| 释义 |
Q|kjuː|
the seventeenth letter of the modern and the sixteenth of the ancient Roman alphabet, was in the latter an adoption of the Ϙ (κόππα, koppa) of some of the early Greek alphabets. The Phœnician letter from which this was derived had the forms {semqoph1}, {semqoph2}, {semqoph3}, and was used as the sign for the deeper or more guttural of the two k-sounds which exist in the Semitic tongues (Hebrew ק, Arabic ﻕ). Though this sound had no real equivalent in Greek, Ϙ is found in early inscriptions, e.g. as the initial of κόρινθος Corinth, but was not accepted as a letter of the Athenian alphabet, being retained only as a numerical symbol = 90. In Latin, however, Q was regularly employed, in combination with V, in representing the double sound |kw| which arose partly from the labialized velar guttural, as in quis, quattuor, and partly from a palatal k followed by the labial semi-vowel, as in equus. In the Romanic tongues this Latin combination was either retained with its original value, or in certain cases (esp. in Fr.) was modified to a simple k-sound. In the former case the spelling with qu- has commonly been retained, even where the sound has at a later period been reduced to |k|.
The Latin qu- might naturally have been adopted in OE. orthography to represent the Common Teutonic initial combination kw- (for which Wulfila employed the special sign u); but though qu- is found in the earliest glosses and occas. in the Rushworth gospels, the ordinary OE. symbol for the sound was cw- (in early use also cu-). After the Conquest qu- was again introduced, though at first sparingly employed; quarterne appears in the Laud MS. of the OE. Chron., an. 1137, the Lambeth Hom. have quic, quiken (but cweð, cwiðe), and Ormin has quarrterrne once, though regularly using cw- except in quaþþrigan. In the 13th c. the usage varies in different MSS., and sometimes even in the same text. The earlier version of Layamon has regularly qu-, the later cw-; the Leg. St. Kath. and Jul. have cw-, but qu- in quoð; and the Ancren Riwle usually cw-, even in French words, but also qu-, esp. in French words. In Gen. & Exod. there is no cw-, only qu- or quu- being used. By the end of the 13th c. cw- was entirely discontinued, and qu- (or its variants qv-, qw-) was the established spelling for all cases of the sound (kw), whether of English, French, or Latin origin. The author of the Ayenbite, however, also writes ku-, and this, as well as kw-, is occas. found in other MSS. of the 14–15th c.
In certain dialects of ME., however, the combination qu- (quu-, qv-, qw-) was not confined to words in which it represented OE. cw- or Romanic qu-, but also took the place of ordinary ME. wh- (OE. hw-), as in quan, quat, qvele, qwelpe = when, what, wheel, whelp. The earliest occurrence of these spellings is in Gen. & Exod., where they are exclusively employed; in later use they are characteristically northern, and are found as late as 1570, Levins having quilome, quip = whilome, whip. In the 14–15th c. the combinations qh- and qhw- are similarly employed in MSS. written in the NE. midlands. Scottish scribes preferred quh- (qvh-, qwh-), which is also, though more rarely, used in northern English MSS.; this orthography survived till the 17th c., and is defended by A. Hume (Orthogr. Brit. Tongue 18) as a more correct method of representing the sound than wh-. On the other hand wh- was freq. written by northern scribes in the 14–15th c. in place of qu-, as whik, wheme, white = quick, queme, quite; and alliteration of original qu- with wh- is not infrequent in some poems, as the Wars of Alexander, Destr. Troy, and Morte Arthure. The pron. implied by this is still current in the northern and north-midland counties (not in Scotland): see esp. the words quaint, queme, quey, quick.
In certain words of French origin, qu- varies with c- in ME. and early mod.E. As in OF., this is most common when oi or ui follows: see the forms given under coif, coil, coin (quoin), coyn, quoit, cuirass, cuir-bouilli, cuisse, cushion, custron, and quaint. More rarely que- replaces original co- or cu-, as in quengeoun congeoun, quenger conjure, quenquest conquest, queral coral, querch curch, quesing cousin, questrel custrel; with these cf. the Norman quemander, quemencher, quemodité, quemun, etc. (Godef. and Moisy). In a few cases the qu- forms survive in western dial., as querd cord, quile coil, quine coin, quirt court. A similar variation of c and q in native words is rare, but quo- is sometimes found for co-, as in quod cod, quodgel cudgel, quore core, quorn corn: see also queest, quitch n.1 and couch n.2, quid n.3
In ordinary mod.Engl. words Q is employed only in the combination qu, whether this is initial as in quake, quality, medial as in equal, sequence, or forming a final consonant |k| as in cheque, pique, grotesque. There is, however, a tendency among scholars to use Q by itself to transliterate the Semitic kōph, writing, e.g., Qabbala, Qaraite, Qurán for Cabbala, Karaite, Koran.
I.
1. Illustrations of the use of the letter.
c1000ælfric Gram. iii. (Z.) 6, h and k ᵹeendiað on a æfter rihte. q ᵹeendað on u. 1530Palsgr. 9 Whan v followeth q in a frenche worde..than shall u be left unsounded. a1637B. Jonson Eng. Gram. iv, The English Saxons knew not this halting Q, with her waiting-woman u after her. 1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v., Many grammarians, in imitation of the Greeks, banish the Q, as a superfluous letter. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) 724/2 The q is never sounded alone, but in conjunction with u..and never ends any English word. 1872Morris Eng. Accid. 61 From this table of consonants we have omitted..q, because this is equivalent to kw.
b. attrib. Used spec. to designate one of the two main groups of languages which developed from Common Celtic, so called because its distinctive phonological features include the retention of IE. *qu, as Q-Celt, a speaker of Q-Celtic. Cf. P-Celtic s.v. P I. 1.
1891,1913[see P I. 1]. 1944J. Whatmough κΕλτΙκα 49 The possibility that traces of q-Keltic may lurk hidden in the magico-medical formularies of Marcellus of Bordeaux. 1962T. C. Lethbridge Witches vi. 72 This adds to the evidence which suggests that the Iceni were ‘Q’ Celts, speaking a form of Gaelic. 1972[see P I. 1].
2. Used to denote serial order, as ‘Q Battery’, ‘Section Q’, etc., or as a symbol of some thing or person, a point in a diagram, etc. Q-boat, Q-ship, an armed and camouflaged merchantman used as a decoy or to destroy submarines; also ellipt.; cf. decoy n.2 6, mystery ship s.v. mystery1 13. Hence Q car, a disguised police car.
1920Blackw. Mag. Mar. 325/1 They had complied with the regulations that dictated that no uniform must be shown abroad sailing ‘Q's’.
1918Army & Navy Gaz. 10 Aug. 501/1 Among the anti-submarine measures initiated and encouraged by Mr. Churchill and Lord Fisher were the ‘Q’ boats, the mystery attaching to which has now been dispelled by Sir Eric Geddes... The ‘Q’ boat may be briefly defined as a decoy. 1976R. Moore Dubai iv. 51 We're talking about making your dhow into a high-speed Q-boat.
1937Times 13 Apr. p. xxvii/2 Among the cars used by the London police are a number to which the name ‘Q’ is applied... If inside a small and unimpressive body there is an engine that will develop the highest speed attainable by the most powerful vehicle the ‘Q’ car is complete. 1961Guardian 29 Sept. 2/3 Three men jumped out of a badly-damaged car, which crashed into the side of a lorry..and in turn was rammed by a police ‘Q’ car. 1976L. Henderson Major Enquiry xiv. 88 She..doubled back..to the waiting Q car. The watch was being kept by Sheehan and Milton.
1919Boy's Own Paper July 458/1 One of the finest examples of coolness, discipline, and good organisation in the history of Q-ships. 1946Daily Tel. 15 May 5/4 After his experience with two British ‘Q’ ships, the 10,000 ton Kolchak..and the motor vessel Alfred Jones,..which nearly led to his destruction in 1941, he thought U-boat captains perfectly justified in not attempting rescue work after torpedoing ships. 1972J. Broome Convoy is to Scatter i. 25 The Q-ship's lure-power lay in her half-sunken appearance appealing to the U-boat captain for his coup-de-grâce.
†3. q in the corner, ? = puss in the corner. Obs.
1782F. Burney Cecilia I. 41, I will either hide or seek with any boy in the parish; and for a Q in the corner, there is none more celebrated.
4. Used with reference to its shape, spec. in Skating. Also attrib.
1852G. Anderson Art of Skating vi. 73 The Q Figure. Start with a curve on the outside forwards, then change the edge to inside forwards, and finish with a circle outside backwards, all on the one foot, without setting down the other. 1935Encycl. Sports 559/2 A difficult but beautiful figure called the Q... The figure bears a pretty distinct resemblance to the letter.
5. Repr. clipped pronunc. of ‘thank you’; = kew.
1925Wodehouse Sam the Sudden ii. 13 The conductor presented himself, punch in hand. ‘Fez, pliz.’ ‘Valley Fields,’ said Kay. ‘Q,’ said the conductor. 1956J. Latimer Sinners & Shrouds xxiii. 181 ‘Son of a bitch!’ ‘I beg your pardon?’ ‘I beg yours.’ ‘Q.’
II. Abbreviations.
1. Of Latin words or phrases.
†a. Q, (in mediæval notation) = 500; q., qu. = quasi, as if; q. = quadrans farthing. Obs.
b. † q.d. = quasi dictum ‘as if said’, quasi dicat ‘as if one should say’, etc.; † q.e. = quod est ‘which is’; q.v. = quod vide ‘which see’.
†c. From the language of medical prescriptions: q.d.s. = quater in die sumendus ‘to be taken four times a day’; q.i.d. = quater in die ‘four times a day’; q.l. = quantum libet; q.pl. = quantum placet ‘as much as one pleases’; q.s. = quantum sufficit; q.v. = quantum vis ‘as much as you wish’.
d. Formulæ placed at the end of mathematical problems, etc.: Q.E.D., Q.E.F., Q.E.I., = quod erat demonstrandum (also as n. phr.), faciendum, inveniendum, ‘which was to be demonstrated, done, found’.
1542Recorde Gr. Artes (1575) 29, q a farthing the iiij part of a penny. 1631Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 240 Worth 1412l. 4s. 7d. ob. q. 1658Phillips, Alfreton q. Alfred's Town. a1662J. Symcotts in Publ. Beds. Hist. Rec. Soc. (1951) XXXI. 101 For the shaking of the hands: Take rosemary bruised q.s. and apply it to the wrists. 1678Phillips (ed. 4), Bangle-eared (qu. Bendle-eared). 1710Lond. Gaz. No. 4706/2 The Ballance..amounting to 71019l. 1s. 5d. 2q. has been..credited to the Publick. 1721Bailey, Gossip, of God, and Syb,..a Kinsman, q.d. Kindred in God. 1722Quincy Phys. Dict. 69/2, q.s. A sufficient Quantity. 1760L. Sterne Tr. Shandy II. xix. 168 If..people can walk about and do their business without brains,—then certes the soul does not inhabit there. Q.E.D. 1818Moore Fudge Fam. Paris ii. 127 The argument's quite new, you see, And proves exactly Q.E.D. 1848Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton (1882) 86/2 [My thoughts] don't follow each other like the Q.E.D. of a Proposition. 1932Times Lit. Suppl. 7 Jan. 1/3 Matisse, with his frugal presentation of purely aesthetic values to a purely aesthetic appetite, appears to be the Q.E.D. of French painting as looked at in perspective. 1955R. J. Schwartz Compl. Dict. Abbrev. 149/1 q i d, four times a day (quater in die—Latin). 1960Laurence & Moulton Clin. Pharmacol. 454 q.d.s., quater in die sumendus, four times a day (q.i.d. and q.q.h are sometimes used). 1975J. Mitchell Smear Job xviii. 159 He hates himself... He drinks. Q.E.D. 1977Lancet 20 Aug. 376/1 Two subjects who inhaled 400 µg salbutamol q.i.d. from the start. 1978Jrnl. R. Soc. Med. LXXI. 464/2 Abbreviations such as bds and qds will not be understood by foreign readers.
2. Of English words or phrases.
a. Q. = Quartermaster, Quartermaster-General or -Sergeant; also attrib. or as adj., and ellipt. for the Quartermaster's or Quartermaster-General's Department; Q. = quarto 2; Q. = Queen; Q., q. = query, question; q. (in a ship's log) = squalls; † q. = quod, quoth. Sc. Obs.
b. Q and A, question and answer (esp. attrib.); Q.B. = Queen's Bench; Q.B.I. (R.A.F. slang), quite bloody impossible, (applied to flying conditions); also ellipt.; Q.C. = Queen's Counsel (hence Q.C.-dom); QCD, quantum chromodynamics; QED, quantum electrodynamics; QF., q.f., quick-firing; also ellipt., a quick-firing gun; Q.I., quartz-iodine; Q.M. = Quartermaster; also attrib.; Q.M.G. = Quartermaster-General; Q.M.S., Quartermaster-Sergeant; QS [? f. quadraphonic-stereophonic: cf. SQ s.v. S 4 a], a designation (proprietary in the U.S.) of audio equipment used with reference to a system of quadraphonic recording and reproduction; QSO, quasi-stellar object (i.e. a quasar); QSS, quasi-stellar source (of radio waves); Q.T., q.t. = quiet slang.
c. † qd. = quod, quoth. Obs.; qr. = quarter, quire; qt. = quart, quantity; qu. = query.
1916G. Frankau Poetical Wks., (1923) I. 223 And the Boche shells; and ‘*Q.’ still issues bromo. Ibid. 227 No more I'll turn the mordant line till ‘Q’ clerks blush incarnadine. 1918Punch 2 Jan. 15/2 Military experts will tell you that this is a ‘Q.’ war, meaning thereby that the Quartermaster-General's department is the one which matters. 1919W. S. Churchill in M. Gilbert Winston S. Churchill (1977) IV. Compan. i. 456 Another inroad on ‘Q’ should it seems to me be made by transferring all discipline to the Adjutant General. 1930H. Belloc Wolsey v. 126 It was certainly he who did all the ‘Q’ work, to him all the letters were addressed; he gave the orders, bought provisions, organised transport, [etc.]. 1942W. S. Churchill Second World War (1951) IV. i. xx. 311 The arrangements for bringing off the wounded would alone open up a vista of Q problems. 1976D. Clark Dread & Water v. 119 A well-run army Q store.
1871H. H. Furness in New Variorum Ed. Shakespeare I. p. ix, I have very seldom noted the variæ lectiones of the First Quarto... When referred to in the textual notes it is designated as (*Q1). 1936Times Lit. Suppl. 23 May 440/2 The stage directions of the stolen Q1 and of the authoritative Q2 were not contradictory. 1964F. Bowers Bibliogr. & Textual Crit. v. iv. 157 If Q is a memorially reconstructed ‘bad quarto’.., its reading derives ultimately from the prompt-book.
1625Bacon Ess., Prophecies (Arb.) 536 The *Q. Mother..caused the King her Husbands Natiuitie to be calculated.
1568Bann. MS. in Poems A. Scott (S.T.S.) iii. 18 ffinis *q. Alexr. Scott. Ibid. xviii 52, q. Scott off þe Mr. of Erskyn.
1954W. R. & F. K. Simpson Hockshop v. 127 We stalled until we could get the police into the *Q. and A. contest. 1976B. Bova Multiple Man (1977) i. 14 McMurtie wanted..to know if I'd planned a Q and A session after the speech.
1938Times 3 Mar. 7/3 Instructions..as to height and position to be kept when flying in controlled areas during ‘*Q.B.I.’ conditions. 1942Tee Emm (Air Ministry) II. 69 So now you fly in Q.B.I. Ibid. 143 He waited for some Q.B.I. And rushed aloft, the beam to try.
1870A. J. Munby Diary 14 May (1972) 284 Came Vernon Lushington *Q.C., and I did greet him friendly. 1887L. George Let. 25 Feb. (1973) 18 A Q.C. of high standing. 1892Mrs. Clifford Aunt Anne II. 293 She is sister of an eminent Q.C.
1865Cornh. Mag. Aug. 144 The hard struggle was over, the comparative table-land of *Q.C.-dom gained.
1976*QCD [see quantum chromodynamics s.v. quantum 7 a]. 1979Nature 1 Feb. 349/3 The one essential difference between QED and QCD is that whereas there is but one type of electrical charge in QED, the colour charge has three independent varieties.
c1525Douglas' æneis (Small) IV. 231 *Qd. Gawinus Douglas.
1969Physics Bull. June 223/2 The energy splitting between the 2S½ and 2P½ states of the hydrogen atom—the Lamb shift—..arises entirely from higher order effects in *qed. 1975McGraw-Hill Yearbk. Sci. & Technol. 115/1 The detection of positrons from overcritical electric fields would constitute an important test of QED.
1890G. S. Clarke Fortification Pl. xxviii, Balance pillar mounting for 4·7-inch *Q.F. gun. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXXI. 347/2 Endeavouring.. to produce a more powerful gun than the then existing Q.F. 1915Kipling Fringes of Fleet 1 They gave her Government coal to burn And a Q.F. gun at bow and stern. 1972D. Dakin Unification of Greece xi. 157 The Greek government ordered 144 7·5 mm Q.F. Schneider-Canet mountain guns.
1976Yorkshire Evening Press 9 Dec. 21/1 (Advt.), Escort Mexico, ‘K’ reg. 60,000 miles. *Q.I. headlamps, inertia belts. 1977J. Hedgecoe Photographer's Handbk. 34 Q.I. lamps generate considerable heat, and must be ventilated.
1916Wipers Times 12 Feb. (1918) 11/1 Obtainable from all *Q.M. stores. 1933M. Lowry Ultramarine i. 49 It's good of you to ask me in, Q.M., thanks.
1907Field Service Pocket Bk. viii. 160 *Q.M.G. (Maj.-Gen.). 1918in M. Gilbert Winston S. Churchill (1977) IV. Compan. i. 367 As regards the latter the General Staff will inform QMG of our requirements and he will take up the matter with you. 1977‘D. MacNeil’ Wolf in Fold xvi. 165 I'm not leaving all those tents... Just think, the trouble there'd be with the QMG's department!
1916Anzac Bk. 65, I am a *Q.M.S... We have a Quartermaster, but of course, I do all the work. 1969V. de S. Pinto City that Shone ix. 207 A genial horsy character called Bob Duffield, the Q.M.S. and myself. 1971S. Hill Strange Meeting ii. 157 The day I went to the village to see the Q.M.S.
1734Ward Yng. Math. Guide (ed. 6) 90 A Grocer bought 3 c. 1 *qr. 14 lb. Weight of Cloves.
1972Wireless World Feb. 55/2 A way of avoiding the mislocalization..in the simple matrix technique has been adopted by Sansui in their *QS system. 1975Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 8 Apr. tm123/1 Sansui Electric Company Limited,..Tokyo, Japan. Filed Dec. 13, 1972. QS... For disc-type music recordings... First use Oct. 23, 1970; in commerce Sept. 19, 1972. 1975G. J. King Audio Handbk. vii. 167 Image error results when a basic QS decoder is used to play an SQ record. Ibid. 168 SQ records also yield good stereo.., but QS records are less objectively accommodating in this respect.
1964New Scientist 13 Aug. 393/3 The objects known variously as superstars, quasars, quasi-stellar objects or (for short) *QSO's continue to cause intense interest among astronomers. 1973Nature 23 Nov. 205/1 Although it is the majority view that QSO redshifts are cosmological in origin and related to distance by Hubble's law, several workers have proposed that QSOs may be more local objects. 1977J. Narlikar Struct. Universe iii. 87 In looking for new QSOs, the astronomer picks upon starlike objects showing a marked ultraviolet radiation excess.
1965Sandage & Wyndham in Astrophysical Jrnl. CXLI. 328 To the present time there have been positive identifications of nine quasi-stellar radio sources (hereinafter called ‘*QSS’). 1973QSS [see quasi-stellar a.].
1711Lond. Gaz. No. 4845/4, 4 Bales *qt. each 3 c. of Coffee.
1884G. Moore Mummer's Wife (1887) 99 It will be possible to have one spree on the strict *q.t. 1910A. Bennett Clayhanger ii. xxi. 315 Mind you this is strictly q.t.! Nobody knows a word about it, nobody! 1922Joyce Ulysses 610 Sailing under false colours after having boxed the compass on the strict q.t. somewhere. 1972New Yorker 17 June 24/1 (caption) This is strictly on the q.t., Senator.
III. As a symbol.
1. Q or q in Physics represents electric charge. [f. the initial letter of quantity.]
1846W. Thomson in Cambr. & Dublin Math. Jrnl. I. 91 Denoting by Q, Q′ the quantities of electricity constituting the charges before, and q, q′ after contact, we shall have [etc.]. 1879Encycl. Brit. VIII. 22/1 The law of electric force between two quantities q and q′ now becomes Force = qq′/d2. 1938G. P. Harnwell Princ. Electr. & Magn. i. 11 F is the force in dynes exerted by the charge q1 on the charge q2. 1973L. J. Tassie Physics of Elem. Particles xix. 40 The antiparticle of a particle of charge Q and baryon number B, has charge - Q and baryon number - B.
2. Theol. [Prob. abbrev. of G. quelle source.] The symbol used to denote the hypothetical source of the passages shared by the gospels of Matthew and Luke, and not found in that of Mark.
1901J. Moffatt Historical New Testament 266 It is still hotly disputed..whether Matthew had access to any sources besides Q and Mark. 1920Jrnl. Theol. Stud. XXI. 286 ‘Real Aramaism may be allowed ungrudgingly in those parts of the New Testament which are virtually translated from Aramaic oral or written sources’, i.e. Mark and Q. 1935R. H. Lightfoot Hist. & Interpretation in Gospels ii. 27 Dr. Armitage Robinson..maintained..that he himself was the first to use the symbol... In the 'nineties of the last century, he was in the habit..of alluding to St. Mark's gospel as P (reminiscences of St. Peter), and to the presumed sayings-document as Q, simply because Q was the next letter after P in the alphabet. 1955A. M. Farrer in D. E. Nineham Stud. in Gospels 56 We can conceive well enough how St. Luke could have both read St. Matthew's book as it stands, and written the gospel he has left us. Then at one stroke the question is erased to which the Q hypothesis supplied an answer. 1965J. H. Roberts Q Document i. 33 The Q document is a hypothetical document invented by German biblical historians in the 1800s to explain a gap in our knowledge of the early Christian Era... They called this document the quelle or ‘source’ document. Later this was shortened to ‘Q’. 1978F. Neirynck in Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses LIV. 123 It seems to be a fair conclusion that he [sc. J. Weiss] substituted Q (= Quelle) for λ (= λόγια).
3. Also Q factor. The ratio of the reactance of an inductor or capacitor to its electrical resistance; more widely, a parameter of any oscillatory system representing the degree to which it is undamped, equal to 2π times the ratio of the mean total energy of the system to the energy that must be supplied each cycle to sustain the oscillations. So Q-meter, an instrument for measuring the Q of a component.
1931Proc. IRE XIX. 874 Let Q = ωτL/R. 1932F. E. Terman Radio Engin. ii. 39 Tubing..has..a better current distribution..than does either flat- or edgewise-wound strip and hence has a better Q in proportion to the amount of conductor material employed. 1933K. Henney Radio Engin. Handbk. vi. 109 For a coil, Q = ωL/R. For a condenser, Q = 1/ωRC. 1938Admiralty Handbk. Wireless Telegr. II. §F 19 Good coils often have a Q of the order of 100. 1943F. E. Terman Radio Engineers' Handbk. xiii. 916 Q meters are frequently used to measure reactance and resistance (or conductance) of choke coils, dielectrics, etc., by the substitution method. 1943Electronic Engin. XVI. 33/3 The two crystals were operated at ‘Q’ values of 20,000 and 5,000. 1948P. M. Morse Vibration & Sound (ed. 2) ii. 25 Another method of expressing this is in terms of the ‘Q of the system’, where Q = (ωom/Rm) is the number of cycles required for the amplitude of motion to reduce to (1/eπ) of its original value. 1965Wireless World July 338/1 A technique..which had resulted in inductors with good Q factors of 50 to 80. Ibid. Aug. 413/1 A Q-meter can be used to establish the effective series resistance. 1971[see quality factor s.v. quality n. 13]. 1975D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. xi. 13 By lowering the Q of the optical cavity, the laser cannot oscillate, and a large inverted population builds up. When the Q is restored, a single ‘giant pulse’..is generated.
4. Psychol. Used in factor analysis to designate personality testing methods used to obtain correlations between the persons tested, by requiring each subject to rate in order those personality traits that seem most applicable to himself. Usu. as Q-sort, Q-technique.
1935G. H. Thomson in Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. July 75 Then we have Y′ Y = Q..where Q is a p-square matrix of q-correlations, each correlation being between two persons, not between two tests. 1936W. Stephenson in Ibid. Apr. 345 Following Prof. G. H. Thomson's suggestion, I shall use Q as the sign for correlations between persons, so distinguishing them from correlations such as r12 between two tests... It is convenient to designate all previous factor analysis as r technique, and this new inverted form as Q technique. 1952R. B. Cattell Factor Analysis vii. 93 He [sc. Stephenson] has particularly urged a method in which each subject writes down a set of traits or questionnaire-like statements about himself in order of their significance for his own personality (Q-sort). 1954A. Anastasi Psychol. Testing xx. 543 This approach..bears a certain resemblance to the procedure proposed by Stephenson in his ‘Q-sort’ technique. 1967M. Argyle Psychol. Interpersonal Behaviour vii. 118 The so-called ‘Q-sort’ in which subjects are asked to place a series of statements on cards in order, with the cards which apply most to themselves at the top. 1972Jrnl. Social Psychol. LXXXVIII. 84 The Q-sort variant known as the own-categories technique was used.
5. A unit of energy equal to 1018 British thermal units (very nearly 1021 joules).
1952Resources for Freedom (President's Materials Policy Commission, U.S.) IV. xv. 213/1 In the first 18½ centuries of this era, the total input to the energy system of the world was about 6Q, equivalent to some 225 billion short tons of bituminous coal. [Note] 1·0Q = 1·0 × 1018 B.t.u. 1971Nature 29 Oct. 593/1 The present annual energy consumption rate of the world is 0·2Q. 1978Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVI. 605/2 The earth and its atmosphere intercepts some 5200 Q of solar energy each year, one Q representing one million, million, million British Thermal Units.
▸ QA n. quality assurance.
1976Milton Keynes Express 11 June 34/3 (advt.) The successful applicants must be experienced in Machine Shop, Assembly and Fitting work and preferably *QA procedures to Defence Standard 05-21. 1991New Civil Engineer 3 Oct. 17/2 There are now more important matters to address in the directive, such as the implications for design warranties, insurance requirements, QA and the role of local standards officers. 1998CSM May 69/1 (advt.) Our Survey and Valuation Department acts for the Major Lenders, has QA to ISO 9002..and is supported by our Building Survey Department.
▸ QC n. quality control; freq. attrib.
1945Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. 108447 The methods of ‘quality control’ in production are now well established..but there is room for much work in a general oversight of the subject, and in the further study of data provided by ‘*Q.C.’ records. 1969T. C. Thorstensen Pract. Leather Technol. x. 159 (caption) After condensation, the product is neutralized, if desired, and dried prior to shipping. Frequent chemical analysis is made for quality control (QC check). 1991Design Engin. Aug. 23 (advt.) Do your current trading needs involve welding technology and engineering, non-destructive testing, materials and corrosion, QC or design? |