|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
packet
packet, an abbreviation of packet boat, which was originally a vessel plying regularly between two ports for the carriage of mails, but available also for goods and passengers. The sailing packets of the early decades of the 19th century carried migrants to the USA and elsewhere for some years after the introduction of the early ocean liners as they were much cheaper.
In the 16th century, state letters and dispatches were known as ‘the Packet’, and a Treasury account of 1598 gave details of ‘Postes towards Ireland, Hollyheade, allowance as well for serving the packette by lande as for entertaining a bark to carie over and return the packet, x pounds the moneth’. They were essentially mail boats, and were also known as post-barks. By the 18th century they were built with a finer hull than average in order to give extra speed; still designed primarily for the carriage of mails, they were plying regularly as far from England as America, the West Indies, and India. They were armed with ten or twelve small guns, and also carried official passengers and special cargo for important persons such as ambassadors, commanders-in-chief, etc. They lost their role as mail carriers in the mid-19th century when, with the introduction of steam propulsion, many governments gave contracts for the carriage of mails to private steamship owners. Soon after they lost their only other role, that of carrying migrants, when steerage class was introduced aboard liners. The name, however, in the form ‘steam packet ship’, remained for a few more years to describe those ships of a shipping line which made regular voyages between the same ports carrying passengers and cargo. |
|
|
Cite this article
"packet." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "packet." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-packet.html "packet." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-packet.html |
|
packet
packet A group of bits of fixed maximum size and well-defined format that is switched and transmitted as a composite whole through a packet switching network. Any message that exceeds the maximum size is partitioned and carried as several packets.
Typically each packet contains addressing information defining the source and the destination of the packet, control information defining the type of data carried in the packet, and some form of checksum to verify that the packet has been correctly received. In many systems the packet may hold several hundred bytes and the internal structure can vary from one packet to the next. See also cell, frame. |
|
|
Cite this article
JOHN DAINTITH. "packet." A Dictionary of Computing. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN DAINTITH. "packet." A Dictionary of Computing. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O11-packet.html JOHN DAINTITH. "packet." A Dictionary of Computing. 2004. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O11-packet.html |
|
packet
pack·et / ˈpakit/ • n. 1. a paper or cardboard container, typically one in which goods are packed to be sold: a packet of cigarettes. ∎ the contents of such a container. ∎ a block of data transmitted across a network. 2. (also packet boat) dated a ship traveling at regular intervals between two ports, originally for the conveyance of mail. • v. (-et·ed , -et·ing ) [tr.] make up into or wrap up in a packet: packet a basket of take-out and head for Gooseberry Beach. |
|
|
Cite this article
"packet." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "packet." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-packet.html "packet." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-packet.html |
|
packet
packet A collection of data which is sent through a network to a destination computer. As well as data the packet contains subsidiary information such as the IP ADDRESS of the computer which sent the packet and the IP address of the destination computer. A transfer of information normally involves the splitting of the information to be sent into packets. Each of the packets may be sent over a number of different routes, the routes being determined by ROUTERS found on the network. Transport of data and programs across the Internet is based on packets.
|
|
|
Cite this article
DARREL INCE. "packet." A Dictionary of the Internet. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. DARREL INCE. "packet." A Dictionary of the Internet. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O12-packet.html DARREL INCE. "packet." A Dictionary of the Internet. 2001. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O12-packet.html |
|
packet
|
|
|
Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "packet." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "packet." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-packet.html T. F. HOAD. "packet." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-packet.html |
|
Packet
Packeta small pack, package, or parcel; a small collection, set, or lot—Wilkes. Examples : packet of friends, 1766; of letters, 1530; of lies; of miracles, 1613; of photographs, 1871; of plants, 1803; of rumour, 1828. |
|
|
Cite this article
"Packet." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Packet." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2505301059.html "Packet." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2505301059.html |
|
packet
packet n. also packet boat dated a ship traveling at regular intervals between two ports, originally for the conveyance of mail.
|
|
|
Cite this article
"packet." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "packet." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-packet.html "packet." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-packet.html |
|
Packet
Packet C-82 a twin-engine cargo and troop transport aircraft begun by Fairchild Aircraft in 1941 and approved by the U.S. Army in 1942. In all, the development, engineering, and construction of the prototype took less than twenty-one months. Only 224 were built. Most were canceled at the end of the war because the C-119 was considered superior in capabilities.
|
|
|
Cite this article
"Packet." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Packet." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-Packet.html "Packet." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-Packet.html |
|
packet
packet •adit
•bandit, pandit
•accredit, credit, edit, subedit
•Chindit • conduit
•audit, plaudit
•pundit • refit • misfit • benefit
•profit, prophet, soffit
•forfeit • outfit • Tophet • photofit
•buffet, tuffet
•comfit • counterfeit • surfeit • agate
•margate, target
•frigate • Tlingit • hogget
•drugget, nugget
•Brigitte • gadget • eejit
•Bridget, digit, fidget, midget, widget
•budget
•Blackett, bracket, jacket, packet, placket, racket
•blanket • gasket • bedjacket
•straitjacket • lifejacket • leatherjacket
•downmarket, market, upmarket
•basket, casket
•breadbasket • Euromarket
•Newmarket • hypermarket
•Becket, Beckett
•cricket, midwicket, picket, picquet, piquet, pricket, snicket, thicket, ticket, wicket
•trinket
•biscuit, brisket, frisket
•identikit
•brocket, crocket, Crockett, docket, locket, pocket, rocket, socket, sprocket
•airpocket • pickpocket • skyrocket
•toolkit
•bucket, Nantucket, tucket
•Blunkett, junket
•musket • rust bucket
•circuit, short-circuit
|
|
|
Cite this article
"packet." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "packet." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-packet.html "packet." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-packet.html |
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
