Glossary
Terms starting with A
493 definitions · page 5 of 9.
- ANNUAL ANNUITY CONTRACT FEE
- Covers the cost of administering an annuity contract.
- ANNUAL MAXIMUM DEMAND
- The greatest of all demands of the electrical load which occurred during a prescribed interval in a calendar year.
- ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE (APR)
- The relationship of the total finance charges associated with a loan. This must be disclosed to borrowers by lenders under the Truth-in-Lending Act.
- ANNUAL STATEMENT
- Summary of an insurer’s or reinsurer’s financial operations for a particular year, including a balance sheet. It is filed with the state insurance department of each jurisdiction in which the company is licensed to conduct business.
- ANNUITANT
- The person(s) who receives the income from an annuity contract. Usually the owner of the contract or his or her spouse.
- ANNUITIZATION
- The conversion of the account balance of a deferred annuity contract to income payments.
- Annuity
- It is like a mortgage. Lotteries sometimes use annuities to create higher jackpots than they have the cash for. An annuity backed jackpot winner collects the money in installments over several years, typically over 20 or 25 years.
- ANNUITY
- A life insurance product that pays periodic income benefits for a specific period of time or over the course of the annuitant’s lifetime. There are two basic types of annuities: deferred and immediate: Deferred annuities allow assets to grow tax deferred…
- ANNUITY ACCUMULATION PHASE OR PERIOD
- The period during which the owner of a deferred annuity makes payments to build up assets.
- ANNUITY ADMINISTRATIVE CHARGES
- Covers the cost of customer services for owners of variable annuities.
- ANNUITY BENEFICIARY
- In certain types of annuities, a person who receives annuity contract payments if the annuity owner or annuitant dies while payments are still due.
- ANNUITY CONTRACT
- An agreement similar to an insurance policy for other insurance products such as auto insurance.
- ANNUITY CONTRACT OWNER
- The person or entity that purchases an annuity and has all rights to the contract. Usually, but not always, the annuitant (the person who receives incomes from the contract).
- ANNUITY DEATH BENEFITS
- The guarantee that if an annuity contract owner dies before annuitization (the switchover from the savings to the payment phase) the beneficiary will receive the value of the annuity that is due.
- ANNUITY INSURANCE CHARGES
- Covers administrative and mortality and expense risk costs.
- ANNUITY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT FEE
- The fee paid for the management of variable annuity invested assets.
- ANNUITY ISSUER
- The insurance company that issues the annuity.
- ANNUITY PROSPECTUS
- Legal document providing detailed information about variable annuity contracts. Must be offered to each prospective buyer.
- ANNUITY PURCHASE RATE
- The cost of an annuity based on such factors as the age and gender of the contract owner.
- Anonymous FTP (Anon FTP)
- A method for downloading and uploading files using FTP protocol without having a username or a password. In place of a username, word "anonymous" is used, and in place of a password, email address is usually used. If a hosting plan offers this service, your…
- Anonymous remailer
- A SMTP server that allows sending anonymous email messages. It removes or changes the "From" field of all messages that it processes.
- ANSI
- American National Standards Institute. The U.S. standards organization.
- ANSI
- American National Standards Institute is the national organization that coordinates development and maintenance of consensus standards and sets rules for fairness in their development. ANSI also represents the USA in developing international standards.
- anterior chamber of the eye
- the front section of the eye's interior where aqueous humor flows in and out of providing nourishment to the eye and surrounding tissues.
- ANTHRACITE
- Hard coal, found deep in the earth. It burns very hot, with little flame. It usually has a heating value of 12,000-15,000 British thermal units (Btus) per pound.
- anti-inflammatory drugs
- inflammatory drugsdrugs that reduce the signs and symptoms of inflammation.
- anti-oncogene
- A gene that prevents malignant (cancerous) growth and whose absence, by mutation, results in malignancy (eg retinoblastoma).
- anti-tail
- The name given to a comet's tail when it points toward the sun. This rare event typically occurs when Earth crosses the plane of the comet's orbit and the comet is relatively close to the sun.
- antibiotic
- chemical substances, produced by living organisms or synthesized (created) in laboratories, for the purpose of killing other organisms that cause disease.
- antibody
- A protein produced by a B lymphocyte that protects the organism against an antigen. A protein (immunoglobulin) molecule, produced by the immune system, that recognizes a particular foreign antigen and binds to it; if the antigen is on the surface of a cell…
- ANTICIPATION
- The appraisal principle that holds that value can increase or decrease based on the expectation of some future benefit or detriment produced by the property.
- anticoding strand
- The DNA strand that forms the template for both the transcribed mRNA and the coding DNA strand.
- anticodon
- The three-base sequence in tRNA complementary to a codon on mRNA. A nucleotide triplet in a tRNA molecule that aligns with a particular codon in mRNA under the influence of the ribosome, so that the amino acid carried by the tRNA is added to a growing…
- antigen
- A molecule whose shape triggers the production of antibodies (immunoglobulins) that will bind to the antigen. A foreign substance capable of triggering an immune response in an organism.
- antihistamine drugs
- a group of drugs that block the effects of histamine, a chemical released in body fluids during an allergic reaction.
- Antimatter
- Material made from antifermions. We define the fermions that are common in our universe as matter and their antiparticles as antimatter. In the particle theory there is no a priori distinction between matter and antimatter. The asymmetry of the universe…
- antimetabolites
- substances that interfere with the body’s chemical processes, such as creating proteins, DNA, and other chemicals needed for cell growth and reproduction; in cancer treatment, antimetabolite drugs disrupt DNA production, which in turn prevents cell divisi
- antimorph
- A mutant expressing some agent that antagonizes a normal gene product.
- antimutator mutation
- mutation of DNA polymerase that decreases the overall mutation rate.
- antioxidants
- compounds that protect against cell damage inflicted by molecules called oxygen-free radicals, which are a major cause of disease and aging.
- antiparallel
- A term used to describe the opposite orientations of the two strands of a DNA double helix; the 5' end of one strand aligns with the 3' end of the other strand.
- Antiparticle
- For most particle types (and every fermion type) there is another particle type that has exactly the same mass but the opposite value of all other charges (quantum numbers). This is called the antiparticle. For example, the antiparticle of an electron is a…
- Antipasto
- An Italian word, meaning ‘before the pasta’, these delicious plates of hot and cold starters are the equivalent of French hors d'oeuvres. A mixture of antipasti could include platters of cheeses, smoked meats, salamis, olives, a selection of seafood…
- antiphon
- Originally, a plainchant that framed the singing of a psalm. The term derives from the early practice of singing psalms "antiphonally"- that is, with two or more alternating choirs.
- Antiquark
- The antiparticle of a quark.
- antisense RNA
- RNA product of mic (mRNA-interfering complementary RNA) genes that regulates another gene by base pairing with and thus preventing translation from its mRNA.
- antiterminator protein
- A protein that, when bound at its normal attachment sites in DNA, lets RNA polymerase read through normal terminator sequences (eg the N- and Q-gene products of phage lambda).
- ANTITRUST LAWS
- Laws designed to preserve the free enterprise of the open marketplace by making illegal certain private conspiracies and combinations formed to minimize competition. Most violations of antitrust laws in the real estate business involve either price-fixing…
- ANTITRUST LAWS
- Laws that prohibit companies from working as a group to set prices, restrict supplies or stop competition in the marketplace. The insurance industry is subject to state antitrust laws but has a limited exemption from federal antitrust laws. This exemption…
- antrectomy
- operation to remove the upper portion of the stomach, called the antrum, often to help reduce the amount of stomach acid.
- anus
- opening at the end of the digestive tract where bowel contents leave the body.
- aorta
- blood vessel that delivers oxygen-rich blood from the left ventricle to the body; it is the largest blood vessel in the body.
- aortic valve
- the valve that regulates blood flow from the heart into the aorta.
- AOS
- Abbreviation for Affidavit of Support.
- AP endonuclease
- endonuclease that initiates excision repair at apurinic and apyrimidinic sites on DNA.
- AP site
- Apurinic or apyrimidinic site resulting from the loss of a purine or pyrimidine residue from the DNA.
- Apache
- Apache is an open-source (source code is freely available and can be shared) HTTP Web server software. According to Netcraft survey, it is currently the most popular web server on the Net. It is usually run on Unix operating system versions like Linux or…
- Aperitif
- A French term referring to a light alcoholic drink taken before a meal. Ideally an aperitif should stimulate the appetite and tantalise the palate, preparing it for greater things to come. The French often enjoy a glass of pastis before a meal. Other popular…
- aperture
- the diameter of a telescope’s primary lens or mirror; the larger the aperture, the greater the telescope’s light-gathering power
- aphasia
- total or partial loss of ability to use or understand language; usually caused by stroke, brain disease, or injury.