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81 Historical Portugal
Before Romans described western Iberia or Hispania as "Lusitania," ancient Iberians inhabited the land. Phoenician and Greek trading settlements grew up in the Tagus estuary area and nearby coasts. Beginning around 202 BCE, Romans invaded what is today southern Portugal. With Rome's defeat of Carthage, Romans proceeded to conquer and rule the western region north of the Tagus, which they named Roman "Lusitania." In the fourth century CE, as Rome's rule weakened, the area experienced yet another invasion—Germanic tribes, principally the Suevi, who eventually were Christianized. During the sixth century CE, the Suevi kingdom was superseded by yet another Germanic tribe—the Christian Visigoths.A major turning point in Portugal's history came in 711, as Muslim armies from North Africa, consisting of both Arab and Berber elements, invaded the Iberian Peninsula from across the Straits of Gibraltar. They entered what is now Portugal in 714, and proceeded to conquer most of the country except for the far north. For the next half a millennium, Islam and Muslim presence in Portugal left a significant mark upon the politics, government, language, and culture of the country.Islam, Reconquest, and Portugal Created, 714-1140The long frontier struggle between Muslim invaders and Christian communities in the north of the Iberian peninsula was called the Reconquista (Reconquest). It was during this struggle that the first dynasty of Portuguese kings (Burgundian) emerged and the independent monarchy of Portugal was established. Christian forces moved south from what is now the extreme north of Portugal and gradually defeated Muslim forces, besieging and capturing towns under Muslim sway. In the ninth century, as Christian forces slowly made their way southward, Christian elements were dominant only in the area between Minho province and the Douro River; this region became known as "territorium Portu-calense."In the 11th century, the advance of the Reconquest quickened as local Christian armies were reinforced by crusading knights from what is now France and England. Christian forces took Montemor (1034), at the Mondego River; Lamego (1058); Viseu (1058); and Coimbra (1064). In 1095, the king of Castile and Léon granted the country of "Portu-cale," what became northern Portugal, to a Burgundian count who had emigrated from France. This was the foundation of Portugal. In 1139, a descendant of this count, Afonso Henriques, proclaimed himself "King of Portugal." He was Portugal's first monarch, the "Founder," and the first of the Burgundian dynasty, which ruled until 1385.The emergence of Portugal in the 12th century as a separate monarchy in Iberia occurred before the Christian Reconquest of the peninsula. In the 1140s, the pope in Rome recognized Afonso Henriques as king of Portugal. In 1147, after a long, bloody siege, Muslim-occupied Lisbon fell to Afonso Henriques's army. Lisbon was the greatest prize of the 500-year war. Assisting this effort were English crusaders on their way to the Holy Land; the first bishop of Lisbon was an Englishman. When the Portuguese captured Faro and Silves in the Algarve province in 1248-50, the Reconquest of the extreme western portion of the Iberian peninsula was complete—significantly, more than two centuries before the Spanish crown completed the Reconquest of the eastern portion by capturing Granada in 1492.Consolidation and Independence of Burgundian Portugal, 1140-1385Two main themes of Portugal's early existence as a monarchy are the consolidation of control over the realm and the defeat of a Castil-ian threat from the east to its independence. At the end of this period came the birth of a new royal dynasty (Aviz), which prepared to carry the Christian Reconquest beyond continental Portugal across the straits of Gibraltar to North Africa. There was a variety of motives behind these developments. Portugal's independent existence was imperiled by threats from neighboring Iberian kingdoms to the north and east. Politics were dominated not only by efforts against the Muslims inPortugal (until 1250) and in nearby southern Spain (until 1492), but also by internecine warfare among the kingdoms of Castile, Léon, Aragon, and Portugal. A final comeback of Muslim forces was defeated at the battle of Salado (1340) by allied Castilian and Portuguese forces. In the emerging Kingdom of Portugal, the monarch gradually gained power over and neutralized the nobility and the Church.The historic and commonplace Portuguese saying "From Spain, neither a good wind nor a good marriage" was literally played out in diplomacy and war in the late 14th-century struggles for mastery in the peninsula. Larger, more populous Castile was pitted against smaller Portugal. Castile's Juan I intended to force a union between Castile and Portugal during this era of confusion and conflict. In late 1383, Portugal's King Fernando, the last king of the Burgundian dynasty, suddenly died prematurely at age 38, and the Master of Aviz, Portugal's most powerful nobleman, took up the cause of independence and resistance against Castile's invasion. The Master of Aviz, who became King João I of Portugal, was able to obtain foreign assistance. With the aid of English archers, Joao's armies defeated the Castilians in the crucial battle of Aljubarrota, on 14 August 1385, a victory that assured the independence of the Portuguese monarchy from its Castilian nemesis for several centuries.Aviz Dynasty and Portugal's First Overseas Empire, 1385-1580The results of the victory at Aljubarrota, much celebrated in Portugal's art and monuments, and the rise of the Aviz dynasty also helped to establish a new merchant class in Lisbon and Oporto, Portugal's second city. This group supported King João I's program of carrying the Reconquest to North Africa, since it was interested in expanding Portugal's foreign commerce and tapping into Muslim trade routes and resources in Africa. With the Reconquest against the Muslims completed in Portugal and the threat from Castile thwarted for the moment, the Aviz dynasty launched an era of overseas conquest, exploration, and trade. These efforts dominated Portugal's 15th and 16th centuries.The overseas empire and age of Discoveries began with Portugal's bold conquest in 1415 of the Moroccan city of Ceuta. One royal member of the 1415 expedition was young, 21-year-old Prince Henry, later known in history as "Prince Henry the Navigator." His part in the capture of Ceuta won Henry his knighthood and began Portugal's "Marvelous Century," during which the small kingdom was counted as a European and world power of consequence. Henry was the son of King João I and his English queen, Philippa of Lancaster, but he did not inherit the throne. Instead, he spent most of his life and his fortune, and that of the wealthy military Order of Christ, on various imperial ventures and on voyages of exploration down the African coast and into the Atlantic. While mythology has surrounded Henry's controversial role in the Discoveries, and this role has been exaggerated, there is no doubt that he played a vital part in the initiation of Portugal's first overseas empire and in encouraging exploration. He was naturally curious, had a sense of mission for Portugal, and was a strong leader. He also had wealth to expend; at least a third of the African voyages of the time were under his sponsorship. If Prince Henry himself knew little science, significant scientific advances in navigation were made in his day.What were Portugal's motives for this new imperial effort? The well-worn historical cliche of "God, Glory, and Gold" can only partly explain the motivation of a small kingdom with few natural resources and barely 1 million people, which was greatly outnumbered by the other powers it confronted. Among Portuguese objectives were the desire to exploit known North African trade routes and resources (gold, wheat, leather, weaponry, and other goods that were scarce in Iberia); the need to outflank the Muslim world in the Mediterranean by sailing around Africa, attacking Muslims en route; and the wish to ally with Christian kingdoms beyond Africa. This enterprise also involved a strategy of breaking the Venetian spice monopoly by trading directly with the East by means of discovering and exploiting a sea route around Africa to Asia. Besides the commercial motives, Portugal nurtured a strong crusading sense of Christian mission, and various classes in the kingdom saw an opportunity for fame and gain.By the time of Prince Henry's death in 1460, Portugal had gained control of the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeiras, begun to colonize the Cape Verde Islands, failed to conquer the Canary Islands from Castile, captured various cities on Morocco's coast, and explored as far as Senegal, West Africa, down the African coast. By 1488, Bar-tolomeu Dias had rounded the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa and thereby discovered the way to the Indian Ocean.Portugal's largely coastal African empire and later its fragile Asian empire brought unexpected wealth but were purchased at a high price. Costs included wars of conquest and defense against rival powers, manning the far-flung navel and trade fleets and scattered castle-fortresses, and staffing its small but fierce armies, all of which entailed a loss of skills and population to maintain a scattered empire. Always short of capital, the monarchy became indebted to bankers. There were many defeats beginning in the 16th century at the hands of the larger imperial European monarchies (Spain, France, England, and Holland) and many attacks on Portugal and its strung-out empire. Typically, there was also the conflict that arose when a tenuously held world empire that rarely if ever paid its way demanded finance and manpower Portugal itself lacked.The first 80 years of the glorious imperial era, the golden age of Portugal's imperial power and world influence, was an African phase. During 1415-88, Portuguese navigators and explorers in small ships, some of them caravelas (caravels), explored the treacherous, disease-ridden coasts of Africa from Morocco to South Africa beyond the Cape of Good Hope. By the 1470s, the Portuguese had reached the Gulf of Guinea and, in the early 1480s, what is now Angola. Bartolomeu Dias's extraordinary voyage of 1487-88 to South Africa's coast and the edge of the Indian Ocean convinced Portugal that the best route to Asia's spices and Christians lay south, around the tip of southern Africa. Between 1488 and 1495, there was a hiatus caused in part by domestic conflict in Portugal, discussion of resources available for further conquests beyond Africa in Asia, and serious questions as to Portugal's capacity to reach beyond Africa. In 1495, King Manuel and his council decided to strike for Asia, whatever the consequences. In 1497-99, Vasco da Gama, under royal orders, made the epic two-year voyage that discovered the sea route to western India (Asia), outflanked Islam and Venice, and began Portugal's Asian empire. Within 50 years, Portugal had discovered and begun the exploitation of its largest colony, Brazil, and set up forts and trading posts from the Middle East (Aden and Ormuz), India (Calicut, Goa, etc.), Malacca, and Indonesia to Macau in China.By the 1550s, parts of its largely coastal, maritime trading post empire from Morocco to the Moluccas were under siege from various hostile forces, including Muslims, Christians, and Hindi. Although Moroccan forces expelled the Portuguese from the major coastal cities by 1550, the rival European monarchies of Castile (Spain), England, France, and later Holland began to seize portions of her undermanned, outgunned maritime empire.In 1580, Phillip II of Spain, whose mother was a Portuguese princess and who had a strong claim to the Portuguese throne, invaded Portugal, claimed the throne, and assumed control over the realm and, by extension, its African, Asian, and American empires. Phillip II filled the power vacuum that appeared in Portugal following the loss of most of Portugal's army and its young, headstrong King Sebastião in a disastrous war in Morocco. Sebastiao's death in battle (1578) and the lack of a natural heir to succeed him, as well as the weak leadership of the cardinal who briefly assumed control in Lisbon, led to a crisis that Spain's strong monarch exploited. As a result, Portugal lost its independence to Spain for a period of 60 years.Portugal under Spanish Rule, 1580-1640Despite the disastrous nature of Portugal's experience under Spanish rule, "The Babylonian Captivity" gave birth to modern Portuguese nationalism, its second overseas empire, and its modern alliance system with England. Although Spain allowed Portugal's weakened empire some autonomy, Spanish rule in Portugal became increasingly burdensome and unacceptable. Spain's ambitious imperial efforts in Europe and overseas had an impact on the Portuguese as Spain made greater and greater demands on its smaller neighbor for manpower and money. Portugal's culture underwent a controversial Castilianization, while its empire became hostage to Spain's fortunes. New rival powers England, France, and Holland attacked and took parts of Spain's empire and at the same time attacked Portugal's empire, as well as the mother country.Portugal's empire bore the consequences of being attacked by Spain's bitter enemies in what was a form of world war. Portuguese losses were heavy. By 1640, Portugal had lost most of its Moroccan cities as well as Ceylon, the Moluccas, and sections of India. With this, Portugal's Asian empire was gravely weakened. Only Goa, Damão, Diu, Bombay, Timor, and Macau remained and, in Brazil, Dutch forces occupied the northeast.On 1 December 1640, long commemorated as a national holiday, Portuguese rebels led by the duke of Braganza overthrew Spanish domination and took advantage of Spanish weakness following a more serious rebellion in Catalonia. Portugal regained independence from Spain, but at a price: dependence on foreign assistance to maintain its independence in the form of the renewal of the alliance with England.Restoration and Second Empire, 1640-1822Foreign affairs and empire dominated the restoration era and aftermath, and Portugal again briefly enjoyed greater European power and prestige. The Anglo-Portuguese Alliance was renewed and strengthened in treaties of 1642, 1654, and 1661, and Portugal's independence from Spain was underwritten by English pledges and armed assistance. In a Luso-Spanish treaty of 1668, Spain recognized Portugal's independence. Portugal's alliance with England was a marriage of convenience and necessity between two monarchies with important religious, cultural, and social differences. In return for legal, diplomatic, and trade privileges, as well as the use during war and peace of Portugal's great Lisbon harbor and colonial ports for England's navy, England pledged to protect Portugal and its scattered empire from any attack. The previously cited 17th-century alliance treaties were renewed later in the Treaty of Windsor, signed in London in 1899. On at least 10 different occasions after 1640, and during the next two centuries, England was central in helping prevent or repel foreign invasions of its ally, Portugal.Portugal's second empire (1640-1822) was largely Brazil-oriented. Portuguese colonization, exploitation of wealth, and emigration focused on Portuguese America, and imperial revenues came chiefly from Brazil. Between 1670 and 1740, Portugal's royalty and nobility grew wealthier on funds derived from Brazilian gold, diamonds, sugar, tobacco, and other crops, an enterprise supported by the Atlantic slave trade and the supply of African slave labor from West Africa and Angola. Visitors today can see where much of that wealth was invested: Portugal's rich legacy of monumental architecture. Meanwhile, the African slave trade took a toll in Angola and West Africa.In continental Portugal, absolutist monarchy dominated politics and government, and there was a struggle for position and power between the monarchy and other institutions, such as the Church and nobility. King José I's chief minister, usually known in history as the marquis of Pombal (ruled 1750-77), sharply suppressed the nobility and theChurch (including the Inquisition, now a weak institution) and expelled the Jesuits. Pombal also made an effort to reduce economic dependence on England, Portugal's oldest ally. But his successes did not last much beyond his disputed time in office.Beginning in the late 18th century, the European-wide impact of the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon placed Portugal in a vulnerable position. With the monarchy ineffectively led by an insane queen (Maria I) and her indecisive regent son (João VI), Portugal again became the focus of foreign ambition and aggression. With England unable to provide decisive assistance in time, France—with Spain's consent—invaded Portugal in 1807. As Napoleon's army under General Junot entered Lisbon meeting no resistance, Portugal's royal family fled on a British fleet to Brazil, where it remained in exile until 1821. In the meantime, Portugal's overseas empire was again under threat. There was a power vacuum as the monarch was absent, foreign armies were present, and new political notions of liberalism and constitutional monarchy were exciting various groups of citizens.Again England came to the rescue, this time in the form of the armies of the duke of Wellington. Three successive French invasions of Portugal were defeated and expelled, and Wellington succeeded in carrying the war against Napoleon across the Portuguese frontier into Spain. The presence of the English army, the new French-born liberal ideas, and the political vacuum combined to create revolutionary conditions. The French invasions and the peninsular wars, where Portuguese armed forces played a key role, marked the beginning of a new era in politics.Liberalism and Constitutional Monarchy, 1822-1910During 1807-22, foreign invasions, war, and civil strife over conflicting political ideas gravely damaged Portugal's commerce, economy, and novice industry. The next terrible blow was the loss of Brazil in 1822, the jewel in the imperial crown. Portugal's very independence seemed to be at risk. In vain, Portugal sought to resist Brazilian independence by force, but in 1825 it formally acknowledged Brazilian independence by treaty.Portugal's slow recovery from the destructive French invasions and the "war of independence" was complicated by civil strife over the form of constitutional monarchy that best suited Portugal. After struggles over these issues between 1820 and 1834, Portugal settled somewhat uncertainly into a moderate constitutional monarchy whose constitution (Charter of 1826) lent it strong political powers to exert a moderating influence between the executive and legislative branches of the government. It also featured a new upper middle class based on land ownership and commerce; a Catholic Church that, although still important, lived with reduced privileges and property; a largely African (third) empire to which Lisbon and Oporto devoted increasing spiritual and material resources, starting with the liberal imperial plans of 1836 and 1851, and continuing with the work of institutions like the Lisbon Society of Geography (established 1875); and a mass of rural peasants whose bonds to the land weakened after 1850 and who began to immigrate in increasing numbers to Brazil and North America.Chronic military intervention in national politics began in 19th-century Portugal. Such intervention, usually commencing with coups or pronunciamentos (military revolts), was a shortcut to the spoils of political office and could reflect popular discontent as well as the power of personalities. An early example of this was the 1817 golpe (coup) attempt of General Gomes Freire against British military rule in Portugal before the return of King João VI from Brazil. Except for a more stable period from 1851 to 1880, military intervention in politics, or the threat thereof, became a feature of the constitutional monarchy's political life, and it continued into the First Republic and the subsequent Estado Novo.Beginning with the Regeneration period (1851-80), Portugal experienced greater political stability and economic progress. Military intervention in politics virtually ceased; industrialization and construction of railroads, roads, and bridges proceeded; two political parties (Regenerators and Historicals) worked out a system of rotation in power; and leading intellectuals sparked a cultural revival in several fields. In 19th-century literature, there was a new golden age led by such figures as Alexandre Herculano (historian), Eça de Queirós (novelist), Almeida Garrett (playwright and essayist), Antero de Quental (poet), and Joaquim Oliveira Martins (historian and social scientist). In its third overseas empire, Portugal attempted to replace the slave trade and slavery with legitimate economic activities; to reform the administration; and to expand Portuguese holdings beyond coastal footholds deep into the African hinterlands in West, West Central, and East Africa. After 1841, to some extent, and especially after 1870, colonial affairs, combined with intense nationalism, pressures for economic profit in Africa, sentiment for national revival, and the drift of European affairs would make or break Lisbon governments.Beginning with the political crisis that arose out of the "English Ultimatum" affair of January 1890, the monarchy became discredtted and identified with the poorly functioning government, political parties splintered, and republicanism found more supporters. Portugal participated in the "Scramble for Africa," expanding its African holdings, but failed to annex territory connecting Angola and Mozambique. A growing foreign debt and state bankruptcy as of the early 1890s damaged the constitutional monarchy's reputation, despite the efforts of King Carlos in diplomacy, the renewal of the alliance in the Windsor Treaty of 1899, and the successful if bloody colonial wars in the empire (1880-97). Republicanism proclaimed that Portugal's weak economy and poor society were due to two historic institutions: the monarchy and the Catholic Church. A republic, its stalwarts claimed, would bring greater individual liberty; efficient, if more decentralized government; and a stronger colonial program while stripping the Church of its role in both society and education.As the monarchy lost support and republicans became more aggressive, violence increased in politics. King Carlos I and his heir Luís were murdered in Lisbon by anarchist-republicans on 1 February 1908. Following a military and civil insurrection and fighting between monarchist and republican forces, on 5 October 1910, King Manuel II fled Portugal and a republic was proclaimed.First Parliamentary Republic, 1910-26Portugal's first attempt at republican government was the most unstable, turbulent parliamentary republic in the history of 20th-century Western Europe. During a little under 16 years of the republic, there were 45 governments, a number of legislatures that did not complete normal terms, military coups, and only one president who completed his four-year term in office. Portuguese society was poorly prepared for this political experiment. Among the deadly legacies of the monarchy were a huge public debt; a largely rural, apolitical, and illiterate peasant population; conflict over the causes of the country's misfortunes; and lack of experience with a pluralist, democratic system.The republic had some talented leadership but lacked popular, institutional, and economic support. The 1911 republican constitution established only a limited democracy, as only a small portion of the adult male citizenry was eligible to vote. In a country where the majority was Catholic, the republic passed harshly anticlerical laws, and its institutions and supporters persecuted both the Church and its adherents. During its brief disjointed life, the First Republic drafted important reform plans in economic, social, and educational affairs; actively promoted development in the empire; and pursued a liberal, generous foreign policy. Following British requests for Portugal's assistance in World War I, Portugal entered the war on the Allied side in March 1916 and sent armies to Flanders and Portuguese Africa. Portugal's intervention in that conflict, however, was too costly in many respects, and the ultimate failure of the republic in part may be ascribed to Portugal's World War I activities.Unfortunately for the republic, its time coincided with new threats to Portugal's African possessions: World War I, social and political demands from various classes that could not be reconciled, excessive military intervention in politics, and, in particular, the worst economic and financial crisis Portugal had experienced since the 16th and 17th centuries. After the original Portuguese Republican Party (PRP, also known as the "Democrats") splintered into three warring groups in 1912, no true multiparty system emerged. The Democrats, except for only one or two elections, held an iron monopoly of electoral power, and political corruption became a major issue. As extreme right-wing dictatorships elsewhere in Europe began to take power in Italy (1922), neighboring Spain (1923), and Greece (1925), what scant popular support remained for the republic collapsed. Backed by a right-wing coalition of landowners from Alentejo, clergy, Coimbra University faculty and students, Catholic organizations, and big business, career military officers led by General Gomes da Costa executed a coup on 28 May 1926, turned out the last republican government, and established a military government.The Estado Novo (New State), 1926-74During the military phase (1926-32) of the Estado Novo, professional military officers, largely from the army, governed and administered Portugal and held key cabinet posts, but soon discovered that the military possessed no magic formula that could readily solve the problems inherited from the First Republic. Especially during the years 1926-31, the military dictatorship, even with its political repression of republican activities and institutions (military censorship of the press, political police action, and closure of the republic's rowdy parliament), was characterized by similar weaknesses: personalism and factionalism; military coups and political instability, including civil strife and loss of life; state debt and bankruptcy; and a weak economy. "Barracks parliamentarism" was not an acceptable alternative even to the "Nightmare Republic."Led by General Óscar Carmona, who had replaced and sent into exile General Gomes da Costa, the military dictatorship turned to a civilian expert in finance and economics to break the budget impasse and bring coherence to the disorganized system. Appointed minister of finance on 27 April 1928, the Coimbra University Law School professor of economics Antônio de Oliveira Salazar (1889-1970) first reformed finance, helped balance the budget, and then turned to other concerns as he garnered extraordinary governing powers. In 1930, he was appointed interim head of another key ministry (Colonies) and within a few years had become, in effect, a civilian dictator who, with the military hierarchy's support, provided the government with coherence, a program, and a set of policies.For nearly 40 years after he was appointed the first civilian prime minister in 1932, Salazar's personality dominated the government. Unlike extreme right-wing dictators elsewhere in Europe, Salazar was directly appointed by the army but was never endorsed by a popular political party, street militia, or voter base. The scholarly, reclusive former Coimbra University professor built up what became known after 1932 as the Estado Novo ("New State"), which at the time of its overthrow by another military coup in 1974, was the longest surviving authoritarian regime in Western Europe. The system of Salazar and the largely academic and technocratic ruling group he gathered in his cabinets was based on the central bureaucracy of the state, which was supported by the president of the republic—always a senior career military officer, General Óscar Carmona (1928-51), General Craveiro Lopes (1951-58), and Admiral Américo Tómaz (1958-74)—and the complicity of various institutions. These included a rubber-stamp legislature called the National Assembly (1935-74) and a political police known under various names: PVDE (1932-45), PIDE (1945-69),and DGS (1969-74). Other defenders of the Estado Novo security were paramilitary organizations such as the National Republican Guard (GNR); the Portuguese Legion (PL); and the Portuguese Youth [Movement]. In addition to censorship of the media, theater, and books, there was political repression and a deliberate policy of depoliticization. All political parties except for the approved movement of regime loyalists, the União Nacional or (National Union), were banned.The most vigorous and more popular period of the New State was 1932-44, when the basic structures were established. Never monolithic or entirely the work of one person (Salazar), the New State was constructed with the assistance of several dozen top associates who were mainly academics from law schools, some technocrats with specialized skills, and a handful of trusted career military officers. The 1933 Constitution declared Portugal to be a "unitary, corporative Republic," and pressures to restore the monarchy were resisted. Although some of the regime's followers were fascists and pseudofascists, many more were conservative Catholics, integralists, nationalists, and monarchists of different varieties, and even some reactionary republicans. If the New State was authoritarian, it was not totalitarian and, unlike fascism in Benito Mussolini's Italy or Adolf Hitler's Germany, it usually employed the minimum of violence necessary to defeat what remained a largely fractious, incoherent opposition.With the tumultuous Second Republic and the subsequent civil war in nearby Spain, the regime felt threatened and reinforced its defenses. During what Salazar rightly perceived as a time of foreign policy crisis for Portugal (1936-45), he assumed control of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From there, he pursued four basic foreign policy objectives: supporting the Nationalist rebels of General Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and concluding defense treaties with a triumphant Franco; ensuring that General Franco in an exhausted Spain did not enter World War II on the Axis side; maintaining Portuguese neutrality in World War II with a post-1942 tilt toward the Allies, including granting Britain and the United States use of bases in the Azores Islands; and preserving and protecting Portugal's Atlantic Islands and its extensive, if poor, overseas empire in Africa and Asia.During the middle years of the New State (1944-58), many key Salazar associates in government either died or resigned, and there was greater social unrest in the form of unprecedented strikes and clandestine Communist activities, intensified opposition, and new threatening international pressures on Portugal's overseas empire. During the earlier phase of the Cold War (1947-60), Portugal became a steadfast, if weak, member of the US-dominated North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance and, in 1955, with American support, Portugal joined the United Nations (UN). Colonial affairs remained a central concern of the regime. As of 1939, Portugal was the third largest colonial power in the world and possessed territories in tropical Africa (Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, and São Tomé and Príncipe Islands) and the remnants of its 16th-century empire in Asia (Goa, Damão, Diu, East Timor, and Macau). Beginning in the early 1950s, following the independence of India in 1947, Portugal resisted Indian pressures to decolonize Portuguese India and used police forces to discourage internal opposition in its Asian and African colonies.The later years of the New State (1958-68) witnessed the aging of the increasingly isolated but feared Salazar and new threats both at home and overseas. Although the regime easily overcame the brief oppositionist threat from rival presidential candidate General Humberto Delgado in the spring of 1958, new developments in the African and Asian empires imperiled the authoritarian system. In February 1961, oppositionists hijacked the Portuguese ocean liner Santa Maria and, in following weeks, African insurgents in northern Angola, although they failed to expel the Portuguese, gained worldwide media attention, discredited the New State, and began the 13-year colonial war. After thwarting a dissident military coup against his continued leadership, Salazar and his ruling group mobilized military repression in Angola and attempted to develop the African colonies at a faster pace in order to ensure Portuguese control. Meanwhile, the other European colonial powers (Britain, France, Belgium, and Spain) rapidly granted political independence to their African territories.At the time of Salazar's removal from power in September 1968, following a stroke, Portugal's efforts to maintain control over its colonies appeared to be successful. President Americo Tomás appointed Dr. Marcello Caetano as Salazar's successor as prime minister. While maintaining the New State's basic structures, and continuing the regime's essential colonial policy, Caetano attempted wider reforms in colonial administration and some devolution of power from Lisbon, as well as more freedom of expression in Lisbon. Still, a great deal of the budget was devoted to supporting the wars against the insurgencies in Africa. Meanwhile in Asia, Portuguese India had fallen when the Indian army invaded in December 1961. The loss of Goa was a psychological blow to the leadership of the New State, and of the Asian empire only East Timor and Macau remained.The Caetano years (1968-74) were but a hiatus between the waning Salazar era and a new regime. There was greater political freedom and rapid economic growth (5-6 percent annually to late 1973), but Caetano's government was unable to reform the old system thoroughly and refused to consider new methods either at home or in the empire. In the end, regime change came from junior officers of the professional military who organized the Armed Forces Movement (MFA) against the Caetano government. It was this group of several hundred officers, mainly in the army and navy, which engineered a largely bloodless coup in Lisbon on 25 April 1974. Their unexpected action brought down the 48-year-old New State and made possible the eventual establishment and consolidation of democratic governance in Portugal, as well as a reorientation of the country away from the Atlantic toward Europe.Revolution of Carnations, 1974-76Following successful military operations of the Armed Forces Movement against the Caetano government, Portugal experienced what became known as the "Revolution of Carnations." It so happened that during the rainy week of the military golpe, Lisbon flower shops were featuring carnations, and the revolutionaries and their supporters adopted the red carnation as the common symbol of the event, as well as of the new freedom from dictatorship. The MFA, whose leaders at first were mostly little-known majors and captains, proclaimed a three-fold program of change for the new Portugal: democracy; decolonization of the overseas empire, after ending the colonial wars; and developing a backward economy in the spirit of opportunity and equality. During the first 24 months after the coup, there was civil strife, some anarchy, and a power struggle. With the passing of the Estado Novo, public euphoria burst forth as the new provisional military government proclaimed the freedoms of speech, press, and assembly, and abolished censorship, the political police, the Portuguese Legion, Portuguese Youth, and other New State organizations, including the National Union. Scores of political parties were born and joined the senior political party, the Portuguese Community Party (PCP), and the Socialist Party (PS), founded shortly before the coup.Portugal's Revolution of Carnations went through several phases. There was an attempt to take control by radical leftists, including the PCP and its allies. This was thwarted by moderate officers in the army, as well as by the efforts of two political parties: the PS and the Social Democrats (PPD, later PSD). The first phase was from April to September 1974. Provisional president General Antonio Spínola, whose 1974 book Portugal and the Future had helped prepare public opinion for the coup, met irresistible leftist pressures. After Spinola's efforts to avoid rapid decolonization of the African empire failed, he resigned in September 1974. During the second phase, from September 1974 to March 1975, radical military officers gained control, but a coup attempt by General Spínola and his supporters in Lisbon in March 1975 failed and Spínola fled to Spain.In the third phase of the Revolution, March-November 1975, a strong leftist reaction followed. Farm workers occupied and "nationalized" 1.1 million hectares of farmland in the Alentejo province, and radical military officers in the provisional government ordered the nationalization of Portuguese banks (foreign banks were exempted), utilities, and major industries, or about 60 percent of the economic system. There were power struggles among various political parties — a total of 50 emerged—and in the streets there was civil strife among labor, military, and law enforcement groups. A constituent assembly, elected on 25 April 1975, in Portugal's first free elections since 1926, drafted a democratic constitution. The Council of the Revolution (CR), briefly a revolutionary military watchdog committee, was entrenched as part of the government under the constitution, until a later revision. During the chaotic year of 1975, about 30 persons were killed in political frays while unstable provisional governments came and went. On 25 November 1975, moderate military forces led by Colonel Ramalho Eanes, who later was twice elected president of the republic (1976 and 1981), defeated radical, leftist military groups' revolutionary conspiracies.In the meantime, Portugal's scattered overseas empire experienced a precipitous and unprepared decolonization. One by one, the former colonies were granted and accepted independence—Guinea-Bissau (September 1974), Cape Verde Islands (July 1975), and Mozambique (July 1975). Portugal offered to turn over Macau to the People's Republic of China, but the offer was refused then and later negotiations led to the establishment of a formal decolonization or hand-over date of 1999. But in two former colonies, the process of decolonization had tragic results.In Angola, decolonization negotiations were greatly complicated by the fact that there were three rival nationalist movements in a struggle for power. The January 1975 Alvor Agreement signed by Portugal and these three parties was not effectively implemented. A bloody civil war broke out in Angola in the spring of 1975 and, when Portuguese armed forces withdrew and declared that Angola was independent on 11 November 1975, the bloodshed only increased. Meanwhile, most of the white Portuguese settlers from Angola and Mozambique fled during the course of 1975. Together with African refugees, more than 600,000 of these retornados ("returned ones") went by ship and air to Portugal and thousands more to Namibia, South Africa, Brazil, Canada, and the United States.The second major decolonization disaster was in Portugal's colony of East Timor in the Indonesian archipelago. Portugal's capacity to supervise and control a peaceful transition to independence in this isolated, neglected colony was limited by the strength of giant Indonesia, distance from Lisbon, and Portugal's revolutionary disorder and inability to defend Timor. In early December 1975, before Portugal granted formal independence and as one party, FRETILIN, unilaterally declared East Timor's independence, Indonesia's armed forces invaded, conquered, and annexed East Timor. Indonesian occupation encountered East Timorese resistance, and a heavy loss of life followed. The East Timor question remained a contentious international issue in the UN, as well as in Lisbon and Jakarta, for more than 20 years following Indonesia's invasion and annexation of the former colony of Portugal. Major changes occurred, beginning in 1998, after Indonesia underwent a political revolution and allowed a referendum in East Timor to decide that territory's political future in August 1999. Most East Timorese chose independence, but Indonesian forces resisted that verdict untilUN intervention in September 1999. Following UN rule for several years, East Timor attained full independence on 20 May 2002.Consolidation of Democracy, 1976-2000After several free elections and record voter turnouts between 25 April 1975 and June 1976, civil war was averted and Portugal's second democratic republic began to stabilize. The MFA was dissolved, the military were returned to the barracks, and increasingly elected civilians took over the government of the country. The 1976 Constitution was revised several times beginning in 1982 and 1989, in order to reempha-size the principle of free enterprise in the economy while much of the large, nationalized sector was privatized. In June 1976, General Ram-alho Eanes was elected the first constitutional president of the republic (five-year term), and he appointed socialist leader Dr. Mário Soares as prime minister of the first constitutional government.From 1976 to 1985, Portugal's new system featured a weak economy and finances, labor unrest, and administrative and political instability. The difficult consolidation of democratic governance was eased in part by the strong currency and gold reserves inherited from the Estado Novo, but Lisbon seemed unable to cope with high unemployment, new debt, the complex impact of the refugees from Africa, world recession, and the agitation of political parties. Four major parties emerged from the maelstrom of 1974-75, except for the Communist Party, all newly founded. They were, from left to right, the Communists (PCP); the Socialists (PS), who managed to dominate governments and the legislature but not win a majority in the Assembly of the Republic; the Social Democrats (PSD); and the Christian Democrats (CDS). During this period, the annual growth rate was low (l-2 percent), and the nationalized sector of the economy stagnated.Enhanced economic growth, greater political stability, and more effective central government as of 1985, and especially 1987, were due to several developments. In 1977, Portugal applied for membership in the European Economic Community (EEC), now the European Union (EU) since 1993. In January 1986, with Spain, Portugal was granted membership, and economic and financial progress in the intervening years has been significantly influenced by the comparatively large investment, loans, technology, advice, and other assistance from the EEC. Low unemployment, high annual growth rates (5 percent), and moderate inflation have also been induced by the new political and administrative stability in Lisbon. Led by Prime Minister Cavaco Silva, an economist who was trained abroad, the PSD's strong organization, management, and electoral support since 1985 have assisted in encouraging economic recovery and development. In 1985, the PSD turned the PS out of office and won the general election, although they did not have an absolute majority of assembly seats. In 1986, Mário Soares was elected president of the republic, the first civilian to hold that office since the First Republic. In the elections of 1987 and 1991, however, the PSD was returned to power with clear majorities of over 50 percent of the vote.Although the PSD received 50.4 percent of the vote in the 1991 parliamentary elections and held a 42-seat majority in the Assembly of the Republic, the party began to lose public support following media revelations regarding corruption and complaints about Prime Minister Cavaco Silva's perceived arrogant leadership style. President Mário Soares voiced criticism of the PSD's seemingly untouchable majority and described a "tyranny of the majority." Economic growth slowed down. In the parliamentary elections of 1995 and the presidential election of 1996, the PSD's dominance ended for the time being. Prime Minister Antônio Guterres came to office when the PS won the October 1995 elections, and in the subsequent presidential contest, in January 1996, socialist Jorge Sampaio, the former mayor of Lisbon, was elected president of the republic, thus defeating Cavaco Silva's bid. Young and popular, Guterres moved the PS toward the center of the political spectrum. Under Guterres, the PS won the October 1999 parliamentary elections. The PS defeated the PSD but did not manage to win a clear, working majority of seats, and this made the PS dependent upon alliances with smaller parties, including the PCP.In the local elections in December 2001, the PSD's criticism of PS's heavy public spending allowed the PSD to take control of the key cities of Lisbon, Oporto, and Coimbra. Guterres resigned, and parliamentary elections were brought forward from 2004 to March 2002. The PSD won a narrow victory with 40 percent of the votes, and Jose Durão Barroso became prime minister. Having failed to win a majority of the seats in parliament forced the PSD to govern in coalition with the right-wing Popular Party (PP) led by Paulo Portas. Durão Barroso set about reducing government spending by cutting the budgets of local authorities, freezing civil service hiring, and reviving the economy by accelerating privatization of state-owned enterprises. These measures provoked a 24-hour strike by public-sector workers. Durão Barroso reacted with vows to press ahead with budget-cutting measures and imposed a wage freeze on all employees earning more than €1,000, which affected more than one-half of Portugal's work force.In June 2004, Durão Barroso was invited by Romano Prodi to succeed him as president of the European Commission. Durão Barroso accepted and resigned the prime ministership in July. Pedro Santana Lopes, the leader of the PSD, became prime minister. Already unpopular at the time of Durão Barroso's resignation, the PSD-led government became increasingly unpopular under Santana Lopes. A month-long delay in the start of the school year and confusion over his plan to cut taxes and raise public-sector salaries, eroded confidence even more. By November, Santana Lopes's government was so unpopular that President Jorge Sampaio was obliged to dissolve parliament and hold new elections, two years ahead of schedule.Parliamentary elections were held on 20 February 2005. The PS, which had promised the electorate disciplined and transparent governance, educational reform, the alleviation of poverty, and a boost in employment, won 45 percent of the vote and the majority of the seats in parliament. The leader of the PS, José Sôcrates became prime minister on 12 March 2005. In the regularly scheduled presidential elections held on 6 January 2006, the former leader of the PSD and prime minister, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, won a narrow victory and became president on 9 March 2006. With a mass protest, public teachers' strike, and street demonstrations in March 2008, Portugal's media, educational, and social systems experienced more severe pressures. With the spreading global recession beginning in September 2008, Portugal's economic and financial systems became more troubled.Owing to its geographic location on the southwestern most edge of continental Europe, Portugal has been historically in but not of Europe. Almost from the beginning of its existence in the 12th century as an independent monarchy, Portugal turned its back on Europe and oriented itself toward the Atlantic Ocean. After carving out a Christian kingdom on the western portion of the Iberian peninsula, Portuguese kings gradually built and maintained a vast seaborne global empire that became central to the way Portugal understood its individuality as a nation-state. While the creation of this empire allows Portugal to claim an unusual number of "firsts" or distinctions in world and Western history, it also retarded Portugal's economic, social, and political development. It can be reasonably argued that the Revolution of 25 April 1974 was the most decisive event in Portugal's long history because it finally ended Portugal's oceanic mission and view of itself as an imperial power. After the 1974 Revolution, Portugal turned away from its global mission and vigorously reoriented itself toward Europe. Contemporary Portugal is now both in and of Europe.The turn toward Europe began immediately after 25 April 1974. Portugal granted independence to its African colonies in 1975. It was admitted to the European Council and took the first steps toward accession to the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1976. On 28 March 1977, the Portuguese government officially applied for EEC membership. Because of Portugal's economic and social backwardness, which would require vast sums of EEC money to overcome, negotiations for membership were long and difficult. Finally, a treaty of accession was signed on 12 June 1985. Portugal officially joined the EEC (the European Union [EU] since 1993) on 1 January 1986. Since becoming a full-fledged member of the EU, Portugal has been steadily overcoming the economic and social underdevelopment caused by its imperial past and is becoming more like the rest of Europe.Membership in the EU has speeded up the structural transformation of Portugal's economy, which actually began during the Estado Novo. Investments made by the Estado Novo in Portugal's economy began to shift employment out of the agricultural sector, which, in 1950, accounted for 50 percent of Portugal's economically active population. Today, only 10 percent of the economically active population is employed in the agricultural sector (the highest among EU member states); 30 percent in the industrial sector (also the highest among EU member states); and 60 percent in the service sector (the lowest among EU member states). The economically active population numbers about 5,000,000 employed, 56 percent of whom are women. Women workers are the majority of the workforce in the agricultural and service sectors (the highest among the EU member states). The expansion of the service sector has been primarily in health care and education. Portugal has had the lowest unemployment rates among EU member states, with the overall rate never being more than 10 percent of the active population. Since joining the EU, the number of employers increased from 2.6 percent to 5.8 percent of the active population; self-employed from 16 to 19 percent; and employees from 65 to 70 percent. Twenty-six percent of the employers are women. Unemployment tends to hit younger workers in industry and transportation, women employed in domestic service, workers on short-term contracts, and poorly educated workers. Salaried workers earn only 63 percent of the EU average, and hourly workers only one-third to one-half of that earned by their EU counterparts. Despite having had the second highest growth of gross national product (GNP) per inhabitant (after Ireland) among EU member states, the above data suggest that while much has been accomplished in terms of modernizing the Portuguese economy, much remains to be done to bring Portugal's economy up to the level of the "average" EU member state.Membership in the EU has also speeded up changes in Portuguese society. Over the last 30 years, coastalization and urbanization have intensified. Fully 50 percent of Portuguese live in the coastal urban conurbations of Lisbon, Oporto, Braga, Aveiro, Coimbra, Viseu, Évora, and Faro. The Portuguese population is one of the oldest among EU member states (17.3 percent are 65 years of age or older) thanks to a considerable increase in life expectancy at birth (77.87 years for the total population, 74.6 years for men, 81.36 years for women) and one of the lowest birthrates (10.59 births/1,000) in Europe. Family size averages 2.8 persons per household, with the strict nuclear family (one or two generations) in which both parents work being typical. Common law marriages, cohabitating couples, and single-parent households are more and more common. The divorce rate has also increased. "Youth Culture" has developed. The young have their own meeting places, leisure-time activities, and nightlife (bars, clubs, and discos).All Portuguese citizens, whether they have contributed or not, have a right to an old-age pension, invalidity benefits, widowed persons' pension, as well as payments for disabilities, children, unemployment, and large families. There is a national minimum wage (€385 per month), which is low by EU standards. The rapid aging of Portugal's population has changed the ratio of contributors to pensioners to 1.7, the lowest in the EU. This has created deficits in Portugal's social security fund.The adult literacy rate is about 92 percent. Illiteracy is still found among the elderly. Although universal compulsory education up to grade 9 was achieved in 1980, only 21.2 percent of the population aged 25-64 had undergone secondary education, compared to an EU average of 65.7 percent. Portugal's higher education system currently consists of 14 state universities and 14 private universities, 15 state polytechnic institutions, one Catholic university, and one military academy. All in all, Portugal spends a greater percentage of its state budget on education than most EU member states. Despite this high level of expenditure, the troubled Portuguese education system does not perform well. Early leaving and repetition rates are among the highest among EU member states.After the Revolution of 25 April 1974, Portugal created a National Health Service, which today consists of 221 hospitals and 512 medical centers employing 33,751 doctors and 41,799 nurses. Like its education system, Portugal's medical system is inefficient. There are long waiting lists for appointments with specialists and for surgical procedures.Structural changes in Portugal's economy and society mean that social life in Portugal is not too different from that in other EU member states. A mass consumption society has been created. Televisions, telephones, refrigerators, cars, music equipment, mobile phones, and personal computers are commonplace. Sixty percent of Portuguese households possess at least one automobile, and 65 percent of Portuguese own their own home. Portuguese citizens are more aware of their legal rights than ever before. This has resulted in a trebling of the number of legal proceeding since 1960 and an eight-fold increase in the number of lawyers. In general, Portuguese society has become more permissive and secular; the Catholic Church and the armed forces are much less influential than in the past. Portugal's population is also much more culturally, religiously, and ethnically diverse, a consequence of the coming to Portugal of hundreds of thousands of immigrants, mainly from former African colonies.Portuguese are becoming more cosmopolitan and sophisticated through the impact of world media, the Internet, and the World Wide Web. A prime case in point came in the summer and early fall of 1999, with the extraordinary events in East Timor and the massive Portuguese popular responses. An internationally monitored referendum in East Timor, Portugal's former colony in the Indonesian archipelago and under Indonesian occupation from late 1975 to summer 1999, resulted in a vote of 78.5 percent for rejecting integration with Indonesia and for independence. When Indonesian prointegration gangs, aided by the Indonesian military, responded to the referendum with widespread brutality and threatened to reverse the verdict of the referendum, there was a spontaneous popular outpouring of protest in the cities and towns of Portugal. An avalanche of Portuguese e-mail fell on leaders and groups in the UN and in certain countries around the world as Portugal's diplomats, perhaps to compensate for the weak initial response to Indonesian armed aggression in 1975, called for the protection of East Timor as an independent state and for UN intervention to thwart Indonesian action. Using global communications networks, the Portuguese were able to mobilize UN and world public opinion against Indonesian actions and aided the eventual independence of East Timor on 20 May 2002.From the Revolution of 25 April 1974 until the 1990s, Portugal had a large number of political parties, one of the largest Communist parties in western Europe, frequent elections, and endemic cabinet instability. Since the 1990s, the number of political parties has been dramatically reduced and cabinet stability increased. Gradually, the Portuguese electorate has concentrated around two larger parties, the right-of-center Social Democrats (PSD) and the left-of-center Socialist (PS). In the 1980s, these two parties together garnered 65 percent of the vote and 70 percent of the seats in parliament. In 2005, these percentages had risen to 74 percent and 85 percent, respectively. In effect, Portugal is currently a two-party dominant system in which the two largest parties — PS and PSD—alternate in and out of power, not unlike the rotation of the two main political parties (the Regenerators and the Historicals) during the last decades (1850s to 1880s) of the liberal constitutional monarchy. As Portugal's democracy has consolidated, turnout rates for the eligible electorate have declined. In the 1970s, turnout was 85 percent. In Portugal's most recent parliamentary election (2005), turnout had fallen to 65 percent of the eligible electorate.Portugal has benefited greatly from membership in the EU, and whatever doubts remain about the price paid for membership, no Portuguese government in the near future can afford to sever this connection. The vast majority of Portuguese citizens see membership in the EU as a "good thing" and strongly believe that Portugal has benefited from membership. Only the Communist Party opposed membership because it reduces national sovereignty, serves the interests of capitalists not workers, and suffers from a democratic deficit. Despite the high level of support for the EU, Portuguese voters are increasingly not voting in elections for the European Parliament, however. Turnout for European Parliament elections fell from 40 percent of the eligible electorate in the 1999 elections to 38 percent in the 2004 elections.In sum, Portugal's turn toward Europe has done much to overcome its backwardness. However, despite the economic, social, and political progress made since 1986, Portugal has a long way to go before it can claim to be on a par with the level found even in Spain, much less the rest of western Europe. As Portugal struggles to move from underde-velopment, especially in the rural areas away from the coast, it must keep in mind the perils of too rapid modern development, which could damage two of its most precious assets: its scenery and environment. The growth and future prosperity of the economy will depend on the degree to which the government and the private sector will remain stewards of clean air, soil, water, and other finite resources on which the tourism industry depends and on which Portugal's world image as a unique place to visit rests. Currently, Portugal is investing heavily in renewable energy from solar, wind, and wave power in order to account for about 50 percent of its electricity needs by 2010. Portugal opened the world's largest solar power plant and the world's first commercial wave power farm in 2006.An American documentary film on Portugal produced in the 1970s described this little country as having "a Past in Search of a Future." In the years after the Revolution of 25 April 1974, it could be said that Portugal is now living in "a Present in Search of a Future." Increasingly, that future lies in Europe as an active and productive member of the EU. -
82 mientras
mientras adverbio 1 ( al mismo tiempo) tb 2 (esp AmL) ( cuanto):◊ mientras más se le da, más pide the more you give him, the more he wants;mientras menos coma, mejor the less I eat the better ■ conjunción 1 ( indicando simultaneidad) while; 2 (con idea de futuro, condición, etc) as long as;◊ mientras viva/él no se entere as long as I live/he doesn't find out3
mientras
I conj
1 (a la vez, durante) while: no comas mientras estudias, don't eat while you are studying
2 (+ subjuntivo) as long as: mientras no mejores, as long as you don't improve 3 mientras que (por el contrario) whereas
II adv (entre tanto) meanwhile, in the meantime: la niña escapa mientras la bruja se disfraza, the little girl runs away, and meanwhile the witch disguises herself ' mientras' also found in these entries: Spanish: aguantar - asesinar - cerrarse - continuamente - distraerse - error - especificación - gustar - histórica - histórico - mucha - mucho - poder - prestar - programa - reconcomerse - salario - seguridad - soler - sombra - tela - telefonear - tener - toda - todo - viaje - contrario - disponer - momento English: along - also - around-the clock - as - begin - blubber - cluster - cover - dislocate - even - exhibit - fast - feel - flick through - go - going - grind - gulp - have - hit on - hit upon - house-sit - in-service - insult - listen - long - meantime - meanwhile - must - nick - publicity - raise - sensibly - slip out - stand over - stop - study - whereas - while - house - on - over - progress - sick pay - stay -
83 back
bæk
1. noun1) (in man, the part of the body from the neck to the bottom of the spine: She lay on her back.) espalda2) (in animals, the upper part of the body: She put the saddle on the horse's back.) lomo3) (that part of anything opposite to or furthest from the front: the back of the house; She sat at the back of the hall.) parte trasera, fondo4) (in football, hockey etc a player who plays behind the forwards.) defensa
2. adjective(of or at the back: the back door.) de detrás, trasero
3. adverb1) (to, or at, the place or person from which a person or thing came: I went back to the shop; He gave the car back to its owner.) de vuelta2) (away (from something); not near (something): Move back! Let the ambulance get to the injured man; Keep back from me or I'll hit you!) hacia atrás, para atrás3) (towards the back (of something): Sit back in your chair.) hacia atrás, para atrás4) (in return; in response to: When the teacher is scolding you, don't answer back.) de vuelta5) (to, or in, the past: Think back to your childhood.) atrás
4. verb1) (to (cause to) move backwards: He backed (his car) out of the garage.) dar marcha atrás, mover hacia atrás2) (to help or support: Will you back me against the others?) apoyar3) (to bet or gamble on: I backed your horse to win.) apostar a•- backer- backbite
- backbiting
- backbone
- backbreaking
- backdate
- backfire
- background
- backhand
5. adverb(using backhand: She played the stroke backhand; She writes backhand.) del revés; con el dorso de la mano- backlog- back-number
- backpack
- backpacking: go backpacking
- backpacker
- backside
- backslash
- backstroke
- backup
- backwash
- backwater
- backyard
- back down
- back of
- back on to
- back out
- back up
- have one's back to the wall
- put someone's back up
- take a back seat
back1 adj trasero / de atrásback2 adv1. atrás / hacia atrásstand back! ¡atrás! / ¡apártate!2. de vuelta3. hacethat was years back! ¡eso fue hace años!we met back in 1983 nos conocimos en 1983 back también combina con muchos verbos. Aquí tienes algunos ejemplosback3 n1. espaldalie on your back échate de espaldas / échate boca arriba2. dorso / revés3. parte de atrás / fondocan you hear me at the back? ¿me escucháis al fondo?back4 vb1. apoyar / respaldar2. dar marcha atráshe backed the car into the garage metió el coche en el garaje de culo / metió el coche en el garaje dando marcha atrástr[bæk]1 (of person) espalda2 (of animal, book) lomo3 (of chair) respaldo4 (of hand) dorso5 (of knife, sword) canto6 (of coin, medal) reverso7 (of cheque) dorso8 (of stage, room, cupboard) fondo1 trasero,-a, de atrás1 (support) apoyar, respaldar2 (finance) financiar3 (bet on) apostar por\SMALLIDIOMATIC EXPRESSION/SMALLback to back espalda con espaldaback to front al revésto answer back replicarto be back estar de vueltato be glad to see the back of somebody estar contento de haberse quitado a alguien de encimato break one's back deslomarseto carry on one's back llevar a cuestasto fall on one's back caerse de espaldasto have somebody on one's back tener a alguien encimato come back / go back volverto get somebody's back up mosquear a alguiento get off somebody's back dejar de fastidiar a alguiento hit back devolver el golpe 2 figurative use contestar a una acusaciónto have one's back to the wall figurative use estar entre la espada y la paredto lie on one's back estar acostado,-a boca arribato give back devolverto put back volver a guardar en su sitioto put one's back into something arrimar el hombroto phone back volver a llamarto stand back apartarseto turn one's back on somebody volver la espalda a alguienback copy número retrasadoback door puerta traseraback number número atrasadoback pay atrasos nombre masculino pluralback row última filaback seat asiento de atrásback street callejuelaback wheel rueda traserashort back and sides corte nombre masculino de pelo casi al rapeback ['bæk] vt3) : estar detrás de, formar el fondo detrees back the garden: unos árboles están detrás del jardínback vi2)to back away : echarse atrás3)back adv1) : atrás, hacia atrás, detrásto move back: moverse atrásback and forth: de acá para allá2) ago: atrás, antes, yasome years back: unos años atrás, ya unos años10 months back: hace diez meses3) : de vuelta, de regresowe're back: estamos de vueltashe ran back: volvió corriendoto call back: llamar de nuevoback adj1) rear: de atrás, posterior, trasero2) overdue: atrasado3)back pay : atrasos mplback n1) : espalda f (de un ser humano), lomo m (de un animal)2) : respaldo m (de una silla), espalda f (de ropa)3) reverse: reverso m, dorso m, revés m4) rear: fondo m, parte f de atrás5) : defensa mf (en deportes)adj.• posterior adj.• trasero, -a adj.adv.• atrás adv.• detrás adv.• redro adv.n.• atrás s.m.• costilla s.f.• dorso s.m.• envés s.m.• espalda s.f.• espaldar s.m.• fondo s.m.• lomo s.m.• respaldo s.m.• reverso s.m.• revés s.m.• trasera s.f.v.• apadrinar v.• mover hacia atrás v.• respaldar v.bæk
I
behind somebody's back: they laugh at him behind his back se ríen de él a sus espaldas; to be on somebody's back (colloq) estarle* encima a alguien; get off my back! déjame en paz (fam); to break the back of something hacer* la parte más difícil/la mayor parte de algo; to get o put somebody's back up (colloq) irritar a alguien; to put one's back into something poner* empeño en algo; to turn one's back on somebody — volverle* la espalda a alguien; scratch II d)
2) ca) ( of chair) respaldo m; (of dress, jacket) espalda f; (of electrical appliance, watch) tapa fb) (reverse side - of envelope, photo) dorso m, revés m; (- of head) parte f posterior or de atrás; (- of hand) dorso mc)back to front: your sweater is on back to front — te has puesto el suéter al revés; hand I 2)
3) c u ( rear part)I'll sit in the back — ( of car) yo me siento detrás or (en el asiento de) atrás
(in) back of the sofa — (AmE) detrás del sofá
he's out back in the yard — (AmE) está en el patio, al fondo
in the back of beyond — donde el diablo perdió el poncho (AmL fam), en el quinto pino (Esp fam)
4) c ( Sport) defensa mf, zaguero, -ra m,f
II
adjective (before n, no comp)1) ( at rear) trasero, de atrás2) ( of an earlier date)back number o issue — número m atrasado
III
1) (indicating return, repetition)meanwhile, back at the house... — mientras tanto, en la casa...
to run/fly back — volver* corriendo/en avión
they had us back the following week — nos devolvieron la invitación la semana siguiente; see also go, take back
2) (in reply, reprisal)3)a) ( backward)b) ( toward the rear) atráswe can't hear you back here — aquí atrás no te oímos; see also hold, keep back
4) (in, into the past)5)back and forth — = backward(s) and forward(s): see backward II d)
IV
1.
1)a) \<\<person/decision\>\> respaldar, apoyarb) ( bet money on) \<\<horse/winner\>\> apostar* por2) ( reverse)he backed the car out of the garage — sacó el coche del garaje dando marcha atrás or (Col, Méx) en reversa
3) ( lie behind)4) ( Mus) acompañar
2.
vi \<\<vehicle/driver\>\> dar* marcha atrás, echar or meter reversa (Col, Méx)he backed into a lamppost — se dio contra una farola al dar marcha atrás or al meter reversa
Phrasal Verbs:- back off- back out- back up[bæk] When back is an element in a phrasal verb, eg come back, go back, put back, look up the verb.1. NOUN1) (=part of body)a) [of person] espalda f; [of animal] lomo m•
I've got a bad back — tengo la espalda mal, tengo un problema de espalda•
to shoot sb in the back — disparar a algn por la espalda•
he was lying on his back — estaba tumbado boca arribato carry sth/sb on one's back — llevar algo/a algn a la espalda
•
to have one's back to sth/sb — estar de espaldas a algo/algnb)- break the back of sth- get off sb's back- get sb's back up- live off the back of sb- be on sb's backshares rose on the back of two major new deals — las acciones subieron a consecuencia de dos nuevos e importantes tratos
- put one's back into sth- put one's back into doing sth- put sb's back upto see the back of sb —
- have one's back to the wallflat I, 1., 1), stab 1., 1)2) (=reverse side) [of cheque, envelope] dorso m, revés m; [of hand] dorso m; [of head] parte f de atrás, parte f posterior more frm; [of dress] espalda f; [of medal] reverso mto know sth like the back of one's hand —
3) (=rear) [of room, hall] fondo m; [of chair] respaldo m; [of car] parte f trasera, parte f de atrás; [of book] (=back cover) tapa f posterior; (=spine) lomo mthere was damage to the back of the car — la parte trasera or de atrás del coche resultó dañada
•
at the back (of) — [+ building] en la parte de atrás (de); [+ cupboard, hall, stage] en el fondo (de)be quiet at the back! — ¡los de atrás guarden silencio!
they sat at the back of the bus — se sentaron en la parte de atrás del autobús, se sentaron al fondo del autobús
this idea had been at the back of his mind for several days — esta idea le había estado varios días rondándole la cabeza
•
the ship broke its back — el barco se partió por la mitad•
in back of the house — (US) detrás de la casa•
the toilet's out the back — el baño está fuera en la parte de atrásbeyond 2., mind 1., 1)•
they keep the car round the back — dejan el coche detrás de la casa4) (Sport) (=defender) defensa mf•
the team is weak at the back — la defensa del equipo es débil2. ADVERB1) (in space) atrásstand back! — ¡atrás!
keep (well) back! — (=out of danger) ¡quédate ahí atrás!
keep back! — (=don't come near me) ¡no te acerques!
meanwhile, back in London/back at the airport — mientras, en Londres/en el aeropuerto
he little suspected how worried they were back at home — qué poco sospechaba lo preocupados que estaban en casa
to go back and forth — [person] ir de acá para allá
•
back from the road — apartado de la carretera2) (in time)it all started back in 1980 — todo empezó ya en 1980, todo empezó allá en 1980 liter
3) (=returned)•
to be back — volverwhen/what time will you be back? — ¿cuándo/a qué hora vuelves?, ¿cuándo/a qué hora estarás de vuelta?
he's not back yet — aún no ha vuelto, aún no está de vuelta
black is back (in fashion) — vuelve (a estar de moda) el negro, se vuelve a llevar el negro
•
he went to Paris and back — fue a París y volvió•
she's now back at work — ya ha vuelto al trabajo•
I'll be back by 6 — estaré de vuelta para las 6•
I'd like it back — quiero que me lo devuelvan•
full satisfaction or your money back — si no está totalmente satisfecho, le devolvemos el dinero•
everything is back to normal — todo ha vuelto a la normalidadhit back•
I want it back — quiero que me lo devuelvan3. TRANSITIVE VERB1) (=reverse) [+ vehicle] dar marcha atrás a2) (=support)a) (=back up) [+ plan, person] apoyarb) (=finance) [+ person, enterprise] financiarc) (Mus) [+ singer] acompañar3) (=bet on) [+ horse] apostar porto back the wrong horse — (lit) apostar por el caballo perdedor
Russia backed the wrong horse in him — (fig) Rusia se ha equivocado al apoyar a él
to back a winner — (lit) apostar por el ganador
he is confident that he's backing a winner — (fig) (person) está seguro de que está dando su apoyo a un ganador; (idea, project) está seguro de que va a funcionar bien
4) (=attach backing to) [+ rug, quilt] forrar4. INTRANSITIVE VERB1) [person]a) (in car) dar marcha atrásb) (=step backwards) echarse hacia atrás, retrocederhe backed into a table — se echó hacia atrás y se dio con una mesa, retrocedió y se dio con una mesa
2) (=change direction) [wind] cambiar de dirección (en sentido contrario a las agujas del reloj)5. ADJECTIVE1) (=rear) [leg, pocket, wheel] de atrás, trasero2) (=previous, overdue) [rent, tax, issue] atrasado6.COMPOUNDSback alley N — callejuela f (que recorre la parte de atrás de una hilera de casas)
back boiler N — caldera f pequeña (detrás de una chimenea)
back burner N — quemador m de detrás
- put sth on the back burnerback catalogue N — (Mus) catálogo m de grabaciones discográficas
back copy N — (Press) número m atrasado
back-countrythe back country N — (US) zona f rural (con muy baja densidad de población)
back cover N — contraportada f
- do sth by or through the back doorback formation N — (Ling) derivación f regresiva
back garden N — (Brit) jardín m trasero
back lot N — (Cine) exteriores mpl (del estudio); [of house, hotel, company premises] solar m trasero
back marker N — (Brit) (Sport) competidor(a) m / f rezagado(-a)
back matter N — [of book] apéndices mpl
back number N — [of magazine, newspaper] número m atrasado
back page N — contraportada f
back passage N — (Brit) euph recto m
back rub N — (=massage) masaje m en la espalda
•
to give sb a back rub — masajearle la espalda a algn, darle un masaje a algn en la espalda- take a back seatback somersault N — salto m mortal hacia atrás
back stop N — (Sport) red que se coloca alrededor de una cancha para impedir que se escapen las pelotas
back tooth N — muela f
back view N —
the back view of the hotel is very impressive — el hotel visto desde atrás es impresionante, la parte de atrás del hotel es impresionante
back vowel N — (Ling) vocal f posterior
- back off- back out- back up* * *[bæk]
I
behind somebody's back: they laugh at him behind his back se ríen de él a sus espaldas; to be on somebody's back (colloq) estarle* encima a alguien; get off my back! déjame en paz (fam); to break the back of something hacer* la parte más difícil/la mayor parte de algo; to get o put somebody's back up (colloq) irritar a alguien; to put one's back into something poner* empeño en algo; to turn one's back on somebody — volverle* la espalda a alguien; scratch II d)
2) ca) ( of chair) respaldo m; (of dress, jacket) espalda f; (of electrical appliance, watch) tapa fb) (reverse side - of envelope, photo) dorso m, revés m; (- of head) parte f posterior or de atrás; (- of hand) dorso mc)back to front: your sweater is on back to front — te has puesto el suéter al revés; hand I 2)
3) c u ( rear part)I'll sit in the back — ( of car) yo me siento detrás or (en el asiento de) atrás
(in) back of the sofa — (AmE) detrás del sofá
he's out back in the yard — (AmE) está en el patio, al fondo
in the back of beyond — donde el diablo perdió el poncho (AmL fam), en el quinto pino (Esp fam)
4) c ( Sport) defensa mf, zaguero, -ra m,f
II
adjective (before n, no comp)1) ( at rear) trasero, de atrás2) ( of an earlier date)back number o issue — número m atrasado
III
1) (indicating return, repetition)meanwhile, back at the house... — mientras tanto, en la casa...
to run/fly back — volver* corriendo/en avión
they had us back the following week — nos devolvieron la invitación la semana siguiente; see also go, take back
2) (in reply, reprisal)3)a) ( backward)b) ( toward the rear) atráswe can't hear you back here — aquí atrás no te oímos; see also hold, keep back
4) (in, into the past)5)back and forth — = backward(s) and forward(s): see backward II d)
IV
1.
1)a) \<\<person/decision\>\> respaldar, apoyarb) ( bet money on) \<\<horse/winner\>\> apostar* por2) ( reverse)he backed the car out of the garage — sacó el coche del garaje dando marcha atrás or (Col, Méx) en reversa
3) ( lie behind)4) ( Mus) acompañar
2.
vi \<\<vehicle/driver\>\> dar* marcha atrás, echar or meter reversa (Col, Méx)he backed into a lamppost — se dio contra una farola al dar marcha atrás or al meter reversa
Phrasal Verbs:- back off- back out- back up -
84 meantime
adverb, noun((in the) time or period between: I'll hear her account of the matter later - meantime, I'd like to hear yours.) mientras tanto, entretantotr['miːntaɪm]1 mientras tanto, entretanto\SMALLIDIOMATIC EXPRESSION/SMALLin the meantime mientras tantomeantime n1) : interín m2)in the meantime : entretanto, mientras tantoadj.• entretanto, -a adj.adv.• entretanto adv.• mientras tanto adv.conj.• entretanto conj.n.• entretanto s.m.
I 'miːntaɪmin the meantime — ( while something else happens) mientras tanto, entretanto; ( in the intervening period) en el ínterin or interín
for the meantime — por ahora, por el momento
II
['miːn'taɪm]1.ADV entretanto, mientras tanto2.Nfor the meantime — (referring to now) por ahora, de momento; (referring to past) entretanto
in the meantime — (referring to now) mientras tanto; (referring to past) en el ínterin
* * *
I ['miːntaɪm]in the meantime — ( while something else happens) mientras tanto, entretanto; ( in the intervening period) en el ínterin or interín
for the meantime — por ahora, por el momento
II
-
85 tanto
tanto 1 adverbio 1 [ see note under ( aplicado a verbo) so much; ¡es una chica tan amable! she's such a nice girl!; tanto mejor so much the better; tan solo only; tanto es así que … so much so that …; ya no salimos tanto we don't go out so often o so much now; llegó tan tarde que … he arrived so late (that) …; no es tan tímida como parece she's not as shy as she looks; sale tanto como tú he goes out as much as you do; tan pronto como puedas as soon as you can; tanto Suárez como Vargas votaron en contra both Suárez and Vargas voted against 2 (AmL exc RPl)◊ qué tanto/qué tan: ¿qué tanto te duele? how much does it hurt?;¿qué tan alto es? how tall is he? ■ sustantivo masculino 1 ( cantidad): hay que dejar un tanto de depósito you have to put down a certain amount as a deposit 2 ( punto — en fútbol) goal; (— en fútbol americano, tenis, juegos) point 3 ( en locs)◊ al tanto: me puso al tanto she put me in the picture;mantenerse al tanto de algo to keep up to date with sth; estar al tanto (pendiente, alerta) to be on the ball (colloq); está al tanto de lo ocurrido he knows what's happened; un tanto somewhat, rather; un tanto triste somewhat sad
tanto 2
◊ -ta adjetivo(pl) so many;◊ había tanto espacio/tantos niños there was so much space/there were so many children;¡tanto tiempo sin verte! it's been so long!; tanto dinero/tantos turistas como … as much money/as many tourists as …b) (fam) ( expresando cantidades indeterminadas):■ pronombre 1 (pl) so many;◊ ¡tengo tanto que hacer! I've so much to do!;vinieron tantos que … so many people came (that) …; ¿de verdad gana tanto? does he really earn that much?; no ser para tanto (fam): duele, pero no es para tanto it hurts, but it's not that badb) (fam) ( expresando cantidades indeterminadas):treinta y tantas thirty or soc) ( refiriéndose a tiempo):aún faltan dos horas — ¿tanto? there's still two hours to go — what? that long? 2 ( en locs) entre tanto meanwhile, in the meantime; otro tanto as much again; me queda otro tanto por hacer I have as much again still to do; por (lo) tanto therefore
tanto,-a
I adjetivo & pron
1 (gran cantidad, mucho) (con singular) so much (con plural) so many: ¿cómo puedes ahorrar tanto (dinero)?, how are you able to save so much money?
no necesito tantos folios, I don't need so many sheets of paper
¡hace tanto tiempo!, it's been so long!
no es para tanto, it's not that bad
2 (cantidad imprecisa) le costó cuarenta y tantos dólares, it cost her forty-odd dollars
tiene cincuenta y tantos años, he's fifty something o fifty-odd
3 (en comparaciones: con singular) as much (: en plural) as many: tiene tantos amigos como tú, he has as many friends as you
II adverbio tanto 1 (hasta tal punto) so much: no deberías beber tanto, you shouldn't drink so much
si vienes con nosotros, tanto mejor, if you come with us, so much the better
tanto peor, so much the worse
2 (referido a tiempo) so long: tardé un mes en escribirlo, - ¿tanto?, I spent one month writing it, - so long? (a menudo) ya no sale tanto, nowadays he doesn't go out so often
III sustantivo masculino tanto 1 Dep point Ftb goal
2 (una cantidad determinada) a certain amount Locuciones: figurado apuntarse un tanto, to score a point
estar al tanto, to be up-to-date
poner al tanto, to put sb in the picture
a las tantas: me llamó a las tantas de la madrugada/de la noche, she phoned me in the early hours of the morning/very late at night
entre tanto, meanwhile
otro tanto, as much again
por lo tanto, therefore
tanto (...) como (...), both: tanto Pedro como María, both Pedro and María
tanto por ciento, percentage
un tanto, somewhat, rather, a bit
un tanto cansado, rather tired
¡y tanto!, and how! ' tanto' also found in these entries: Spanish: alquilar - amargada - amargado - atonía - bar - calva - calvo - ciento - cuñada - cuñado - embrutecerse - empañar - escarnio - fastidio - griterío - gusto - hartar - hermano - histórica - histórico - idiotizar - licuación - marcar - mejor - mientras - mucha - mucho - normal - objeto - padre - para - parecerse - permitirse - que - ronca - ronco - satisfacción - sobrino - tanta - tela - toda - todo - tutearse - ver - vencerse - anotar - anular - apuntar - arreglar - así English: acquaint - all - alone - as - awaken - ball - better - bog down - both - critical - delay - din - ear - excitement - fall apart - fuss over - hence - labour - lie down - meantime - meanwhile - monopolize - much - must - name - neither - packaging - picture - point - privy - rupture - score - scorer - so - somewhat - song - spin out - stretch out - such - that - therefore - this - whereas - work - alike - begrudge - cope - every - fail - follow -
86 meantime
['miːntaɪm]for the meantime per il momento, intanto* * *adverb, noun((in the) time or period between: I'll hear her account of the matter later - meantime, I'd like to hear yours.) nel frattempo* * *meantime /ˈmi:ntaɪm/avv.► meanwhile.* * *['miːntaɪm]for the meantime per il momento, intanto -
87 back
I [bæk]1) schiena f., dorso m.; zool. dorso m., groppa f.to be (flat) on one's back — essere, stare (coricato) sulla schiena, supino; fig. essere a letto
to turn one's back on sb., sth. — voltare le spalle, la schiena a qcn., qcs. (anche fig.)
to do sth. behind sb.'s back — fare qcs. alle spalle di qcn. (anche fig.)
2) (reverse side) (of page, cheque, envelope) retro m.; (of fabric, medal, coin) rovescio m.; (of hand) dorso m.3) (rear-facing part) (of vehicle, electrical appliance) parte f. posteriore; (of shirt, coat) dietro m.to be out back to be in the back AE (in the garden) essere in giardino; (in the yard) essere in cortile; there's a small garden out back o round the back c'è un piccolo giardino sul retro; the steps at the back of the building — la scala sul retro dell'edificio
5) aut.to sit at the back of the plane, at the back of the bus — sedersi in fondo all'aereo, all'autobus
6) (furthest away area) (of cupboard, drawer) fondo m.; (of stage) sfondo m.at o in the back of the drawer in fondo al cassetto; those at the back couldn't see — quelli in fondo non riuscivano a vedere
7) (of chair, sofa) schienale m.8) sport difensore m., terzino m.9) (end) fine f., fondo m.••to put one's back into it — colloq. darci dentro o mettercela tutta
he's always on my back — colloq. mi sta sempre addosso
to be at the back of — essere dietro a [conspiracy, proposal]
II [bæk]to break the back of a journey, task — fare il grosso di un viaggio, di un lavoro
1) (at the rear) [wheel, paw, leg, edge] posteriore, di dietro colloq.; [bedroom, garden, gate] sul retro; [ page] ultimo2) (isolated) [ road] secondarioback alley, lane — vicolo, viuzza
3) econ. comm. [rent, interest, tax] arretratoIII [bæk]to be back — essere di ritorno, tornare
to arrive o come back tornare (indietro); he's back at work è tornato al lavoro o ha ripreso a lavorare; she's back in (the) hospital è di nuovo in ospedale o è tornata in ospedale; when is he due back? quando deve tornare? the mini-skirt is back — la minigonna è di nuovo di moda
2) (in return)to call, phone back — richiamare, ritelefonare
to punch sb. back — restituire un pugno a qcn.
to smile back at sb. — ricambiare un sorriso a qcn
3) (backwards) [glance, step, lean] indietro; [ jump] (all')indietro4) (away)5) (ago)a week, five minutes back — una settimana, cinque minuti prima o fa
back in 1964, April — nel 1964, ad aprile
7) (once again)8) (to sb.'s possession)to give, send sth. back — rendere, rispedire qcs.
to put sth. back — rimettere a posto qcs.
meanwhile, back in Italy, he... — nel frattempo, in Italia, lui...
11) back and forth avanti e indietroto swing back and forth — [ pendulum] oscillare (avanti e indietro)
IV 1. [bæk]the film cuts o moves back and forth between New York and Rome — il film si svolge tra New York e Roma
1) (support) sostenere, appoggiare [party, person, bid, strike, enterprise, project]; appoggiare [ application]2) (finance) finanziare [project, undertaking]to back a bill — comm. econ. avallare una cambiale
4) (substantiate) suffragare, convalidare [argument, claim]5) (reverse)to back sb. into sth. — fare indietreggiare qcn. fino dentro qcs
6) (bet on) puntare, scommettere su [horse, favourite, winner]7) (stiffen, line) rinforzare [ structure]; foderare [ book]; rinforzare, rintelare [ painting]; intelare, foderare [ fabric]2.1) (reverse) fare marcia indietro2) mar. [ wind] cambiare direzione•- back off- back out- back up* * *[bæk] 1. noun1) (in man, the part of the body from the neck to the bottom of the spine: She lay on her back.) schiena2) (in animals, the upper part of the body: She put the saddle on the horse's back.) dorso3) (that part of anything opposite to or furthest from the front: the back of the house; She sat at the back of the hall.) fondo, parte posteriore4) (in football, hockey etc a player who plays behind the forwards.) difensore, terzino2. adjective(of or at the back: the back door.) posteriore3. adverb1) (to, or at, the place or person from which a person or thing came: I went back to the shop; He gave the car back to its owner.) indietro2) (away (from something); not near (something): Move back! Let the ambulance get to the injured man; Keep back from me or I'll hit you!) indietro3) (towards the back (of something): Sit back in your chair.) indietro4) (in return; in response to: When the teacher is scolding you, don't answer back.) indietro; (rispondere)5) (to, or in, the past: Think back to your childhood.) indietro4. verb1) (to (cause to) move backwards: He backed (his car) out of the garage.) fare marcia indietro2) (to help or support: Will you back me against the others?) sostenere3) (to bet or gamble on: I backed your horse to win.) puntare•- backer- backbite
- backbiting
- backbone
- backbreaking
- backdate
- backfire
- background
- backhand 5. adverb(using backhand: She played the stroke backhand; She writes backhand.) di rovescio; obliquamente- backlog- back-number
- backpack
- backpacking: go backpacking
- backpacker
- backside
- backslash
- backstroke
- backup
- backwash
- backwater
- backyard
- back down
- back of
- back on to
- back out
- back up
- have one's back to the wall
- put someone's back up
- take a back seat* * *I [bæk]1) schiena f., dorso m.; zool. dorso m., groppa f.to be (flat) on one's back — essere, stare (coricato) sulla schiena, supino; fig. essere a letto
to turn one's back on sb., sth. — voltare le spalle, la schiena a qcn., qcs. (anche fig.)
to do sth. behind sb.'s back — fare qcs. alle spalle di qcn. (anche fig.)
2) (reverse side) (of page, cheque, envelope) retro m.; (of fabric, medal, coin) rovescio m.; (of hand) dorso m.3) (rear-facing part) (of vehicle, electrical appliance) parte f. posteriore; (of shirt, coat) dietro m.to be out back to be in the back AE (in the garden) essere in giardino; (in the yard) essere in cortile; there's a small garden out back o round the back c'è un piccolo giardino sul retro; the steps at the back of the building — la scala sul retro dell'edificio
5) aut.to sit at the back of the plane, at the back of the bus — sedersi in fondo all'aereo, all'autobus
6) (furthest away area) (of cupboard, drawer) fondo m.; (of stage) sfondo m.at o in the back of the drawer in fondo al cassetto; those at the back couldn't see — quelli in fondo non riuscivano a vedere
7) (of chair, sofa) schienale m.8) sport difensore m., terzino m.9) (end) fine f., fondo m.••to put one's back into it — colloq. darci dentro o mettercela tutta
he's always on my back — colloq. mi sta sempre addosso
to be at the back of — essere dietro a [conspiracy, proposal]
II [bæk]to break the back of a journey, task — fare il grosso di un viaggio, di un lavoro
1) (at the rear) [wheel, paw, leg, edge] posteriore, di dietro colloq.; [bedroom, garden, gate] sul retro; [ page] ultimo2) (isolated) [ road] secondarioback alley, lane — vicolo, viuzza
3) econ. comm. [rent, interest, tax] arretratoIII [bæk]to be back — essere di ritorno, tornare
to arrive o come back tornare (indietro); he's back at work è tornato al lavoro o ha ripreso a lavorare; she's back in (the) hospital è di nuovo in ospedale o è tornata in ospedale; when is he due back? quando deve tornare? the mini-skirt is back — la minigonna è di nuovo di moda
2) (in return)to call, phone back — richiamare, ritelefonare
to punch sb. back — restituire un pugno a qcn.
to smile back at sb. — ricambiare un sorriso a qcn
3) (backwards) [glance, step, lean] indietro; [ jump] (all')indietro4) (away)5) (ago)a week, five minutes back — una settimana, cinque minuti prima o fa
back in 1964, April — nel 1964, ad aprile
7) (once again)8) (to sb.'s possession)to give, send sth. back — rendere, rispedire qcs.
to put sth. back — rimettere a posto qcs.
meanwhile, back in Italy, he... — nel frattempo, in Italia, lui...
11) back and forth avanti e indietroto swing back and forth — [ pendulum] oscillare (avanti e indietro)
IV 1. [bæk]the film cuts o moves back and forth between New York and Rome — il film si svolge tra New York e Roma
1) (support) sostenere, appoggiare [party, person, bid, strike, enterprise, project]; appoggiare [ application]2) (finance) finanziare [project, undertaking]to back a bill — comm. econ. avallare una cambiale
4) (substantiate) suffragare, convalidare [argument, claim]5) (reverse)to back sb. into sth. — fare indietreggiare qcn. fino dentro qcs
6) (bet on) puntare, scommettere su [horse, favourite, winner]7) (stiffen, line) rinforzare [ structure]; foderare [ book]; rinforzare, rintelare [ painting]; intelare, foderare [ fabric]2.1) (reverse) fare marcia indietro2) mar. [ wind] cambiare direzione•- back off- back out- back up -
88 back
back [bæk]━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━1. noun2. adjective3. adverb6. compounds━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━1. nouna. [of person, animal] dos m• to stand or sit with one's back to sb/sth tourner le dos à qn/qch• my boss is always on my back j'ai sans arrêt mon patron sur le dos► to get off sb's back (inf) laisser qn tranquille• that's what gets my back up c'est ce qui me hérisse► to put one's back into sth mettre toute son énergie dans qch• you can't just turn your back on your parents tu ne peux quand même pas tourner le dos à tes parents• he turned his back on the past il a tourné la page► on the back of ( = by means of) en profitant de• at the very back tout au fond► at the back of [+ building] derrière ; [+ book] à la fin de ; [+ cupboard, hall] au fond de• he's at the back of all this trouble c'est lui qui est derrière tous ces problèmes► in back (US) [of building, car] à l'arrière► in the back [of car] à l'arrière• to sit in the back of the car être assis à l'arrière► out or round the back (inf) (British) derrièred. (Football, hockey) arrière m2. adjectiveb. [taxes] arriéré3. adverb━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━a. (in space, time) (stand) back! reculez !• stay well back! n'approchez pas !━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► When followed by a preposition, back is often not translated.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• meanwhile, back in London... pendant ce temps-là, à Londres...• he little suspected how worried they were back at home il était loin de se douter que sa famille s'inquiétait autant► to go back and forth, to go back and forward [person] faire des allées et venues ; [phone calls, emails, letters] être échangéb. ( = returned)► to be back [person] être rentré• everything's back to normal tout est rentré dans l'ordre► ... and backc. ( = reimbursed) I got/want my money back j'ai récupéré/je veux récupérer mon argenta. ( = support) soutenir ; [+ statement] confirmerb. ( = finance) financerc. ( = bet on) parier surd. [+ vehicle] reculer• to back the car in/out entrer/sortir en marche arrière( = move backwards) reculer6. compounds• to do sth by or through the back door faire qch par des moyens détournés ► back line noun (Sport) ligne f d'arrières• to take a back seat (to sth) (inf) passer au second plan (par rapport à qch) ► back-seat driver noun• he's a back-seat driver il est toujours à donner des conseils au conducteur ► back street noun ruelle f• he grew up in the back streets of Leeds il a grandi dans les quartiers pauvres de Leeds ► back-to-back adjective dos à dos• a row of back-to-back houses (British) une rangée de maisons adossées les unes aux autres adverb• they showed two episodes back-to-back ils ont passé deux épisodes à la suite ► back tooth noun (plural back teeth) molaire f• to back away from [+ problem] prendre ses distances par rapport à► back down intransitive verb revenir sur sa position( = draw back) reculer[house][person] sortir à reculons ; [car] sortir en marche arrière ; (of undertaking) revenir sur ses engagements[+ deal, agreement] se retirer de ; [+ undertaking] se soustraire à► back upa. ( = reverse) faire marche arrièrea. [+ theory, claim] confirmer ; [+ person] soutenirb. [+ vehicle] faire reculerc. [+ computer file] faire une copie de sauvegarde de* * *[bæk] 1.1) Anatomy, Zoology dos mto be (flat) on one's back — lit être (à plat) sur le dos; fig être au lit
to turn one's back on somebody/something — lit, fig tourner le dos à quelqu'un/quelque chose
to do something behind somebody's back — lit, fig faire quelque chose dans le dos de quelqu'un
2) ( reverse side) (of page, cheque, hand, fork, envelope) dos m; ( of fabric) envers m; (of medal, coin) revers m3) ( rear-facing part) (of vehicle, head) arrière m; ( of electrical appliance) face f arrière; (of shirt, coat) dos m; (of chair, sofa) dossier mon the back of the door/head — derrière la porte/tête
the shelves are oak but the back is plywood — les étagères sont en chêne mais le fond est en contreplaqué
4) ( area behind building)to be out back —
to be in the back — US être dans le jardin or la cour
there's a small garden out back ou round the back — il y a un petit jardin derrière (la maison)
5) (of car, plane) arrière m6) (of cupboard, drawer, fridge, bus, stage) fond mat ou in the back of the drawer — au fond du tiroir
7) Sport arrière m8) ( end) fin f2.1) ( at the rear) [leg, paw, edge, wheel] arrière; [bedroom] du fond; [page] dernier/-ière (before n); [garden, gate] de derrière2) ( isolated) [road] petit (before n)back alley ou lane — ruelle f
3) Finance, Commerce3.back interest/rent/tax — arriérés mpl d'intérêts/de loyer/d'impôts
1) ( after absence)the mini-skirt is back — ( in fashion) les mini-jupes sont de nouveau à la mode
2) ( in return)to call ou phone back — rappeler
3) ( backwards) [glance, jump, step, lean] en arrière4) ( away)ten pages back — dix pages (avant or plus tôt)
5) ( ago)a week/five minutes back — il y a une semaine/cinq minutes
6) ( a long time ago)7) ( once again)we walked there and took the train back — nous y sommes allés à pied et nous avons pris le train pour rentrer
9) ( in a different location)4.meanwhile, back in France, he... — pendant ce temps, en France, il...
back and forth adverbial phraseto swing back and forth — [pendulum] osciller
5.the film cuts ou moves back and forth between New York and Paris — le film se passe entre New York et Paris
transitive verb1) ( support) soutenir [party, person, bid, bill, strike, action]; appuyer [application]; apporter son soutien à [enterprise, project]2) ( finance) financer [project, undertaking]3) ( endorse) garantir [currency]to back a bill — Commerce, Finance endosser or avaliser une traite
4) ( substantiate) justifier [argument, claim] ( with à l'aide de)5) ( reverse)6) ( bet on) parier sur [horse, favourite, winner]7) (stiffen, line) consolider, renforcer [structure]; endosser [book]; renforcer [map]; maroufler [painting]; doubler [fabric]6.- backed combining form1) ( of furniture)a high-/low-backed chair — une chaise avec un dossier haut/bas
2) (lined, stiffened)canvas-/foam-backed — doublé de toile/de mousse
3) ( supported)4) ( financed)•Phrasal Verbs:- back off- back out- back up••he's always on my back — (colloq) il est toujours sur mon dos
to break the back of a journey/task — faire le plus gros du voyage/travail
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89 entretanto
entretanto adverbio meanwhile, in the meantime
entretanto adverbio meanwhile: entretanto, tomemos un aperitivo, in the meantime, let's have an appetizer ' entretanto' also found in these entries: English: interim - meantime - meanwhile -
90 пока
1. нареч. for the time being, for the time present пока что пока еще пока! разг. ≈ so long!, (I'll) see you later, bye-bye
2. союз while, whilst, meanwhile пока (не) ≈ until. till
1. нареч. (в данный момент) for the present;
(на некоторое время) for the time being;
(тем временем) meanwhile;
(до сих пор) as yet;
этого ~ достаточно that is enough for the time being;
никаких новостей ~ нет nо news as yet;
2. союз (в то время как) while;
3. союз (до того времени как) till, until;
он не придёт, ~ вы его не пригласите he will not come till you invite him, he will not come till he is invited;
~ что so far;
~ что он не даёт ответа so far he gives no answer;
~! разг. bye-for-now!, bye-bye!, see you (soon) !, cheerio! -
91 meantime
ˈmi:nˈtaɪm нареч. тем временем;
между тем in (the) mean time, in that ( this, which, etc.) mean time, in the mean time of ≈ в течение, в продолжение, во время for the mean time ≈ за время промежуток времени тем временем, между тем meantime тем временем;
между тем meanwhile: meanwhile = meantimeБольшой англо-русский и русско-английский словарь > meantime
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92 meantime
adverb, noun((in the) time or period between: I'll hear her account of the matter later - meantime, I'd like to hear yours.) i mellomtida, imensIsubst. \/ˈmiːntaɪm\/ eller meanwhile( særlig i fraser) mellomtidin the meantime imens, samtidig, så lenge, i mellomtiden, imidlertidIIadv. \/ˈmiːntaɪm\/ eller meanwhileimens, så lenge, i mellomtiden -
93 meantime
тем временем наречие: -
94 meantime
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95 Economy
Portugal's economy, under the influence of the European Economic Community (EEC), and later with the assistance of the European Union (EU), grew rapidly in 1985-86; through 1992, the average annual growth was 4-5 percent. While such growth rates did not last into the late 1990s, portions of Portugal's society achieved unprecedented prosperity, although poverty remained entrenched. It is important, however, to place this current growth, which includes some not altogether desirable developments, in historical perspective. On at least three occasions in this century, Portugal's economy has experienced severe dislocation and instability: during the turbulent First Republic (1911-25); during the Estado Novo, when the world Depression came into play (1930-39); and during the aftermath of the Revolution of 25 April, 1974. At other periods, and even during the Estado Novo, there were eras of relatively steady growth and development, despite the fact that Portugal's weak economy lagged behind industrialized Western Europe's economies, perhaps more than Prime Minister Antônio de Oliveira Salazar wished to admit to the public or to foreigners.For a number of reasons, Portugal's backward economy underwent considerable growth and development following the beginning of the colonial wars in Africa in early 1961. Recent research findings suggest that, contrary to the "stagnation thesis" that states that the Estado Novo economy during the last 14 years of its existence experienced little or no growth, there were important changes, policy shifts, structural evolution, and impressive growth rates. In fact, the average annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate (1961-74) was about 7 percent. The war in Africa was one significant factor in the post-1961 economic changes. The new costs of finance and spending on the military and police actions in the African and Asian empires in 1961 and thereafter forced changes in economic policy.Starting in 1963-64, the relatively closed economy was opened up to foreign investment, and Lisbon began to use deficit financing and more borrowing at home and abroad. Increased foreign investment, residence, and technical and military assistance also had effects on economic growth and development. Salazar's government moved toward greater trade and integration with various international bodies by signing agreements with the European Free Trade Association and several international finance groups. New multinational corporations began to operate in the country, along with foreign-based banks. Meanwhile, foreign tourism increased massively from the early 1960s on, and the tourism industry experienced unprecedented expansion. By 1973-74, Portugal received more than 8 million tourists annually for the first time.Under Prime Minister Marcello Caetano, other important economic changes occurred. High annual economic growth rates continued until the world energy crisis inflation and a recession hit Portugal in 1973. Caetano's system, through new development plans, modernized aspects of the agricultural, industrial, and service sectors and linked reform in education with plans for social change. It also introduced cadres of forward-looking technocrats at various levels. The general motto of Caetano's version of the Estado Novo was "Evolution with Continuity," but he was unable to solve the key problems, which were more political and social than economic. As the boom period went "bust" in 1973-74, and growth slowed greatly, it became clear that Caetano and his governing circle had no way out of the African wars and could find no easy compromise solution to the need to democratize Portugal's restive society. The economic background of the Revolution of 25 April 1974 was a severe energy shortage caused by the world energy crisis and Arab oil boycott, as well as high general inflation, increasing debts from the African wars, and a weakening currency. While the regime prescribed greater Portuguese investment in Africa, in fact Portuguese businesses were increasingly investing outside of the escudo area in Western Europe and the United States.During the two years of political and social turmoil following the Revolution of 25 April 1974, the economy weakened. Production, income, reserves, and annual growth fell drastically during 1974-76. Amidst labor-management conflict, there was a burst of strikes, and income and productivity plummeted. Ironically, one factor that cushioned the economic impact of the revolution was the significant gold reserve supply that the Estado Novo had accumulated, principally during Salazar's years. Another factor was emigration from Portugal and the former colonies in Africa, which to a degree reduced pressures for employment. The sudden infusion of more than 600,000 refugees from Africa did increase the unemployment rate, which in 1975 was 10-15 percent. But, by 1990, the unemployment rate was down to about 5-6 percent.After 1985, Portugal's economy experienced high growth rates again, which averaged 4-5 percent through 1992. Substantial economic assistance from the EEC and individual countries such as the United States, as well as the political stability and administrative continuity that derived from majority Social Democratic Party (PSD) governments starting in mid-1987, supported new growth and development in the EEC's second poorest country. With rapid infrastruc-tural change and some unregulated development, Portugal's leaders harbored a justifiable concern that a fragile environment and ecology were under new, unacceptable pressures. Among other improvements in the standard of living since 1974 was an increase in per capita income. By 1991, the average minimum monthly wage was about 40,000 escudos, and per capita income was about $5,000 per annum. By the end of the 20th century, despite continuing poverty at several levels in Portugal, Portugal's economy had made significant progress. In the space of 15 years, Portugal had halved the large gap in living standards between itself and the remainder of the EU. For example, when Portugal joined the EU in 1986, its GDP, in terms of purchasing power-parity, was only 53 percent of the EU average. By 2000, Portugal's GDP had reached 75 percent of the EU average, a considerable achievement. Whether Portugal could narrow this gap even further in a reasonable amount of time remained a sensitive question in Lisbon. Besides structural poverty and the fact that, in 2006, the EU largesse in structural funds (loans and grants) virtually ceased, a major challenge for Portugal's economy will be to reduce the size of the public sector (about 50 percent of GDP is in the central government) to increase productivity, attract outside investment, and diversify the economy. For Portugal's economic planners, the 21st century promises to be challenging. -
96 back
A n1 Anat, Zool dos m ; to be (flat) on one's back lit être (à plat) sur le dos ; fig être au lit ; to sleep on one's back dormir sur le dos ; he was lying on his back il était allongé sur le dos ; to travel on the back of a donkey voyager à dos d'âne ; to have one's back to sb/sth tourner le dos à qn/qch ; with her back to the door le dos tourné vers la porte ; to turn one's back on sb/sth lit, fig tourner le dos à qn/qch ; as soon as my back is turned dès que j'ai le dos tourné ; to do sth behind sb's back lit, fig faire qch dans le dos de qn ; with one's back to the engine dans le sens contraire à la marche ; to put one's back into it ○ travailler dur ; put your back into it ○ ! allons, un peu de nerf ○ ! ; he's always on my back ○ il est toujours sur mon dos ; get off my back ○ ! fiche-moi la paix ○ ! ; I was glad to see the back of him j'étais content de le voir partir ; to be at the back of être à l'origine de [conspiracy, proposal] ; to put sb's back up offenser qn ; to live off sb's back vivre aux crochets de qn ;2 ( reverse side) (of page, cheque, card, envelope) dos m, verso m ; ( of fabric) envers m ; (of medal, coin) revers m ; on the back of an envelope au dos d'une enveloppe ; to sign the back of a cheque endosser un chèque ; the back of the hand le dos de la main ;4 ( rear-facing part) ( of vehicle) arrière m ; ( of electrical appliance) face f arrière ; (of shirt, coat) dos m ; to hang one's coat on the back of the door pendre son manteau derrière la porte ; the shelves are oak but the back is plywood les étagères sont en chêne mais le fond est en contreplaqué ; a blow to the back of the head un coup sur l'arrière de la tête ; a lump on the back of the head une bosse derrière la tête ; the knife fell down the back of the fridge le couteau est tombé derrière le réfrigérateur ; the keys were down the back of the sofa les clés avaient glissé derrière les coussins du canapé ;5 ( area behind building) to be out back, to be in the back US ( in the garden) être dans le jardin ; ( in the yard) être dans la cour ; he's round ou in the back il est dans le jardin ; the view out back is lovely la vue que l'on a à l'arrière est très jolie ; there's a small garden out back ou round the back il y a un petit jardin derrière ; the bins are out back ou round the back les poubelles sont derrière la maison ; the steps at the back of the building l'escalier à l'arrière de l'immeuble ;6 Aut arrière m ; to sit in the back s'asseoir à l'arrière ; there are three children in the back il y a trois enfants à l'arrière ; to sit at the back of the plane/at the back of the bus s'asseoir à l'arrière de l'avion/au fond du bus ;7 ( furthest away area) (of cupboard, drawer, fridge) fond m ; ( of stage) fond m ; at ou in the back of the drawer au fond du tiroir ; right at the back of the cupboard tout au fond du placard ; at the back of the audience au fond de la salle ; those at the back couldn't see ceux qui étaient derrière ne pouvaient pas voir ; the back of the throat l'arrière-gorge f ; the back of the mouth la gorge f ;8 (of chair, sofa) dossier m ;11 ( book spine) dos m.B adj1 ( at the rear) [axle, wheel, bumper] arrière ; [paw, leg] arrière ; [bedroom] du fond ; [edge] arrière ; [page] dernier/-ière (before n) ; [garden, gate] de derrière ; back tooth molaire f ;C adv1 ( indicating return after absence) to be back être de retour ; I'll be back in five minutes/six weeks je reviens dans cinq minutes/six semaines ; to arrive ou come back rentrer (from de) ; he's back at work il a repris le travail ; she's back in (the) hospital elle est retournée à l'hôpital ; it's good to be back home c'est agréable de rentrer chez soi or de se retrouver à la maison ; when is he due back? quand doit-il rentrer? ; to go back to reprendre [work] ; retourner en [France, China] ; retourner au [Canada, Japan] ; retourner à [Paris, museum, shop] ; the mini-skirt is back ( in fashion) les mini-jupes sont de nouveau à la mode ;2 ( in return) to call ou phone back rappeler ; I'll write back (to him) je lui répondrai ; he hasn't written back yet il n'a pas encore répondu ; ‘OK,’ he shouted back ‘OK,’ a-t-il répondu en criant ; to punch sb back rendre son coup à qn ; to smile back at sb rendre son sourire à qn ; he was rude back il a été aussi impoli avec moi que je l'avais été avec lui ; ⇒ answer ;3 (backwards, in a reverse direction) [glance, jump, step, lean] en arrière ;4 ( away) we overtook him 20 km back nous l'avons doublé il y a 20 km ; there's a garage 10 km back nous avons passé un garage à 10 km en arrière ;6 ( a long time ago) back in 1964/April en 1964/avril ; back before Easter/the revolution avant Pâques/la révolution ; back in the days when du temps où ; it was obvious as far back as last year/1985 that déjà l'année dernière/en 1985 il était évident que ; to go ou date back to remonter à [Roman times, 1700] ;7 ( once again) she's back in power/control elle a repris le pouvoir/les commandes ; Paul is back at the wheel Paul a repris le volant ; to get back to sleep se rendormir ; to go back home rentrer chez soi ; to go back to bed se recoucher ;8 ( nearer the beginning) ten lines back dix lignes plus haut ; ten pages back dix pages plus tôt or avant ;9 ( indicating return to sb's possession) to give/send sth back rendre/renvoyer qch (to à) ; to put sth back remettre qch ; I've got my books back on m'a rendu mes livres ; to get one's money back être remboursé ; he wants his dictionary back now il veut que tu lui rendes son dictionnaire tout de suite ;10 ( expressing a return to a former location) to travel to London and back faire l'aller-retour à Londres ; the journey to Madrid and back l'aller-retour à Madrid ; we walked there and took the train back nous y sommes allés à pied et nous avons pris le train pour rentrer ; how long will it take to drive back? combien de temps est-ce que ça prendra pour rentrer en voiture? ;11 ( in a different location) meanwhile, back in France, he… pendant ce temps, en France, il… ; back in the studio, recording had begun au studio, l'enregistrement avait commencé ; I'll see you back at the house/in the office je te verrai à la maison/au bureau.D back and forth adv phr to go ou travel back and forth ( commute) [person, bus] faire la navette (between entre) ; to walk ou go back and forth faire des allées et venues (between entre) ; to swing back and forth [pendulum] osciller ; to sway back and forth se balancer ; the film cuts ou moves back and forth between New York and Paris le film se passe entre New York et Paris.E vtr1 ( support) soutenir [candidate, party, person, bid, bill, action] ; appuyer [application] ; apporter son soutien à [enterprise, project] ; the strike is backed by the union le syndicat soutient la grève ; the junta is backed by the militia la junte est soutenue par la milice ;2 ( finance) financer [project, undertaking] ;4 ( substantiate) justifier [argument, claim] (with à l'aide de) ;5 ( reverse) faire reculer [horse] ; to back the car into the garage rentrer la voiture au garage en marche arrière ; to back sb into/against sth faire reculer qn dans/contre qch ; to back oars ou water déramer ;6 ( bet on) parier sur [horse, favourite, winner] ; to back a loser [race goer] miser sur un cheval perdant ; fig ( invest ill-advisedly) mal placer son argent ; ( support a lost cause) soutenir une cause perdue d'avance ; to back the wrong horse lit, fig miser sur le mauvais cheval ;7 (stiffen, line) consolider, renforcer [structure] ; endosser [book] ; renforcer, entoiler [map] ; maroufler [painting] ; doubler [fabric] ;8 Mus accompagner [singer, performer] ;9 Naut masquer, coiffer [sail].F vi1 ( reverse) faire marche arrière ;2 Naut [wind] changer de direction.G - backed (dans composés)1 ( of furniture) a high-/low-backed chair une chaise avec un dossier haut/bas ;2 (lined, stiffened) canvas-/foam-backed doublé de toile/de mousse ;4 ( financed) government-backed financé par l'État.to break the back of a journey/task faire le plus gros du voyage/travail. ⇒ beyond, duck, hand, own, scratch, wall.■ back away reculer ; to back away from lit s'éloigner de [person, precipice] ; fig prendre ses distances par rapport à [issue, problem] ; chercher à éviter [confrontation].■ back down:▶ back down ( give way) céder ; you can't back down now tu ne peux pas céder maintenant ; to back down from chercher à éviter [confrontation] ; to back down on ou over reconsidérer [sanctions, proposal, allegations] ;▶ back down [sth] [person] descendre [qch] à reculons [slope] ; [car] descendre [qch] en marche arrière [drive, hill].■ back off1 ( move away) reculer ;■ back onto:▶ back onto [sth] [house] donner sur [qch] à l'arrière [fields, railway].■ back out:▶ back out1 ( come out backwards) [person] sortir à reculons ; [car, driver] sortir en marche arrière ; to back out of [person] sortir de [qch] en reculant [room] ; [car, driver] sortir de [qch] en marche arrière [garage, parking space] ;2 ( renege on) se désister, reculer ; to back out of annuler [deal, contract] ; [competitor, team] se retirer de [event] ;▶ back [sth] out faire sortir [qch] en marche arrière [vehicle] ; to back the car out of the garage faire sortir la voiture du garage en marche arrière.■ back up:▶ back up1 ( reverse) [driver, vehicle] reculer, faire marche arrière ; back up a few metres recule de quelques mètres ;▶ back [sth] up, back up [sth]2 Comput sauvegarder [data, file] ;▶ back [sb] up soutenir [person]. -
97 back
back [bæk]vers l'arrière ⇒ 1 (a) re + verbe ⇒ 1 (b), 1 (c) de derrière ⇒ 2 (a) arrière ⇒ 2 (a), 3 (g) dos ⇒ 3 (a)-(c), 3 (e), 3 (f) fond ⇒ 3 (d) reculer ⇒ 4 (a), 5 (a) financer ⇒ 4 (b) parier sur ⇒ 4 (c)1 adverb(a) (towards the rear) vers l'arrière, en arrière;∎ he stepped back il a reculé d'un pas, il a fait un pas en arrière;∎ I pushed back my chair j'ai reculé ma chaise;∎ she tied her hair back elle a attaché ses cheveux;∎ he glanced back il a regardé derrière lui;∎ house set or standing back from the road maison écartée du chemin ou en retrait∎ to come back revenir;∎ to go back (return) retourner;∎ to go or turn back (retrace footsteps) rebrousser chemin;∎ we went back home nous sommes rentrés (à la maison);∎ my headache's back j'ai de nouveau mal à la tête, mon mal de tête a recommencé;∎ they'll be back on Monday ils rentrent ou ils seront de retour lundi;∎ I'll be right back je reviens tout de suite;∎ I'll be back (threat) vous me reverrez;∎ we expect him back tomorrow il doit rentrer demain;∎ as soon as you get back dès votre retour;∎ is he back at work? a-t-il repris le travail?;∎ he's just back from Moscow il arrive ou rentre de Moscou;∎ we went to town and back nous avons fait un saut en ville;∎ he went to his aunt's and back il a fait l'aller et retour chez sa tante;∎ the trip to Madrid and back takes three hours il faut trois heures pour aller à Madrid et revenir;∎ meanwhile, back in Washington entre-temps, à Washington;∎ back home, there's no school on Saturdays chez moi ou nous, il n'y a pas d'école le samedi;∎ Commerce the back-to-school sales les soldes fpl de la rentrée∎ she wants her children back elle veut qu'on lui rende ses enfants;∎ he went back to sleep il s'est rendormi;∎ business soon got back to normal les affaires ont vite repris leur cours normal;∎ miniskirts are coming back (in fashion) les minijupes reviennent à la mode∎ six pages back six pages plus haut;∎ back in the 17th century au 17ème siècle;∎ as far back as I can remember d'aussi loin que je m'en souvienne;∎ back in November déjà au mois de novembre;∎ familiar ten years back il y a dix ans□(e) (in reply, in return)∎ you should ask for your money back vous devriez demander un remboursement ou qu'on vous rembourse;∎ I hit him back je lui ai rendu son coup;∎ if you kick me I'll kick you back si tu me donnes un coup de pied, je te le rendrai;∎ she smiled back at him elle lui a répondu par un sourire;∎ to write back répondre (par écrit);∎ to get one's own back (on sb) prendre sa revanche (sur qn);∎ that's her way of getting back at you c'est sa façon de prendre sa revanche sur toi(a) (rear → door, garden) de derrière; (→ wheel) arrière (inv); (→ seat) arrière (inv), de derrière;∎ the back legs of a horse les pattes fpl arrière d'un cheval;∎ back entrance entrée f située à l'arrière;∎ the back room is the quietest la pièce qui donne sur l'arrière est la plus calme;∎ the back page of the newspaper la dernière page du journal;∎ to put sth on the back burner remettre qch à plus tard(b) (quiet → lane, road) écarté, isolé3 noun(a) (part of body) dos m;∎ back pain mal m de dos;∎ to have a back problem avoir des problèmes de dos;∎ she carried her baby on her back elle portait son bébé sur son dos;∎ I fell flat on my back je suis tombé à la renverse ou sur le dos;∎ we lay on our backs nous étions allongés sur le dos;∎ my back aches j'ai mal au dos;∎ the cat arched its back le chat a fait le gros dos;∎ I only saw them from the back je ne les ai vus que de dos;∎ she sat with her back to the window elle était assise le dos tourné à la fenêtre;∎ sitting with one's back to the light assis à contre-jour;∎ he was sitting with his back to the wall il était assis, dos au mur;∎ figurative to have one's back to the wall être au pied du mur;∎ to turn one's back on sb tourner le dos à qn; figurative abandonner qn;∎ when my back was turned quand j'avais le dos tourné;∎ you had your back to me tu me tournais le dos;∎ they have the police at their backs (in support) ils ont la police avec eux; (in pursuit) ils ont la police à leurs trousses;∎ with an army at his back (supporting him) soutenu par une armée;∎ to do sth behind sb's back faire qch dans le dos de qn;∎ he laughs at you behind your back il se moque de vous quand vous avez le dos tourné ou dans votre dos;∎ to talk about sb behind their back dire du mal de qn dans son dos;∎ the decision was taken behind my back la décision a été prise derrière mon dos;∎ he went behind my back to the boss il est allé voir le patron derrière mon dos ou à mon insu;∎ to be flat on one's back (bedridden) être alité ou cloué au lit;∎ familiar get off my back! fiche-moi la paix!;∎ mind your backs! attention, s'il vous plaît!;∎ the rich live off the backs of the poor les riches vivent sur le dos des pauvres;∎ to put sb's back up énerver qn;∎ to put one's back into sth mettre toute son énergie dans qch;∎ familiar that's it, put your back into it! allez, un peu de nerf!;∎ to put one's back out se faire mal au dos;∎ I'll be glad to see the back of her je serai content de la voir partir ou d'être débarrassé d'elle(b) (part opposite the front → gen) dos m, derrière m; (→ of coat, shirt, door) dos m; (→ of vehicle, building, head) arrière m; (→ of train) queue f; (→ of book) fin f;∎ to sit in the back (of car) monter à l'arrière;∎ to sit at the back (of bus) s'asseoir à l'arrière;∎ the carriage at the back of the train la voiture en queue de ou du train;∎ at the back of the book à la fin du livre;∎ the garden is out or round the back le jardin se trouve derrière la maison;∎ the dress fastens at the back or American in back la robe s'agrafe dans le dos;∎ there was an advert on the back of the bus il y avait une publicité à l'arrière du bus;∎ familiar she's got a face like the back of a bus elle est moche comme un pou(c) (other side → of hand, spoon, envelope) dos m; (→ of carpet, coin, medal) revers m; (→ of fabric) envers m; (→ of page) verso m; Finance (→ of cheque) dos m, verso m;∎ I know this town like the back of my hand je connais cette ville comme ma poche;∎ familiar you'll feel the back of my hand in a minute! tu vas en prendre une!(d) (farthest from the front → of cupboard, room, stage) fond m;∎ back of the mouth arrière-bouche f;∎ back of the throat arrière-gorge f;∎ we'd like a table at the or in the very back nous voudrions une table tout au fond;∎ familiar in the back of beyond en pleine brousse, au diable vauvert;∎ it was always there at the back of his mind that… l'idée ne le quittait pas que…;∎ it's something to keep at the back of your mind c'est quelque chose à ne pas oublier;∎ I've had it or it's been at the back of my mind for ages j'y pense depuis longtemps, ça fait longtemps que ça me travaille(f) (of chair) dos m, dossier m∎ (full) back arrière m;∎ right/left back arrière m droit/gauche∎ I backed the car into the garage j'ai mis la voiture dans le garage en marche arrière;∎ she backed him into the next room elle l'a fait reculer dans la pièce d'à côté(b) Commerce (support financially → company, venture) financer, commanditer; Finance (→ loan) garantir;∎ Finance to back a bill avaliser ou endosser un effet(c) (encourage → efforts, person, venture) encourager, appuyer, soutenir; Politics (→ candidate, bill) soutenir;∎ we backed her in her fight against racism nous l'avons soutenue dans sa lutte contre le racisme;∎ Sport to back a winner (horse, team) parier ou miser sur un gagnant; Finance & Commerce (company, stock) bien placer son argent; figurative jouer la bonne carte;∎ figurative to back the wrong horse parier ou miser sur le mauvais cheval(e) Textiles (strengthen, provide backing for → curtain, material) doubler; (→ picture, paper) renforcer∎ the car backed into the driveway la voiture est entrée en marche arrière dans l'allée;∎ I backed into my neighbour's car je suis rentré dans la voiture de mon voisin en reculant;∎ I backed into a corner je me suis retiré dans un coin∎ to go back and forth (person) faire des allées et venues; (machine, piston) faire un mouvement de va-et-vient;∎ his eyes darted back and forth il regardait de droite à gauchedevant derrière, à l'envers;∎ you've got your pullover on back to front tu as mis ton pull devant derrièreAmerican derrière►► Technology back boiler = ballon d'eau chaude situé derrière un foyer;Press back copy vieux numéro m;Australian & New Zealand back country campagne f, arrière-pays m inv;∎ figurative to get in through or by the back door être pistonné;∎ the back end of the year l'arrière-saison;Linguistics back formation dérivation f régressive;American back haul = trajet de retour d'un camion;Finance back interest arrérages mpl, intérêts mpl arriérés;Press back issue vieux numéro m;Golf the back nine les neuf derniers trous mpl;Press back number vieux numéro m;Banking back office back-office m;back office staff personnels mpl de back-office;Commerce back orders commandes fpl en souffrance;back page dernière page f;Football back pass passe f en retrait;back pay rappel m de salaire;back rent arriéré m de loyer;back road petite route f;back room (in house) pièce f de derrière; (in shop) arrière-boutique f; (for research) laboratoire m de recherche secret;back seat siège m arrière;back shift (people) = équipe du soir;∎ I hate the back shift je déteste être du soir;∎ to work or be on the back shift être (de l'équipe) du soir;Linguistics back slang ≃ verlan m;back straight ligne f (droite) d'en face;back street petite rue f;∎ I grew up in the back streets of Chicago j'ai été élevé dans les mauvais quartiers de Chicago;Horseracing back stretch (on race course) ligne f d'en face;Finance back taxes arriéré m d'impôts∎ she backed away from him elle a reculé devant lui;∎ figurative they have backed away from making a decision ils se sont abstenus de prendre une décision(accept defeat → in argument) admettre qu'on est dans son tort; (→ in conflict) faire marche arrière;∎ he finally backed down on the issue of membership il a fini par céder sur la question de l'adhésion(a) (withdraw) reculer;(b) American (accept defeat → in argument) admettre qu'on est dans son tort; (→ in conflict) faire marche arrière(have back facing towards) donner sur (à l'arrière);∎ the house backs onto the river l'arrière de la maison donne sur la rivière∎ don't back out now! ne faites pas marche arrière maintenant!;∎ they backed out of the deal ils se sont retirés de l'affaire;∎ to back out of a contract se rétracter ou se retirer d'un contrat;∎ he's trying to back out (of it) il voudrait se dédire➲ back up∎ to back sb up in an argument donner raison à qn;∎ her story is backed up by eye witnesses sa version des faits est confirmée par des témoins oculaires;∎ he backed this up with a few facts il a étayé ça avec quelques faits∎ traffic is backed up for 5 miles ≃ il y a un embouteillage sur 8 kmComputing sauvegarder -
98 Smeaton, John
SUBJECT AREA: Civil engineering, Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering, Steam and internal combustion engines[br]b. 8 June 1724 Austhorpe, near Leeds, Yorkshire, Englandd. 28 October 1792 Austhorpe, near Leeds, Yorkshire, England[br]English mechanical and civil engineer.[br]As a boy, Smeaton showed mechanical ability, making for himself a number of tools and models. This practical skill was backed by a sound education, probably at Leeds Grammar School. At the age of 16 he entered his father's office; he seemed set to follow his father's profession in the law. In 1742 he went to London to continue his legal studies, but he preferred instead, with his father's reluctant permission, to set up as a scientific instrument maker and dealer and opened a shop of his own in 1748. About this time he began attending meetings of the Royal Society and presented several papers on instruments and mechanical subjects, being elected a Fellow in 1753. His interests were turning towards engineering but were informed by scientific principles grounded in careful and accurate observation.In 1755 the second Eddystone lighthouse, on a reef some 14 miles (23 km) off the English coast at Plymouth, was destroyed by fire. The President of the Royal Society was consulted as to a suitable engineer to undertake the task of constructing a new one, and he unhesitatingly suggested Smeaton. Work began in 1756 and was completed in three years to produce the first great wave-swept stone lighthouse. It was constructed of Portland stone blocks, shaped and pegged both together and to the base rock, and bonded by hydraulic cement, scientifically developed by Smeaton. It withstood the storms of the English Channel for over a century, but by 1876 erosion of the rock had weakened the structure and a replacement had to be built. The upper portion of Smeaton's lighthouse was re-erected on a suitable base on Plymouth Hoe, leaving the original base portion on the reef as a memorial to the engineer.The Eddystone lighthouse made Smeaton's reputation and from then on he was constantly in demand as a consultant in all kinds of engineering projects. He carried out a number himself, notably the 38 mile (61 km) long Forth and Clyde canal with thirty-nine locks, begun in 1768 but for financial reasons not completed until 1790. In 1774 he took charge of the Ramsgate Harbour works.On the mechanical side, Smeaton undertook a systematic study of water-and windmills, to determine the design and construction to achieve the greatest power output. This work issued forth as the paper "An experimental enquiry concerning the natural powers of water and wind to turn mills" and exerted a considerable influence on mill design during the early part of the Industrial Revolution. Between 1753 and 1790 Smeaton constructed no fewer than forty-four mills.Meanwhile, in 1756 he had returned to Austhorpe, which continued to be his home base for the rest of his life. In 1767, as a result of the disappointing performance of an engine he had been involved with at New River Head, Islington, London, Smeaton began his important study of the steam-engine. Smeaton was the first to apply scientific principles to the steam-engine and achieved the most notable improvements in its efficiency since its invention by Newcomen, until its radical overhaul by James Watt. To compare the performance of engines quantitatively, he introduced the concept of "duty", i.e. the weight of water that could be raised 1 ft (30 cm) while burning one bushel (84 lb or 38 kg) of coal. The first engine to embody his improvements was erected at Long Benton colliery in Northumberland in 1772, with a duty of 9.45 million pounds, compared to the best figure obtained previously of 7.44 million pounds. One source of heat loss he attributed to inaccurate boring of the cylinder, which he was able to improve through his close association with Carron Ironworks near Falkirk, Scotland.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsFRS 1753.Bibliography1759, "An experimental enquiry concerning the natural powers of water and wind to turn mills", Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.Towards the end of his life, Smeaton intended to write accounts of his many works but only completed A Narrative of the Eddystone Lighthouse, 1791, London.Further ReadingS.Smiles, 1874, Lives of the Engineers: Smeaton and Rennie, London. A.W.Skempton, (ed.), 1981, John Smeaton FRS, London: Thomas Telford. L.T.C.Rolt and J.S.Allen, 1977, The Steam Engine of Thomas Newcomen, 2nd edn, Hartington: Moorland Publishing, esp. pp. 108–18 (gives a good description of his work on the steam-engine).LRD -
99 Stephenson, George
[br]b. 9 June 1781 Wylam, Northumberland, Englandd. 12 August 1848 Tapton House, Chesterfield, England[br]English engineer, "the father of railways".[br]George Stephenson was the son of the fireman of the pumping engine at Wylam colliery, and horses drew wagons of coal along the wooden rails of the Wylam wagonway past the house in which he was born and spent his earliest childhood. While still a child he worked as a cowherd, but soon moved to working at coal pits. At 17 years of age he showed sufficient mechanical talent to be placed in charge of a new pumping engine, and had already achieved a job more responsible than that of his father. Despite his position he was still illiterate, although he subsequently learned to read and write. He was largely self-educated.In 1801 he was appointed Brakesman of the winding engine at Black Callerton pit, with responsibility for lowering the miners safely to their work. Then, about two years later, he became Brakesman of a new winding engine erected by Robert Hawthorn at Willington Quay on the Tyne. Returning collier brigs discharged ballast into wagons and the engine drew the wagons up an inclined plane to the top of "Ballast Hill" for their contents to be tipped; this was one of the earliest applications of steam power to transport, other than experimentally.In 1804 Stephenson moved to West Moor pit, Killingworth, again as Brakesman. In 1811 he demonstrated his mechanical skill by successfully modifying a new and unsatisfactory atmospheric engine, a task that had defeated the efforts of others, to enable it to pump a drowned pit clear of water. The following year he was appointed Enginewright at Killingworth, in charge of the machinery in all the collieries of the "Grand Allies", the prominent coal-owning families of Wortley, Liddell and Bowes, with authorization also to work for others. He built many stationary engines and he closely examined locomotives of John Blenkinsop's type on the Kenton \& Coxlodge wagonway, as well as those of William Hedley at Wylam.It was in 1813 that Sir Thomas Liddell requested George Stephenson to build a steam locomotive for the Killingworth wagonway: Blucher made its first trial run on 25 July 1814 and was based on Blenkinsop's locomotives, although it lacked their rack-and-pinion drive. George Stephenson is credited with building the first locomotive both to run on edge rails and be driven by adhesion, an arrangement that has been the conventional one ever since. Yet Blucher was far from perfect and over the next few years, while other engineers ignored the steam locomotive, Stephenson built a succession of them, each an improvement on the last.During this period many lives were lost in coalmines from explosions of gas ignited by miners' lamps. By observation and experiment (sometimes at great personal risk) Stephenson invented a satisfactory safety lamp, working independently of the noted scientist Sir Humphry Davy who also invented such a lamp around the same time.In 1817 George Stephenson designed his first locomotive for an outside customer, the Kilmarnock \& Troon Railway, and in 1819 he laid out the Hetton Colliery Railway in County Durham, for which his brother Robert was Resident Engineer. This was the first railway to be worked entirely without animal traction: it used inclined planes with stationary engines, self-acting inclined planes powered by gravity, and locomotives.On 19 April 1821 Stephenson was introduced to Edward Pease, one of the main promoters of the Stockton \& Darlington Railway (S \& DR), which by coincidence received its Act of Parliament the same day. George Stephenson carried out a further survey, to improve the proposed line, and in this he was assisted by his 18-year-old son, Robert Stephenson, whom he had ensured received the theoretical education which he himself lacked. It is doubtful whether either could have succeeded without the other; together they were to make the steam railway practicable.At George Stephenson's instance, much of the S \& DR was laid with wrought-iron rails recently developed by John Birkinshaw at Bedlington Ironworks, Morpeth. These were longer than cast-iron rails and were not brittle: they made a track well suited for locomotives. In June 1823 George and Robert Stephenson, with other partners, founded a firm in Newcastle upon Tyne to build locomotives and rolling stock and to do general engineering work: after its Managing Partner, the firm was called Robert Stephenson \& Co.In 1824 the promoters of the Liverpool \& Manchester Railway (L \& MR) invited George Stephenson to resurvey their proposed line in order to reduce opposition to it. William James, a wealthy land agent who had become a visionary protagonist of a national railway network and had seen Stephenson's locomotives at Killingworth, had promoted the L \& MR with some merchants of Liverpool and had carried out the first survey; however, he overreached himself in business and, shortly after the invitation to Stephenson, became bankrupt. In his own survey, however, George Stephenson lacked the assistance of his son Robert, who had left for South America, and he delegated much of the detailed work to incompetent assistants. During a devastating Parliamentary examination in the spring of 1825, much of his survey was shown to be seriously inaccurate and the L \& MR's application for an Act of Parliament was refused. The railway's promoters discharged Stephenson and had their line surveyed yet again, by C.B. Vignoles.The Stockton \& Darlington Railway was, however, triumphantly opened in the presence of vast crowds in September 1825, with Stephenson himself driving the locomotive Locomotion, which had been built at Robert Stephenson \& Co.'s Newcastle works. Once the railway was at work, horse-drawn and gravity-powered traffic shared the line with locomotives: in 1828 Stephenson invented the horse dandy, a wagon at the back of a train in which a horse could travel over the gravity-operated stretches, instead of trotting behind.Meanwhile, in May 1826, the Liverpool \& Manchester Railway had successfully obtained its Act of Parliament. Stephenson was appointed Engineer in June, and since he and Vignoles proved incompatible the latter left early in 1827. The railway was built by Stephenson and his staff, using direct labour. A considerable controversy arose c. 1828 over the motive power to be used: the traffic anticipated was too great for horses, but the performance of the reciprocal system of cable haulage developed by Benjamin Thompson appeared in many respects superior to that of contemporary locomotives. The company instituted a prize competition for a better locomotive and the Rainhill Trials were held in October 1829.Robert Stephenson had been working on improved locomotive designs since his return from America in 1827, but it was the L \& MR's Treasurer, Henry Booth, who suggested the multi-tubular boiler to George Stephenson. This was incorporated into a locomotive built by Robert Stephenson for the trials: Rocket was entered by the three men in partnership. The other principal entrants were Novelty, entered by John Braithwaite and John Ericsson, and Sans Pareil, entered by Timothy Hackworth, but only Rocket, driven by George Stephenson, met all the organizers' demands; indeed, it far surpassed them and demonstrated the practicability of the long-distance steam railway. With the opening of the Liverpool \& Manchester Railway in 1830, the age of railways began.Stephenson was active in many aspects. He advised on the construction of the Belgian State Railway, of which the Brussels-Malines section, opened in 1835, was the first all-steam railway on the European continent. In England, proposals to link the L \& MR with the Midlands had culminated in an Act of Parliament for the Grand Junction Railway in 1833: this was to run from Warrington, which was already linked to the L \& MR, to Birmingham. George Stephenson had been in charge of the surveys, and for the railway's construction he and J.U. Rastrick were initially Principal Engineers, with Stephenson's former pupil Joseph Locke under them; by 1835 both Stephenson and Rastrick had withdrawn and Locke was Engineer-in-Chief. Stephenson remained much in demand elsewhere: he was particularly associated with the construction of the North Midland Railway (Derby to Leeds) and related lines. He was active in many other places and carried out, for instance, preliminary surveys for the Chester \& Holyhead and Newcastle \& Berwick Railways, which were important links in the lines of communication between London and, respectively, Dublin and Edinburgh.He eventually retired to Tapton House, Chesterfield, overlooking the North Midland. A man who was self-made (with great success) against colossal odds, he was ever reluctant, regrettably, to give others their due credit, although in retirement, immensely wealthy and full of honour, he was still able to mingle with people of all ranks.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsPresident, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, on its formation in 1847. Order of Leopold (Belgium) 1835. Stephenson refused both a knighthood and Fellowship of the Royal Society.Bibliography1815, jointly with Ralph Dodd, British patent no. 3,887 (locomotive drive by connecting rods directly to the wheels).1817, jointly with William Losh, British patent no. 4,067 (steam springs for locomotives, and improvements to track).Further ReadingL.T.C.Rolt, 1960, George and Robert Stephenson, Longman (the best modern biography; includes a bibliography).S.Smiles, 1874, The Lives of George and Robert Stephenson, rev. edn, London (although sycophantic, this is probably the best nineteenthcentury biography).PJGR -
100 Trevithick, Richard
[br]b. 13 April 1771 Illogan, Cornwall, Englandd. 22 April 1833 Dartford, Kent, England[br]English engineer, pioneer of non-condensing steam-engines; designed and built the first locomotives.[br]Trevithick's father was a tin-mine manager, and Trevithick himself, after limited formal education, developed his immense engineering talent among local mining machinery and steam-engines and found employment as a mining engineer. Tall, strong and high-spirited, he was the eternal optimist.About 1797 it occurred to him that the separate condenser patent of James Watt could be avoided by employing "strong steam", that is steam at pressures substantially greater than atmospheric, to drive steam-engines: after use, steam could be exhausted to the atmosphere and the condenser eliminated. His first winding engine on this principle came into use in 1799, and subsequently such engines were widely used. To produce high-pressure steam, a stronger boiler was needed than the boilers then in use, in which the pressure vessel was mounted upon masonry above the fire: Trevithick designed the cylindrical boiler, with furnace tube within, from which the Cornish and later the Lancashire boilers evolved.Simultaneously he realized that high-pressure steam enabled a compact steam-engine/boiler unit to be built: typically, the Trevithick engine comprised a cylindrical boiler with return firetube, and a cylinder recessed into the boiler. No beam intervened between connecting rod and crank. A master patent was taken out.Such an engine was well suited to driving vehicles. Trevithick built his first steam-carriage in 1801, but after a few days' use it overturned on a rough Cornish road and was damaged beyond repair by fire. Nevertheless, it had been the first self-propelled vehicle successfully to carry passengers. His second steam-carriage was driven about the streets of London in 1803, even more successfully; however, it aroused no commercial interest. Meanwhile the Coalbrookdale Company had started to build a locomotive incorporating a Trevithick engine for its tramroads, though little is known of the outcome; however, Samuel Homfray's ironworks at Penydarren, South Wales, was already building engines to Trevithick's design, and in 1804 Trevithick built one there as a locomotive for the Penydarren Tramroad. In this, and in the London steam-carriage, exhaust steam was turned up the chimney to draw the fire. On 21 February the locomotive hauled five wagons with 10 tons of iron and seventy men for 9 miles (14 km): it was the first successful railway locomotive.Again, there was no commercial interest, although Trevithick now had nearly fifty stationary engines completed or being built to his design under licence. He experimented with one to power a barge on the Severn and used one to power a dredger on the Thames. He became Engineer to a project to drive a tunnel beneath the Thames at Rotherhithe and was only narrowly defeated, by quicksands. Trevithick then set up, in 1808, a circular tramroad track in London and upon it demonstrated to the admission-fee-paying public the locomotive Catch me who can, built to his design by John Hazledine and J.U. Rastrick.In 1809, by which date Trevithick had sold all his interest in the steam-engine patent, he and Robert Dickinson, in partnership, obtained a patent for iron tanks to hold liquid cargo in ships, replacing the wooden casks then used, and started to manufacture them. In 1810, however, he was taken seriously ill with typhus for six months and had to return to Cornwall, and early in 1811 the partners were bankrupt; Trevithick was discharged from bankruptcy only in 1814.In the meantime he continued as a steam engineer and produced a single-acting steam engine in which the cut-off could be varied to work the engine expansively by way of a three-way cock actuated by a cam. Then, in 1813, Trevithick was approached by a representative of a company set up to drain the rich but flooded silver-mines at Cerro de Pasco, Peru, at an altitude of 14,000 ft (4,300 m). Low-pressure steam engines, dependent largely upon atmospheric pressure, would not work at such an altitude, but Trevithick's high-pressure engines would. Nine engines and much other mining plant were built by Hazledine and Rastrick and despatched to Peru in 1814, and Trevithick himself followed two years later. However, the war of independence was taking place in Peru, then a Spanish colony, and no sooner had Trevithick, after immense difficulties, put everything in order at the mines then rebels arrived and broke up the machinery, for they saw the mines as a source of supply for the Spanish forces. It was only after innumerable further adventures, during which he encountered and was assisted financially by Robert Stephenson, that Trevithick eventually arrived home in Cornwall in 1827, penniless.He petitioned Parliament for a grant in recognition of his improvements to steam-engines and boilers, without success. He was as inventive as ever though: he proposed a hydraulic power transmission system; he was consulted over steam engines for land drainage in Holland; and he suggested a 1,000 ft (305 m) high tower of gilded cast iron to commemorate the Reform Act of 1832. While working on steam propulsion of ships in 1833, he caught pneumonia, from which he died.[br]BibliographyTrevithick took out fourteen patents, solely or in partnership, of which the most important are: 1802, Construction of Steam Engines, British patent no. 2,599. 1808, Stowing Ships' Cargoes, British patent no. 3,172.Further ReadingH.W.Dickinson and A.Titley, 1934, Richard Trevithick. The Engineer and the Man, Cambridge; F.Trevithick, 1872, Life of Richard Trevithick, London (these two are the principal biographies).E.A.Forward, 1952, "Links in the history of the locomotive", The Engineer (22 February), 226 (considers the case for the Coalbrookdale locomotive of 1802).See also: Blenkinsop, JohnPJGR
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