Key terms & definitions

The introduction of a new idea or an original improvement that adds value to a design.

Merton’s response in which an individual accepts conventional success goals but uses unconventional or illegitimate means to achieve them.

Language with a second meaning, often sexual, that creates humour or complicates an apparently innocent statement.

An indirect suggestion, often of a sexual meaning, rather than an explicit statement.

A wire tool used to transfer microorganisms to a culture medium.

Deliberately introducing material from smallpox sores into a healthy person to produce an infection intended to protect them against future smallpox. Also called variolation.

Introducing microorganisms into a culture medium so that they can grow.

The value put into a function; in $f(x)$, the input is $x$.

A value supplied to a computer program so that it can be processed.

Information received by a performer through their senses.

A signal supplied to a control system, for example by a push switch or sensor.

The entry of information through the senses, such as sight, hearing and touch.

A component that supplies an electronic system with information about environmental conditions or a user’s action.

The total energy transferred into a device or system.

Checking input against rules to decide whether it is acceptable for a program to process.

Words written or carved on an object, including names, titles, dedications and commemorative claims.

Writing placed on a surface or object. Roman examples include painted notices, scratched graffiti and lettering carved into stone.

A modern collection of ancient Greek inscriptions. The prescribed passage from Volume I, number 46 concerns offerings required from the colony at Brea.

A chemical used to kill insects.

A chemical used to kill insects, including insect pests that damage crops.

A mosquito net treated with insecticide, used to reduce mosquito bites and the transmission of malaria.

Uncertainty about a person's legal right to occupy or own their home or land, leaving them vulnerable to eviction.

A separate component fitted inside packaging to hold its contents in position and help protect them.

An SQL command that adds a new record to a specified database table.

An unintended change caused when inserted DNA disrupts a gene or affects its control, potentially contributing to cancer.

A sorting algorithm that builds a sorted section by taking each remaining item and inserting it into its correct position.

An Arabic expression meaning ‘if Allah wills’, used to acknowledge that the fulfilment of plans depends on Allah.

In its original position. An archaeological object or feature preserved in situ retains its spatial relationship to its surroundings.

Incoming solar radiation received at the Earth's surface.

A substance that does not dissolve, or dissolves only to a negligible extent, in a particular solvent.