ISA

See also: Appendix:Variations of "isa"

English

Pronunciation

  • (individual savings account) IPA(key): /ˈaɪsə/
  • Rhymes: -aɪsə

Noun

ISA (countable and uncountable, plural ISAs)

  2. (computing) Initialism of instruction set architecture.
    • 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[1]:
      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.
  4. (UK, finance) Initialism of individual savings account, a financial account for investment with special tax rules.
    Hypernym: account
    Coordinate terms: IRA, HSA, FSA
  5. (accounting) Initialism of International Standard on Auditing, one of a set of professional standards for the performance of audits of financial information issued by the IAASB.
  6. (Europe, transport) Initialism of intelligent speed assistance / adaptation.
  8. (organic chemistry) Initialism of isosaccharinic acid.
  9. (Marxism) Initialism of ideological state apparatus.
    • 2018 September 29, Roger Burrows, “On Neoreaction”, in The Sociological Review Magazine‎[2]:
      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.

Proper noun

ISA

  1. (computing) Initialism of Industry Standard Architecture, an early type of personal computer expansion slot bus.
  2. Initialism 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.
    • 2023, Martin MacInnes, In Ascension, Atlantic Books, page 49:
      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.

Coordinate terms

(expansion slot type):

Anagrams

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