.2616 light years.

Parsol
see "Avobenzone"

Pascal
Pascal is an Algol-descended computer programming language designed by Niklaus Wirth on the CDC 6600 around 1967 as an instructional tool for elementary programming. The language, designed primarily to keep students from shooting themselves in the foot and thus extremely restrictive from a general-purpose-programming point of view, was later promoted as a general-purpose tool and, in fact, became the ancestor of a large family of languages including Modula-2 and Ada.

Paskahousu
Paskahousu is a Finnish card game for three or more players, played with a standard 52-card deck.

Pasteurisation
Pasteurisation is a preservative heat treatment applied to foods, notably milk.

Patanol
see "Olopatadine hydrochloride"

Patten
Patten is another name for a clog.

PC Paintbrush
PC Paintbrush by ZSoft is a good drawing program that supports high resolution VGA graphics. It is a full-featured colour-painting program that lets you create and edit freehand illustrations at the pixel level. It supports a wide range of popular scanners allowing scanned images to be imported and edited in black and white, 16 shades of gray, or in colour. Painting elements include boxes, circles, rounded boxes, curves, lines, and text. All of the objects can be sized and filled. The standard painting tools such as a paintbrush, paint roller, eraser, and spray can are available as well as more unique tools such as a colour eraser which lets you erase a single colour in a defined area. When linked to a scanner, a special menu is available that lets you select items to adjust your scanner capabilities. This program lets you paint, scan, and edit images at 300 dpi in colour or with 16 levels of gray. Images can be scanned in and resized without losing picture qualify. PostScript output devices are supported.

PC/Focus
PC/Focus by Information Builders, Inc. is a complete, fourth-generation language database and informafionmanagement system for personal computers. Its design, function, and capabilities are identical to its big brother Focus, one of the leading information centre products for IBM or compatible mainframes. Code that is written for one version is easily transported to the another. Since mainframe Focus and PC/Focus share a common language, PC/Focus can be used to prototype mainframe Focus applications. This method is much less time-consuming frees up valuable mainframe resources. PC/Focus supports a menu-driven user interface based on Information Builders Talk Technology which accesses most PC/Focus commands from a menu. The PC/Focus Windows facility lets you incorporate the programs menu interface into customised applications. The scripting or macro language lets programmers store communications procedures that can automatically execute dial-up sequences for accessing remote systems. A screen painter and report generator make it much easier to design your applications. Database maintenance procedures can be automated by using ModifyTalk which generates procedures based on answers that you give to a series of questions concerning the fields you want to modify. The product supports a SQL Translator which enables the user to type SQL requests against a mainframe Focus database.

pcANYWHERE
pcANYWHERE III is a menu-driven remote control program for IBM PC-compatibles that allows the user to control and/or monitor one PC from another over a communications link. Suitable for support purposes and typically used with standard dial-up modems, pcANYWHERE III connects two PCs so their screens and keyboards are linked as one. Whatever the remote user sees on-screen is also seen on the local screen. pCANYWHERE III includes both host and remote portions necessary for remote connection of two PCs, and is useful for remote connection into networking environments such as Novell NetWare. The package includes a chat mode and call logging feature, and supports programs that require CCA, EGA, MCGA, VGA, and Hercules Graphics. On the remote PC, pcANYWHERE III runs underneath other applications as a RAM resident program, occupying only 45K of RAM. The local portion runs as a primary task on a PC. The local PC supports any number of remote users and can he programmed with the appropriate telephone numbers and passwords so users can be called by selecting them from a pop-up directory window. The remote computer can be programmed to automatically call the support computer.

Pcopy
Pcopy by Patri-Soft is an extension to the DOS computer operating system. Even with DOS 6.0, the DOS copy command can be dangerous to use and has limited options. Pcopy provides abundant options including: Multiple output disks, fill disks efficiently, split files across disks, select files by date/time/size and update/merge directories. Pcopy includes a special *DISK*.* type wildcard. Pcopy provides a facility to scan/make directories, prevent accidental file overlays. Pcopy includes both a menu and command line interface.

Pcp
Pcp is an abbreviation for phencyclidine.

PCShield
PCShield by Axent Technologies Limited is a good practices enforcing software product for personal computers. It forces users to select passwords which are hard to crack, and provides encryption for data.

Pdel
Pdel by Patri-Soft is an extension to the DOS computer operating system. It has extensive file selection capabilities letting you delete just what you want. You can select by date/time, size, attribute and special wildcard patterns like *DISK*.* and mode. You can delete until a specified amount of freespace exists. Wipe file data before deleting to prevent file undelete. A test feature simulates delete. Pdel includes an emergency stop by pressing any key.

PDP-10
The PDP-10 (Programmed Data Processor model 10) was a computer that made timesharing real. It was adopted in the mid-1970s by many university computing facilities and research labs, including the MIT AI Lab, Stanford, and CMU. The PDP-10 was eventually eclipsed by the VAX machines (descendants of the PDP-11) when DEC recognised that the 10 and VAX product lines were competing with each other and decided to concentrate its software development effort on the more profitable VAX. The PDP-10 was finally dropped from DEC's line in 1983, following the failure of the Jupiter Project at DEC to build a viable new model.

PDS
PDS is an abbreviation for Portable Diagnostic System. It is an expert system which diagnoses faults in machinery from information received from sensors connected to the machinery. Sensor readings are compared with known data about component malfunction symptoms to diagnose faults.

Peace of the Pyrenees
The Peace of the Pyrenees was concluded between France and Spain by Cardinal Mazarin and De Haro, on the Ile des Faisans, in the river Bidassoa, on the borders of the two countries, on the 7th of November 1659, terminating a war which had lasted twenty-four years. By the treaty Spain ceded to France Roussillon with the fortress of Perpignan so that the Pyrenees have since formed the boundary between the two kingdoms.

Peace Pipe
see "Calumet"

Peat
Peat is a fibrous organic compound found in bogs that is formed by the partial decomposition of plants.

Peck
The peck is a unit of capacity measurement equivalent to 2 gallons or 9.092 litres. A peck of flour was 14 lbs.

Pedro
Pedro (pronounced "peedro") is a card game that was developed in the United States in the nineteenth century as a variation of Pitch. The Pedro is the trump 5, which is worth five points. Pedro was extremely widely played in the US at the end of the nineteenth century, but during the twentieth century it has gradually declined in popularity.

Pegasus
Pegasus is a northern constellation, situated southeast of Andromeda. The three brightest stars of Pegasus form a square with Andromedae, called the square of Pegasus. The constellation, which is named for the winged horse of Greek mythology, is usually seen upside down in the sky, with only the head, neck, and front half of the animal represented by the stars.

Pentagon
A pentagon is a five sided regular polygon.

Pentode
A pentode is an electronic amplifying valve with 5 main electrodes.

Pentose
A pentose is a sugar with 5 carbon atoms in the molecule.

Penumbra
A penumbra is a partly shaded region around the shadow of an opaque body. The term is especially applied to describe the partly shaded region around a total eclipse of the sun or moon.

Pepper
Pepper is a card game played in Iowa, USA, and also in Ohio. It is a essentially a version of Bid Euchre. A related game is found in several card-game books under the name Hasenpfeffer ('jugged hare'), and the name Pepper probably derives from this. Pepper is an easy game to learn, but offers opportunities for strategy both in the bidding and the play.

Perception
Perception is the ability to observe and understand, particularly intuitively.

Percolator
A percolator is a device for making coffee by allowing water to filter repeatedly through ground coffee.

Perdivinci
see "Ciapano"

Pericarp
The pericarp is the wall of the ripened ovary of a plant.

Pericarps
see "Pericarp"

Perigee
Perigee is an astronomical term referring to the position in the Moon's orbit nearest to the earth, opposite to Apogee.

Perigynous
A perigynous plant is one which has stamens situated around the pistil or ovary.

Perikon Detector
A Perikon Detector was a form of crystal detector employed in the early days of radio broadcasting. It consisted of a crystal of zincite and a crystal of bornite so mounted that there was a point contact between them.

Periodic law
In chemistry, periodic law is the law that the properties of the elements are periodic functions of their atomic numbers.

Periodic table
In chemistry, the periodic table is a table illustrating the periodic system in which the chemical elements are arranged in the order of their atomic numbers are shown in related groups.

Periwig
see "Wig"

Perl
Perl (Practical Extraction and Report Language, a.k.a Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister) is an interpreted computer language developed by Larry Wall, and distributed over USENET.

Permafrost
Permafrost is the permanently frozen subsoil in Arctic regions.

Permaid
Permaid is an expert system, developed at Honeywell for trouble shooting large disk drives.

Permalloy
Permalloy is a nickel steel alloy, containing about 78 percent nickel. It is characterised by a very high permeability in low magnetic fields. It is extensively used in submarine cables.

Permanganate
A permanganate is any salt of permanganic acid.

Permian
The Permian was the eighth geological period, 205,000,000 years ago. It marked the evolution of the reptiles.

Perseus
Perseus is a northern constellation, situated between Taurus and Cassiopeia. The brightest star is Alpha Persei, or Mirfak. The constellation contains a pair of star clusters, called the double cluster of Perseus, and Algol, which is the best known of the eclipsing stars.

Persimmon
The persimmon is a yellow-orange plum-like astringent fruit. It becomes sweet when softened by frost.

Pertussin ES
Pertussin ES is a tradename for dextromethorphan hydrochloride

Peruke
A peruke was a man's wig of the 17th and 18th centuries. It was usually powdered and gathered at the back of the neck with a ribbon.

Pessary
A pessary is a vaginal suppository.

Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a play written by J M Barrie and first produced in 1904, it was a popular hit and established Barrie as a top playwright of the era. It featured actress Maude Adams, who had starred in several previous Barrie plays and joined him in a stage partnership.

Petrol
Petrol is a volatile, flammable liquid mixture of hydrocarbons, obtained from petroleum and used as a fuel for internal-combustion engines.

Petroleum
Petroleum is an oily, thick, flammable, usually dark coloured liquid that is a form of bitumen or a mixture of various hydrocarbons, occurring naturally in various parts of the world and often separated by distillation into petrol, naphtha, benzene, kerosene and paraffin.

Pewter
Pewter is an alloy of tin and lead.

PFS:First Choice
PFS:First Choice by Software Publishing Corporation, is a software package that integrates the power and ease of use of the original pfs: products into one menu-driven product. This product combines spreadsheet, word processing, data management, reporting, communications, and graphics functions into a compact program designed for the beginning or occasional computer user. The First Choice spreadsheet is more intuitive than the spreadsheets in other integrated packages. All entries are typed directly into the cell where they will appear instead of being entered on a command line and then inserted. The Quick Entry key allows automatic entry of a series of related headings such as months of the year. Begin by typing January and then use the Tab key to enter February, March, and April. The First Choice word processor offers a conversion utility that allows quick conversion of files from other popular word processing programs such as Microsoft Word and WordPerfect. Documents created in the word processing module can be viewed or printed as a slide using custom fonts and styles. You can create on-screen presentations combining both text and graphic charts.

PH
pH is a measurement of acidity or alkalinity in terms of hydrogen ion content.

Phencyclidine
Phencyclidine (PCP) is a dissociative anesthetic and central nervous system stimulant. Which was formerly used as a human tranquilizer, discontinued in 1953 and as an animal tranquilizer, discontinued in 1979.

Phenic Acid
see "Carbolic Acid"

Phenol
see "Carbolic Acid"

Phenyl benzene
Phenyl benzene is a colourless crystalline organic compound. It can be made by passing benzene through a red-hot tube, when condensation takes place with the formation of phenyl benzene. It also occurs in coal-tar, and it is used in organic syntheses.

Phenyl salicylate
see "Salol"

Phenylacrylic Acid
see "Cinnamic Acid"

Philology
Philology is the study of languages, especially as regards their historical development and their mutual points of contact, their internal structure and external groupings. Philology first started among the ancient Greeks and Romans, and then lay dormant until the Renaissance.

Phocine
Phocine is a zoological term pertaining to seals.

Phon
The phon is the unit of loudness.

Phonograph
see "Gramaphone"

Phosphate
A phosphate is any salt of phosphorus oxy acids.

Phosphoric acid
Phosphoric acid can exist as a crystal or clear liquid. It is an oily, thick, colourless, and odourless liquid, or a thick, colourless, unstable crystalline solid. It is used in the manufacture of phosphates, such as salts, soaps, and detergents; fertilizers; yeasts; fire control agents; opal glass; electric lights; dental cements; waxes and polishes; gelatin; ethylbenzene, propylene, and cumene; and soft drinks. It is used as an acid catalyst, soil stabilizer, antioxidant in food, acidulant and flavour agent in jellies and preserves, bonding agent for refractory bricks, and petrol additive. It is also used in the rustproofing and polishing of metals, cotton dyeing, tile cleaning, extracting penicillin, hot stripping for aluminum and zinc substrates, ceramic binding, water treatment, process engraving, electro-polishing, coagulating of rubber latex, operating lithography and photoengraving operations, and pickling. It is used to manufacture the phosphoric acid electrolyte fuel cell system which has created the largest fuel cell built. It has been used to treat lead poisoning. Phosphoric acid is incompatible with strong caustics and most metals. It readily reacts with metals to form flammable hydrogen gas. The liquid can solidify at temperatures below 21 degrees C. It is corrosive to ferrous metals and alloys. It is soluble in alcohol and hot water. It can form three series of salts: primary phosphates, dibasic phosphates, and tribasic phosphates. It is deliquescent and hygroscopic. It is a chelating agent. It has a low vapour pressure at room temperature. Phosphoric acid is also known as orthophosphoric acid, metaphosphoric acid, and white phosphoric acid.

Phosphorus
Phosphorus is a non-metallic element of the nitrogen family that occurs widely as a phosphate. It has the symbol P.

Phot
A phot is a unit of luminous flux equal to the illumination produced by one lumen on a surface of one square centimetre.

Photometry
In physics, photometry is the measurement of the luminous intensity of a light source, or the amount of luminous flux falling upon a surface from such a source. Photometry is important in photography , astronomy, and illumination engineering. Instruments used for photometry are called photometers. Light waves stimulate the human eye in different degrees, depending on the wavelength of the light. Because it is difficult to make an instrument with the same sensitivity for different wavelengths as the human eye, many photometers use a human observer. Photoelectric photometers need special colored filters to make them respond like the human eye. Instruments that measure radiant energy instead of light are called radiometers, and must be made equally sensitive to all wavelengths. The intensity of a light source is measured in candle power, usually by comparing the source with a standard source provided by the National Bureau of Standards. The known and unknown sources illuminate portions of a window surface side by side, and their distances are adjusted until the illumination on the surface is the same. The relative intensity is then calculated from the inverse square law.

Photon
A photon is a light quantum, that is a definite amount of radiation having a frequency within the visible spectrum. A photon is emitted from an excited atom when one of the orbital electrons, having been transferred to an orbit of higher energy level, suddenly returns to its former orbit.

Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is the process by which plants convert carbon dioxide into carbohydrates by chlorophyll under the influence of light.

Phototropic
Something which is phototropic seeks light. The term is used in Biology to describe animalcules which seek the light.

Phrenology
Phrenology (craniology) is the study of the external form of the human skull, as indicative of mental powers and moral qualities. It was propounded by Gall, a German physician around 1796.

Phthalic Acid
Phthalic Acid is obtained by the oxidation of napthalene by means of fuming sulphuric acid and mercury. It forms colourless crystals that are soluble in water. When heated it yields an anhydride and is the parent substance of the phthalein dye-stuffs.

Physical change
In chemistry, physical change is a change in the condition or state of a substance; it's composition is not altered.

Piano
The piano is a musical instrument with a keyboard. It was invented in the 18th century as a development of the harpsichord. Strings are stuck by hammers when the keys are depressed.

Pica
Pica is a size of print (12 point) giving about 6 lines to the inch.

Picador
A picador is a horse-mounted, lance armed bull fighter.

Picaroon
A picaroon was a name for pirate or pirate ship.

Piccolo
The piccolo is a woodwind instrument of the flute family.

Picul
The picul was a Chinese unit of weight equivalent to 133.5 lbs.

Piezo
Piezo is a prefix signifying pressure.

Pig
The pig was a British measurement of ballast equal to 56 lbs.

Piles
see "Varicose Veins"

Pinchbeck
Pinchbeck is an alloy of 80 percent copper and 20 percent zinc once used for making cheap watch cases, and more recently as a substitute for the more expensive bronze. It was invented by a London watchmaker in the 18th century.

Pinene
Pinene is a terpene colourless liquid which smells like turpentine and occurs in pine trees and the essential oils of eucalyptus, lemon and thyme.

Pint
The pint is a unit of capacity measurement equivalent to 4 gills or 0.568 litres.

Piquet
Piquet is a card game for two players, using a shortened pack of 32 cards which omits 2 to 6 in each suit. In ascending order, the cards rank 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A (high).

Pisti
Pisti (pronounced "pishti") is a popular Turkish card game, using a standard 52-card deck. It is normally played by four people in partnerships, partners sitting opposite. The direction of play is anticlockwise. Cards are played to a central pile, which can be captured by matching the previous card played or playing a jack. Points are scored for certain captured cards. The word "pisti", which means "cooked", describes a capture of a pile containing only one card, for which extra points are scored.

Pistil
A pistil is a an ovule-bearing or seed-bearing female organ of a flower, consisting of the ovary, style and stigma.

Pistillate
Pistillate is a botanical term for flowers with have a pistil or pistils but no stamen.

Pitch
Pitch is the highness or lowness of a musical sound.
Pitch also known as Setback or High-Low-Jack is a North American card game, derived from the old English game of All Fours (which was also known in America as Seven Up or Old Sledge). Pitch is basically All Fours with bidding added. Some of the newer versions of Pitch include other features such as extra points and an opportunity to improve one's hand by taking extra cards and discarding. There are essentially two types of Pitch game: Partnership Pitch (played with partners, obviously) and Cutthroat Pitch (in which everyone plays for themselves).

Piton
A piton is a metal spike used in mountaineering as a support for a belaying pin.

Pitpan
A pitpan is a Central American dug-out boat.

Placidyl
see "1-chloro-3-ethyl-1-penten-4 yn-3-ol"

Plane table
A plane table is a device used in surveying and consisting of a movable telescope resting upon a flat board mounted on a tripod. By its use a reliable plan may be prepared in the field directly upon a sheet of paper pinned to the board.

Planet
A planet is a heavenly body which orbits a star.

Planimeter
A Planimeter is a simple integrating instrument for measuring the area of a regular or irregular plane surface. It consists of two hinged arms: one is kept fixed and the other is traced around the boundary of the area. This actuates a small graduated wheel; the area is calculated from the wheel's change in position.

Plant
A plant is a living organism of the vegetable kingdom. Generally they are capable of living wholly on inorganic substances. They lack locomotion and special organs of sensation and digestion.

Plantation
A plantation is a an assemblage of planted and growing plants.

Plants
see "Plant"

Plaster of Paris
Plaster of paris is calcium sulphate mixed with water to make casts.

Plastic
Plastic is a group of synthetic polymers made from oils and which are capable of being moulded into shape by heat or pressure or both.

Plateau
A plateau is an elevated plain whose edges slope somewhat abruptly to a lower level.

Platinum
Platinum is a rare metal more valuable than gold with the symbol Pt and a relative hardness of 5. It has a high melting point and is resistant to chemicals.

Pleistocene
The Pleistocene (ice age) was the seventeenth geological period, 500,000 years ago. It marked the evolution of tool-making man.

Plimsoll
A plimsoll is a shoe with a canvas upper vulcanised to a rubber sole. They were invented for wear on board ship.

Plink86 Plus
Plink86 Plus by Phoenix Computer Products is an overlay linker that brings modular programming to the PC. It lets you write a program as large and complex as necessary with no need to worry about whether it will fit within available memory. Plink86 Plus's automatic overlay-module technique allows programs to be divided into any number of tree-structured overlay areas, handles diskette changes, and segments the program for add-on packages. Plink86 Plus is a two-pass linkage editor that accepts any object file conforming to the Intel or Microsoft format and outputs executable program files. The first pass is for memory-segment addressing and the second creates the output file. Plink86 Plus works with Lattice C, Microsoft FORTRAN, Microsoft C 5.0, IBM FORTRAN (77), the IBM BASIC Compiler, the Turbo C compiler, and Clipper among other compilers.

Pliocene
The Pliocene was the sixteenth geological period, 8,000,000 years ago. It marked the modern formation of the continents.

Plough
A plough is an agricultural implement used for tilling the soil.

Plutonium
Plutonium is an artificial radioactive metal element with the symbol Pu.

Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammation of the lung due to infection.

Pocket
The pocket was a British measurement for hops ranging from 168 to 224 lbs.

Pogo
The pogo was a punk dance of the late 1970's and early 1980's which involved jumping into the air whilst keeping the arms straight at the sides of the body, the body stiff and tense and the legs straight and the head cocked to one side. The body was propelled upwards by flexing the feet.

Poison
see "Toxin"

Poisonous
see "Toxic"

Poker Menteur
Poker Menteur (Liar Poker in English) is the card game equivalent of a dice game known in Britain as Liar Dice.

Polestar
see "North Star"

Polio
Polio is a virus infection of the central nervous system affecting nerves that activate muscles.

Polka
The polka is a lively Bohemian folk dance.

Pollux
Pollux (Beta Geminorum) is the southernmost of the two stars in the zodiacal constellation Gemini, called the heavenly twins, the other twin being Castor. Pollux is a star of the first magnitude and is 33 light-years away from the earth.

Polonium
Polonium is a metal radioactive element with the symbol Po.

Polychlorinated biphenyls
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a family of man-made chemicals that contain 209 individual compounds with varying toxicity. Commercial formulations of PCBs enter the environment as mixtures consisting of a variety of PCBs and impurities. Because of their insulating and nonflammable properties, PCBs have been used widely as coolants and lubricants in transformers, capacitors, and other electrical equipment. The manufacture of PCBs stopped in the USA in October 1977 because of evidence that PCBs accumulate in the environment and may cause health hazards for humans.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of chemicals that are formed during the incomplete burning of coal, oil and gas, garbage, or other organic substances. PAHs can be man-made or occur naturally. There is no known use for most of these chemicals except for research purposes. A few of the PAHs are used in medicines and to make dyes, plastics, and pesticides. They are found throughout the environment in the air, water, and soil. There are more than 100 different PAH compounds. Although the health effects of the individual PAHs are not exactly alike, the following 15 PAHs are considered as a group: acenaphthene, acenaphthylene, anthracene, benz(a)anthracene, benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(ghi)perylene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, chrysene, dibenz(a,h)anthracene, fluoranthene, fluorene, indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene, phenanthrene, pyrene. As pure chemicals, PAHs generally exist as colourless, white, or pale yellow-green solids. Most PAHs do not occur alone in the environment (including those found at hazardous waste sites), rather they are found as mixtures of two or more PAHs. They can occur in the air either attached to dust particles, or in soil or sediment as solids. They can also be found in substances such as crude oil, coal, coal tar pitch, creosote, and road and roofing tar. Most PAHs do not dissolve easily in water, but some PAHs readily evaporate into the air. PAHs generally do not burn easily and they will last in the environment for months to years.

Polyester
Polyester is a thermosetting plastic used in the manufacture of synthetic fabrics.

Polyethylene
Polyethylene is a thermosetting plastic polymer of ethylene.

Polygon
Polygon is a term used in geometry to describe a closed plane figure with three or more straight line sides. Common polygons are figures such as the triangle, quadrilateral and the hexagon. A square is a regular polygon where the sides and all angles are equal.

Polymer
A polymer is a compound made up of large molecules composed of many repeated simple units.

Polypus
Polypus is a small benign tumour of the skin due to local overgrowth of the cells.

Polysaccharide
A polysaccharide is a long chain of carbohydrate made up of hundreds of linked simple sugars, such as glucose.

Pommel-Horse
The Pommel-Horse is an article of gymnastic apparatus. It is an almost trapezoidal, leather covered body on legs which only men compete on due to the perceived requirement for great strength in the arms and shoulders. The body has two handle, known as pommels, centred along the upper surface of the horse about 40 cm apart.

Pontoon
Pontoon is the British version of the internationally popular banking card game Twenty-one, perhaps now best known in the form of the American Casino version Blackjack. The game Pontoon and its name are derived from the French Vingt-et-un (21). The variation Shoot Pontoon makes the betting more interesting, by incorporating the betting mechanism of Shoot. Pontoon can be played by any number of players from two upwards - it works well with five to eight players - using a standard 52-card deck. For a large number of players, say eight or more, two 52-card decks can be mixed together. The players also need a supply of money or chips for betting. The cards have values: ace is worth 1 or 11 at the holder's choice, kings, queens, jacks and tens are worth ten, and the remaining cards are worth their pip value. Each player's basic aim is to form a hand whose total value is as near as possible to 21, without going above 21.

Pood
The pood was a Russian unit of weight equal to 36.112 lbs.

Poor laws
The poor laws were an act of parliament between 1562 and 1601 which gave local authorities the responsibility for settling and supporting the poor in England.

Positron
A positron is a positively-charged particle of the same mass as the electron and with a charge equivalent but opposite in sign to that of the electron.

Postcode
Postcode, from AFD Software, is a software system which looks up addresses from postcodes. The datafile is about 18Mb, which includes the indices which reduce typical search times to less than one second.

Postscript
PostScript is a groundbreaking Page Description Language (PDL), based on work originally done by John Gaffney at Evans and Sutherland in 1976, evolving through `JaM' (`John and Martin', Martin Newell) at XEROX PARC, and finally implemented in its current form by John Warnock et al. after he and Chuck Geschke founded Adobe Systems Incorporated in 1982. PostScript gets its leverage by using a full programming language, rather than a series of low-level escape sequences, to describe an image to be printed on a laser printer or other output device (in this it parallels EMACS, which exploited a similar insight about editing tasks). It is also noteworthy for implementing on-the fly rasterization, from Bezier curve descriptions, of high-quality fonts at low (e.g. 300 dpi) resolution (it was formerly believed that hand-tuned bitmap fonts were required for this task).

Pot Metal
Pot Metal is an inferior kind of brass comprised of 10 parts of copper to 6 or 8 parts of lead. It is used for making large vessels employed in the arts and in some stained glass.

Potash Water
Potash Water is an aerated water produced by mixing bicarbonate of potash with carbonic acid water in the proportion of 20 grains to each bottle of the water, or about half an ounce to the gallon. Bisulphate of potash was sometimes used to produce an effervescing drink as it was cheaper than tartaric acid.

Potassium
Potassium is a silver-white, light, soft, low-melting, univalent metallic element of the alkali group, it occurs abundantly in nature especially combined in minerals. It has the symbol K.

Potassium Acid Sulphate
see "Potassium Bisulphate"

Potassium antimonyl tartrate
Potassium antimonyl tartrate (tartar emetic) is a poison formerly used in small quantities to induce sweating and as an emetic. It is obtained by boiling antimony oxide with a solution of cream of tartar. It forms rhombic efflorescent crystals, is fairly soluble in water and has an unpleasant taste.

Potassium Bisulphate
Potassium bisulphate (potassium acid sulphate) is a colourless, crystalline water-soluble substance used chiefly in the conversion of tartrates to bitartrates.

Potassium Bromate
Potassium bromate is a white, crystalline, water-soluble powder used chiefly as an oxidising agent and as an analytical reagent.

Potassium Bromide
Potassium bromide (bromide) is a white, crystalline, water-soluble powder. It has a bitter, saline taste and is used in the manufacture of photographic papers and plates and as a sedative.

Potassium Carbonate
Potassium carbonate is a white, granular, water-soluble substance used chiefly in the manufacture of soap, glass and potassium salts.

Potassium nitrate
Potassium nitrate is a white bitter tasting substance used in gunpowder, as an oxidising agent, for pickling meat and in medicine.

Potassium Oxalate
Potassium oxalate is a colourless, crystalline water-soluble substance. It is toxic, and is used as a bleaching agent and in medical tests as an anticoagulant.

Potassium sodium tartrate
see "Cream of Tartar"

Potassium Sorbate
Potassium sorbate is a potassium salt version of sorbic acid, a polyunsaturated fat used to inhibit mold growth. It was first discovered by the French in the 1850's, having been derived from the rowan tree. It is widely used in the food industry. It has been found to be non-toxic even when taken in large quantities, and breaks down in the body into water and carbon dioxide in the Kreb's Cycle.

Potassium Tartrate
see "Tartar"

Potassium Thiocyanide
Potassium Thiocyanide is a sulphocyanate. It is colourless, easily dissolvable crystals used in dyeing.

Potential Energy
Potential energy is energy possessed by a body by virtue of its position.

Poudrette
Poudrette is a powdery manure obtained from ordure. It takes a long time to prepare, is pulverulent, brown in colour and almost inodorous.

Pounce
Pounce is a fine powder formerly used to prevent ink from spreading on paper, now superseded by blotting-paper.

Poundage
Poundage was a duty on all imports and exports imposed in 1302 and abolished in 1787.

Poundal
The poundal is the imperial unit of force, now replaced in the SI system by the newton. One poundal equals 0.1383 newtons. It is defined as the force necessary to accelerate a mass of one pound by one foot per second per second.

Powernote MMX
The Powernote MMX is a laptop PC from Powercom. It is based upon an Intel Pentium MMX processor clocked at 166 mhz and is supplied with 32 mb of RAM, 810 mb EIDE hard disk, CD-ROM, 1.44 mb floppy drive and a Neomagic 2093ZV graphics accelerator.

PowerPoint
Microsoft PowerPoint is one of the most useful presentation programs available. Its unique approach gives you the ability to create overheads, 35mm slides, notes for yourself, and handouts for your audience. PowerPoint lets you plan, compose, and create an entire presentation in a simple, structured manner. PowerPoint lets you create, manage, edit, and manipulate slides. Powerful word processing capabilities and some drawing capabilities are built into the program. The product lets you integrate elements created elsewhere. When creating presentations using the Slide Master, you can create a standard format template, including text and graphics, for all slides. Free-form design lets you integrate what you need on a slide including typeset-quality text, diagrams, graphs, and illustrations. Graphics from the clipboard or scrapbook can be integrated into a PowerPoint slide or you can use the Paste From command to import information from files of other applications. The program's text capabilities include multiple fonts, sizes, and styles. It also includes a spell checker and a find-and-replace text command that works with slides, note pages, and handout pages. You can also create diagrams with its drawing tools which include lines, ellipses, rectangles, and rounded rectangles. The slide-management tools let you rearrange and refine your presentation. A slide sorter displays your slide show on-screen in thumbnail sketch view. You can delete, copy, and rearrange slides and add slides from other presentations. You can also edit the slides by double clicking on them. A slide show feature lets you preview your slides in sequence if you want to rehearse your presentation. Speaker's notes and audience handouts (with two, three, or six slides per page) can be created at the same time you create slides through a user-definable notepage associated with each slide. You can output slides to a printer, slide-making device, or the Genigraphics slidemaking bureau (a driver is
d).

Poynings' Law
Poynings' Law (the statute of Drogheda) was an act of the Irish parliament, passed in 1495, whereby all general statutes before that time in England were declared of force in Ireland. It was so named from Sir Edward Poynings, deputy of Ireland under Henry VII in 1494 when he suppressed the revolt of Perkin Warbeck.

Pozzolana
Pozzolana or pozzuolana is a sort of mortar produced in Italy and formed of volcanic ashes. When mixed with a small portion of lime it quickly hardens even under water. This singular property rendered it very useful in the erection of moles and other buildings in maritime situations.

Pozzuolana
see "Pozzolana"

Praemunire
In English law, praemunire is a kind of offence of a nature of contempt against the Sovereign and the government. The last prosecution of praemunire took place in the reign of Charles II.

Praseodymium
Praseodymium is a metal element with the symbol Pr used as a pigment in glass.

Pre-Cambrian
The Pre-Cambrian period was the second geological period. It was the time when the first animal life appeared, about 1,125,000,000 years ago.

Precipitate
In chemistry, a precipitate is an insoluble liquid that separates from solution.

Presto
Presto is a musical term designating a faster rate of movement than that indicated by allegro.

Primates
see "primate"

Primero
Primero is an old Italian card game which became popular throughout Europe in the 16th century and perhaps earlier. It is a showdown game in which players are dealt four cards. The combination which gives its name to the game is the prime, which consists of one card of each suit.

Prince Rupert's Drops
Prince Rupert's Drops are drops of glass thrown while in a state of fusion into water, and thus suddenly consolidated, taking generally a form somewhat like a tadpole. The thick end may be struck with a hammer without breaking, but should the smallest part of the tail be nipped off, or the surface scratched with a diamond, the whole flies into fine dust with an almost explosive force. This phenomena is due to the state of strain in the interior of the mass of glass, caused by the sudden consolidation of the crust which is formed while the internal mass is still liquid. This tends to contract on cooling, but is prevented by the molecular forces which attach it to the crust. This philosophical toy gets its name from being invented or being brought first into notice by Prince Rupert, nephew of Charles I.

Prince Rupert's Metal
see "Prince's Metal"

Prince's Metal
Prince's Metal (or Prince Rupert's Metal) is imitation gold made from copper and zinc.

Prism
A prism is a solid figure that is essentially triangular in shape and made of a transparent material. They are used in physics to deviate or disperse a ray in optical instruments or laboratory experiments. If a narrow beam of white light is passed through a prism it is split into a range of colours. The light is split because each of the colours is refracted by a different amount, because each is light of a different wavelength.

Procomm
Procomm is a shareware communications program for the IBM PC usually used for accessing dial-up services such as BBS.

Profane Oaths Act
The Profane Oaths Act of 1745 makes it a punishable offence in Britain to curse or swear blasphemously.

PROLOG
Prolog is a computer programming language used mainly for artificial intelligence.

Promethium
Promethium is a metal element with the symbol Pm.

Propaganda
Propaganda was an association established in Rome in 1622 for the purpose of diffusing a knowledge of Roman Catholicism throughout the world.

Propane
Propane is an alkene hydrocarbon.

Propane
Propane is a gaseous hydrocarbon found in petroleum. It has the formulae c3h8.

Propylaea
Propylaea is an architectural term referring to the entrance to a Greek temple.

Propylene glycol monomethyl ether
Propylene glycol monomethyl ether is a glycol ether primarily used in the manufacture of lacquers and paints, as an anti-freeze in industrial engines, a tailing agent for inks used on very high-speed presses, a coupling agent for resins and dyes in water-based inks, and a solvent for celluloses, acrylics, dyes, inks, and stains. It is also used in cleaning products such as glass and rug cleaners, carbon and grease removers, and paint and varnish removers; and in pesticide formulations as a solvent for applications to crops and animals. Propylene glycol monomethyl ether is a colourless liquid with a sweet ether-like odour and bitter taste. It is soluble in water, ether, acetone, and benzene. It is also known as 1-methyl-2-hydroxypropane.

Propylene oxide
Propylene oxide is a colourless liquid with an ether-like odour that is used mainly as a chemical intermediate in the production of polyurethane polyols, which are used to make polyurethane foams, coatings, and adhesives. It is used in the manufacture of propylene glycol, which is used in fiberglass-reinforced plastics, foods, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, cigarette tobacco, packaging materials, dyes, and hydraulic fluids. It is also used in the preparation of glycol ethers, dipropylene glycol, industrial polyglycols, lubricants, surfactants, oil demulsifiers, isopropanolamines, and as a solvent and soil sterilant. It is used in fumigation chambers for the sterilization of packaged foods; as a stabilizer for methylene chloride, fuel, and heating oils; in treating wood for termite resistance; as an acid scavenger and pH control agent; for removing residual catalysts from crude polyolefins; in fuel-air explosives in munitions; and as a component of Zeospan, a polyether rubber. Propylene oxide is a volatile, flammable liquid that is soluble in water, alcohol, and ether. It is highly dangerous when exposed to heat or flame. It has a violent reaction with hydrogen chloride, chlorosulfonic acid, hydrogen fluoride, and oleum. It should not be stored in the presence of acids, bases, chlorides of iron, aluminum, and tin, or peroxides of iron and aluminum; any of these may cause violent polymerization. Propylene oxide is miscible with most organic solvents, and forms a two-layer system with water. It is incompatible with anhydrous metal chlorides, iron, strong acids, caustics, and peroxides, and reacts vigorously with oxidizing materials. When exposed to flame, propylene oxide can explode. Polymerization may occur due to high temperatures or contamination with alkalis, aqueous acids, amines, and acidic alcohols. Propylene oxide is also known as epoxypropane; 1,2-epoxypropane; methyl ethylene oxide; methyl oxirane; propene oxide; and 1,2-propylene oxide. Derivatives of
e oxide are polyether polyols; propylene glycol; di- and tripropylene glycol; poly (propylene glycol)s; surfactants; glycol ethers; and isopropanolamines.

Proscenium
A proscenium is that part in a theatre from the curtain or drop-scene to the orchestra. The term is also applied to the curtain and the ornamental framework from which it hangs.

Proscription
In Roman history, proscription was a mode of getting rid of enemies, first resorted to by Sulla in 82 BC. Under Sulla lists of names were drawn up and posted in public places with the promise of a reward to any person who should kill any of those named in the lists, and the threat of death to those who should aid or shelter any of them. Their property was also confiscated, and their children declared incapable of honours.

Prose
Prose is ordinary spoken or written language, untrammelled by poetic measure, and thus used in contradistinction to verse or poetry.

Prosody
Prosody is that part of grammar which treats of the quantity of syllables, of accent, and of the laws of versification. Though chiefly restricted to versification, it may also be extended to prose composition. In the Greek and Latin languages every syllable had its determinate length or quantity, and verses were constructed by systems of recurring feet, each foot containing a definite number of syllables, possessing a certain quantity and arrangement.

Prostin
Prostin is a tradename for alprostadil.

Protactinium
Protactinium is a rare actinide element with the symbol Pa.

Protein
Protein is a long chain molecule made up of amino acids joined by peptide bonds. Protein forms the structural material of bodily tissues.

Proteins
see "protein"

Protium
Protium is an isotope of hydrogen.

Proton
A proton is a positively charged sub atomic particle.

Prussic Acid
see "Hydrocyanic Acid"

Psearch
Psearch by Patri-Soft is an extension to the DOS computer operating system. You provide words or phrases, and it will scan directories to find files containing the text. Extensive file selection and pattern matching are provided. It provides an intelligent display of found text with a scroll back and program launcher. Psearch saves search results for later review. Psearch was recommended in PC World as one of the Best of Shareware products in 1990.

Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a theory and treatment method for neuroses developed by Freud.

Psychology
Psychology was originally thought of as a department of philosophy which dealt with the mind. Today, it is recognised as the science of the nature, function and phenomena of the human mind and human behaviour.

Pub
A pub is a house licensed for the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages.

Publisher's Paintbrush
Publisher's Paintbrush by ZSoft is a full-featured freehand-painting program that offers all the standard capabilities found in other painting programs (it is a superset of PC Paintbrush), plus some capabilities desktop publishers will find invaiuable. When creating or scanning a 300-dpi image, a 62 screen image is produced. Rather than editing the image screen-by-screen, you can zoom out and work on the multiscreen image in its entirety. The editing you do in normal mode can be handled in the zoomout mode. The program lets you take full advantage of scanners, laser printers, and desktop publishing programs. Used with scanners, Publisher's Paintbrush gives you control over brightness and contrast, the resolution at which you want to scan the image, and the location on the page you want to scan. Publisher's Paintbrush lets you define the exact dimensions on the page of your scanned image which greatly reduces the amount of time it takes to scan and edit images. Publisher's Paintbrush has very strong typography capabilities, making it ideal for creating illustrations that require sophisticated type. Type sizes are adjustable to any point size. You can slant the type to any angle to get curved type, italicise it as much or as little as you would like, and set the line and character spacing. Leading and keming are also adjustable. Publisher's Paintbrush lets you edit at the pixel level with 300 dpi full-page output.

Puffer
Puffer by Kent Briggs is a password-based data file and e-mail encryption utility for Microsoft Windows. It allows you to keep your personal, business, and electronic transmitted data private. Puffer uses the highly rated Blowfish algorithm for fast, secure encryption and the Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) for key generation. Three output formats are supported including binary, self-extracting executables, and 7-bit text for Internet e-mail. Puffer also includes a three-pass, secure file wipe feature.

Pukhtu
Pukhtu is a dialect of the language Pushtu.

Pulu
Pulu is a silky fibrous substance obtained from ferns of the genus Cibotium, and formerly used for stuffing mattresses.

Pump
A pump is a machine for moving fluid from one place to another.

Pumpernickel
Pumpernickel is a German wholemeal rye bread. It is dark brown and often sweetened and spiced.

Punch
A punch is a machine for making or starting holes. Punch, or The London Charivari, was an illustrated weekly comic paper published in London first on July 17th 1841. It ceased publication in the 1990s and has since been restarted with limited success.

Punch and Judy
Punch and Judy is a puppet show in which the chief protagonist, Punch (punchinello) strangles his child, beats his wife, Judy, to death and assaults a policeman amongst other gruesome acts. The show was first popular in England during the reign of Queen Anne, and is still a favourite among children at the seaside.

Puncheon
A puncheon was a liquid measure of capacity containing from 84 to 120 gallons. In beer it was equal to one and a third hogsheads, or seven firkins.

Punchinello
see "Punch and Judy"

Punkah
Originally, a punkah was a portable fan made from the leaf of the palmra, but in Anglo-Indian parlance a large fixed and swinging fan formed of cloth attached to a rectangular frame suspended from the ceiling and pulled backwards and forwards by means of a cord, thus causing a current of air in the apartment.

Punt
A punt is a rectangular flat-bottomed boat used for fishing and shooting in shallow waters. The most common method of propulsion is by pushing with a pole against the bottom of the river, a process known as punting.

Purgative
A purgative is a substance which causes evacuation by the bowels.

Purilase
Purilase are enzymes used to assist the breakdown of starch in effluent treatment plants.

Purim
Purim is a Jewish festival observed on the 14th and 15th of Adar (March), instituted to commemorate the preservation of the Jews in Persia from the destruction threatened them by the schemes of Haman.

Purisol
Purisol is a specialised macro-nutrient solution to enhance performance in biological effluent treatment plants

Purl
Purl is a hot beer flavoured with gin, sugar and ginger. It was popular in England around the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century.

Purple
Purple is a secondary colour compounded by the union of the primaries blue and red. As a dye it was originally obtained from Tyrian dye.

Pus
Pus is a yellowish liquid that forms in the body as a result of bacterial infection.

Push
Push is a partnership card game related to contract rummy.

Pushtu
Pushtu is a vernacular language of Aryan origin spoken in Afghanistan.

Pustulant
A pustulant is a counter-irritant such as croton oil.

Putty
Putty is a kind of paste or cement compounded of whiting or soft carbonate of lime and linsead-oil, beaten or kneaded to the consistency of dough. It is used by glaziers for fitting window panes and also by house painters to stop up holes in wood-work prior to painting.

Putty-Powder
Putty-powder is a pulverised oxide of tin sometimes mixed with oxide of lead. It is extensively used for polishing and other purposes in glass and marble works.

Pyramids
In billiards, pyramids is a game played with 15 red balls and 1 white ball. The red balls are placed together in the shape of a triangle, or pyramid at the spot. The object of the game being to pot the most balls. This game was popular around 1900, and may perhaps have developed into the modern game of Pool.

Pyrheliometer
The pyrheliometer is an instrument devised by Pouillet for measuring the intensity of the heat of the sun. It consists of a shallow cylindrical vessel of thin silver or copper, containing water or mercury in which a thermometer is plunged. The upper surface of the vessel is covered with lamp-black so as to make it absorb as much heat as possible, and the vessel is attached to a support in such a way that the upper surface can be always made to receive the rays of the sun perpendicularly.

Pyridoxine
see "Vitamin B6"

Pyrogallic Acid
Pyrogallic Acid (pyrogallol) is an acid obtained by the dry distillation of gallic acid. It forms colourless, odourless crystals, is readily soluble in water, alcohol and ether and its alkaline solution readily absorbs oxygen. It is used as a developer in photography.

Pyrogallol
see "Pyrogallic Acid"

Pyroligneous Acid
Pyroligneous Acid is an impure acetic acid obtained by the distillation of wood.

Pyrometer
A pyrometer is a device for measuring temperatures outside of the range of a mercurial thermometer.

Pyrophone
A pyrophone is a musical instrument, in which the various notes are produced by the burning of hydrogen gas within glass tubes of varying lengths and sizes.

Pyroscope
A pyroscope is an instrument for measuring the intensity of heat radiating from a hot body, or the frigorific influence of a cold body.

Pyrrhic Dance
The Pyrrhic Dance was an ancient Greek dance which consisted of moves representing an attempt to avoid the strokes of an enemy in battle. It was viewed as a kind of training for war.

Pythian Games
The Pythian Games were a Greek athletic contest originally limited to musical competitions, and instituted in 527 BC in honour of Pythian Apollo and held every 4 years at Delphi. The prize was a wreath of laurel.

Pyx
A pyx was a covered vessel used in the Roman Catholic church to contain the consecrated host. In ancient times it was sometimes made in the shape of a dove.

Pyxidium
In botany, a pyxidium is a capsule with a lid, as seen in the henbane and in the fruit of the monkey-pot tree.

Copyright 1997,1998 Servile Software Enquiries to Matthew Probert

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