Abrasion Resistance: Ability of a wire, cable or material to resist surface wear.

Alloy: A metal formed by combining two or more different metals to obtain desirable properties.

Alternating Current: Electric current that continually reverses its direction. It is expressed in cycles per seconds (Hertz or Hz).

Ampere: The unit of current. One ampere is the current flowing through one Ohm of resistance at on volt potential.

Armor: A braid or wrapping of metal, usually steel, used for mechanical protection. Generally placed over the outer sheath.

Attenuation: Power loss in an electrical system in cables, generally expressed in dB per length, usually 100 ft.

Audio Frequency: The range of frequencies audible to the human ear. Usually 20-20,000 HZ.

AWG: Abbreviation for American Wire Gage.

AWM: Designation for Appliance Wiring Material.

Braid: A fibrous of metallic group of filaments interwoven in cylindrical form to form a covering over one of more wires.

Braid Ends: The number of strands used to make up one carrier. The strands are wound side by side on the carrier bobbin and lie parallel in the finished braid.

Breakdown Voltage: The voltage at which the insulation between two conductors breaks down.

Cable: An insulated conductor, or group of individually insulated conductors in twisted or parallel configuration.

Cable Assembly: A completed cable and its associated hardware ready to install.

Capacitance: The ratio of the electrostatic charge on a conductor to the potential difference between the conductors required to maintain that charge.

Coaxial Cable: A cable consisting of tow cylindrical conductor with a common axis, separated by a dielectric.

Color Code: A system for circuit identification through use of solid colors and contrasting tracers.

Concentricity: In a wire or cable, the measurement if the location of the center of the conductor with respect to the geometric center of the surrounding insulation..

Conductivity: The capability of a material to carry electrical current-usually expressed as a percentage of copper conductivity (copper being 100%).

Conductor: An un-insulated wire suitable for carrying electrical current.

Conduit: A tube or trough in which insulated wires and cables run.

Connector: A device used to physically and electrically connect two or more conductors.

Core: In cables a component or assembly of components over which additional components (shield, sheath, etc.) are applied.

Decibel (dB): A unit to express power gain in amplifiers or loss in passive circuits or cables.

Dielectric: Any insulating material between two conductors which permits electrostatic attraction and repulsion to take place across it.

Direct Current Resistance (DCR): The resistance offered by any circuit to the flow of direct current.

EMI: Abbreviation for electromagnetic interference.

Ends: In braiding, the number of essentially parallel wires of threads on a carrier.

Flame Resistance: The ability of a material not to propagate flame once heat source is removed.

Gauge (AWG): A term used to denote the physical size of a wire.

Ground: A connection between an electrical circuit and the earth or other large conduction body to serve as an earth thus making a complete electrical circuit.

Hertz (Hz): A term replacing cycles-per-second as an indication of frequency.

Impedance: The total opposition that a circuit offers to the flow of alternating current or any other varying current at a particular frequency. It is a combination of resistance R and reactance X, measured in Ohms.

Insulation: A material having high resistance to the flow of electric current. Often called a dielectric in a radio frequency cable.

Jacket: An outer non-metallic protective covering applied over an insulated wire or cable.

MHz: MegaHertz (one million cycles per second). Formerly mc.

Mil: A unit used in measuring diameter of a wire or thickness of insulation over a conductor. One one-thousandth of an inch (.001”).

Mutual Capacitance: Capacitance between two conductors when all other conductors including ground are connected together and then regarded as an ignored ground.

OFHC: Abbreviation for Oxygen-Free High Conductivity copper. It has no residual deoxidant, 99.95% minimum copper content and an average annealed conductivity of 101%

Ohm: A unit of electrical resistance.

Oxygen Index: Percentage of oxygen necessary to support combustion in a gas mixture.

Quad-shield: Four layers of shielding

RG/U: “RG” is the military designation for “Radio Guide” coaxial cable, and “U” stands for “general Utility”

Rated Temperature: The maximum temperature at which an electric component can operate for extended periods without loss of its basic properties.

Rated Voltage: The maximum voltage at which an electric component can operate for extended periods without undue degradation or safety hazard.

Sheath: The outer covering or jacket of a multiconductor cable.

Shield: In cables, a metallic layer placed around a conductor or group of conductors to prevent electrostatic or electromagnetic interference between the enclosed wires and external fields.

Strand: A single uninsulated wire.

Tensile Strength: The pull stress required to break a wire/cable.

Triaxial Cable: A cable construction having three coincident axes, such as a conductor, first shield and a second shield all insulated from one another.

UHF: Abbreviation for Ultra High Frequency, 300 to 3,000 MHz.

UL: Abbreviation for Underwriters Laboratories, a nonprofit independent organization, which operates a listing service for electrical and electronic materials and equipment.

VHF: An Abbreviation for Very High Frequency, 30 to 300 MHz.

Volt: A unit of electromotive force.

Voltage Rating: The highest voltage that may be continuously applied to a wire in a conformance with standards or specifications.

Watt: A unit of electric power.

Wave Length: The distance measured in the direction of a propagation, of a repetitive electrical pulse or waveform between two successive points that are characterized by the same phase of vibration.

Wire: A conductor, either bare or insulated.