• specificity

    See sensitivity, specificity

  • statistically significant

    See significant, statistically significant

  • stormwater

    See rainfall, rainwater, runoff, stormwater

  • Writing about risk

    Learn about absolute and relative risk, and how to write about risk in a way your audience will understand.

  • sustainable

    See green, sustainable

  • symptom

    See sign, symptom

  • syndrome

    See condition, disease, disorder, illness, syndrome

  • that, which

    that: used for defining (restrictive) clauses (information that defines the subject and cannot be omitted from a sentence without greatly changing the meaning)

  • theory

    See hypothesis, law, theory

  • transmissible

    See communicable, contagious, infectious, infective, noncommunicable, transmissible

  • trillion

    See billion, trillion (-illion)

  • tumour

    See cancer, neoplasm, tumour

  • use, utilise

    Utilise is usually just a more pompous way of saying use, and should be avoided.Exceptions include terms such as feed utilisation (by livestock), which refers t

  • utilise

    See use, utilise

  • Writing about data and statistics

    Find out how to communicate about data clearly and accurately, using correct terminology.

  • vaccinate

    See immunise, immunity, inoculate, vaccinate

  • variable

    See characteristic, parameter, variable

  • variety

    See cultivar, hybrid, variety, plant variety

  • vestigiality

    See convergence, homology, vestigiality

  • wastewater

    See blackwater, greywater, wastewater

  • weather

    See climate, weather

  • weight

    See mass, weight

  • hone, home

    hone: to sharpen, to make more accurate, to improve through practice (eg to hone one’s skills) home (as a verb): to return home home in: to proceed toward

  • home

    See hone, home

  • comparable, similar

    comparable: able to be compared (ie having features in common), or worthy of comparison The samples from the 2 locations were comparable because they were