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Morse Code
Morse Code
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Cite this article
"Morse Code." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 8 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Morse Code." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 8, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-MorseCTABLE.html "Morse Code." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 08, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-MorseCTABLE.html |
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Morse code
Morse code, one of the methods to signal at sea before the introduction of modern satellite communications and radiotelephony. Its system gave the numerals 1–9 and each letter of the alphabet their own code of dots and dashes, e.g. A was dot dash, B dash dot dot dot. Quick and easy to master, the code made it simple for words and sentences, as well as the individual letters of the International Code of Signals, to be transmitted by sound (wireless telegraphy or foghorn), or by light with a searchlight or an Aldis lamp.
It was invented by an American portraitist, Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791–1872), who eventually became professor of painting and sculpture at the University of the City of New York (later New York University). The idea came to him in 1832 while returning from Europe aboard a packet ship, though he only turned his full attention to it in 1837. He endured great poverty while perfecting the code, only to discover that most of the nations to whom he offered it refused to give him a patent for it. However, eventually the US government gave him an appropriation to cover his costs, and the first Morse signals were passed between Washington and Baltimore on 24 May 1844. However, when the code was introduced into Europe it soon became evident that it was inadequate for transmitting non-English messages, as it did not make allowances for letters with diacritic marks. A variant was therefore devised—among other alterations the length of a dash was made constant not variable—at a European Conference held in 1851, and this came to be known as the International Morse Code. In 1858 most nations in Europe contributed 400,000 francs as payment to Morse for the use they had made of the code. Some minor alterations were made to the code in 1938 and more recently a new sign, A (dot dash) and C (dash dot dash dot) which stands for @, was added to it to help ham radio operators, its main users today, transmit email addresses in the code. |
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Cite this article
"Morse code." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 8 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Morse code." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 8, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-Morsecode.html "Morse code." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Retrieved February 08, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-Morsecode.html |
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Morse code
Morse code [for S. F. B. Morse ], the arbitrary set of signals used on the telegraph (see code ). It may also be used with a flash lamp for visible signaling . The international (or continental) Morse code is a simplified form generally used in radio telegraphy. The American Morse differs from the international Morse in 11 letters, in all the numerals except the numeral 4, and in the punctuation code. The unit of the code is the dot, representing a very brief depression of the telegraph key. The dash represents a depression lasting three times as long as a dot. Between the depressions there is a pause equal in time to one dot, except in a few letters and signs, when there is a wait of two dots. The pause between letters in a word lasts as long as one dash, between words it lasts as long as two dashes. The International Morse code is shown in the table entitled Morse Code . Morse code is now mainly used by amateur (ham) radio operators. The U.S. Coast Guard stopped monitoring Morse code transmissions in 1995 when their use in sending distress calls had been almost entirely superseded by automated systems using satellite relay. |
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Cite this article
"Morse code." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 8 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Morse code." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 8, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Morsecod.html "Morse code." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 08, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Morsecod.html |
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Morse code
Morse code / ˈmôrs/ • n. an alphabet or code in which letters are represented by combinations of long and short signals of light or sound. • v. [tr.] signal (something) using Morse code. |
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Cite this article
"Morse code." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 8 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Morse code." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 8, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-morsecode.html "Morse code." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 08, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-morsecode.html |
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Morse
Morse an alphabet or code in which letters are represented by combinations of long and short light or sound signals, named (in the mid 19th century) after Samuel F. B. Morse (1791–1872), American inventor.
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Cite this article
ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Morse." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 8 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Morse." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 8, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Morse.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Morse." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved February 08, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Morse.html |
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morse
morse1 fastening of a cope. XV. — OF. mors — L. morsus bite, catch, f. mors-, pp. stem of mordēre bite.
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Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "morse." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 8 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "morse." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 8, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-morse.html T. F. HOAD. "morse." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 08, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-morse.html |
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morse
morse2 walrus. XV. ult. — Lappish moršša, whence Finnish morsu, Russ. morzh.
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Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "morse." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 8 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "morse." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 8, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-morse1.html T. F. HOAD. "morse." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 08, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-morse1.html |
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morse
morse3 signalling code invented by S. F. B. Morse (1791–1872). XIX.
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Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "morse." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 8 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "morse." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 8, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-morse2.html T. F. HOAD. "morse." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 08, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-morse2.html |
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morse
morse •coarse, corse, course, divorce, endorse (US indorse), enforce, force, gorse, hoarse, horse, morse, Norse, perforce, reinforce, sauce, source, torse
•Wilberforce • workforce • packhorse
•carthorse • racehorse • sea horse
•hobby horse • Whitehorse
•sawhorse, warhorse
•clothes horse • shire horse
•workhorse • racecourse • concourse
•intercourse • watercourse
•outsource
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Cite this article
"morse." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 8 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "morse." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 8, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-morse.html "morse." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 08, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-morse.html |
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