Glossary
Terms starting with F
320 definitions · page 4 of 6.
- FLUORESCENT LAMP
- A tubular electric lamp that is coated on its inner surface with a phosphor and that contains mercury vapor whose bombardment by electrons from the cathode provides ultraviolet light which causes the phosphor to emit visible light either of a selected color…
- FLUOROCARBON GASES
- Propellants used in aerosol products and refrigerants that are believed to be causing depletion of the earth's ozone shield. See CFCs.
- Flying Erase Head
- Erases unwanted material an instant before new, wanted video is edited over. Provides clean edits with no noise or rainbows.
- FM Auto Fine Tuning
- An automatic tuning circuit for FM radio reception that constantly samples and corrects the tuner frequency to prevent drifting.
- FMsynthesis
- Frequency-modulation synthesis;a superior version of electronic synthesis introduced in the consumer market by Yamaha in 1982.
- focal length
- the distance from a lens or mirror to the point where it brings light to a focus
- focal ratio (f ratio)
- the ratio of the focal length of a lens or mirror to its diameter
- focal ratio (f ratio):
- the ratio of the focal length of a lens or mirror to its diameter
- focus
- the point at which rays of light passing through a lens (or reflecting off a mirror) converge
- Focus Free
- Camera lenses can be categorized by the way they deliver the focused image to the film. If the lens is carefully formulated and positioned it will be able to produce sharp images of subjects from about five feet away to the horizon with no manual adjustment.
- focus map
- A fate map of areas of the Drosophila blastoderm destined to become specific adult structures, based on the frequencies of specific kinds of mosaics.
- focuser
- the device on a telescope that holds an eyepiece and moves to allow an observer to bring light to a sharp focus
- Foie gras
- Literally French for ‘fat liver’, this term refers to the rich pâté made from the liver of ducks and geese that have been force-fed and fattened until their livers become enlarged. The south-west of France is the major foie gras producing area and the method…
- Fokker-Planck equation
- An equation that describes diffusion processes. It is used by population geneticists to describe random genetic drift.
- folk music
- Music indigenous to a particular ethnic group, usually preserved and transmitted orally.
- Follicle
- Part of the skin which the root of hair comes from.
- Follow Up
- Once you've sent your CV, you should follow up by calling the employer to ask for an interview. If the employer contacts you, follow up by promptly returning his call. Follow up an interview by writing a thank you letter and follow up a job offer by…
- Following to Join
- A type of derivative visa status when the family member gets a visa after the principal applicant.
- Fond
- The French word for stock - the flavoured liquid base used for making a sauce, stew or braised dish.
- Fondant
- Fondant is a sweet itself and is also used as an icing or filling. It's made from sugar, water and cream of tartar or liquid glucose, which are boiled together until the syrup reaches what is called soft ball stage (when a spoonful of the sugar syrup is…
- Fondue
- A glorious Swiss dish of melted cheese and wine served at the table in a large pot (also called a fondue) set over a burner to keep the cheese warm. Each person spears bite-size pieces of bread with a long-handled fork and dips it into the melted cheese…
- Fontina
- A very popular semi-soft Italian cows'-milk cheese, fontina is deep golden yellow in colour with a reddish brown rind. It has a firm, slightly springy texture and melts easily, so is great to cook with. It has a delicate flavour and makes a good dessert…
- Food contact surfaces
- Surfaces of equipment and utensils that food comes in contact with and also the surfaces from which food may drain, drip or splash back onto surfaces that normally are in contact with food.
- FOOTCANDLE
- A unit of illuminance on a surface that is one foot from a uniform point source of light of one candle and is equal to one lumen per square foot.
- footprinting
- A technique to determine the length of nucleic acid in contact with a protein. While in contact the free DNA is digested. The remaining DNA is then isolated and characterized.
- Forbearance information
- Delaying or refusing to assert a legal right, especially the right to enforce a debt or pursue a remedy for non-payment of a loan.
- FORCED AIR UNIT (FAU)
- A central furnace equipped with a fan or blower that provides the primary means for circulation of air.
- FORCED PLACE INSURANCE
- Insurance purchased by a bank or creditor on an uninsured debtor’s behalf so if the property is damaged, funding is available to repair it.
- Forcible Entry information
- Entering the land of another with force or violence such that the owner or one with the right to possess is moved to relent to the entry.
- Foreclosure Information
- Foreclosure is a legal procedure by which an owner's right to possess a piece of real property is extinguished by a forced sale. The owner typically must default on a loan before foreclosure can occur. Foreclosure statutes require notice to the owner and…
- Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM)
- Foreign Affairs Manual Chapter 41 relates to nonimmigrant visas. Chapter 42 covers immigrant visas.
- FOREIGN EXCHANGE SERVICES
- A classification of LEC exchange service furnished under tariff provisions whereby a subscriber may be provided telephone service from an exchange other than the one from which he would normally be served.
- FOREIGN INSURANCE COMPANY
- Name given to an insurance company based in one state by the other states in which it does business.
- Forensic Accountant
- A Forensic Accountant is an accounting professional, virtually always a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), who is engaged by one side or the other in a dispute to review the accounting practices of a party. The point of the review is to prove up the…
- Forensics
- Forensics, or Forensic Science, is an increasingly popular field of law enforcement science. This may be due to the several CSI crime scene investigation television programs that are being broadcast. Forensic science deals primarily with legal evidence…
- Forex Foreign Exchange
- Foreign exchange is the process enabling the buying and selling of the currencies of the different nations of the world. The foreign exchange market, or the Forex, as it is commonly known, is where these currency exchanges are executed. Without the ability…
- Forex: Foreign Exchange
- Foreign exchange is the process enabling the buying and selling of the currencies of the different nations of the world. The foreign exchange market, or the Forex, as it is commonly known, is where these currency exchanges are executed. Without the ability…
- Forfeiture information
- A type of punishment for a crime such that a right (to vote, for example) is automatically forfeit upon conviction.
- Forgery information
- Altering, or signing, another's signature, or the written work of another, for the purpose of fraud.
- fork mount
- an equatorial mount in which the telescope swings in declination between the two prongs of a fork
- form
- A term used to designate standardized musical shapes, such as binary form or sonata form.
- form-fitting slim-fit
- Straight from waist to ankle except for a slight curve around the hip.
- formylmethionine(fmet)
- A specialized amino acid that is the very first one incorporated into the polypeptide chain in the synthesis of proteins in Prokaryotes.
- forte
- fortissimo Loud; very loud.
- fortepiano
- The wooden-framed eighteenth-century piano used by Mozart, Haydn, and their contemporaries.
- Forum
- an online community where visitors may read and post topics of common interest.
- Forum information
- The site of the court where the action is pending. Something like venue.
- Forum Non Conveniens information
- Where a court, for the convenience of the parties, declines jurisdiction of a case, moving the case to another, more convenient forum.
- Forum Shopping information
- Looking for a favorable court or a favorable venue, rather than using the most obvious one. For example, joining a defendant on a thin liability theory in order to get the case to his jurisdiction, where juries give high verdicts. This is good lawyering, but…
- forward mutation
- A mutation that converts a wild-type allele to a mutant allele. See also reversion.
- FOSSIL FUEL
- Oil, coal, natural gas or their by-products. Fuel that was formed in the earth in prehistoric times from remains of living-cell organisms.
- founder effect
- Genetic drift observed in a population founded by a small non representative sample of a larger population.
- Four Corners Rule information
- This is the "entire document" rule in contract law. In cases where the meaning of a contract clause is in question, guidance should be gathered from all four corners of the contract, not just the clause, or neighboring clauses, at issue..
- Four-digit or 4-Digit Game
- A numbers game played with four digits between 0 and 9. Numbers may be repeated.
- Fourth Preference
- A category of family immigration (F4) for brothers and sisters of American citizens and their spouses and children. The American citizen must be 21 years of age or older before he/she can file a petition. Before 1992 this was known as fifth preference (P-5).
- FPU
- Floating Point Unit. A part of the computer responsible for high precision mathematical operations.
- FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION
- the process of refining crude oil into various oil products. The various products are separated out in the order of their boiling points.
- Fractional Time
- Intermediate time recorded in a race at the quarter, half mile, etc…
- fragile site
- A chromosomal region that has a tendency to break.
- fragile-X syndrome
- The most common form of inherited mental retardation. Named for its association with an X chromosome with a tip that breaks or appears uncondensed. Inheritance involves imprinting.