| plus | 1. <mathematics> More, required to be added; positive, as distinguished from negative; opposed to minus. 2. Hence, in a literary sense, additional; real; actual. "Success goes invariably with a certain plus or positive power." (Emerson) 3. <mathematics> Plus sign, the sign (+) which denotes addition, or a positive quantity. Origin: L, more; akin to Gr, and cf. Piu, Pleonasm. (11 Mar 1998) |
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| plus lens | A converging lens. Synonym: plus lens. (05 Mar 2000) |
| plus strand | See: replicative form. (05 Mar 2000) |
| fluorescence plus Giemsa stain | <technique> A stain used to demonstrate sister chromatid exchange; cells are grown in 5-bromodeoxyuridine, followed by chromosome preparation, staining in Hoechst 33258, exposure to light, and staining in Giemsa; chromosomes exhibit a "harlequin" appearance. (05 Mar 2000) |
| father | 1. One who has begotten a child, whether son or daughter; a generator; a male parent. "A wise son maketh a glad father." (Prov. X. 1) 2. A male ancestor more remote than a parent; a progenitor; especially, a first ancestor; a founder of a race or family; in the plural, fathers, ancestors. "David slept with his fathers." (1 Kings II. 10) "Abraham, who is the father of us all." (Rom. Iv. 16) 3. One who performs the offices of a parent by maintenance, affetionate care, counsel, or protection. "I was a father to the poor." (Job xxix. 16) "He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house." (Gen. Xiv. 8) 4. A respectful mode of address to an old man. "And Joash the king og Israel came down unto him [Elisha], . . . And said, O my father, my father!" (2 Kings xiii. 14) 5. A senator of ancient Rome. 6. A dignitary of the church, a superior of a convent, a confessor (called also father confessor), or a priest; also, the eldest member of a profession, or of a legislative assembly, etc. "Bless you, good father friar !" (Shak) 7. One of the chief esslesiastical authorities of the first centuries after Christ; often spoken of collectively as the Fathers; as, the Latin, Greek, or apostolic Fathers. 8. One who, or that which, gives origin; an originator; a producer, author, or contriver; the first to practice any art, profession, or occupation; a distinguished example or teacher. "The father of all such as handle the harp and organ." (Gen. Iv. 21) "Might be the father, Harry, to that thought." (Shak) "The father of good news." (Shak) 9. The Supreme Being and Creator; God; in theology, the first person in the Trinity. "Our Father, which art in heaven." (Matt. Vi. 9) "Now had the almighty Father from above . . . Bent down his eye." (Milton) Adoptive father, one who adopts the child of another, treating it as his own. Apostolic father, Conscript fathers, etc. See Apostolic, Conscript, etc. Father in God, a title given to bishops. Father of lies, the Devil. Father of the bar, the oldest practitioner at the bar. Fathers of the city, the aldermen. Father of the Faithful. Abraham. Mohammed, or one of the sultans, his successors. Father of the house, the member of a legislative body who has had the longest continuous service. most Reverend Father in God, a title given to archbishops and metropolitans, as to the archbishops of Canterbury and York. Natural father, the father of an illegitimate child. Putative father, one who is presumed to be the father of an illegitimate child; the supposed father. Spiritual father. A religious teacher or guide, especially. One instrumental in leading a soul to God. The pope. Origin: OE. Fader, AS. Faeder; akin to OS. Fadar, D. Vader, OHG. Fatar, G. Vater, Icel. Fair Sw. & Dan. Fader, OIr. Athir, L. Pater, Gr, Skr. Pitr, perh. Fr. Skr. Pa protect,. Cf. Papa, Paternal, Patriot, Potential, Pablum. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| father-child relations | Interaction between the father and the child. (12 Dec 1998) |
| father complex | Female counterpart of the Oedipus complex in the male; a term used to describe unresolved conflicts during childhood development toward the father which subsequently influence a woman's relationships with men. Synonym: father complex. Origin: Electra, daughter of Agamemnon (05 Mar 2000) |
| father-in-law | The father of one's husband or wife; correlative to son-in-law and daughter-in-law. A man who marries a woman having children already, is sometimes, though erroneously, called their father-in-law. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| father-lasher | <zoology> A European marine fish (Cottus bubalis), allied to the sculpin. Synonym: lucky proach. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| father longlegs | <zoology> See Daddy longlegs. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| adolescent medicine | A branch of medicine pertaining to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases occurring during the period beginning with puberty until the cessation of somatic growth. (12 Dec 1998) |
| aerospace medicine | <study> A field of medicine which specialises in the effects of atmospheric and space flight on human physical and psychological well-being. (09 Oct 1997) |
| alternative medicine | A catch-all phrase for a long list of treatments or medicinal systems including traditional systems such as Chinese or Ayurvedic medicine, homeopathy, various herbals and other miscellaneous treatments that have not been accepted by the mainstream, or Western, medical establishment. Alternative medicine is also referred to as complementary medicine (see). The designation alternative medicine is not equivalent to holistic medicine, which is a more narrow term. See: Holistic Medicine. (09 Oct 1997) |
| aviation medicine | The study and practice of medicine as it applies to physiologic problems peculiar to aviation. Synonym: aeromedicine. (05 Mar 2000) |
| behavioural medicine | The interdisciplinary field concerned with the development and integration of behavioural and biomedical science, knowledge, and techniques relevant to health and illness and the application of this knowledge and these techniques to prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation. (12 Dec 1998) |