0%

15-letter words starting with co

  • compromissorial — Relating to compromise.
  • compton-burnett — Dame Ivy. 1884–1969, English novelist. Her novels include Men and Wives (1931) and Mother and Son (1955)
  • comptrollership — controller (def 1).
  • computationally — from a computational point of view
  • computer cookie — HTTP cookie
  • computer dating — the use of computers by dating agencies to match their clients
  • computer ethics — (philosophy)   Ethics is the field of study that is concerned with questions of value, that is, judgments about what human behaviour is "good" or "bad". Ethical judgments are no different in the area of computing from those in any other area. Computers raise problems of privacy, ownership, theft, and power, to name but a few. Computer ethics can be grounded in one of four basic world-views: Idealism, Realism, Pragmatism, or Existentialism. Idealists believe that reality is basically ideas and that ethics therefore involves conforming to ideals. Realists believe that reality is basically nature and that ethics therefore involves acting according to what is natural. Pragmatists believe that reality is not fixed but is in process and that ethics therefore is practical (that is, concerned with what will produce socially-desired results). Existentialists believe reality is self-defined and that ethics therefore is individual (that is, concerned only with one's own conscience). Idealism and Realism can be considered ABSOLUTIST worldviews because they are based on something fixed (that is, ideas or nature, respectively). Pragmatism and Existentialism can be considered RELATIVIST worldviews because they are based or something relational (that is, society or the individual, respectively). Thus ethical judgments will vary, depending on the judge's world-view. Some examples: First consider theft. Suppose a university's computer is used for sending an e-mail message to a friend or for conducting a full-blown private business (billing, payroll, inventory, etc.). The absolutist would say that both activities are unethical (while recognising a difference in the amount of wrong being done). A relativist might say that the latter activities were wrong because they tied up too much memory and slowed down the machine, but the e-mail message wasn't wrong because it had no significant effect on operations. Next consider privacy. An instructor uses her account to acquire the cumulative grade point average of a student who is in a class which she instructs. She obtained the password for this restricted information from someone in the Records Office who erroneously thought that she was the student's advisor. The absolutist would probably say that the instructor acted wrongly, since the only person who is entitled to this information is the student and his or her advisor. The relativist would probably ask why the instructor wanted the information. If she replied that she wanted it to be sure that her grading of the student was consistent with the student's overall academic performance record, the relativist might agree that such use was acceptable. Finally, consider power. At a particular university, if a professor wants a computer account, all she or he need do is request one but a student must obtain faculty sponsorship in order to receive an account. An absolutist (because of a proclivity for hierarchical thinking) might not have a problem with this divergence in procedure. A relativist, on the other hand, might question what makes the two situations essentially different (e.g. are faculty assumed to have more need for computers than students? Are students more likely to cause problems than faculty? Is this a hold-over from the days of "in loco parentis"?).
  • computer memory — memory (def 11).
  • computer screen — the working area on the monitor of a computer
  • computer system — a computer or a set of computers that works together
  • computer vision — a robot analogue of human vision in which information about the environment is received by one or more video cameras and processed by computer: used in navigation by robots, in the control of automated production lines, etc.
  • computer-phobia — a person who distrusts or is intimidated by computers.
  • computerisation — (chiefly, British) alternative spelling of computerization.
  • computerization — to control, perform, process, or store (a system, operation, or information) by means of or in an electronic computer or computers.
  • comrade in arms — a fellow soldier.
  • comrade-in-arms — A comrade-in-arms is someone who has worked for the same cause or purpose as you and has shared the same difficulties and dangers.
  • con espressione — (to be performed) with feeling; expressively
  • concavo-concave — (esp of a lens) having both sides concave; biconcave
  • concealed-carry — the practice of carrying a concealed gun or other weapon in public.
  • conceivableness — The state or quality of being conceivable.
  • conception rate — the success rate of artificial insemination in agricultural animals, usually expressed as a percentage
  • conceptualising — Present participle of conceptualise.
  • conceptualistic — Of or pertaining to conceptualism.
  • conceptualizing — Present participle of conceptualize.
  • concern oneself — to busy oneself (with, about, over, in something); take an interest
  • concert pianist — a person who earns a living from giving solo performances on the piano in front of audiences
  • concertmistress — the first violinist in an orchestra
  • concerto grosso — a composition for an orchestra and a group of soloists, chiefly of the baroque period
  • concession road — (esp in Ontario) one of a series of roads separating concessions in a township
  • concessionaires — a person, group, or company to whom a concession has been granted, especially to operate a subsidiary business or service: a popcorn concessionaire at a baseball park.
  • concrete jungle — If you refer to a city or area as a concrete jungle, you mean that it has a lot of modern buildings and you think it is ugly or unpleasant to live in.
  • concrete number — a number referring to a particular object or objects, as in three dogs, ten men
  • concrete poetry — poetry in which the visual form of the poem is used to convey meaning
  • concrete syntax — (language, data)   The syntax of a language including all the features visible in the source code such as parentheses and delimiters. The concrete syntax is used when parsing the program or other input, during which it is usually converted into some kind of abstract syntax tree (conforming to an abstract syntax). In communications, concrete syntax is called transfer syntax.
  • concurrent lisp — (language)   A concurrent version of Lisp. Sugimoto et al implemented an interpreter on a "large scale computer" and were planning to implement it on multiple microprocessors.
  • concurrent user — one of several simultaneous users of a computing resource such as a computer program or file
  • condescendingly — In a condescending manner.
  • condition codes — a set of single bits that indicate specific conditions within a computer. The values of the condition codes are often determined by the outcome of a prior software operation and their principal use is to govern choices between alternative instruction sequences
  • conductiometric — conductometric
  • cone of silence — a space, in the shape of an inverted cone, above a radio beacon, in which there is a sharp reduction in the intensity of transmitted signals.
  • conestoga wagon — a large heavy horse-drawn covered wagon used in the 19th century
  • confectionaries — a candy; sweetmeat.
  • confectioneries — Plural form of confectionery.
  • confederate war — the American Civil War.
  • conference call — A conference call is a phone call in which more than two people take part.
  • conference pear — a variety of pear that has sweet and juicy fruit
  • conference room — A conference room is a large room in a hotel where a number of people can have a conference.
  • confessionalism — the belief that a religion, esp Christianity, should have a set of essential doctrines to which members of that religion must adhere
  • confessionalist — an advocate of confessionalism
  • confidence game — A confidence game is the same as a confidence trick.
Was this page helpful?
Yes No
Thank you for your feedback! Tell your friends about this page
Tell us why?