G
(dʒiː)
the seventh letter of the Roman alphabet, was originally a differentiated form of C; for its early history see that letter. In Latin G represented the voiced guttural stop; but in the later period of the language it must have been pronounced before front vowels as a palatal, its representation in the Rom. langs. being precisely the same as that of Lat. I consonant (J); hence in OF. G before e, i was pronounced like J, viz. as the assibilated (dʒ).
In OE. the letter stood for four different sounds, viz. the voiced guttural and palatal stop (in this Dictionary represented by g, g), and the voiced guttural and palatal spirant (here printed ᵹ, ᵹ). The precise distribution of these sounds is much disputed, but if we confine our view to the very end of the OE. period the following statements may be made. Initial G before back vowels was a guttural stop (g), developed from an earlier spirant. Initial G before front vowels was a palatal spirant (j). Medially and finally, G represented a guttural or a palatal, according to the nature of the associated sounds; in the combinations ng and gg (written cg when palatal, rarely when guttural) it was a stop, and in other positions a spirant. In early ME., or perh. in late OE., the palatal stop developed into the complex sound (dʒ), thus coinciding with the power of G before e, i, in contemporary French.
In early ME. the continental form of G (approximately g) was used for the two sounds which the letter had in French, (g) and (dʒ), while the OE. form ᵹ was used for the sounds peculiar to native words, viz. the guttural and palatal spirants (ɣ, j). Ormin attempted to differentiate the symbol g into two, g = (dʒ), and {ormg} = (g); but his example was not followed. The symbol ᵹ gradually came to assume a form indistinguishable from that used for Z in contemporary MSS.; in this Dictionary the form ȝ is employed for ME. words. This symbol was commonly used in ME. for the sound of (j) initial and final, for the guttural and palatal unvoiced spirant final or before t (as in inouȝ, auȝt, niȝt, OE. ᵹenóh, áht, niht), and, so long as the sound remained in the language, for the guttural voiced spirant. From the 13th c., however, the ȝ was by some scribes wholly or partially discarded for y or gh; a few texts have yh. In the 15th c. vocabularies the words beginning with ȝ are at the end of the alphabet. Caxton uses the symbol sparingly, chiefly before final t. The English printers of the 16th c. scarcely use it at all; but in Scotland it survived longer, and has left a trace in the use of z for y in the spelling of surnames like Menzies and Dalziel, and of such words as capercailzie, gaberlunzie.
In modern English G has the so-called ‘hard’ sound (g) at the end of a word, before a consonant or a, o, u, (exc. in gaol, gaoler), and in words of Teutonic etymology before e and i, as in give, get; also in Hebrew proper names, as Gedaliah, Gideon. In words from Lat. or Romanic it has the ‘soft’ sound (dʒ) before e, i, y; and at the end of a syllable, in words of whatever origin, the sound (dʒ) is represented always by dge or ge, the letter J not being used in this position. The combination gn is sounded n initially or at the end of a syllable. When the combination ng occurs in one syllable, the g is now silent, serving only to give to the n the value of (ŋ). With regard to the pronunciation of ng in the middle of a disyllable, modern usage is somewhat inconsistent: in the inflexions and derivatives of verbs the g is silent, as in singer, singeth, singing (ˈsɪŋə(r), ˈsɪŋɪθ, ˈsɪŋɪŋ), but is sounded in the comparatives and superlatives of adjs., as in younger, longer (ˈjʌŋgə(r), ˈlɒŋgə(r)), and the other words generally, as finger (ˈfɪŋgə(r)).
The combination gh is in a few words (aghast, ghastly, ghost) a mere capricious substitute for g (cf. Caxton's frequent ghoos, ghoot, gherle = goose, goat, girl). Elsewhere it chiefly represents the older guttural or palatal spirant (OE. ᵹ or h), which in modern pronunciation is either dropped, as in high, night, through, plough, or replaced by (f), as in laugh, rough, tough; a special development has taken place in hough (hɒk).
II. Used as a symbol, with reference to its place (7th) in the alphabet
1. G. g, g is used to denote anything occupying the seventh place in a series. (Cf. A, B, C, etc.)
2. In Music G is the name of the 5th note of the diatonic scale of C major; called G in Germany, sol in France and Italy. Also the scale or key which has that note for its tonic. G clef: the treble clef (see clef1) placed on the line in the stave appropriated to the note G.
| 1596 Pathw. to Mus. A iv b, Note also that what is vnder G sol re vt, the same is vnder Gamma-vt, and what is aboue E la mi, the same is aboue ee la. 1609 Douland Ornithop. Microl. 7 Keyes..are 22 in number. The first is of Capitall Letters..viz. {eggamma1}. A. B. C. D. E. F. G. 1806 J. W. Callcott Mus. Gram. iii. 6 The G Clef is a compound character of the letters G and S, for the Syllable, Sol. 1881 Scribner's Mag. XXI. 75/2 [He] burst forth with a high G of astounding volume. 1891 S. Mostyn Curatica 106 The curate..after waiting in vain for his G [note on the organ], was obliged at last to start without it. |
III. Abbreviations.
a. G.
= various proper names, as George, Gertrude.
b. In
Physics g (or
G) is the symbol for the acceleration due to gravity
= about 9·8 m. (32 ft.) per second per second at sea level; also used to denote gravity generally, or the associated forces. Also
attrib., as
g-force,
G-stress;
G-suit.
c. Math. G.C.F. or G.C.M.
= Greatest Common Factor or Measure.
d. Comm. G.M.B.: see
quot. e. In the order of Freemasons, G.M.
= Grand Master.
| 1785 T. Parkinson Syst. Mech. xiv. 244 If G be the force of gravity, the axis and all diameters of the parabola, are perpendicular to the horizon. 1806 G. Gregory Dict. Arts & Sci. I. 870/2 M. Krafft gives a formula for the proportion of gravity in different latitudes on the earth's surface, which is this: y = (1 + 0.0052848 sine2 λ)g; where g denotes the gravity at the equator, and y the gravity under any other latitude λ. 1825 Phil. Mag. LXVI. 110, l denotes the height of the homogeneous atmosphere in feet, and g the gravitating force. 1869 Ibid. 4th Ser. XXXVIII. 83, M is the mass of a unit volume of a fluid, and g the accelerating force of gravity. 1884 Pall Mall G. 21 Feb. 5/2 ‘G.M.B.’ means a good merchantable brand of iron; but a small proportion..which is neither good nor merchantable, has been deposited in the stores as ‘G.M.B.’ 1928 N. Macmillan Art of Flying x. 138 Sustained high manœuvre loadings..are referred to for brevity as 1G, 2G, or 6G. The question of G affects the pilot as well as the aeroplane. 1931 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXV. 1042 A figure of 3 or 4g is common in fast turns and in loops. 1938 Lancet 31 Dec. 1508/1 This was seen especially during looping, the maximal g stress occurring at the point of pulling up from the dive. 1945 [see anti-g a.]. 1959 Daily Tel. 23 Feb. 11/7 Protective clothing, or ‘space suits’ will be needed to help guard a man against the heavy G forces imposed on him because of the great thrust upwards that a space vehicle will develop. 1959 Kaye & Laby Tables of Physical & Chem. Constants (ed. 12) 9 A standard value for the gravitational acceleration g at the Earth's surface is necessary for fixing the values of certain derived units and standards in the C.G.S. and M.K.S. systems. |
f. Miscellaneous abbreviations. (Abbreviations given here with the full stop are frequently found without it.)
G, general: denoting films which are classified as suitable for viewing by audiences of any age-group (
U.S. and
Austral. Cinemat.);
cf. U 4 a;
G = giga-;
G. = grand n. 8 (
U.S. slang);
G, group:
G5 (
U.S. G–5), Group of Five;
G10 (
U.S. G–10), Group of Ten (see
group n. 3 g);
g, the ‘general factor’ of intelligence (see
quots.);
g,
Ger. gerade, ‘even’, used in
Physics in the designation of functions (especially wave-functions) which do not change sign on inversion through the origin, and of atomic states, etc., represented by such functions;
g., gram(me);
G-agent, a type of nerve-gas (
orig. U.S.);
G.A.W., guaranteed annual wage (
U.S.);
G.B.,
g.b., grand bounce,
i.e. dismissal, ejection (
U.S. colloq.,
obs.);
G.B., Great Britain (
esp. as a sign carried on a motor vehicle to indicate that it is registered in Britain);
G.B.E., Grand Cross of the British Empire;
G.B.H., grievous bodily harm;
G.B.P.,
g.b.p., great British public;
G.C., George Cross;
G.C.E., General Certificate of Education;
GCSE, General Certificate of Secondary Education;
G.C.I., ground-control(led) interception;
G.C.I.E., Grand Commander of the Indian Empire;
G.C.M.G., Grand Commander of
St. Michael and
St. George;
G.D.P., gross domestic product;
G.D.R., German Democratic Republic;
GeV [
f. giga- +
electron volt], a thousand million (10
9) electron volts;
G.F.S., Girls' Friendly Society;
G.H., growth hormone;
G.H.Q., general headquarters;
G.L.C., Greater London Council;
G.M.,
g.m. [shortening of T.], humorous substitute for
a.m. or
p.m.;
G.M.T., Greenwich mean time;
G.N.P., gross national product;
G.O.C., General Officer Commanding;
G.O.M., Grand Old Man, a name given to W. E. Gladstone; also
transf.;
G.O.P., (see
Grand Old Party 2);
G.P., general practitioner;
G.P., grand(e) passion;
G.P.I.,
g.p.i., general paralysis of the insane;
G-plan [
f. the initial letter of the manufacturer's name +
plan n.], the proprietary trademark of a type of furniture manufactured by Messrs. E. Gomme, Ltd.;
G.P.O., General Post Office;
G.P.U. = Ogpu;
G.S., general service;
G.S.R. = galvanic skin response or
reflex;
G.T.,
gran turismo;
G.T.T. (
orig. G.T.), gone to Texas; absconded (
U.S.);
GUT (
gʌt)
Physics = grand unified theory s.v. grand a. 12;
G.V. (
slang), governor;
G.W.(R.), Great Western (Railway). See also , ,
G-man,
G string.
| 1915 E. Webb in Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. Monogr. Suppl. iii. iv. 38 The marks for these tests together with the above coefficients of their ‘saturation’ by the general factor (*g) ought to furnish a measure of ‘g’ itself. 1927 C. Spearman Abilities of Man vi. 75 The ‘general factor’..denoted by the letter g..is so named because, although varying freely from individual to individual, it remains the same for any one individual in respect of all the correlated abilities. |
| 1966 N.Y. Times 8 Oct. 49/1 The rating system, which goes into effect on films released after Nov. 1, will classify movies in four categories: *G—acceptable for general audiences. 1974 [see PG s.v. P II]. 1985 Washington Post 7 May a14/2 On-campus movies are censored to the equivalent of a G rating. |
| 1930 R. S. Mulliken in Physical Rev. 2nd Ser. XXXVI. 617 The subscripts *g (German gerade) for even terms and u (German ungerade) for odd terms are recommended. 1962 R. E. Dodd Chem. Spectroscopy iv. 220 In homo⁓nuclear diatomic molecules there is also a prohibition against g-g or u-u transitions. |
| 1885 A. Macfarlane Physical Arithmetic iv. 142 The authorized abbreviation for gramme is *g., but it is customary with English writers to use gm., in order to distinguish between gramme and grain. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 808/2, 1 gramme (g.) = 15.4323564 grains or 0.7716 scruple. |
| 1928 J. O'Connor Broadway Racketeers xvii. 182 They had me in the bag for nearly ten *G's before I pulled the string and let the joint go blooey. 1937 D. Runyon More than Somewhat ii. 35, I am going to stake them to a few G's. 1971 A. Curry Shack-up vi. 86 He'd probably drop me a few G's for the names of the guys in London. |
| 1977 N.Y. Times 8 May iii. 14/1 Without *G–5 there would have been no economic summit today in London. 1985 Economist 26 Jan. 68/2 Finance ministers from America, Japan, Britain, West Germany and France—the so-called G5 countries—had hoped that..they could halt or reverse the rise of the dollar. 1986 Times 20 Jan. 21/1 In the past G5 has gone to some pains to hide its meetings from public view... The G5 then blew its own cover. |
| 1980 Amer. Banker 30 Sept. 9/2 Earlier this year, the central bank Governors of the *G10 countries and Switzerland agreed to improve the methods of assessment of country risk exposure. 1986 Times 4 Mar. 17/5 The Group of Ten industrialized countries are to meet on March 13– 14. The G10 ‘deputies’ meet partly to prepare the ground for the meeting of the interim committee of the International Monetary Fund. |
| 1956 Rep. Properties War Gases (Edgewood Arsenal, Md.) I (title) *G-agents. 1968 New Scientist 29 Feb. 465/1 The G-agents (nerve gases)..are quick killers. |
| 1955 Times 7 June 7/2 The ‘guaranteed annual wage’—*G.A.W.—has for long been a major objective in the programmes of the American trade union movement. |
| 1880 News & Press (Cimarron, N.M.) 23 Dec. 1/7 Well, I've got the *g.b... I've been fired! 1917 G. B. McCutcheon Green Fancy 157 Guess I'm going to get the G.B. 'fore long. |
| 1920 Michelin Guide to Great Britain (ed. 5) 807 To be carried in addition to the ordinary *GB plaque. 1926 Automobile Assoc. Handbk. iv. 157 An oval nationality plate bearing the letters G.B...must be carried at the rear of every car or motor cycle of British registration. 1937 M. Sharp Nutmeg Tree xii. 144 There were four cars standing outside, but only one with a G.B. plate. 1968–9 A.A. Continental Handbk. 29 A plate (GB for Great Britain)..must be fixed..next to the rear registration plate... GB. plates cost 2s. 6d. |
| 1918 Whitaker's Alm. 143 *G.B.E., Knights Grand Cross or Dames Grand Cross [of the British Empire]. |
| 1958 F. Norman Bang to Rights iii. 166 Bottles was doing a lagging *G.B.H.! (Grievious Bodily Harm). 1966 L. Southworth Felon in Disguise ii. 40 He did have a couple of arrests. One for malicious damage and the other for G.B.H. |
| 1925 G. Frankau Life—and Erica xv. 189 It's no good making the *G.B.P. laugh at you. 1928 Punch 8 Feb. 150/3 The g.b.p. does like a wedding. |
| 1941 H. G. Wells You can't be too Careful 5 ‘You got the *G.C.,’ said young Jewler. ‘We're all proud of you.’ |
| 1951 Times Educ. Suppl. 27 July 597/4 The travel agency that can offer visitors to the Channel Islands duty-free scent and tobacco and also a *G.C.E. 1966 Rep. Comm. Inquiry Univ. Oxf. I. 64 The results of GCE examinations. |
| 1945 Electronic Engin. XVII. 683 With the Battle of Britain by night must be associated..the use of *G.C.I. or Ground Control Interception. 1947 Crowther & Whiddington Science at War Pl. vi (caption), The guiding of fighter aircraft to the enemy in the air by G.C.I. (Ground Controlled Interception). |
| 1889 Whitaker's Alm. 108 The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire..Knights Grand Commdrs. *G.C.I.E. |
| 1871 Ibid. 70 Lord Lisgar, *G.C.M.G. |
| 1978 Daily Tel. 24 Oct. 8/3 Children now aged nine are likely to be the first to take the new examination—provisionally to be called the General Certificate of Secondary Education (*GCSE). 1985 Guardian 10 Apr. 1/7 A boycott of development work for the new 16-plus General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) will be announced today. |
| 1962 Economist 20 Oct. 284/1 Investment might have had to..constitute 24 per cent of *GDP by 1966. |
| 1958 Listener 18 Dec. 1026/2 Herr Grotewohl ended by saying that the *G.D.R.'s main task was to demonstrate the ‘superiority’ of the socialist system. 1971 Guardian 8 Sept. 10/6 At least 100,000 dachas are now estimated to exist in the GDR. |
| 1952 Proc. Physical Soc. B. LXV. 307 It was recommended that the use of the word ‘billion’ should be avoided in scientific literature. The use was recommended, for example, of either 109ev or *gev (as agreed by IUPAP in 1948). 1954 Nature 12 June 1127/2 The bevatron has produced protons of energy 5 GeV. 1969 Times 5 Feb. 13/8 The new generation of even larger proton accelerators, like the proposed 300 GeV machine at Cern, will produce particles of sufficient energy to make it possible to observe some of the really short-lived resonances. |
| 1888 C. M. Yonge Our New Mistress xvii. 161 She wanted me to help her in..her *G.F.S. Bible class. 1939 A. Thirkell Brandons x. 264 She had been brought up..on mothers' meetings, G.F.S. meetings..and the hundred activities of the Vicarage. |
| 1952 Metabolism July 356 The growth hormone used was Lot No. *GH-3. 1961 Lancet 29 July 235/2 The diabetogenic effect of G.H. in laboratory animals is..well established. |
| 1856 F. Nightingale in C. Woodham-Smith F. Nightingale (1950) xii. 275 *G.H.Q. feeding their horses on the biscuits the men could not eat. 1914 Isle of Man Weekly Times 21 Nov. 7/4, I have been moved higher up, my address now being ‘Adv. G.H.Q.’ 1935 Wodehouse Blandings Castle ii. 37 The housekeeper's room at Blandings Castle, G.H.Q. of the domestic staff. |
| 1962 Times 23 Nov. 5/2 The inner London education authority will consist of members of the *G.L.C. |
| 1901 ‘Linesman’ Words by Eyewitness (1902) 246 Merely referring to it as such and such an hour *g.m. 1929 S. Lewis Dodsworth xxxii, I bet I never went to bed before three g.m. once, the whole way over! |
| 1928 W. M. Smart Sun, Stars & Universe iv. 49 The true Greenwich Mean Time (*G.M.T.). |
| 1961 Listener 26 Oct. 657/1 The limited size of a British market with a *G.N.P. of some {pstlg}25 billion. 1969 Guardian 25 July 10/4 The Apollo project..uses only 1 per cent of the American GNP. |
| 1883 Army Regulations II. 45 Office of *G.O.C. Camp, Colchester. 1968 Listener 8 Feb. 167/1 There was a massive press conference held by the British goc, General Keightley. |
| 1884 Punch 23 Feb. 95/2 *G.O.M. been looking worn and irritable since Session opened. 1903 A. H. Beavan Tube, Train, etc. i. 2 This is by no means the oldest steam-engine at work in the kingdom, the doyen being one built as far back as 1767... It is said that this G.O.M. is more economical than many of the modern engines. 1944 Gramophone July 27/1 (heading) Coward of Sheffield England's G.O.M. of music. 1968 Listener 5 Sept. 316/3 The stonemason's son..who was eventually elevated to the position of GOM of letters. |
| 1887 Graphic 30 Apr. 447/2 The ordinary general practitioner—the ‘*G.P.’, as he is familiarly called. 1942 R. A. Knox In Soft Garments viii. 60 Some ass of a French G.P. didn't know his own business. 1960 Times 17 Mar. 13/6 Rural G.P.'s evidently like the prospect more than others. |
| 1935 D. L. Sayers Gaudy Night ii. 30 She wormed round rather. Had a sort of *G.P. for Miss Shaw. |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 8 That fellow..says you have *g.p.i...General paralysis of the insane. 1930 Daily Express 8 Sept. 1/1 Pathological experiments..have enabled ‘G.P.I.’ to be diagnosed in its incipient stages. 1969 King & Nicol Venereal Dis. (ed. 2) v. 62 The clinical manifestations of GPI do not usually appear until 10 years or more after infection. |
| 1957 Times 4 Nov. 13/2 Some of the mass-production *G-plan designs are good, but have a sameness. 1967 E. Wymark As Good as Gold ii. 33 The flat was strictly modern inside. The hall tended to G-plan. |
| 1869 All Year Round 23 Jan. 180/1 The hard-worked servant of the *G.P.O. who handed in the ‘comic’ missive. 1955 Times 7 May 9/6 Could the G.P.O. be persuaded to undertake an operational research into the use of Post Offices? |
| 1925 G. Popoff Tcheka 238 The third period of the Tcheka dates from February 6, 1922. On this date the Tcheka was ‘dissolved’; the ‘*G.P.U.’, however, was immediately set up in its place. 1941 Koestler Scum of Earth 122 The dark silhouette of the..G.P.U. agent had replaced the..symbols of the struggle for a happier world. |
| 1918 F. M. Ford Let. 13 Jan. (1965) 86 The doctors won't pass me *G.S., confound them. 1954 J. Masters Bhowani Junction vii. 62 She got on the push bike. It was a heavy ugly thing..what the Army calls a G.S. bicycle. |
| 1927 Jrnl. Exper. Psychol. X. 206 The mucous surfaces manifest no electrical charges corresponding to the *G.S.R. 1964 Philos. Rev. LXXIII. 204 He exhibits no change in GSR, perspiration, and so forth. |
| 1966 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. 1964 xlii. 5 Gran turismo.. Also *GT. 1968 W. Garner Deep, Deep Freeze xx. 192 He saw the red Ferrari 330 GT coupé in his rear mirror. |
| 1839 Daily Eastern Argus (Portland, Maine) 17 May 2/2 *G.T.—This is said to be a common mode of making Sheriff's returns in the South West. It means, ‘Gone to Texas’. 1839 Georgia Messenger (Macon, Ga.) 1 Aug. 2/6 G.T.T.—General Nathaniel Smith..has fled to Texas, with from $70,000 to $100,000 of Uncle Sam's money in his pocket. 1884 (title) G.T.T. Gone to Texas. Letters from our boys, ed. by Thomas Hughes. 1949 Sat. Even. Post 4 June 30/2 That famous old initialed forwarding address: ‘G.T.T.’ |
| 1979, 1983 *GUT [see unified ppl. a. 2]. 1984 Nature 11 Oct. 508/1 Many GUTs exist, and some have a property of profound cosmological importance. |
| 1905 H. G. Wells Kipps v. 106 ‘I suppose the G.V.—’ began Kipps. ‘He knows,’ said the housekeeper. |
| 1879 C. L. Dodgson Let. 24 Oct. in S. D. Collingwood Life & Lett. L. Carroll (1898) xi. 413 The young lady, who was travelling on the G.W. Railway. 1889 E. Dowson Let. 18 Oct. (1967) 109, I bought it at Truro coming up the G.W.R. 1934 Discovery Nov. 314/2 Many expresses on the L.M.S. and G.W.R. now load up to 500 tons or over. 1970 R. B. Wilson (title) Go Great Western. A history of GWR publicity. |
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Add:
[III.] [f.] G7 (also
G-7), Group of Seven (see *
group n. 3 h).
| 1986 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 29 Sept. 23/2 Finance ministers.., meeting as the group of seven (G-7), said in a joint statement they agreed to ‘close and continuous coordination of economic policy during the period ahead.’ 1986 Ibid. 30 Sept. 23/2 Buying support from West Germany's central bank was believed to have arrested the US dollar's decline in Asia following the G7 meeting in Washington over the weekend. 1989 U.S. News & World Rep. 26 June 54/1 Secretary James Baker..got the G-7 nations—Japan, West Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Canada and the U.S.—to agree to act in unison to weaken the dollar's value. 1993 Times 7 July 11/1 America and Japan yesterday failed to reach a deal on a bilateral trading agreement in one of the early setbacks on the eve of the G7 summit in Tokyo. |
g. G-spot = Gräfenberg spot s.v. *
Gräfenberg n. Freq.
fig.| 1982 A. K. Ladas et al. G Spot i. 21 As a result of stimulation of the G spot, women often have a series of orgasms. 1983 S. Kitzinger Woman's Experience of Sex ii. 56 The fanfare about the G-spot..was the claim that women, too, could ejaculate in orgasm. 1988 New Republic 25 Apr. 42/3 This is what happens when you get carried away in massaging the great American g-spot (‘g’, in this case, for greed). 1991 Independent 5 Jan. 22/3 The first act was a disaster orchestrally, with any number of musical G-spots whizzing by unnoticed by conductor Michael Lloyd. |
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▸
G8 n. (also
G-8)
= Group of Eight n. at
group n. Additions.
| 1988 Inter Press Service Newswire (Nexis) 20 Oct. (heading) Latin America: New members would make *G-8 more representative. 1994 Toronto Star 10 July a2/1 Russian President Boris Yeltsin is being invited to Halifax next year as a full partner in an expanded one-day G-8 political summit. 1998 Independent 18 May 18/1 The G8 supports ‘the speedy and determined extension of debt relief to more countries’, but only within the terms of existing policy. |
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▸
GABA n. Biochem. = gamma-aminobutyric acid n. at
gamma n. Additions.
| 1951 Industr. & Engin. Chem. Mar. 614/1 It appears that alanine and γ-aminobutyric acid commonly are present in about equal quantities... Table VI. Estimated Composition of Amino Acid Fraction... Alanine 10[%] *Gaba 10[%]. 1989 B. Alberts et al. Molecular Biol. Cell (ed. 2) xix. 1084 GABA and glycine are thought to be the major transmitters that mediate fast inhibition in the vertebrate central nervous system. 1999 Times 25 Aug. 5/2 Patients with anxiety disorders have a lower number of GABA receptors in parts of the brain involved with responses to fear. 2005 I. McEwan Saturday ii. 91 There remains in a portion of his thoughts a droning, pedestrian diagnostician who notes poor self-control, emotional lability, explosive temper, suggestive of reduced levels of GABA among the appropriate binding sites on striatal neurons. |
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▸
G and T n. (also
G. and T.,
G. & T.,
G&T, and with lower-case initials) (a drink of) gin and tonic.
| 1960 J. Raymond Doge of Dover 105 The woman..setting down her empty g. and t. glass and moving off. 2004 E. Reid D.B. v. 128 They..pulled straight Republican at the polls, and let on after a few too many Gibsons or G&Ts that they still enjoyed sex. |
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▸
GDP n. Biochem. the purine nucleotide guanosine 5{p}-diphosphate, which is the metabolic precursor of GTP and is involved in a variety of cellular processes as a substrate, product, or regulatory agent.
| 1954 R. B. Hurlbert et al. in Jrnl. Biol. Chem. 209 46 For reference, the positions of orthophosphate and orotic acid are noted, as well as the positions of..guanosine-5{p}-diphosphate and triphosphate (*GDP and GTP). 1999 W. R. Loewenstein Touchstone of Life x. 224 (caption) The cycle starts anew, and GTP is broken down to GDP and α leaves the adenylate in GTP-bound form. |
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▸
GI n. Physiol. and
Med. = glycaemic index n. at glycaemia
n. Additions.
| 1985 Diabetic Med. 2 371 The glycaemic index (*GI) showed considerable variability within each subject group. 2002 Observer 27 Jan. (Life Suppl.) 72/1 As expected, foodstuffs packed full of refined sugar such as soft drinks, biscuits and confectionery have been found to have high GIs. |
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▸
GLB adj. and
n. (also with lower-case initials) gay, lesbian, or bisexual; also (
occas.) as
n.;
cf. LGB adj. at
L n. Additions.
| 1990Re: Am I out Yet? in soc.motss (Usenet newsgroup) 30 Sept. I bet a lot of *GLB people would include having felt sexuality = sex as a major stage in their personal histories. 1992 Cornell Daily Sun (Ithaca, NY) 15 Oct. 5/1 Bill Clinton wants to turn your son gay. He advocates civil rights for gays, lesbians and bisexuals. He goes so far as to consider GLB's to be on equal footing with human beings. 2005 Hosp. Business Week (Nexis) 17 Apr. 24 While GLB respondents (18% overall) and lesbians (9%) think that HIV/AIDS deserves the most attention, fitness is also high on their list. |
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GLBT adj. and
n. (also with lower-case initials) gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered; also (
occas.) as
n.;
cf. LGBT adj. at
L n. Additions.
| 1993Bisexual Identity & Community in soc.bi (Usenet newsgroup) 9 Jan. I think that the identity and the community should be closely examined in order to give the movement and all bisexuals a strong and mature place in the *GLBT community. 1997 S. Raffo Queerly Classed 11 What do the terms gay community, gay and lesbian community, glbt community, or queer community mean to you? Where do you or don't you see these communities? 2004 N.Y. Times Mag. 19 Sept. 96/1 (advt.) They are joined by organizations of..gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered employees, known collectively as GLBT; religious minorities; and a host of other grass-roots groups. |
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GM n. (also
G.M.)
Business and
Sport (chiefly
N. Amer.) general manager.
| 1940 Railroad Mag. Apr. 44/2 *G.M., general manager. 1952 Newark (Ohio) Advocate & Amer. Tribune 4 Jan. 13/5 The Yankee GM took this to mean that the Yankees were regarded as having..a terrible outfield. 1991 E. C. Nebel Managing Hotels Effectively viii. 201, I was studying Richard James' day-to-day management style four months after he became GM of the Apollo Hotel. 2005 Vanity Fair Apr. 268/3 Epstein is one of the two G.M.'s in the game who are routinely recognized on the road. |
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GM n. (a) rare genetic manipulation (
cf. quot. 1989);
(b) = genetically modified adj. at
genetically adv. Special uses (earliest in
GMO).
| 1989 Chem. & Industry (Nexis) 3 July 412 Within the last 16 years, the introduction of the techniques of genetic manipulation, GM (genetic engineering or recombinant DNA technology) has extended greatly the scope of biotechnology. 1992 Biotechnol. Business News 16 Oct. 4/2 The UK government's Food Advisory Committee is likely to have finalised guidelines on the labelling of *GM foods by the time the study group reports in the latter half of next year. 1998 Independent 6 July i. 8/4 Ministers now face intense lobbying from the 15 multinational companies running GM crop trials in the UK. |
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GML n. Computing Generalized Mark-up Language, a precursor of SGML and HTML, in which the mark-up specifies the function or structure of an area of text (such as chapter, heading level, etc.), not its visual formatting.
| [1973 C. Goldfarb IBM Cambridge Sci. Center Techn. Rep. G320-2094 (Electronic text) v., This analysis of the markup process suggests that it should be possible to design a generalized markup language so that markup would be useful for more than one application or computer system.] 1978 (title) Document composition facility: generalized markup language (*GML) users guide. (IBM SH20-9160.) 2000 J. Gillies & R. Cailliau How Web was Born iv. 160 Angle brackets are a feature of a markup language called Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) that evolved from another called GML. |
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GML n. Computing Geographic (or Geography) Mark-up Language, a format of XML used for the display and transmission of geographic information.
| 2000Geogr. Markup Lang. (GML) v1.0 in www.opengeospatial.org (O.E.D. Archive) The Geography Markup Language (*GML) is an XML encoding for the transport and storage of geographic information, including both the geometry and properties of geographic features. 2004 GEO World (Nexis) 1 Apr. 54 The handling of geographic features is where SOAP and XML intersect with OGC's geometry types and GML. |
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GMO n. genetically modified organism.
| 1989 Chem. & Industry 19 June 358 The UK's loose regulatory control over *GMO releases has so far operated on the basis of voluntary notifications. 1991 Biotechnol. Business News (Nexis) 28 June Genhaz stems directly from suggestions in the RCEP's 13th report on ‘The release of genetically-engineered organisms into the environment’ that the assessment procedure, Hazop, be adapted to GMO releases. 2000 N.Y. Times 9 Apr. iii. 2/3 Lately, many products..are being labeled as kosher (which many customers perceive as healthier) or ‘GMO Free’—free of genetically modified organisms. |
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GNVQ n. Educ. = General National Vocational Qualification n. at
general adj. and
n. Additions;
cf. NVQ n. at
N n. Initialisms 1.
| 1991 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 9 Oct. 8 It is intended that a single *GNVQ, normally requiring two years' study, should be the equivalent of two A-level passes. 1994 Guardian 25 Aug. 2/4 There is no time limit to GNVQs, which are tested by continuous assessment, but these awards typically take two years, the council says. 2000 Daily Tel. 16 Feb. 7/2 Mr Blunkett, who will today announce that Advanced GNVQs..are to be renamed ‘vocational A-levels’, said that Britain needed to break out of its ‘culture of anti-vocationalism’. |
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GPA n. N. Amer. Educ. = grade point average n. at
grade n. Additions.
| 1947 Marriage & Family Living 9 11/2 (heading) Grade Point Averages of Undergraduate Students at the University of Wisconsin... *G.P.A. 1975 Advocate (Newark, Ohio) 3 Nov. 22/1 Many students believe they're lost without a GPA of 3.5 or better out of a perfect 4. 2004 D. Martin & B. Martin Nevada in your Future iii. 60 Admission requirements: High school GPA of 2.0, high school transcript, essay and two personal recommendations. |
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GPRS n. Telecomm. = General Packet Radio Service n. at
general adj. and
n. Additions.
| 1994 Wireless Networks: Proc. ICCC Regional Meeting Wireless Computer Networks III. 929/1 ETSI [= European Telecommunications Standards Institute] is considering a possible introduction of a General Packet Radio Service (*GPRS) in GSM. 1999 Guardian 22 June (Education section) 9/2 GPRS will enable phone networks to deliver far more information than previously possible. 2002 Time 18 Nov. 121/3 By adopting the GPRS high-speed data service, the T-Mobile Pocket PC can offer its HTML browser. |
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GPS n. = Global Positioning System n. at
global adj. Additions.
| 1974 Global Positioning System (GPS) Final Rep. (National Techn. Information Service) A. i. v. 1 The Global Positioning System (*GPS) is a space-based radio navigation system which will provide suitably equipped GPS users with the capacity to precisely determine three-dimensional position, velocity and time information. 1993 Discover Oct. 20/3 He walked around the campus with a GPS receiver, determining his precise latitude and longitude every ten seconds. 1996 Chesapeake Bay Mag. Sept. 37/2 A GPS or Loran will be useful to get you close to where you plan to fish. 2001 Wired Dec. 159/1 The operator called Jaber's vehicle and requested GPS data, then updated the car's position by pinging it every minute. |
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GSM n.initialism
Telecomm. Global System for Mobile, a widely used standardized international system for digital mobile telecommunication.
| 1986 Times 20 Feb. 17/7 The European Conference of Post and Telecommunication Administrations..has already agreed to reserve certain frequencies for a future pan-European mobile radio service, which it calls the *GSM System. 1993 Computing 26 Aug. 9/5 Next Wednesday, Vodafone launches the first nationwide GSM mobile phone service. 2002 Time 28 Jan. 31/1 Europe and Asia have a single standard for cell-phone service..while the U.S. supports four competing and incompatible standards—CDMA, GSM, iDEN and TDMA. |
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GSOH n. (also
G.S.O.H.,
gsoh) chiefly
Brit. (
orig. and chiefly in personal advertisements) good sense of humour;
cf. SOH n. at
S n.1 Additions.
| 1993 Time Out 1 Dec. 147/2 (advt.) Blue eyed Brunette..seeks genuine male, *gsoh. 1997 Eastern Eye 14 Feb. 20/1 (advt.) Seeking Muslim female..honest, sincere, kind-hearted, outgoing, GSOH and good blend of Islamic/Western values, with view to marriage. 2000 F. Bleasdale Rubber Gloves or Jimmy Choos v. 111 Justin was short but he made me laugh—he definitely had a GSOH—and William was posh: he looked like he had money. |
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GTP n. Biochem. the purine nucleotide guanosine 5{p}-triphosphate, which takes part in the synthesis of RNA and is also involved in other cellular processes which utilize the energy released upon its hydrolysis to GDP, such as protein biosynthesis.
| 1954 R. B. Hurlbert et al. in Jrnl. Biol. Chem. 209 46 Isolation of guanosine-5{p}-phosphates (GMP, *GDP, and GTP). 1992 Sci. Amer. July 39/1 (in figure) After a few seconds, the alpha subunit converts GTP to GDP, thereby inactivating itself. The alpha subunit will then reassociate with the beta-gamma complex. |
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GUI n. Brit. /
ˈguːi/,
U.S. /
ˈgui/
Computing = graphical user interface n. at
graphical adj. Additions (in
quot. 1986: graphics-orientated user interface).
| 1986 Economist 12 July 10 Conventional wisdom in the industry is that people want something like the Apple Macintosh's ‘graphics-orientated user interface’ or *GUI (pronounced gooey). 1989 Byte Aug. 114/3 The Macintosh has made a great contribution to computing: graphical user interfaces (sometimes abbreviated GUI). 1994 Computers & Humanities 28 126/1 Searching in this package requires memorizing too many arbitrary and arcane symbols (here again a GUI toolbar would simplify). 2000 ‘Dr. K.’ Compl. Hacker's Handk. ii. 25 X-Windows... Not really an operating system as such, but a GUI extension to UNIX and LINUX. |