ISA

plural ISAs

1. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountablecomputingInitialism of instruction set architecture.

   1 more example

   Everyone has their own way of explaining it. The ISA is the bridge, or the interface, between the hardware and the software. Or it’s the blueprint. Or it’s the computer’s DNA. These are helpful enough, as is the common comparison of an ISA to a language. “You and I are using English,” as [Calista Redmond] said to me at the conference. “That’s our ISA.” But it gets confusing. Software speaks in languages too—programming languages. That’s why [David Patterson] prefers dictionary or vocabulary. The ISA is less a specific language, more a set of generally available words.

   2025 March 25, Jason Kehe, “Angelina Jolie Was Right About Computers. “RISC architecture is gonna change everything.” Those absurdly geeky, incredibly prophetic words were spoken 30 years ago. Today, they’re somehow truer than ever”, in Wired

2. UKabbreviationcountableinitialismuncountablebusinessInitialism of individual savings account, a financial account for investment with special tax rules.
3. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableaccountingInitialism of International Standard on Auditing, one of a set of professional standards for the performance of audits of financial information issued by the IAASB.
4. EuropeabbreviationcountableinitialismuncountabletransportInitialism of intelligent speed assistance / adaptation.
5. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountablechemistryInitialism of isosaccharinic acid.
6. MarxismabbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of ideological state apparatus.

   They have come to think of the universities, the civil service, and the media – the old Althusserian ISAs – with its orthodoxy of egalitarianism, democracy and social constructionism, as the Cathedral; a quasi-religious structure that functions hegemonically to supress^([sic]) dissent.

   2018 September 29, Roger Burrows, “On Neoreaction”, in The Sociological Review Magazine

7. abbreviationcountableuncountableintellectual propertyAbbreviation of international searching authority.

1. abbreviationinitialismcomputingInitialism of Industry Standard Architecture, an early type of personal computer expansion slot bus.
2. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of International Seabed Authority, an intergovernmental body set up to regulate deep seabed mining and ensure the marine environment is protected from any harmful effects.

   If this compromised the expedition, it wasn’t exactly a shock – corporate sponsorship always seemed to lurk in the small print, and ISA had been authorising seafloor surveys for years.

   2023, Martin MacInnes, In Ascension, Atlantic Books, page 49

1. A diminutive of the female given name Isabel or of its variant forms, sometimes also used as a formal given name.

   Even "Liz" brought little to his memory; though he said: "The name does recall the fact of a sister. But why call her Isa?" "Just as easy as Liz, or any of the lot, Eliza, Elizabeth, Betsy and Bess. Isa, that's, I think, a sort of a city name," Lee said, with a shadow of a smile.

   1885, Arthur's Home Magazine, volume 53, page 165

   1 more example

   It's an awkward name: Isamay, pronounced Is-a-may. Isa is my paternal grandmother's name (shortened from Isabel) and May my maternal grandmother's (it comes, somehow, from Margaret). The amalgamation is, as you see, strictly alphabetical. Life, I feel, would have been much easier if they had chosen Maybel.

   2010, Margaret Forster, Isa & May, Chatto & Windus, →ISBN, page 5

1. Jesus, a prophet of Islam. Understood to be Jesus of Nazareth.
2. A male given name from Arabic mainly used by Muslims.