Designed for practitioners, students and librarians, this book provides the definitions for over 4,000 abbreviations and acronyms in a format and design that makes the book exceptionally easy to use.

Featuring a dictionary and thesaurus combined, the Pocket Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus provides the essential language reference help you need in a single portable volume. The second edition of this reference book has been completely redesigned so that it is easier to use. The thesaurus entry for a word now immediately follows the dictionary entry, so that you do not need to hunt around the page for this information. We have also made the text more open and accessible, so that you can find the word you are looking for quickly and easily. New words and new meanings have been added to the text, so you can be sure that you are using a reference book that is up-to-date and reflects the developments of the English langauge. With over 90,000 words, phrases, and definitions, and 115,000 synonyms and antonyms, the Pocket Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus provides all the everday language help you need. This edition also contains new Word Link features, helping you find words that are closely associated with each other. For example, the Word Link at environment tells you that the study of the natural world is called ecology, and the Word Link at cave informs you that the exploration of caves is known as speleology or potholing. The new centre section of the dictionary and thesaurus contains encyclopedic information such as lists of countries, capitals, and kings and queens, helping you to broaden your knowledge, and to find solutions for quizzes and puzzles. The Pocket Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus is an invaluable tool for anyone who wants a portable quick reference tool useful both for general ready reference and for quizzes and crossword puzzles.

Jean-François Lyotard, the highly influential twentieth-century philosopher of the postmodern, has had an enormous impact on the course and commitment of contemporary philosophy. Lyotard: Philosophy, Politics and the Sublime is a thoroughgoing reassessment of his extraordinary legacy and contribution to contemporary cultural, political, ethical, and aesthetic theory, and an indispensable guide to key issues in his philosophy. Fifteen distinguished scholars have contributed.

"Elsevier's Dictionary of Geographical Information Systems" contains 4,040 terms with about 1,700 cross-references that are commonly used in the theory and practice of geographical information systems. The terms were selected according to their significance or frequency of use. The terminology covers the areas of geoinformatics, geostatistics, computer cartography, geospatial databases, computer graphics, geodesy, photogrammetry, remote sensing, hardware and software for introduction, processing and visualization of geospatial data, etc. Geographical information systems are modern, widely distributed and strategic tools in many human activities (land survey and regulation, ecology, forestry, agronomy, demography, hydrology, urban planning, transport, etc.).

"Elsevier's Dictionary of Geographical Information Systems" will be a valuable tool for specialists, scientists and students and for everyone who is interested in this area.

Who would have ever thought that learning the finer points of improvisation could be such fun? The "Harold, " an innovative improvisational tool, helped Saturday Night Live's Mike Myers and Chris Farley, George Wendt ("Norm" on Cheers) and many other actors on the road to TV and film stardom. Now it is described fully in this new book for the benefit of other would-be actors and comics. The "Harold" is a form of competitive improv involving six or seven players. They take a theme suggestion from the audience and "free associate" on the theme into a series of rapid-fire one-liners that build into totally unpredictable skits with hilarious results. The teams compete with scoring based on applause. The "Harold" is a fun way to "loosen up" and learn to think quickly, build continulty, develop characterizations and sharpen humor--all part of successful improvising.

This Chinese-English dictionary of proverbs (yanyu) consists of approximately 4,000 Chinese proverbs alphabetically arranged by the first word(s) (ci) of the proverb, according to the Hanyu Pinyin transcription and Chinese characters (standard simplified), followed by a literal (and when necessary also a figurative) English translation. Additional data such as brief usage notes, sources, parallel expressions, cross-references, and famous instances of use are provided where available. The proverbs are supplemented by an index of key words (both Chinese and English) found in all entries and of all topics addressed. The author has provided a scholarly introduction analyzing the definition, structure, usage, and history of these yanyu in traditional and contemporary China as well as a bibliography of collections and relevant scholarly studies of yanyu. This work, the first such scholarly collection to appear since the Reverend Scarborough's 1926 collection, will be of use not only to sinologists in a wide variety of fields, including anthropology, literature, sociology, psychology, and history, but also to non-Chinese readers interested in Chinese culture or comparative ethno-linguistic and paremiological research.

This Hippocrene Concise Dictionary contains over 9,000 entries for students and travelers, a phonetic guide to pronunciation in both languages, completely modern and up-to-date, and has a clear, concise format by bestselling dictionary author Iwo C. Pogonowski.

This book presents a detailed explanation of the essential facts of dictionaries in general. It includes information on the origin of English dictionaries and the authority and choice of a dictionary.

The most comprehensive glossary to date of Hui Muslim terms and the first to fully match the Chinese term (stated in Chinese script and pinyin) to its Arabic or Persian counterpart (stated in Arabic script with Latin transcription).

The spiritual message contained in this book not only transcends organized religious groups, but is entirely blind to all national, political, racial, social, and economic boundaries.

This dictionary contains terms covering the following fields and subfields: Business economics, economic development and growth, economic history, economic systems, economic thought, financial economics, general economics, industrial organization, international economics, labor and demographic economics, law and economics, macroeconomics and monetary economics, mathematical an quantitative methods, microeconomics, natural resource economics, public economics, social economics, urban, rural and regional economics, welfare.

The dictionary is supplemented by an exhaustive list of abbreviations in several languages. It will be an essential reference tool for business people operating within a new economic world order, who wish to understand global trade relations. The wide variety of economic terms presented makes this dictionary unique in the field.

Suffixes, prefixes and other bound forms play a prominent part in the grammar of Burmese/Myanmar: they carry almost all the grammatical information contained in a sentence. This dictionary is a comprehensive list and account of those grammatical forms, providing a much needed supplement to the standard Burmese-English dictionaries, where the grammatical forms receive scant attention.

Suffixes, prefixes and other bound forms play a prominent part in the grammar of Burmese/Myanmar: they carry almost all the grammatical information contained in a sentence. This dictionary is a comprehensive list and account of those grammatical forms, providing a much needed supplement to the standard Burmese-English dictionaries, where the grammatical forms receive scant attention.

This dictionary of 12,000 entries aims to preserve Indian culture and at all points illustrate the use of words in examples, especially syntactic words, whose usage cannot be captured purely by giving an English equivalent. It provides depth as regards the usage of frequently occurring items and especially in the use of syntactic elements and usage in context.

This unique work challenges the assumption that dictionaries act as objective records of our language, and instead argues that the English dictionary is a fundamentally ethnocentric work. Using theoretical, historical and empirical analyses, Phil Benson shows how English dictionaries have filtered knowledge through predominantly Anglo-American perspectives. The book includes a major case study of the most recent edition of the Oxford English Dictionary and its treatment of China.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203205715

Czech, the official language of the Czech Republic, is spoken by more than 12 million people worldwide. Since the Velvet Revolution of 1989, the country and its capital city, Prague, have become a magnet for international travelers. Their love of the nation and its culture has sparked a growing interest in learning the language, especially in the U.S. This comprehensive bilingual dictionary features approximately 30,000 total entries, with an emphasis on everyday colloquial vocabulary. The book begins with a brief introduction to Czech culture and a concise pronunciation guide. It also includes a section on basic grammar, covering such topics as gender, verb conjugation, and noun and adjective declension.

The Ultimate Bible Dictionary is the perfect tool for those who are beginning to study the Bible. Carefully researched and accessible definitions are designed to provide a quick understanding of a term right up front and then, in many cases, go into more detail for those who want this level of description. The definitions are further enhanced by the large number of colorful maps, photos, and reconstructions of biblical objects placed on the same page spread as the definition they accompany. Carefully researched and accessible definitions Hundreds of colorful maps, photos, and reconstructions Concise trim size that is easy-to-carry Great for personal or group study The optimal size of the Ultimate Bible Dictionary makes it easy-to-carry and easy-to-use in personal study or group activities. This valuable resource will enhance your understanding of the people, places, objects, and events in the Bible for years to come.

This dictionary contains terms covering the following fields and subfields: plant growing and cultivation, processing of agricultural products, soil science, mineral nutrition and fertilizing, plant protection, agrometeorology, biochemistry and physiological characters of plants and animals, forest management and organization, animal breeding, foodstuffs, animal nutrition, veterinary medicine, farm implement and machinery, vehicles and conveying devices, economics and organization of agriculture.

"Elsevier's Dictionary of Agriculture" is a valuable tool for agricultural specialists, scientists, students and for everyone with an interest in agricultural problems.

Far more than a simple glossary, this unique resource provides a detailed lexicography of political and social life in China today, and deepens our understanding of the last twenty years of enormous change in the People's Republic. Each of the 1,600 entries (1) is rendered in Chinese characters; (2) is alphabetized according to pinyin, the Chinese phonetic alphabet; (3) is translated into English; and (4) is explained in terms of the situation in which it first appeared and how its meaning shifted over time. In addition to the main body of definitions and annotations, there are three appendices, abbreviations, a name index, and a bibliography.

"Elsevier's Dictionary of Mathematics" contains 11,652 entries with more than 4,750 cross-references. Selection of the terms was based either on their significance or on their frequency of use according to authoritative encyclopedias, dictionaries and textbooks. Included are both modern developments and contemporary changes in terminology as well as recently established terms.

The terminology covers all the major branches from elementary to advanced subjects: arithmetic, algebra, geometry, set theory, discrete mathematics, logic, Boolean algebra, linear algebra, matrix algebra, calculus, differential equations, vector algebra, field theory, probability theory and statistics, optimization, numerical methods, mathematical programming, modern algebra, algebraic structures, computer algebra, category theory, applied mathematics, theory of automata and formal languages, theory of games, theory of graphs, as well as some commonly used entries in computer architecture, hardware, communications, system and application software, microprogramming, etc.

This work will provide readers, writers and translators with a guide of the most widely used terms and collections in the area, and will prove to be a useful tool for all professionals exploring the multilingual scientific terminology.

Muslims believe that the Koran is God's message in Arabic, revealed through the medium of the Prophet Muhammad for the guidance of the Arabs and subsequently for all humanity. There is both unity and variety in the Islamic world. Muslims are not a homogeneous people who can be explained solely by their normative texts: the Koran and the Sunnah. Muslims differ vastly in their interpretation of Islam: modernists want to reinterpret Islam to adapt to the requirements of modern times while traditionalists tend to look to the classical and medieval periods of Islam as their model of the Islamic state. This third edition of Historical Dictionary of Islam contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 700 cross-referenced entries on major sects, schools of theology, and jurisprudence, as well as aspects of Islamic culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Islam.

This multi-language dictionary covers the eight major Turkic languages: Turkish, Azerbaijani, Turkmen, Uzbek, Uighur, Kazakh, Kirgiz, and Tatar.
2000 headwords in English are translated into each of the eight Turkic languages. Words are organized both alphabetically and topically. Original script and Latin transliteration are provided for each language. For ease of use, alphabetical indices are also given for the eight languages.
This is an invaluable reference book for both students and learners and for those enaged in international commerce, research, diplomacy and academic and cultural exchange.

The relationship between the world's largest power and the small nations of the Caribbean has been and remains rich and varied. The history of political and security collaboration is long, if not untroubled: the United States is the Caribbean's predominant trade and investment partner, and U.S. culture is as pervasive in the region as are U.S. goods. At the same time, the proximity, smallness, and economic dependence of these countries have all contributed to a tendency for the United States to seek to dominate the region, often enough by resort to hard power. From the nineteenth century through the Cold War, the United States has resorted to military interventions and coercive diplomacy to ensure that this region, so close to its shores, remains stable and friendly. The Historical Dictionary of United States-Caribbean Relations contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 700 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture.

Series Information:
Routledge Bilingual Specialist Dictionaries

Biology is an extensive subject that has undergone a vast expansion and so comprises not only such conventional aspects as taxonomy, morphology, biochemistry, functional physiology, and ecology, but also the rapidly expanding new fields of cell biology and molecular biology. This dictionary attempts to provide a comprehensive coverage of biological terms, recognising also that the interface between biology and other sciences, such as chemistry and physics as well as medicine, is becoming less distinct and includes terms from these other areas.

This book is intended especially for teachers and students of biology and other natural sciences, environmental sciences and medicine. College students, amateur biologists, journalists, translators and civil service officers will also find this a useful tool.