Buzz
There are many words in English that seem ordinary, but they actually hold a surprising secondary meaning that's largely recognized by experts in various scientific fields. Below are 18 words, sourced from the American Heritage Science Dictionary, that have unexpected definitions in different branches of science. Some of these might be familiar to you, while others may come as a surprise.
1. ALIEN
Field of Use: Ecology
This term not only evokes the horrifying extraterrestrial terror that Sigourney Weaver faced, but it also refers to non-native animals and plants that have been introduced to areas outside of their natural habitats.
2. ALUM
Field of Use: Chemistry
When you graduate from an academic institution, you become an alum, but the term also refers to a group of crystalline double salts that contain a trivalent metal like aluminum, chromium, or iron, or a monovalent metal like potassium or sodium. These salts are used in industry to purify and harden materials, as well as in medicine to induce vomiting or to help stop bleeding.
3. BELT
Field of Use: Geography, Astronomy
While you might use one of these to hold up your pants, geographers and geologists are more likely to associate it with a region that stands out in some way from others. This term is also commonly used by astronomers, as in the Kuiper asteroid belt.
4. CALCULUS
Field of Use: Medicine
You might have struggled with this branch of mathematics in school, but in medicine, the term refers to a solid mass, usually made of inorganic material, that forms within a cavity or tissue of the body. Such a calculus is typically found in the gall bladder, kidneys, or urinary bladder—and is commonly known as a stone.
5. DEPOSITION
Field of Use: Geology
If you're caught up in a lawsuit, you might have to give a deposition, where you'll be questioned by a legal team before the trial begins. In geology, however, deposition refers to the process by which matter naturally accumulates, such as when sediment builds up in a river or minerals settle in an organ.
6. FAMILY
Field of Use: Biology
You probably grew up in a human family and might be raising one yourself. In taxonomy, however, the term refers to a group of organisms that ranks above a genus and below an order. Family names for plants, fungi, and algae typically end with -aceae, while animal family names end with -idae.
7. GALL
Field of Use: Botany
It takes a certain amount of gall to think this word only has one meaning. In botany, a gall is an abnormal swelling in plant tissue, often caused by injury or parasitic infection. These growths can appear as balls, knobs, lumps, or warts.
8. INSULT
Field of Use: Medicine
A verbal attack may feel like an insult, but the term also encompasses various bodily injuries, ranging from bruises to tumors. It can also refer to the cause of such injuries.
9. LISP
Field of Use: Programming
Though commonly associated with a speech disorder, LISP is also an abbreviation for 'list processing,' a programming language created in 1959 by John McCarthy for artificial intelligence development. It remains one of the oldest programming languages still in active use today.
10. MOLE
Field of Use: Chemistry
You might know this as a pesky creature that creates tunnels in your garden (or a spy working undercover), but in the world of chemistry, a mole is a standard unit used to measure large quantities of incredibly tiny particles or molecules.
11. NO
Field of Use: Chemistry
The word commonly used to negate something also serves as the abbreviation for Nobelium, a synthetic radioactive metal produced by bombarding curium with carbon ions. Named after Alfred Nobel, this element is radioactive.
12. OHM
Field of Use: Physics
Often mistaken for the Sanskrit term chanted in yoga classes, an ohm is the unit of electrical resistance that occurs when a conductor allows one ampere of current to flow under the application of one volt.
13. PATCH
Field of Use: Engineering, Programming
A torn pair of jeans might need a patch, but in engineering and programming, it refers to a temporary, removable connection between two components in a communications system, or a piece of code designed to correct a software bug.
14. RAD
Field of Use: Physics
In the 1980s, 'rad' was a term for 'cool,' short for 'radical.' For physicists, however, a rad is a unit used to measure the amount of energy absorbed by a material exposed to radiation. One rad equals 100 ergs per gram of material.
15. SHEAR
Field of Use: Physics
While you might shear sheep to remove their wool, in physics, this term describes a force applied to an object at a perpendicular angle, resulting in more stress on one side of the object than the other. This can occur during events like earthquakes and explosions.
16. TAG
Field of Use: Programming
Aside from the game where one person is 'it' and chases others, this term also refers to a sequence of characters used in markup languages to define formatting rules for a document. If you're a Mac user, you might recognize these types of tags.
17. UNION
Field of Use: Mathematics
While you might pay dues to one of these at work, in mathematics, a union refers to a set of numbers that belong to at least one of two or more sets. You’ve probably seen this concept represented in a Venn diagram.
18. VITRIOL
Field of Use: Chemistry
The term, often associated with harsh or biting criticism, was once used to refer to sulfuric acid. Discovered in the 8th century by an Arab alchemist, vitriol derives from the Latin word for 'glass,' named for its sulfate salts.
