You searched for: “following
follow (verb), follows; followed, following
1. To go or to come after or behind someone or something: Stanley followed his mother into the kitchen so he could get something to eat.

After the first sheep goes through the gate into the pen, the rest of them will follow.

Polly and Dina were sure that someone was following them last night as they were going to their car; so, they got in and drove away quickly before the person they thought was following them could get any closer.

2. To come after something in time or place or as part of a series: Manfred's auto accident was followed by a long period of recovery.

After the severe storm ended, it was followed by a long period of rebuilding the damaged buildings and infrastructures of the community.

3. To happen after and as a result of something or to be true, or seem to be true, because of an action: From the evidence presented in the trial, it followed that the accused was guilty.
4. To move forward on a road, a path, etc.: Tom said, "O.K. Jesse, follow that path and you will find the log cabin that you rented."

The road follows the river fairly closely.

5. To understand the sense or logic of something or someone: Sherry found it difficult to follow the logic of Alan's reasoning.
This entry is located in the following unit: English Words in Action, Group F (page 4)
following (adjective) (not comparable)
1. Immediately taking place after something else: Harry's new job made it possible for him and his family to move into a new house the following year.
2. Something that is listed or shown in some kind of sequence: The restaurant had a sign which indicated that there would be meals available at the following times during the summer months.
This entry is located in the following unit: English Words in Action, Group F (page 5)
following (preposition)
Immediately coming after something: Following the teacher's advice, Jacob improved his essay to such a degree that he received a grade of an "A".

Ted and his family were very tired for a few days following their two-week trip to France last month.

This entry is located in the following unit: English Words in Action, Group F (page 4)
following (s) (noun), followings (pl)
A group of loyal people or fans: The politician's approach to health care gained a big following among the elderly.
This entry is located in the following unit: English Words in Action, Group F (page 5)
(Italian developed from Latin and the following words came into English from Italian; most of which were derived from Latin)
Word Entries containing the term: “following
Additional words that were found which are derived from the Greek element tribo- are explained in the following contents:

Additional words that exist that are derived from the Greek element tribo-: nanotribology, [no dictionary seems to be available that has a definition for this term.] The following definitions came from various sources on the internet.

First, on Thursday, January 21, 1999, there was the following information from Dr. Jacqueline Krim, Professor of Physics at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina:

“Thank you for your inquiry. Yes, I coined the term nanotribology in a paper I wrote in 1991, entitled, ‘Nanotribology of a Kr [krypton] monolayer: A Quartz Crystal Microbalance Study of Atomic-Scale Friction’, J. Krim, D. Solina and R. Chiarello, PRL, 66, (1991) p. 181-184.”

“I would define nanotribology as the sub-field of tribology involving contact geometries which are well-characterized at atomic length or time scales. These tend to be on the order of nanometers and nanoseconds.”

“JK”


Secondly, on Friday, January 22, 1999, I received another clarifying definition that I had requested from a contact I found on the internet.

I asked for a simple, easy to understand definition of “nanotribology” and this is what he sent to me:

“Tribology is the science and technology of two surfaces in relative motion which encompasses friction, wear, and lubrication. Nanotribology allows the study of friction and wear processes on nanoscale.”

—Prof. Bharat Bhushan, Ohio Eminent Scholar and The Howard D. Winbigler Professor
and Director, Computer Microtribology and Contamination Laboratory,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio

Now you know what nanotribology means, don’t you? If you want to know more about nanotribology, here are excerpts of other definitions; but be WARNED that if they are too confusing or of no interest to you, you may scroll down to the area where other tribo- words are presented. Don’t give up before you see the rest of the list, please.

Micro/nanotribology as a field is concerned with experimental and theoretical investigations of processes ranging from atomic and molecular scales to the microscale, occurring during adhesion, friction, wear, and thin-film lubrication at sliding surfaces.

This involves determination of the chemical, physical and mechanical properties of the surfaces undergoing relative motion at length scales of the order of nanometers. Interaction between rubbing surfaces occurs at asperities [roughness of surfaces] at which the local pressure and temperatures can be very high.

These conditions can lead to formation of tribochemical films with the unusual properties necessary for efficient wear protection. The nanomechanical properties of these films are being investigated by interfacial force microscopy (IFM) which is capable of determining the elastic constants and anelastic behavior of the films in boundary layer lubrication.

Proposed nanotribology experiments for the Triboscope include studying the effect of different contact areas, scan directions and crystallographic orientations on both lubricated and unlubricated surfaces.

Tribology is the study of friction, lubrication and wear. Nanotribology is roughly defined as the study of these same phenomena down to the nN and nanometer force and length scales.

I hope I haven’t lost you in the sea of obfuscation (confusion, obscurity, or bewilderment) because there are other interesting words to learn. Here are additional examples that are derived from tribo-:

  • triboelectric, an electrical charge produced by friction between two objects; such as, rubbing silk on a glass surface.
  • triboelectricity, in physics, electrical charges produced by friction between two surfaces; static electricity.
  • Frictional electricity … was supposedly known to the ancient Greeks, particularly Thales of Miletus, who observed about 600 B.C. that when amber was rubbed, it would attract small bits of matter. The term “frictional electricity” gave way to “triboelectricity,” although since “tribo” means “to rub,” the newer term does little to change the concept.

    —A.D. Moore (as seen in The American Heritage Dictionary of Science
    by Robert K. Barnhart; Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston; 1986).

  • tribofluorescence, triboflurescent; to give off light as a result of friction.
  • tribologist, a specialist in the science of tribology.
  • tribology, tribological, the science of the mechanisms of friction, lubrication, and wear of interacting surfaces that are in relative motion.
  • triboluminescence, the quality of emitting light under friction or violent mechanical pressure.
  • triboluminescent, exhibiting triboluminescence.
  • tribophosphorescence, tribophosphorescent; to produce light by friction.
  • tribothermoluminescence, thermoluminescence [luminescence resulting from exposure to high temperature] produced in a material as a result of friction.
  • tribometer, an instrument for estimating sliding friction.
  • tribophysics, the physical properties or phenomena associated with friction.
  • tribophosphoroscope, an instrument for examining triboluminescence.
  • tribulation, originally from Greek; then through Latin, “to press; affliction”; distress, great trial, or affliction.

“The Roman tribulum was a sledge consisting of a wooden block studded with sharp pieces of flint or iron teeth. It was used to bring force and pressure against wheat in grinding out grain.

The machine suggested the way trouble grinds people down and oppresses them, tribulations becoming another word for troubles and afflictions. The word is first recorded in English in 1330.”.

—From the Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins
by Robert Hendrickson; Facts On File, Inc., New York; 1997.

The Romans ground out their corn [make that grain-J.R.] with a heavy roller, mentioned in Vergil’s Georgics among agricultural instruments: the tribulum, diminutive noun, from tritere, trit —, to rub, from Greek tribein, to rub. Being ground under and pressed out made an excellent metaphor to express the trials and tribulations of the early Christians.

Dictionary of Word Origins by Joseph T. Shipley.

“To know the origin of words is to know how men think, how they have fashioned their civilization. Word history traces the path of human fellowship, the bridges from mind to mind, from nation to nation.

“Some of the words in our language can be traced to a remote past; some have histories that begin but yesterday. Many are members of large families, with intertwining legend and history. Slow change, swift new coinage of science or slang, ancient or recent borrowing from many tongues: together they give flexibility, power, and beauty to English, the richest and most widespread language of all time.”

— Joseph T. Shipley, from the Preface of his Dictionary of Word Origins.
This entry is located in the following unit: Focusing on Words Newsletter #05 (page 1)
Can you translate the following sesquipedalians into "common English"?

Here is an old proverb: While bryophytic plants are typically encountered as substrata of earthly or mineral matter in concreted state, discrete substrata elements occasionally display a roughly spherical configuration which, in the presence of suitable gravitational and other effects, lends itself to a combined translatory and rotational motion. One notices in such cases an absence of the otherwise typical accretion of bryophyta.


The proverb means: “A rolling stone gathers no moss.”



What was a young man saying to a young woman in the following sesquipedalian?


They shine more rutilent than ligulin—those labial components that surround thy pericranial orifice, wherein denticulations niveous abound!

Commingle them with my equivalents! Let like with like nectareously converge! From the predestined confluence some sempiternal rapture must emerge!


As Willard Espy put it, “After all, he was only asking her for a kiss. Jargon may be useful to hide one’s real thinking, or lack of it, but it can be downright self-defeating if you are trying to persuade someone to do something. A young man learned that when he addressed these words to the maiden he loved, only to be shown the door.”

Both of the foregoing were compiled by Willard R. Espy.


The letters MS refer to two things: One is a debilitating and surprisingly widespread affliction that renders the sufferer barely able to perform the simplest task; the other is a disease. In other words, MS stands for the name of a well-known software company or for the disease Multiple Sclerosis.

This entry is located in the following unit: Focusing on Words Newsletter #12 (page 1)