M

M
  (ɛm)
  the thirteenth letter of the modern and twelfth of the ancient Roman alphabet, represents historically the Greek mū and the Semitic mēm. The Phœnician form of the letter is 𐤌, whence the early Gr. and L. {egmu1}, {egmu2}, M. Its phonetic value has varied little; in Eng. it has always expressed what was doubtless its original sound, that of the bilabial nasal consonant, which is normally voiced, though when it is followed by an unvoiced consonant it has an unvoiced ending. Like the other nasals, m is capable of being used as a sonant or vowel, denoted by ((ə)m) in the phonetic notation here employed; but in Eng. this occurs only after (ð) and (z) at the end of words (of Gr. etymology), as rhythm, spasm, schism, and the suffix -ism; in these words many speakers substitute (-əm). The letter is never silent, exc. initially before n in Gr. derivatives, as mnemonic.
  I. 1. a. The letter and its sound.

c 1000 ælfric Gram. iii. (Z.) 6 Semivocales syndon seofan: f, l, m, n, r, s, x. 1530 Palsgr. Introd. 17 These thre letters M, N or E fynall..be the very and onely causes why these thre vowelles A, E, O, be formed in the brest and sounded by the nose. a 1637 B. Jonson Eng. Gram. iv, M..is pronounc'd with a kind of humming inward, the lips clos'd. Open, and full in the beginning: obscure in the end: and meanly in the midd'st. 1710 Steele & Addison Tatler No. 260 ¶5 Which would..pronounce the Letters M or N and in short, do all the Functions of a Genuine and Natural Nose. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Quintilian observes, that the M sometimes ends Latin words, but never Greek. 1854 Bushnan in Circ. Sci. (c 1865) I. 288/1 The mouth is closed by the lips while m is pronounced. 1900 Pilot 3 Mar. 28 The middle stage of the evolution of the eagle, namely, its transformation from the Gothic M to the fleur-de-lis.

  b. M roof: see quot. 1825.

1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) II. 246/2 Fig. 2. Exhibits an M roof. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 573 In roofs of rectangular buildings..a valley is introduced, which makes the vertical section in the form of the letter M, or rather an inverted W; hence it has obtained the name of an M roof. 1842–59 Gwilt Encycl. Archit. Gloss.

  2. Printing. = em. Comb. m-thick: see quot.

1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xiii. §1 Some [types] are m thick; by m thick is meant m Quadrat thick, which is just so thick as the Body is high. 1863 Daily News 10 Aug., Compositors are allowed 60 cents per thousand m's (not reckoning by n's as in England). 1892 Academy 3 Sept. 199/3 (advt.), 49,000 American ems (equal to 98,000 English ens) were set in eight hours.

  II. Symbolical uses.
  3. Used like the other letters of the alphabet to denote serial order; applied e.g. to the thirteenth (or more usually the twelfth, either I or J being often omitted) group or section in classification, the twelfth sheet of a book or quire of a MS., etc.

1850 Forshall & Madden Wyclif's Bible Pref. 29 The MS. M (Queen's Coll. 23). 1899 Blackw. Mag. Sept. 354/1, I to M are the most original passages of the hymn. 1900 Dundee Advert. 21 Mar. 5, M Battery Royal Horse Artillery.

  4. The Roman numeral symbol for: A thousand.
  (In the 15–16th c. it could be substituted for the numeral word in any context; it is now rare exc. in dates.)

1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy i. ix, There came..seuen M knightes. 1535 Coverdale Judg. xii. 6 There fell of Ephraim two & fortye M. 1553 Short Catech. 62 b, We be feble, weake, subiect to a thousand periles, a M. temptations. 1603 Owen Pembrokeshire (1892) 139 The M of oysters at the waterside is vsuallie sold for x{supd} or xij{supd}.

  5. Further symbolic uses in science. a. In Physics M is used to designate the series of X-ray emission lines of longer wavelength than the L-series obtained by exciting the atoms of any particular element (cf. L 7 a); these arise from electron transitions to the atomic orbit of third-lowest energy, with principal quantum number 3, which is thus termed the M-shell, and electrons in this shell M-electrons. M-capture, the capture by an atomic nucleus of one of the M-electrons.

1911 C. G. Barkla in Phil. Mag. XXII. 408 From the similarity of the behaviour of all the elements we must then admit..the possibility of further series M, N, &c. 1923 H. L. Brose tr. Sommerfeld's Atomic Struct. & Spectral Lines iii. 145 Electronic transitions that end in the M-shell, furnish differences of energy that correspond to emissions of lines of the M-series. 1924 Phil. Mag. XLVIII. 722 Krypton..has 2 K, 8 L, 18 M, and 8 N electrons. 1924 R. W. G. Wyckoff Struct. Crystals ii. 72 The M-lines have been observed from the elements from dysprosium..to uranium. 1934 H. E. White Introd. Atomic Spectra xvi. 306 Like the K and L series lines, the M series lines follow nearly straight lines on a Moseley diagram. 1968 Physical Rev. CLXVI. 944/2 The predicted exchange–overlap correction..is even larger for M capture than for L capture. 1970 E. P. Bertin Princ. & Pract. X-Ray Spectrometric Analysis i. 27 An electron that has enough energy to expel a K electron obviously can also expel any L or M electron.

  b. In Physics m and M denote magnetic quantum numbers, corresponding to the component of an angular momentum (often indicated by a subscript) in some physically distinguished direction (usu. that of a magnetic field). [Introduced by A. Landé 1921, in Zeitschr. f. Physik V. 233.]
  m is usually used for a single particle, and M for an assemblage of particles.

1923 Jrnl. Optical Soc. Amer. VII. 415 The numbers at the left show the magnetic quantum number m characterizing each level. 1926 Proc. R. Soc. A. CXII. 80 It is necessary also..to take into consideration the effect of the orientation of orbits with respect to an imaginary magnetic field, and such orientation involves a fourth quantum number m, which in turn is itself composite and is equal to the vector sum of two subsidiary quantum numbers ma and ms. 1962 H. D. Bush Atomic & Nucl. Physics ii. 38 It is necessary to characterize electrons in atoms by four quantum numbers n, l, ml, ms. 1967 W. R. Hindmarsh Atomic Spectra i. vi. 72 We can also perform a simple calculation for the case where the Zeeman splitting is large compared with the hyperfine structure but still small compared with the fine structure. In this case the quantum numbers MJ and MI (which defines the z-component of the nuclear spin) are well defined, but not J and I.

  III. 6. Abbreviations. (Abbreviations given here with the full stop are frequently used without it.) a. M. = various proper names, as Mark, Margaret, etc.; M. † = Majesty; used in ancient criminal procedure (see quots. 1487, 1727–41); M. = member, as in M.B.E., Member(ship) of the Order of the British Empire, M.C., Member of Congress, M.I.A.E., Member of the Institute of Automobile Engineers, M.I.C.E., Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, M.I.E.E., Member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, M.I.M.E., Member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, Member of the Institute of Mining Engineers, M.I. Mech. E., Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, M.I. Struct. E., Member of the Institution of Structural Engineers, M.J.I., Member of the Institute of Journalists, M.L.A., Member of the Legislative Assembly, M.L.C., Member of the Legislative Council, M.P., (see as main entry), M.P.P., (in Canada) Member of Provincial Parliament, M.R.C.P., Member of the Royal College of Physicians, M.R.C.S., Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, M.V.O., Member of the Royal Victorian Order; M. Mus. = metronome; M. = middling: of paper, showing slight imperfections; M. Math. = modulus; M. = morphine; M. or m. in astronomical tables, etc. = meridian or meridional; also (after the numeral twelve) = L. meridies noon (cf. A.M., P.M.); M. or m. = million ({pstlg}300 m. = three hundred million pounds); m. = mass, in Mech.; m. = metre; m. = minute; m. in log-books = mist; m. = molar, in dental formulæ; m. Mus. = It. mano or F. main (as mano destra, main droite, right hand), mezzo (as mf = mezzoforte), in organ music, manual; m- (Chem.) = meta-¹ 6 b; M.A., mental age; M.A.D., MAD, magnetic anomaly (or airborne) detector (or detection); M. and D., medicine and duty, marked on a serviceman's sick report when he is feigning illness; M. and V., meat and vegetable(s); M.A.P., Ministry of Aircraft Production; M.A.S.H. (U.S.), Mobile Army Surgical Hospital; M.A.T.S. (U.S.), Military Air Transport Service; M.C., Military Cross (established 1915); M.C.C., Marylebone Cricket Club, the governing body of English cricket; the official title of touring teams generally deemed to represent England; Mcf, mcf, etc., a thousand cubic feet; so MMcf(d), etc., a million cubic feet (per day); MCP, male chauvinist pig; M.C.P.A., 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic-acid (salts and esters of which are used in sprays as herbicides); M.C.R., middle common room (in the University of Oxford); M.C.U. (Photogr.), medium close-up; M.D., Managing Director; m.d., mental, or mentally, deficient or defective; M.D., Musical Director; M-day, mobilization day; m.e. (Bibliogr.), marbled edges; M.E., medical examiner; M.E., Middle English (see English n. 1 b); MEP, Member of the European Parliament; cf. Euro-MP s.v. Euro- 2 b; mF (also mf, etc.), microfarad; M.F., m.f., motherfucker; M.F., machine-finish(ed), (machine 9 c); M.F.N., most favoured nation; M.F.V., m.f.v., motor fleet vessel; motor fishing vessel; M.G., machine-glazed (machine 10); M.G., machine-gun; M.G. (Building), make good; M.G.B. [Russ. Ministérstvo Gosudárstvennoĭ Bezopásnosti], Ministry of State Security; M.G.C., machine-gun company; m.g.d., million gallons per day; M.G.M., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (a film company); freq. attrib., esp. to denote a roaring lion used as a symbol by this company; MHD, magnetohydrodynamic(s); M.H.W., mean high water; M.I., Military Intelligence (followed by numerals which indicate departments); M.I.5, M.I.6, sections of Military Intelligence which (until 1964) dealt with matters of state security; cf. D.I.; M.I., Mounted Infantry; MIA, missing in action; MICR, magnetic ink character recognition; mip, mean indicated pressure; MIRV, multiple independently targeted re-entry vehicle (a type of missile); hence as v. trans., to equip with multiple independently targetable warheads; so MIRVed ppl. adj., MIRVing vbl. n.; M.I.T., Massachusetts Institute of Technology; M.K.S., m.k.s., metre-kilogramme-second; M.L., motor launch; M.L.D., MLD, minimum lethal dose; M.L.F., multilateral force; MLR, minimum lending rate (see minimum a. b); M.L.W., mean low water; M.M., Military Medal (established 1916); m.m.f., M.M.F., magnetomotive force; M.M.P.I., Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory; M.O., mass-observation; M.O., medical officer; m.o., modus operandi; M.O., m.o. (Chem.), molecular orbital; M.O., money order; M. of I., M.O.I., Ministry of Information; M.O.H., Medical Officer of Health; M.O.L., manned orbiting (or orbital) laboratory; MOR (orig. U.S.) = middle-of-the-road 2; M.O.S. (U.S. Mil.), Military Occupational Specialty; MOS(T), metal-oxide-semiconductor (transistor); M.O.T., MoT, Ministry of Transport; also ellipt., a Ministry of Transport test to establish the roadworthiness of a motor vehicle; also attrib.; m.p., M.P., melting point; M.P., military police(man); m.p.g., miles per gallon; m.p.h., miles per hour; so as v. intr. (nonce), to travel; M.Q. (Photogr.), metol-hydroquinone; M.R.A., Moral Rearmament, Buchmanism; M.R.B.M., medium range ballistic missile; mRNA († MRNA), messenger RNA; M.R.P. [Fr. Mouvement Républicain Populaire], Popular Republican Movement, the Christian Democratic Party of France under the Fourth Republic; M.S. (Photogr.), medium shot; M.S., minesweeper; M.S., morphine (sulphate); MS, multiple sclerosis; MSG, monosodium glutamate; MSH, melanocyte-stimulating hormone; M.S.I. [It. Movimento Sociale Italiano], Italian Social Movement, the Fascist Party of Italy under the Republic; M.T., machine translation; M.T., motor transport; M.T.B., motor torpedo boat; M.T.C., Mechanized Transport Corps; M.T.I., m.t.i., moving-target indication (a radar system that gives prominence to moving objects); M.V.D. [Russ. Ministérstvo Vn{uacu}trennikh Del], Ministry of Internal Affairs, replacing the N.K.V.D.; MX (U.S. Mil.) [f. missile, experimental], an experimental intercontinental ballistic missile with multiple warheads, designed to be easily movable from one location to another; also MX missile; M.Y.O.B., mind your own business. Also M and B, , , ¹, Ms², musa².

1869 D. G. Rossetti in Mackail W. Morris (1899) I. 204 The *Ms [= Morrises] at Ems.

1487 Act 4 Hen. VII, c. 13 Every suche persone so convicted for murdre, to be marked with a *M. upon the brawne of the lefte thumbe. 1581 J. Hamilton in Cath. Tract. (S.T.S.) 75/3 His thankfull spreit tovart your M. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl., M, in law, the brand or stigma of a person convicted of manslaughter, and admitted to the benefit of clergy.

1599 A. M. tr. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physick 360 Take vnpeeled Barlye *M iiij.

1727–41 Chambers Cycl., *M, in astronomical tables,..is used for Meridional or southern, sometimes for Meridies or mid⁓day. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxxiv. 129 At twelve m., it bore N.W. ½ N.

1889 G. M'Gowan tr. Bernthsen's Text-bk. Org. Chem. xvii. 329 The xylene of coal tar consists of a mixture of the three isomers, *m-xylene being present to the extent of 70 to 85 p.c. 1929 L. A. Coles Introd. Mod. Org. Chem. xxvii. 327 m-Dinitrobenzene is always prepared by the nitration of benzene in two stages. 1968 R. O. C. Norman Princ. Org. Synthesis xi. 368 The t-butyl group is removed by reaction with more of the starting m-dialkylbenzene. 1971 Nomencl. Org. Chem. (I.U.P.A.C.) (ed. 3) A. 18 The position of substituents is indicated by numbers except that o- (ortho), m- (meta) and p- (para) may be used in place of 1,2-, 1,3-, and 1,4-, respectively, when only two substituents are present.

1894 Amer. Dict. Printing & Bookmaking 354/1 *M paper, paper which is not up to the highest standard of the manufacturer. 1937 E. J. Labarre Dict. Paper 170/1 M paper is that which is not up to the first sorting, but in which the imperfections are trivial. 1948 Words into Type 545 M's or M paper. Paper not up to the standard quality.

1934 Webster, *M,..mega- (million). 1955 Times 3 May 10/3 (heading) $1M. declined. Ibid. 9 May 8/2 $28m. for aid to Spain.

a 1912 W. T. Rogers Dict. Abbrev. (1913), *M., morphin. 1914 Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 60 M, or Morph, used by morphine fiends. Sulphate of morphia. 1922 M (= morphine) [see C C III. 3)]. 1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 74/1 M., morphine (a white alkaloid derived from opium). 1953 W. Burroughs Junkie xii. 125 When I have an H or M shooting habit I am non-sociable.

1940 R. S. Woodworth Psychol. (ed. 12) iv. 111 Of the two measures, *MA and IQ, which is the better index of intelligence? 1960 J. B. Carroll in Saporta & Bastian Psycholinguistics (1961) 340/1 There has been much interest in the relation between language maturity and measures of intellectual functioning such as MA or IQ.

1952 Coronet May 78/1 Scientists..thought, a compasslike magnetic device could be made to respond to even as small a body of metal as a submarine... U.S. Navy engineers tried dangling the tiny magnetic element on the end of a hundred-foot cable, through which electrical impulses traveled to a recording instrument in the plane. It worked, and *MAD (magnetic air-borne detector) was soon helping our Navy send U-boats to the bottom. 1967 Sunday Mail Mag. (Brisbane) 22 Jan. 6/3 The long metal shape of a sub shows up distinctly as MAD passes over the hull. 1968 A. Hine Magnetic Compasses & Magnetometers xi. 308 The purpose of M.A.D. is to find small irregularities in the general pattern of the Earth's magnetic field, which are associated with ferro-magnetic deposits of rock and oil-bearing strata.

1917 A. G. Empey Over Top 299 *M. and D., what the doctor marks on the ‘sicker’ or sick report when he thinks Tommy is faking sickness. 1919 W. H. Downing Digger Dial. 33 M. & D., medicine and duty. A familiar sick-parade slogan. 1935 G. Blake Shipbuilders 256 If that wound's not healed by to-morrow it's M. and D. for you.

1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 148 *M and V, a familiar expression for the tinned meat and vegetable ration. 1944 R.A.F. Jrnl. Aug. 260 We are given..a hot tin of M. & V. (Meat and Vegetable: you pour it into your mess tin and eat it with a spoon). 1944 A. Jacob Traveller's War 273 The spearhead of the Eighth Army will eat a Christmas dinner of tinned meat and vegetable stew (the famous ‘M. and V.’), biscuits and tinned fruit and tea. 1972 A. Neave Flames of Calais iii. 34 By nightfall my troop was cooking M & V beneath the plane trees of the market place.

1942 Partridge Dict. Abbrev. 60/1 *M.A.P. 1946 Happy Landings (Air Ministry) July 1/2 Returning to England as Controller of Research and Development at M.A.P. 1953 Economist 14 Nov. 505/2 The Ministry of Aircraft Production. The problems that will confront the Atomic Energy Corporation have a family likeness..to those of MAP.

1950 Army Information Digest Dec. 51 Critical cases are flown by..helicopter direct to Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals (*MASH). 1970 Monthly Film Bull. (Brit. Film Inst.) July 140/2 M-A-S-H, U.S.A., 1969 Director: Robert Altman... Hawkeye Pierce, Duke Forrest and Trapper John McIntyre arrive to join the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in Korea, and are kept busy operating on wounded men sent back from the front lines.

1955 R. J. Schwartz Compl. Dict. Abbrev. 109/1 *MATS. 1958 Times 24 July 9/7 M.A.T.S...has to have up-to-date aircraft capable of carrying freight as well as troops.

1917 Illustr. London News 30 June 759/1 The five classes of the Order [of the British Empire] are:..4. Officers (O.B.E.), 5. Members (*M.B.E.). 1936 Discovery Sept. 292/1 Major A. B. Klein, M.B.E. 1955 Times 8 July 15/2 Mr. Stace has recently been honoured with the M.B.E. and we are all extremely gratified that such an honour should have been conferred on another stalwart of the industry. 1972 Times 6 Dec. 32/3 In proud and ever loving memory..of Capt. John Henry Brunt, V.C., M.C...and his beloved father, T. H. Brunt, M.B.E.

1832 Boston Even. Transcript 29 June 2/2 Two bundles were lately received at the Opeloasas post office, franked ‘H. A. Bullard, *M.C.’ which contained two Marseilles vests for children in that parish. 1904 N.Y. Even. Post 23 Sept. 5 John Wesley Gaines, M.C., made a careful study some years ago of the evils of a President's eligibility to reëlection.

a 1917 M.C. [see D.S.O. (D III. 3)]. 1969 S. Mays Fall out Officers viii. 51 He's only got one eye and a lump shot aff his knee; both shot aff when he got his M.C.

1862 Lillywhite's Cricket Scores I. 128 Neither the *M.C.C. books or ‘Bentley’ gave the name of the ninth batsman on the M.C.C. side. 1972 Times 6 Dec. 11/1 MCC's outcricket tightened up after an alarming start.

1960 V. B. Guthrie Petroleum Products Handbk. iii. 43 *Mcf, 1,000 cu ft. Ibid. xvii. 18 MCF, abbreviation for thousand cubic feet. 1975 Economist 30 Aug. 8/3 Someone has interpreted mcf as million cubic feet whereas according to American practice this means 1,000 cubic feet.

1971 Publishers' Weekly 1 Nov. 22 *MCPs, you should know by now, are Male Chauvinist Pigs, an epithet that has grown so common it is now abbreviated.

1946 G. Blackman in Jrnl. Ministry of Agric. LIII. 17 These names..are unlikely to be remembered, so that the abbreviations *MCPA and DCPA can perhaps serve better. Ibid., White charlock, corn buttercup and shepherd's needle are best destroyed with MCPA. 1958 New Biol. XXVI. 45 The selective growth regulating herbicides such as M.C.P.A...and 2,4-D..are the most commonly used herbicides on pastures and the buttercup species differ in their sensitivity to these. 1971 Arable Farmer Feb. 12/2 MCPA, discovered during the war and still widely used alone or in mixture for cereals.

1966 Rep. Comm. Inquiry Univ. Oxf. II. 483 For those who enjoy the college atmosphere and who belong to a college which has a *MCR and which is usefully situated in relation to their living accommodation or place of work, this can largely supply their need.

1959 W. S. Sharps Dict. Cinematogr. 110/2 *M.C.U., abbreviation for Medium Close-up.

1955 R. J. Schwartz Compl. Dict. Abbrev. 110/2 *MD..; Managing Director. 1963 Times 14 May p. i/4 (Advt.), Do give this a little thought and perhaps you might have a word with the Managing Directors of some of the subsidiary companies... Have you talked to the M.D.s about it?

1942 Partridge Dict. Abbrev. 61/1 *M.D.,..mentally deficient. 1968 ‘L. Black’ Outbreak xiv. 137, I just don't see..how the m.d. ward got infected. 1971 Oz May 5/1 He is classified in Orange County..as MDSO (mentally defective sexual offender).

1927 Melody Maker Apr. 397/1 It would be useless for any *M.D. to call a rehearsal and run through music before seeing the ‘subject’ he has to accompany. 1967 Stage 2 Mar. 3/2 Ernest Woodhouse the MD of Creswell Colliery Band.

1937 Reader's Digest Aug. 97 *M-day in America. 1970 N. Armstrong et al. First on Moon i. 18 That was M day, and a good one to remember.

a 1912 W. T. Rogers Dict. Abbrev. (1913) 123/1 *m.e. (book), marbled edges. 1952 J. Carter ABC for Bk.-Collectors 12 M.e., marbled edges.

1961 Webster, *ME,..medical examiner. 1968 H. Waugh 30 Manhattan East (1969) 120 I'll give your boss the M.E.'s verdict as soon as I get it.

1874 H. Sweet in Trans. Philol. Soc. 1873–4 526 The word gréét [in the eighteenth century] = *M.E. grèèt (O.E. greāt) is an example of exceptional retention of the older éé. 1927 Englische Studien 10 Nov. 74 The investigations which have been published hitherto with a view of classifying the ME. dialects by the aid of place-name material. 1972 M. L. Samuels Ling. Evol. v. 85 The plural -eþ had been replaced by -en in the Midlands, and early ME texts from East Anglia show this feature as their only distinction of number.

1976 Times 11 Feb. 14/1 There is no doubt that the British Government can devise a means of electing *MEPs. 1984 Which? June 265/3 MEPs are paid the same as national MPs in their respective countries.

1914 E. A. Dawe Paper 157/2 (index) Machine finish (*M.F.). 1965 S. C. Gilmour Paper (ed. 2) xix. 218 M.F. papers are much used for printing formes of type with line blocks.

1892 C. T. & W. H. Jones Telegr. Connections 15/2 On one end of the condenser will usually be found a stamp like this: 2·5 *M.F. The microfarad (for which M.F. stands) is the one-millionth part of a farad. 1911 L. W. Bishop Wireless Operators' Pocket-Bk. v. 62 The highest capacity of a variable condenser should not be over ·004 mf. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 544/2 mF., µF., abbrev. for micro-farad. 1958 Times Rev. Industry May 32/1 Single phase 26V current in conjunction with a 1·5 mf tuning capacitor.

1969 C. M. Rodgers Songs of Blackbird 38 None of us can relax until the last *m.f.'s Been done in. 1971 B. Malamud Tenants 165 The blacks have to murder you white MF's for cripplin our lives. 1973 S. Henderson Understanding New Black Poetry 44, I am not speaking merely of words like ‘nigger’ and ‘the big M.F.’, as Ron Welburn calls it.

1942 Partridge Dict. Abbrev. 62/1 *M.F.N., most favoured nation. 1961 Times 16 May 15/7 Consequently, the M.F.N. concept is not helpful.

1948 Hansard Commons 8 Mar. 971/1, I hope I shall be able to satisfy the hon. Gentleman with the figures for..the number of fishery protection vessels. We have now..eight ships plus two *M.F.V.s. 1949 P. F. Anson Scots Fisherfolk 84 The fleet has also been increased by the addition of a large number of Admiralty-built, diesel-motor vessels (M.F.V.s), originally used by the Navy, but since allocated to fishermen. 1973 A. MacVicar Painted Doll Affair xiii. 148 They're at sea in that m.f.v. 1974 ‘M. Hebden’ Pride of Dolphins ii. ix. 188 They were moving up astern of a big grey-painted vessel..an ex-naval M.F.V.

1914 E. A. Dawe Paper iv. 25 The paper passing round this heated cylinder is dried, and glazed on one side, hence the term *M.G., or machine-glazed paper. 1937 E. J. Labarre Dict. Paper 170/2 Characteristic of machine glazed papers (abbr. M.G.) is that they are only glazed on one (the under) side, the other being in the (rough) condition in which it comes from the wet end of the machine. 1965 S. C. Gilmour Paper (ed. 2) xix. 236 Litho posters are generally printed on M.G. paper.

1915 D. O. Barnett Let. 8 July 207 I'm going to be *M.-G. officer. 1969 S. Mays Fall out Officers xx. 154 Sergeant Yardley of M.G. Squadron.

1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 544/2 *M.G. (Build.), abbrev. for make good.

1950 Webster Add., *M.G.B. 1974 T. P. Whitney tr. Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago I. i. iv. 145 The MGB wasn't interested in the truth and had no intention of letting anyone out of its grip once he was arrested.

1917 W. Owen Let. 12 Feb. (1967) 433 We have a Canadian,..various *M.G.C.'s, a S.W.B. 1963 F. D. Fawcett Cycl. Initials & Abbrev. 97/2 MGC, Machine Gun Corps, disbanded 1922.

1955 Times 7 July 1/5 (Advt.), The extent of the supply works to be supervised and maintained include the following... Ultimate maximum output of finished water 21·5 *m.g.d.

1935 Ade Let. 27 June (1973) 186 The sad facts in regard to The County Chairman are that *M.G.M. bought the talking rights and recently sold them to Fox. 1952 S. Kauffmann Philanderer (1935) iv. 68 What we want is some kind of gimmick or slogan or handle for the public to tie on to with this thing... Like ‘Ask the man who owns one’. Or the M.G.M. lion. A trade-mark. 1974 W. Garner Big enough Wreath xvi. 250 He'd allowed his id an MGM roar. 1974 P. M. Hubbard Thirsty Evil i. 14 Jimmy was my agent... We had not reached the point yet where he had to haggle with M.G.M. over the film-rights.

1960 Aeroplane XCIX. 837/2 The latter included ion-drive, solar propulsion, plasmajet propulsion, photon-drive, and *MHD (Magneto-hydrodynamic) propulsion. 1965 New Scientist 3 June 652/2 By passing the exhaust gases from the MHD generator into a conventional steam-raising plant, an overall thermal efficiency of 55 per cent might be achieved. 1974 Nature 1 Mar. 89/3 In the post-war years Ferraro did much to encourage research in MHD.

[1920 Tide Tables (Admiralty, Hydrographic Dept.) I. p. xxi (heading) M.H.W.S...M.H.W.N.] 1923 N. Davey Stud. Tidal Power iv. 63 Taking the *M.H.W. and M.L.W. areas of the estuary at Salcombe..the half-tide outflow system will utilise a mean average of 49% of the maximum volume of water above M.L.W.S. level. 1964 V. J. Chapman Coastal Vegetation ii. 19 It is possible to regard the littoral as extending from mean high water (M.H.W.) to mean low water (M.L.W.); alternatively, it can be defined as reaching from extreme high water mark (E.H.W.M.) to extreme low water mark (E.L.W.M.). Most of the early ecological work is based upon one of these two definitions.

1939 D. Wheatley Sixty Days to Live vi. 58 ‘It's a matter which may affect the welfare of the whole nation. I really mean that’. ‘Well, if you put it that way. Is this *M.I.5, or something?’ 1940 H. Innes Trojan Horse ii. 32 The search of a representative of M.I.5. 1963 V. Gielgud Goggle-Box Affair xiii. 126 He ultimately opted for Polish nationality, promising apparently to do occasional jobs for M.I.6 on the side. 1964 M.I.5 [see D.I. (D III. 3)]. 1965 B. Sweet-Escott Baker St. Irreg. iii. 85 M.I.9..had the job of helping allied prisoners of war to escape.

1901 Kipling Five Nations (1903) 164 (title) *M.I. 1929 J. Buchan Courts of Morning ii. i. 177 They've first-rate cavalry, but indifferent M.I.

1946 Newsweek 6 May 36/2 From D Day until May 6, 1945..more than 10 per cent of the total casualties were listed as *MIA. 1970 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 8 Feb. 5/1 Diana O'Grady has groped through 34 months as the wife of an MIA (missing in action).

a 1912 W. T. Rogers Dict. Abbrev. (1913) 125/1 *M.I.A.E., Member of the Institute of Automobile Engineers. 1935 Discovery Sept. 276 H. Warren, M.I.E.E., M.I.A.E.

1885 List of Subscribers, Classified (United Telephone Co.) (ed. 6) 89 Engineers (Civil)... Lowe J. E., *M.I.C.E., M.I.M.E. (of Bolling & Lowe).

1966 *MICR [see magnetic a. 1]. 1970 O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing iii. 62 MICR readers do not utilize the information contained in the vertical distribution of ink. They analyze only the horizontal distribution.

a 1912 W. T. Rogers Dict. Abbrev. (1913) 125/2 *M.I.E.E., Member of the Institute of Electrical Engineers. 1937 Discovery Apr. p. xxviii/1 Professor John Hollingworth, M.A., D.Sc., F.C.G.I., M.I.E.E.

Ibid., Professor Dempster Smith, M.B.E., M.Sc.Tech., *M.I.M.E.

1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., *M.I.Mech.E.

1961 Webster, *mip. 1962 Engineering 23 Nov. 662/2 A series of marine engines of various sizes, all having the high mip pressure of 10·4 kg per sq. cm.

1967 Technology Week 20 Feb. 12/3 A program to demonstrate the feasibility of a solid propellant Post Boost Control System (PBCS) to deliver Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicle (*MIRV) payloads is expected to be funded shortly. 1968 N.Y. Times 3 Nov. iv. 7 MIRVing the Polaris system allows a dozen warheads to be fitted to a single Poseidon missile. 1970 Time 20 Apr. 22 Each MIRVed rocket is capable of carrying a number of warheads. 1974 L. Deighton Spy Story xii. 119 Can they retarget the MIRVs before launching? 1974 Times 5 Mar. 7/3 The multiple independently targeting technology for warheads (Mirvs) is the most striking Soviet advance adduced in the report. 1974 Nature 6 Dec. 431/1 Proposals for SALT–2 now include multiple warheads in the list of constraints,..presumably because it is considered economically desirable not to go the whole way on MIRVing. 1975 Sci. Amer. Jan. 48/1 The tentative agreement represents an incremental advance for arms control..in that for the first time it includes strategic bombers and limits at least the number of missiles that can be MIRVed.

1937 Discovery Mar. p. xx/1 W. B. McKay, M.Sc.Tech., *M.I.Struct.E.

1950 J. D. MacDonald Brass Cupcake (1955) xii. 124 Very distinguished Boston type. Taught mathematics at *M.I.T. 1954 D. Riesman Individualism Reconsidered v. 303 The M.I.T. students who brought us together dreamed up the whole idea, then found the means to implement it. 1968 Chomsky & Halle Sound Pattern Eng. p. x, The general point of view that underlies this descriptive study is one that several of us have been developing for more than fifteen years, at M.I.T. and elsewhere, at first independently, but increasingly as a joint effort.

1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., *MJI.

1935 Engineering 26 July 95/1 This new system has been designated the Giorgi-*M.K.S. system, and in it the practical electrical units are essential constitutional elements in one-to-one relation, with the result that the numerical conversion factors need no longer be..memorised. 1963 Jerrard & McNeill Dict. Sci. Units 15 The Giorgi or M.K.S. system attracted little attention until about 1935 but after this interest in them [sic] increased and in 1948 the 9th International Conference on Weights and Measures adopted the M.K.S. definition as their definition of the ampere. 1968 M. S. Livingston Particle Physics xii. 208 In the rationalized mks system of electromagnetic units, charge becomes a fourth fundamental quantity.

1942 Partridge Dict. Abbrev. 63/1 *M.L.,..motor launch. 1945 ‘N. Shute’ Most Secret i. 4 The Raumboot is rather like our own M.L., isn't it?

1897 Medicine Hat (Alberta) News 8 Apr. 4/2 Another of our *M.L.A.'s is to join his confreres in the new Western Eldorado, the marvellously rich Kootenay. 1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 6 Sept. 12/3 The combination of the guillotine and the division system is being developed to a stage when the main duty of an M.L.A. will be to sit on a bench and be counted like a sheep. 1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 26 Sept. 8/2 Indeed the new talk about Fraser power has been met with instant avowals of undying opposition from some of the Government's own MLAs in the Fraser Valley. 1971 Sunday Australian 8 Aug. 7/2 He is an old family friend and ‘retainer’ of Norman Smith, Labor MLA for the Mt Isa area from 1940 to 1960.

1849 Niagara (Ontario) Chron. 25 Oct. 3/2 J. Leslie, *M.L.C. 1930 L. G. D. Acland Early Canterbury Runs ii. 29 He..was a member of the old Provincial Council and an early M.L.C. 1971 Hindustan Times Weekly (New Delhi) 4 Apr. 3/4 Two MLAs and one MLC of Uttar Pradesh..joined the Congress (N) today.

1901 *M.L.D. [see addiment]. 1928 L. E. H. Whitby Med. Bacteriol. xx. 198 One M.L.D. is that amount of toxin which, on subcutaneous inoculation, will with certainty cause the death of a 250 gm. guinea-pig within four days. 1961 N. G. Pandalai Textbk. Bacteriol. (ed. 2) xii. 245 While the M.L.D. of atropine for an adult person is 130 mg., of strychnine 30–40 mg., and of cobra venom 4·4 mg., the M.L.D. of the crude tetanus toxin is only 0·2 mg. or even less. 1973 White & Tinbury Essent. Immunol. & Microbiol. ii. vii. 120 The ultimate measured effect of toxin is the MLD.

1963 Times 10 June 10/5 Thus the first and perhaps most important objection to the multilateral force (*M.L.F.) has been largely removed.

1972 Times 23 Dec. 1/2 The Bank of England's minimum lending rate (*MLR)..rose by 1 per cent yesterday to 9 per cent. 1981 Daily Tel. 20 Aug. 17/2 As from today, MLR will cease to be posted except in very unusual circumstances.

1904 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. XVII. 335 The datum plane used..is mean low water—*M.L.W.—at the Battery as used by the Department of Docks and Ferries. 1923, 1964 M.L.W. [see M.H.W. above].

1933 *M.M. [see Minnie, minnie n.2]. 1971 D. Niven Moon's a Balloon v. 63, I caught a glimpse of the medal ribbons of the D.C.M. and M.M. on his chest.

1973 G. G. Spalding in P. Hepple Outlook for Natural Gas iv. 55 (heading) Estimated well deliverability (*MMCFD). 1974 Petroleum Rev. XXVIII. 792/2 The field came on production in September 1971 and is currently producing 560 MMcfd. 1975 North Sea Background Notes (Brit. Petroleum Co.) 19 Under this agreement, BP undertook to deliver at least 50 million cubic feet of gas a day for a period of 15 years. Later revisions to the contract have resulted in a present commitment of 168 mmcfd as the basic contract rate.

1893 R. M. Walmsley Wormell's Electr. in Service of Man ii. 392 The number of lines..which a magnetomotive force (*M.M.F.) can set up depends not only on its own magnitude but on the reluctance..of the path provided. 1962 Newnes Conc. Encycl. Electr. Engin. 467/1 The m.m.f. per metre length of path is H.., the value of H determining the magnetic flux density B = µH at the point, where µ..is the absolute permeability of the medium.

1946, etc. *MMPI [see Minnesota]. 1948 Psychol. Bull. XLV. 402 This would seem to indicate that..the MMPI scales do not actually differ from each other as they are supposed to. 1970 Jrnl. Gen. Psychol. LXXXIII. 70 Noting the discrepancy between behavior and test data (in this instance, the MMPI), Peterson..also concluded that the manifestations of psychosis in the MMPI..were instances of inaccurate diagnosis.

1939 Madge & Harrisson Britain, by Mass-Observation i. 10 Through *M-O you can already listen-in to the movements of popular habit and opinion. 1971 Guardian Weekly 10 Apr. 18/1 The MO reports now held by Sussex University have been cleverly worked over.

1916 F. M. Ford Let. 19 Dec. (1965) 80 The *M.O. who has just sounded my poor old lungs again says I am to be sent to Nice. 1924 Army Q. Oct. 138 Stop a minute—give this chit to the M.O. 1944 Living off Land v. 97 Day's travel from the nearest M.O. 1974 S. Gulliver Vulcan Bulletins 23 You have to get your ideas sorted out not to spend your time in the MO's queue asking for tranquillisers.

1955 R. J. Schwartz Compl. Dict. Abbrev. 114/3 *MO,..method of operation (modus operandi). 1956 ‘E. McBain’ Cop Hater (1958) vii. 66 It was possible that the two deaths were unrelated..but not very probable. The m.o. was remarkably similar. 1974 R. Edwards Dixon of Dock Green 108 His m.o. was to pull two or three jobs in a line and then fade from the scene.

1937 Trans. Faraday Soc. XXXIII. 1481 The *m.o. solution depends essentially upon the solution of a one-electron problem. 1947 Q. Rev. I. 151 The energy of a M.O. is lowest..when the component atomic orbitals overlap one another as much as possible. 1968 R. O. C. Norman Princ. Org. Synthesis ii. 35 In the lower-energy MO, termed the σ1s bonding orbital.., there is an accumulation of charge in the region between the nuclei.

1909 J. Joyce Let. 4 Sept. (1966) II. 246, I received your *M.O. for {pstlg}3.5.0.

1940 H. Nicolson Diary 3 Aug. (1967) 104, I am feeling very depressed by the attacks upon the Ministry of Information... Since the *M. of I. should be an offensive instrument, its value to our war-effort will be diminished by this constant sniping from the rear. 1942 E. Waugh Put out more Flags 169, I will say for the Ministry of Information they were uncommon civil. Not at all like they are here. At the M. of I. they were never too busy to see one.

1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., *MOH. 1911 G. B. Shaw Doctor's Dilemma Pref. p. lxxii, When one of the first-rate posts becomes vacant, all the leading M.O.H.s compete for it. 1961 Lancet 19 Aug. 440/1 She worked as assistant M.O.H. and inspector of midwives in Manchester.

1939 War Illustr. 18 Nov. p. iii/2 *M.O.I., Ministry of Information. 1957 J. Braine Room at Top x. 100 A MOI poster.

1963 Aviation Week & Space Technol. 16 Dec. 30 As described by Defense Secretary McNamara, the system, called *MOL for manned orbiting laboratory, will consist largely of hardware already under development. 1965 Sci. News Let. 2 Jan. 6/2 The most immediate USAF manned space project is the Manned Orbital Laboratory (MOL), scheduled for some time between 1967 and 1969. In the MOL two men will spend 30 days in orbit around the earth, studying both outer space and each other's reactions to it. 1969 Times 13 June 7/6 The cancelled Manned Orbiting Laboratory (M.O.L.) of the U.S. Air Force.

1970 Billboard 31 Jan. 35/1 *MOR stations have been forced into their present role by the recording artists in the easy listening field. 1975 [see middle-of-the-road 2]. 1982 Face May 31/4 With more determination they might have invented electro-country, but this is more like MOR pop.

1955 R. J. Schwartz Compl. Dict. Abbrev. 115/2 *MOS,..Military Occupational Specialty. 1969 I. Kemp Brit. G.I. in Vietnam iii. 43 ‘What's your M.O.S.?’ he barked. ‘Operations and Intelligence Assistant, First Sergeant.’

1964 R. D. Lohman in Semiconductor Products May 31 The metal-oxide-semiconductor (*MOS) transistor is a new semiconductor device which combines many advantages of vacuum tubes and bipolar transistors. Ibid., A typical n-channel MOS. 1967 Millman & Halkias Electronic Devices & Circuits xiv. 384 There are two types of field-effect transistors, the junction field-effect transistor (abbreviated JFET, or simply FET) and the insulated-gate field-effect transistor (IGFET), more commonly called the metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor (MOST or MOSFET). 1971 New Scientist 8 July 77/2 With the very high-precision masking now used in MOS techniques the space between metallised paths can be 0·0003 in or less. 1973 Sci. Amer. Aug. 54/2 Today virtually all desk calculators and all pocket calculators are designed around MOS circuits.

1955 R. J. Schwartz Compl. Dict. Abbrev. 115/2 *MOT,..Ministry of Transport. 1968 Listener 13 June 787/3 The annual MoT test could incorporate a check on noise, and any vehicle which had become noisier..than its original design limits would fail the test. 1971 Exchange & Mart 15 July 67 (Advt.), Spot cash!! For any make of Car or Van in any condition e.g. Failed M.O.T. and Damaged Vehicles. 1972 A. Aird Automotive Nightmare ii. 41 The inclusion of other items, and in particular corrosion, in the MOT test would also significantly increase the repair demand. 1973 J. Morris Age of Arthur 178 The roads are shown as classified by the Ministry of Transport (MoT).

1885 Phil. Mag. XX. 513, 2 [exceptions] are due to the *m.p. of carbon tetrabromide, CBr4, being too high. 1947 Sci. News IV. 153 A polisher using a powder of oxamide (M.P. 417° C.)..did not produce any effect on speculum metal (M.P. 745° C.) or copper (M.P. 1,083° C.).

1917 A. G. Empey Over Top 300 *M.P., Military Police. Soldiers with whom it is unsafe to argue. 1967 Coast to Coast 1965–66 22 A bloody M.P. I suppose, that's what you were. 1972 D. E. Westlake Cops & Robbers (1973) vi. 91 What I really wanted was to drive a tank, but I wound up an M.P.

1931 Daily Express 28 Apr. 2/1 Petrol consumption..averages 20–26 *m.p.g. 1955 Times 30 Aug. 11/5 The petrol consumption is claimed to be at the rate of 100 m.p.g. on long journeys and 90 m.p.g. in town. 1973 Country Life 20 Sept. 802/3 The engine..is very thirsty for its size, giving me 14 mpg overall and nearer 12 mpg in town driving.

1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., *m.p.h. 1935 Discovery Oct. 293/2 Speed was increased by only two m.p.h. 1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 16 May 9 The qualities of this type of aircraft are judged..by its m.p.h., manoeuvrability and ascending speed. 1960 Wodehouse Jeeves in Offing xix. 185, I deposited Upjohn at the ‘Bull and Bush’ and started m-p-h-ing homeward. 1975 Guardian 20 Jan. 7/3 The car with..a top speed of 107 mph, is aimed initially at the American market.

1826 Colonial Advocate (Toronto) 9 Feb. 2/4 John J. Lafferty, Esq. *M.P.P. was called to the chair. 1970 Toronto Daily Star 24 Sept. 35/1 Lewis, MPP for Scarborough West.

a 1912 W. T. Rogers Dict. Abbrev. (1913) 129/1 *M.Q., Metol-Quinol (Developer). 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 561/1 M.Q., an abbrev. for metol-quinol or metol-hydroquinone developers.

1939 Nation (N.Y.) 5 Aug. 135/1 *M.R.A. and Hollywood were made for each other. 1949 New Statesman 15 Oct. 422/1 The success of M.R.A...is so brilliant that one cannot understand why the world is still in such a mess. 1969 Listener 3 July 19/3 Less than 1 per cent of our members are associated with MRA.

1960 Acronyms Dict. (Gale Research Co.) 126 *MRBM... Medium Range Ballistic Missile. 1961 Ann. Reg. 1960 167 Opposition to giving M.R.B.M.s to NATO was partly emotional.

1848 Thackeray Pendennis (1849) I. ii. 10 A professional friend, *M.R.C.S. 1936 Discovery June 182 Winifred de Kok, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.

1961 *M-RNA [see messenger RNA (messenger 7)]. 1965 Jrnl. Molecular Biol. XI. 187 A very small proportion of rapidly labeled RNA can be identified as M-RNA in the cell cytoplasm. 1965 Ibid. XIV. 257 [They] have presented evidence for the attachment of ribosomal particles to mRNA while the RNA is still attached to its DNA template. 1970 Ambrose & Easty Cell Biol. iv. 129 When the code has been transcribed from DNA on to mRNA, the latter leaves the nucleus, passing through the nuclear membrane into the cytoplasm.

1946 Ann. Reg. 1945 172 The Socialist Party (S.F.I.O.) and Christian Democrats (*M.R.P.) were in favour of Yes. 1958 Spectator 30 May 676/3 Feelings within the MRP were stiffening as in the Socialist Party.

1953 K. Reisz Technique Film Editing iv. 87 *M.S. Father, daughter and doctor.

1923 Man. Seamanship (Admiralty) II. 177 The executive officer of a minesweeping vessel should first ascertain the allowed establishment of *M/S stores.

1953 W. Burroughs Junkie (1972) v. 52, I was getting sick and wondered if I would get home to the *M.S. I had stashed in my apartment. 1969 R. R. Lingeman Drugs from A to Z 176 When used by addicts, morphine is most commonly in the form of a salt, e.g., morphine sulfate (the origin of M.S., a slang term for morphine), which is soluble in water and hence injectable.

1955 Sci. News Let. 14 May 311/3 The search for twins with *MS, or multiple sclerosis, has yielded 33 identical sets so far, but the National Multiple Sclerosis Society would like to locate about 350 more, fraternal as well as identical.

1959 Observer 29 Mar. 8/4 Best results are obtained by dissolving *M.S.G. in the cooking liquor and adding towards the end of cooking. 1969 New Scientist 6 Mar. 505/2 Every packet soup, fish-finger and chicken croquette contains a dose of MSG to..‘wake up all the flavour nature put in your food’.

1953 *MSH [see melanocyte-stimulating hormone]. 1958 MSH [see melatonin]. 1965 Lee & Knowles Animal Hormones x. 128 As in amphibians, the elasmobranch skin colour is controlled by the level of MSH.

1955 M. Grindrod Rebuilding of Italy viii. 79 The *MSI had..by 1952..built up some sort of status for itself.

1959 Engineering 6 Feb. 184/2 *MT is discussed in two general chapters, on dictionary searching, the ‘stem-ending’ method of analysis, identification of idioms and a possible method for resolving multi-meanings. 1966 Y. Bar-Hillel in Automatic Transl. of Lang. (NATO Summer School, Venice 1962) 20 On the other hand, the number of research groups which have taken up MT as their major field of activity is still on the increase.

1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings 167 The Squadron Commander meets us... ‘Seen anything?’ he asks. ‘Fourteen trains and some *M.T.,’ I reply. 1946 R.A.F. Jrnl. May 174 There are W.A.A.F. clubs,..W.A.A.F. on M.T. 1947 L. Hastings Dragons are Extra i. 25 He collected second-hand cars... Tinkering them up, and practising the same sort of cannibalism that long after became an M.T. necessity in modern war.

1938 Jane's Fighting Ships 140 A number of the *M.T.B.'s of the Thornycroft type are still in existence. 1944 R.A.F. Jrnl. Aug. 265 Cargo vessels, with M.T.B.'s weaving among them, leaving long white wakes. 1955 ‘N. Shute’ Requiem for a Wren 128 Left Gosport in an M.T.B.

1942 Partridge Dict. Abbrev. 65/2 *MTC. 1944 M.T.C. [see Croix de Guerre].

1956 Electronic Engin. XXVIII. 15 A further important feature of this equipment is the *m.t.i. (moving target indicator) system, which is more effective in removing unwanted clutter and permanent echoes, and more stable in operation than any other previous type. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. VIII. 620/1 MTI is almost a necessity when moving targets are being sought over a region from which the ground clutter echoes are very strong.

1949 Koestler Promise & Fulfilment 262 At the bottom of their hearts they know quite well what the *M.V.D. has in store for them. 1959 Listener 4 June 996/3 One falls into the hands of the M.V.D.

1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXI. 339/2 The Royal Victorian Order..consists of..knights commanders (K.C.V.O.), commanders (C.V.O.), and members of the fourth and fifth classes (*M.V.O.), the distinction between these last divisions lying in the badge and in the precedence enjoyed by the members.

1973 Aviation Week 10 Sept. 15/3 The *MX still is in its formative stage, providing a low profile in budget requests. 1979 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 22 Mar. 38/2 Most ominous is the plan to develop the huge mobile ICBM, the MX, that would be equipped with as many as ten nuclear warheads. 1984 Science 22 June 1373/1 The impact of the MX on arms control efforts. 1985 Ann. Reg. 1984 383 Growing domestic pressure in the US..was reflected in a narrow Senate vote on the future of the MX missile.

1915 Dialect Notes IV. 246 N.o.y.b., none of your business. Also *m.y.o.b., mind your own business. 1951 P. Branch Lion in Cellar xvi. 184 ‘Who are you?’..‘M.Y.O.B.’ 1972 J. Wilson Hide & Seek i. 8 ‘I had to go and collect something,’ Alice mumbled. ‘What?’ ‘M.Y.O.B.’ ‘Don't be cheeky.’ 1974 L. Meynell Fairly Innocent Little Man xi. 140 ‘M.Y.O.B.,’ Hooky said, ‘if you know what that means.’ ‘At school we say it means Mess Your Own Breeches.’

  b. Abbreviation for master: † (a) generally, and as a conventional title of address or mention = the later mister, Mr. Phr. to have (or carry) an M under one's girdle: to use a respectful prefix (Mr., Mrs.) when addressing or mentioning a person. (b) Used for master or the L. magister in academical degrees, as M.A. or A.M. (magister artium), Master of Arts; M.B.A., Master of Business Administration; M.Ch. (magister chirurgiæ), Master of Surgery; M.Litt. (magister litterarum), Master of Letters; M.S. (U.S.), M.Sc., Master of Science. M.Ed., Master of Education. (c) Also in M.A.A., Master-at-Arms; M.C., Master of the ceremonies; also as v. trans. and intr.; M.F.H., Master of fox-hounds; M.R., Master of the Rolls.

a 1540 Barnes Wks. (1573) 349/1 Our M. Christ teaching al creatures to pray. 1549 Latimer's 2nd Serm. bef. Edw. VI To Rdr. (Arb.) 52 The deuourer of townes and countryes as M. Latimer tearmeth them rightly. a 1553 Udall Royster D. iii. iii. (Arb.) 48 If faire fine mistresse Custance sawe you now Ralph Royster Doister were hir owne I warrant you. R. Royster. Neare an M by your girdle? 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 39 Where..the M. Pilate of this name lost his shippe. 1579 E. K. Spenser's Sheph. Cal. Epistle, Postscr., Now I trust, M. Harvey, that [etc.]. 1596 Spenser Prothalamion (heading), The two worthie Gentlemen M. Henry Gilford, and M. William Peter, Esquyers. 1605 B. Jonson, etc. Eastw. Hoe! iv, Quick. Must Golding sit upon us? Con. You might carry an M under your girdle, to Mr. Deputy's worship. 1712 Great Britons Honycombe (MS.) (N.), What, plaine Budwaies! have you nere an M. under your girdle. 1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. i. 28 You might have an M under your Girdle, Miss. 1816 Scott Old Mort. xxix, Ye might hae had an M under your belt for Mistress Wilson of Milnwood.

1730–6 Bailey (folio), M, is an abbreviation of Magister, as M.A. or A.M. Magister Artium, i.e. Master of Arts. 1811 Byron Hints fr. Hor. 240 He..retires M.A.; Master of arts!

1916 ‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin vii. 117 ‘Petty Officer William Weatherley,’ the M.A.A. went on, ‘requests hextension o' leaf till two p.m. on Monday.’

1934 Webster M.B.A., Master in, or of, Business Administration. 1965 New Statesman 26 Nov. 828/3 Even those few firms that give lip service to the idea of business schools are unwilling to regard a good MBA degree as representing more than one or two years of ‘relevant experience’.

1790 E. Sheridan Jrnl. 5 Jan. (1960) 192 It was Tyson's Benefit, and as he is my acquaintance, independent of being M:C:, it was but decent that at least one of us should appear there. 1812 Dramatic Censor 1811 470 They are no more..co-equal with what they were, than the M.C. of a watering-place is on a par with the late Earl of Chesterfield in mind and manners. 1937 A. Upfield Mr. Jelly's Business viii. 74 Almost seventy people waiting for the M.C. to announce the first dance. 1843 Surtees Handley Cross I. v. 92 The loose riding M.C. sitting like ‘the Drunken Hussar’ at the circus. 1938 New Yorker 22 Oct. 23/3, I m.c'd and they had a couple of kids from the local dancing school doing tap. 1950 Webster Add., m.c., MC, or M.C...v.i. & t. 1954 E. Warner Trial by Sasswood (1955) x. 185 He was to m.c. an assemblage in the market compound. 1968 Listener 5 Sept. 307/1 With his mutton-chop whiskers John Peel appropriately looks like an MC at an Edwardian music hall.

1934 Webster, M.Ed., Master of Education. 1937 Discovery June p. xlviii/1 G. P. McHugh M.Sc., Ph.D. (Lond), M.Ed. (Dunelm).

1843 Surtees Handley Cross II. vii. 147 First public day as an M.F.H. 1869 ‘Bradwood’ O.V.H. I. iii. 33 He was not the man to violate modesty by proposing himself to a nearly strange Hunt as a new M.F.H.

1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., M.Lit. 1955 R. J. Schwartz Compl. Dict. Abbrev. 113/3 M Litt, Master of Letters.

1895 Funk's Stand. Dict., M.R. 1964 Mod. Law Rev. XXVIII. iii. 274 Lord Denning M.R. said that Silverthorne was liable.

1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., M.S. 1955 Sci. Amer. Sept. 36/3 He was born in Miami, Fla., and has a B.S. and an M.S. in physics from the University of Florida.

1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., M.Sc. 1936 Discovery May 156 Julius Grant, Ph.D., M.Sc., F.I.C.

  ‖ c. = monsieur (q.v.) as prefixed title. d. m = milli-, as in mA, milliampere(s); mg, mgm, milligram(s); ml, millilitre(s); mm, millimetre; mrad, millirad(s).

1896 T. E. Herbert Electr. in Applic. to Telegr. iii. 27 1/1000 ampere or 1 m.a. 1927 Wireless World 16 Nov. 670/1 The..three valves..draw a high-tension current totalling 2 or 3 mA. 1970 Which? June 183/2 Even at maximum volume most transistor radios will not use more than 100 mA.

1894 J. Walker tr. Ostwald's Man. Physico-Chem. Measurements iii. 39 The correction is 0·00014, i.e. 0·14 mg. per gram. 1951 Good Housek. Home Encycl. 339/2 Its vitamin C content is low—1 mg. per oz. 1968 Listener 28 Nov. 703/1 The good effects of last year's Road Safety Act, making it an offence to drive with a level of alcohol in the blood of more than 80 milligrammes per 100 millimetres [sic], may be wearing off. This may well be because 80mg/100ml is such a high level.

1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., mgm., an abbreviation of milligram. 1939 Nature 11 Mar. 442/1 It is..possible to carry out exact estimations of carbon..using 2–3 mgm. of material.

1892 G. Collar Notes on Metric System 7, 10 millilitres (ml.) make 1 centilitre (cl.). 1968 ml [see mg above].

1878 Jrnl. R. Microsc. Soc. I. 355 A quarter of a century ago..Harting proposed..micro-millimetre... Thus we had m. for the metre, mm. for the millimetre, and mmm. for the micromillimetre. 1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 583/1 Pin Fire Pistol Cartridges... In sizes 7 M-M is 32 caliber, 9 M-M is 38 caliber, 12 M-M is 44 caliber. 1971 Guardian 16 Dec. 1/2 The police did not identify the weapon but said that the ammunition was 9 mm.

1961 New Scientist 11 May 297/1 The average exposure in the course of radiological procedures was only of the order of 20 mrad annually, which is far less than the 100 mrad from natural background sources to which we are subjected. 1970 mrad [see dose n. 1 b].

  e. M = mega- b, as in MeV (also Mev, etc.), million electron volt(s); MHz, megahertz; MW, megawatt(s).

1934 Physical Rev. XLVI. 1109/2 The spectrum..indicates gamma-ray lines of roughly 2, 4, 5·5 and 7 m.e.v. Ibid., (heading) Energy in MEV. 1955 Bull. Atomic Sci. May 171/3 U-238 does not undergo fission with neutrons below 1·1 Mev. 1964 Heisenberg in Cambr. Rev. 24 Oct. 48/1 A mass difference up to 400 MeV.

1951 Physica XVII. 213 Measurements have been carried out on paramagnetic resonance absorption in iron ammonium alum at a frequency of about 9200 MHz. 1970 E. Afr. Standard (Nairobi) 2 Jan. 11/7 (Advt.), B.B.C. listeners can also hear programmes in English for East Africa between 7.30 and 8.45 p.m. on 15·42 MHz.

1956 Proc. CERN Symposium I. 22/2 Production of the flutter fields by pole-face windings..would require ∼ a few MW of power per pole face. 1962 Newnes Conc. Encycl. Electr. Engin. 324/1 Fuel-fired steam power stations..are now built for outputs up to 1,000 MW or more.

  f. Designating a motorway. Also fig. and Comb.

1959 Times 10 Nov. 6/5 Two people were injured in an accident on the London–Birmingham motorway, the M.1, yesterday. 1963 Listener 10 Jan. 100/2 Some of the by-ways of sound radio—by-ways to me but no doubt a positive M1 to thousands of others—can be rewarding. 1964 Daily Tel. 3 Mar. 21/1 (heading) M-drivers ‘can stop if drowsy’. 1966 ‘A. York’ Eliminator iv. 72, I would have thought you'd have wanted to try her on the M. 1973 Guardian 26 May 8/5 Bartholomew's new Motorway Atlas..is a useful tool for those who go up and down the Ms all the time.

  7. Econ. M, used in measures of money supply, as M0, the sum of notes and coin in circulation; M1, M0 plus the amount held by residents of a country in current accounts; M2, M1 plus the equivalent sum in deposit accounts; M3, M2 plus all other kinds of deposit held by residents in the national banking sector.

1948 P. Samuelson Economics xiii. 291 If the total amount of all..kinds of money is M and the price level is P, then according to the simplified quantity theory M = kP or P = 1 / k M where k is a factor of proportionality which remains constant if ‘other things are equal’. 1963 Friedman & Meiselman Relative Stability Monetary Velocity in U.S., 1897–1958 242 Three..definitions of money were considered. These were: M1: Currency in public circulation + Adjusted demand deposits, M2 = M1 + Time deposits in commercial banks, M3 = M2 + Mutual savings bank deposits + Postal savings accounts + Savings and loan association shares. 1967 Federal Res. Bank of St. Louis Rev. Oct. 8/2 M equals the public's holding of currency, demand deposits, and time deposits. 1968 Business Week 26 Oct. 117/3 There are two basic definitions of the quantity of money in use: M1—demand deposits plus currency in circulation... M2—this includes not only demand deposits and currency, but also time deposits in the commercial banks. 1973 Ld. Robbins Against Inflation (1979) xiii. 66 Since the end of June 1970..M3—the most commonly accepted measure of the credit base—had increased to last September by something of the order of magnitude of 40 per cent. 1985 Times 13 Sept. 16/3 US M1 money supply rose $1.4 billion in the week to September 2. 1986 Economist 11–17 Jan. 19/2 MO, the chancellor's favourite measure of the money supply, has grown by only 21/4% during the past 12 months.

  
  
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   Add: [III.] [6.] [a.] ME, myalgic encephalomyelitis (see *myalgic a. 2).

1982 Daily Tel. 11 Dec. 14/3 The other day I mentioned the Richmond newspaper advertisement: Jumble sale in aid of *ME... There is, our medical correspondent confirms, one of those slow, destructive diseases called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. 1990 Health Now July 15/1 It is widely taken throughout Brazil as an antidote to stress and is potentially a very valuable supplement for increasing energy levels of ME sufferers.

  
  
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   Add: [III.] [6.] [a.] MARC (mɑːk) Library Science machine-readable cataloguing, a standard format for the encoding and representation of bibliographic information in machine-readable form.

1965 Proc. 2nd Conf. Machine-Readable Catal. Copy (U.S. Libr. Congress) 23 The eventual expansion of *MARC and its importance for foreign-area acquisitions and bibliographic control programs. 1968 Library Assoc. Rec. Aug. 198/2 The single objective of the MARC Project is to supply to any library catalogue data for current books in magnetic tape form so that the receiving library is not only relieved of the necessity of cataloguing and classification but can also reformat the data to suit its own purposes. 1987 Ibid. Aug. (Vacancies Suppl.) p. ccxxx/1 Experience of AACR2 and UK MARC are essential. 1991 Lit. & Linguistic Computing. VI. 4/2 The MARC formatting could..facilitate the eventual uploading of the database from our office IBM PCXT to a mainframe library catalogue.

  MDA Pharm. [f. 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine], a synthetic hallucinogenic drug usually taken in capsules, which induces mild euphoria.

1959 G. A. Alles in Proc. 4th Conf. Neuropharmacol. 195 Methylenedioxy-amphetamine (*MDA). 1967 A. T. Shulgin et al. in D. H. Efron Ethnopharmacologic Search for Psychoactive Drugs 212 The base that corresponds to safrole..is 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine, or MDA. 1974 M. C. Gerald Pharmacol. xvii. 328 DOM and MDA are more recent additions to the drug scene. 1987 R. Shilts And Band played On (1988) ii. iv. 38 In the middle of it was Michael, the perfect host, handing out tabs of the drug MDA to all comers.

  MDMA Pharm. [f. 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine], the drug also known as ecstasy (*ecstasy n. 5).

1978 A. T. Shulgin in Stillman & Willette Psychopharmacol. of Hallucinogens vi. 77 A second compound to be described in this presentation is the N-methyl homolog of a well-studied psychotomimetic, 3,4-methylenedioxyphenylisopropylamine (MDA..). As with MDA, *MDMA..has the aromatic substitution pattern of the essential oil safrole. 1982 Biol. Psychiatry XVII. 808 Monomethylation of the terminal amine of MDA results in MDMA. 1991 Independent 23 Dec. 5/1 Ecstasy was synthesised as MDMA in Germany in 1898, first marketed in 1914 as an appetite suppressor, dropped when its side effects were noticed, rediscovered by hippies in the 1960s and eventually banned in 1977.

  MIRAS (ˈmaɪərəs), mortgage interest relief at source, a scheme in the U.K. whereby the tax relief on mortgage repayments is paid direct to the lender by the Government.

1983 Financial Times 15 Jan. i. 6/1 In April, *MIRAS appears on the house mortgage scene and its impact on millions of unsuspecting houseowners could well result in chaos and confusion for all concerned. 1983 Scotsman 24 Jan. 9/5 Those paying off their mortgages through the repayment method have the right not to change to the new MIRAS system but they must inform their building society. 1986 House Buyer Nov. 53/1 Now that the MIRAS system (mortgage interest relief at source) is operating, tax relief is deducted before your repayments are made. 1991 Financial Times 20 Mar. 28/8 Any allowance for relief at the higher rate in respect of interest on loans within MIRAS will be withdrawn.

  MIS Computing, management information system.

1972 Schmalz & Sippl Computer Gloss. for Students & Teachers 107/1 An *MIS gives the executive the capability of controlling the operation of a firm on a real-time basis. 1977 Fortune Feb. 81/2 The routine business and government transactions clustered under the acronym MIS (Management Information Systems). 1992 UNIX World Apr. 44/1 MIS departments are working on applications that will let users access corporate data, but each mainframe-connected network has its own unique combination of problems.

  MLRS Mil. = multiple launch rocket system s.v. *multiple a. and n. A. 4 c.

1979 Aviation Week 26 Feb. 64/1 The United Kingdom, France and West Germany..[will become] partners with the U.S. in what will be called the multiple launch rocket system (*MLRS). 1987 D. Robertson Dict. Mod. Defence & Strategy 207 The MLRS will become even more deadly in the near future, as the USA is co-operating with European NATO members to develop ‘terminally guided’ or Smart Bombs to be fitted to these rockets. 1991 Independent 22 Feb. 3/3 The MLRS has a range of between 8 and 30km. Each rocket drops 644 bomblets like grenades. The firepower of each launcher is said to equal an entire battalion of 24 guns of traditional 155mm artillery firing three rounds each—enough to take out an entire grid square.

  MORI, Mori (ˈmɔːrɪ, ˈmɒrɪ), Market & Opinion Research International (a proprietary name in the U.K.).

1969 Internat. Managem. Sept. 7/2 Robert Worcester, the author of this article, is managing director of Market and Opinion Research International (*MORI), a joint venture of Opinion Research Corporation of America and Britain's National Opinion Polls. 1973 Teer & Spence Polit. Opinion Polls v. 119 The MORI survey showed considerable support among chairmen and managing directors of the top 500 companies in Britain for Britain's entry. 1987 Daily Tel. 5 June 17/1 The elegant Georgian offices of Bob Worcester's Mori opinion poll organisation in..Westminster. 1992 Independent 7 Apr. 1/3 With Labour requiring an 8 per cent swing from the Conservatives to win an overall majority on Thursday, a MORI poll for Yorkshire Television showed a 10 per cent swing.

  MRI Med., magnetic resonance imaging; also, a unit for producing images in this way.

1983 Amer. Jrnl. Roentgenol. CXLI. 1101 Information obtained by *MRI was compared to CT and/or sonographic studies. 1986 Times 13 June 31/1 In the basement of the Churchill Clinic, newly redecorated in fashionable shades of pink and grey, is the MRI or Magnetic Resonance Imaging unit. 1990 Sun (Baltimore) 7 Mar. c10/2 MRIs are like CAT scan machines, but they create images by a placing patient in a strong magnetic field. 1992 N.Y. Times 29 Dec. c3/4 Many people older than 45 have some arthritic changes on spinal X-rays, and on M.R.I. scans 25 percent of adults have ruptured disks.

  MRL Mil. = multiple rocket launcher s.v. *multiple a. 4 c.

1970 Army Nov. 31/1 The Soviet Army and its Warsaw Pact allies use an entire family of MRL systems. 1976 Field Artillery Jrnl. Nov.–Dec. 30/2 The Soviet Army has relied continuously on MRLs since..the first combat volley was fired by a battery of BM-13 launchers.

  MS-DOS (ɛmɛsˈdɒs) Computing [f. Microsoft disk operating system: cf. DOS s.v. D III. 3], a proprietary term in the U.S. for an operating system developed for a particular family of microprocessors and widely used in personal computers.

1982 Byte July 330/3 Microsoft's *MS-DOS (sold by IBM as PC-DOS and by Lifeboat Associates as SB-86)... MS-DOS is faster [than CP/M-86] primarily because it buffers more data in each gulp and because it keeps the File Allocation Table in memory rather than on disk. 1992 PC World Apr. 30/1, I upgraded to MS-DOS 5.0 so I wouldn't have to partition the disk.

  MTV orig. U.S., Music Television, a proprietary name for a cable and satellite television channel broadcasting popular music and promotional music videos.

1981 N.Y. Times 19 June d15/4 Warner Amex has *MTV: The Music Channel, 24 hours of that noise with pictures to match. 1985 Music Week 2 Feb. 1/1, 7m homes in Europe and Scandinavia are now connected to cable..although that represents only a third of MTV's audience. 1993 Albuquerque (New Mexico) Jrnl. 4 Apr. c3/3 Morally obtuse grunge rockers who spend their time eating junk food and watching MTV.

  8. Astron. M (orig. with point), used with following (orig. † preceding) numeral to denote any of various indistinct non-stellar objects (orig. all classed as nebulae) listed in the catalogue of Charles Messier (see *Messier n.).

1868 J. N. Lockyer Elem. Lessons Astron. i. 34 The finest ring-nebula is the 57th in Messier's catalogue (written 57 M. for short). Ibid. 34, 33/ M. Piscium, and 99/ M. Virginis, are other examples of this strange phenomenon. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 332/2 Planetary nebulae, examples: the ‘owl’ nebula (M. 97) in Ursa Major, M.1 in Taurus. 1929 J. H. Jeans Universe around Us i. 30 The most conspicuous of all the spiral nebulae is the Great Nebula (M31) in Andromeda. 1964 Yearbk. Astron. 1965 173 South, in the obscure group Vulpecula.., lies the Dumb-bell Nebula, M27. Ibid. 174 Sagitta..contains M71, a rather faint globular cluster between Gamma and Delta. 1992 S. P. Maran Astron. & Astrophysics Encycl. 21/1 The Andromeda galaxy..is often referred to as M31 or Messier 31 because it is number 31 in the famous catalog of Messier (1730–1817).

Oxford English Dictionary