Headquarters is in Madrid.

Acceptable on first reference for International Business Machines. Headquarters is in Armonk, N.Y.

See intercontinental ballistic missile(s)

Any of a series of cold periods marked by substantial glaciation.

The freezing of rain or drizzle on objects as it strikes them. An ice storm warning is reserved for occasions when significant, and possibly damaging, accumulations of ice are expected.

Headquarters is in Reykjavik, Iceland.

For identification. No periods: Each member wore an ID badge. They carried IDs. "We were ID'd by the police."

Do not abbreviate. See state(s).

A pretentious redundancy. Avoid it.

Use it only to mean a violation of the law. Be especially careful in labor-management disputes, where one side will often call an action by the other side illegal. Usually it is a charge that a contract or rule, not a law, has been violated.

Abbreviation: Ill. See state(s).

See allusion, illusion.

Lowercase for the leader of a prayer in a Muslim mosque. Capitalize as a formal title before the name of a Muslim leader or ruler. See religion.

See emigrate, immigrate

The service that was known as the INS was abolished in 2003. Its functions were transferred to other agencies within the Department of Homeland Security. See Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Avoid using as a verb in sentences like these: The judge said the court’s ruling will impact the community, Scientists said the meteorite impacted the planet, The new rule impacts on the campus.

Not empanel

Something impassable cannot be passed: an impassable bridge. Someone impassible cannot feel pain. Someone impassive shows no emotion.

The standard British gallon, 277.42 cubic inches or about 1.2 U.S. gallons. In metric it is about 4.5 liters.

One-fourth of an imperial gallon.

Not -able.

Writers or speakers imply in the words they use. Listeners or readers infer from the words others use.

Not imposter.

Without preparation or advance thought. Do not use it to refer to an event that is merely informal or held without advance notice.

Hyphenated as a suffix: break-in, cave-in, sit-in, shoo-in, walk-in, write-in.

Despite means the same thing and is shorter.

In indicates location within: He was in the room. Into indicates motion to a location within: She walked into the room.

Generally solid to indicate not: inadmissible, incapable, invisible, etc. Frequently solid elsewhere: inboard, inbounds, incoming, infield, infighting, inland, inlet, inshore. But occasionally hyphenated: in-depth, in-house, in-law, in-service.

Capitalize only when referring to the total collection of events that include the inauguration of a U.S. president; lowercase in other uses: Inauguration Day is Jan. 20. The inauguration day for the change has not been set.

Not set off with commas when used at the end of a title. See incorporated.

Equal to one-twelfth of a foot and exactly 2.54 centimeters. To convert to centimeters, multiply by 2.54 (6 inches x 2.54 equals 15.24 centimeters).

Use include for an incomplete list, comprise for a whole list: The zoo comprises 100 animals, and includes a lion and tiger. See compose, comprise.

Indicates how much a business earns or loses over a specific period, typically a year or quarter. Also known as an earnings report.

See profit terminology.

Use Inc. at the end of a formal corporate name. It usually is not needed but, if used, do not set off with commas: Volkswagen of America Inc.

Incredible means not believable. Incredulous means unable to believe. The story was incredible. The audience was incredulous.

Avoid redundant use before the title of an officeholder. Wrong: Incumbent Mayor John Jones said today. Right: Mayor John Jones said today.

July Fourth or Fourth of July are acceptable. The federal legal holiday is on Friday if July 4 falls on a Saturday, on Monday if it falls on Sunday.

Capitalized as a title. A composite of 12 economic measurements developed to help forecast likely shifts in the whole economy, compiled monthly by the Department of Commerce.

See oceans.

Abbreviation: Ind. See state(s) .

The city in Indiana stands alone in datelines.

Avoid disparaging words: wampum, warpath, powwow, etc. American Indians are native Americans, but so is everyone else born in the United States. See native American.

To avoid any suggestion that someone is being judged before a trial, do not use indicted for killing, etc. Use indicted on a charge of killing. See accuse , allege and arrest.

Indiscreet means lacking prudence, and its noun form is indiscretion; indiscrete means not separated into distinct parts, and its noun form is indiscreteness.

Not -ible.

Do not use as a general synonym for person.

Wrong: Police questioned an individual fitting the description.

Right: Police questioned a person fitting the description.

Right: Individuals and corporations were liable under the law.

The large peninsula south of China that comprises Myanmar (formerly Burma), Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Vietnam. The former French colony of Indochina was composed of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

Republic in the Malay Archipelago comprising Celebes, Java, Sumatra, West Irian, most of Borneo, and many smaller islands. Jakarta stands alone in datelines. The form for others: SURABAYA, Indonesia, Dec. 2 (UPI) --

Specify an individual island, if needed, in the text.

She went indoors to play indoor tennis.

Applicable to children through 12 months old.

The preferred term is polio.

A sustained increase in prices causing a decrease in the purchasing power of money. There are two basic types:

-- cost-push inflation occurs when rising costs are the chief reason for the increased prices.

-- demand-pull inflation occurs when the amount of money available exceeds the amount of goods and services available for sale.

An Internet search engine. See search engine.

Hyphenate to avoid a double-a: infra-angelic but usually no hyphen: infrared, infrasonic. . Follow Webster's New World, hyphenating words not listed there.

Use periods and no space: H.L. Mencken. For middle initials, if used: John Q. Public. Exception: Use no periods when referring to presidents by three initials, FDR, JFK, LBJ.

They are suffered or sustained, not received.

A person living with others in the same building. Properly used for non-criminals, such as the mentally ill, who are confined against their will. But more frequently used euphemistically for convict or prisoner when referring to felons. Use it advisedly.

Use innocent, rather than not guilty, to describe a defendant's plea or a jury's verdict, to guard against not being dropped.

Two n's.

One n.

Not enquire, enquiry.

Singular and plural.

An individual or business is insolvent when unable to pay debts when due. Even though a company’s assets may exceed its liabilities, it could be insolvent if those assets could not be converted into sufficient cash to meet current obligations.

Do not abbreviate.

See ensure , insure.

Manufacturer of microprocessors and other semiconductors. Intel central processing units (CPUs) are widely used around the world. Headquarters is in Santa Clara, Calif.

Acceptable in all references for International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (originally Consortium instead of Organization). Headquarters is in Washington.

Hyphenate with a capitalized word: inter-American. Elsewhere, follow Webster's New World, hyphenating words not listed there.

ICBM(s) is acceptable on second reference.

Computerese. Avoid to mean interact or connect with.

IRBM(s) is acceptable on second reference.

IRS is acceptable on second reference.

IBEW is acceptable on second reference. Headquarters is in Washington. Do not call this union the Electrical Workers union, a term reserved for the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America.

See IBM.

The principal judicial organ of the United Nations, established at The Hague in 1945. On second reference: international court or world court in lowercase. See world court.

The imaginary line drawn north and south through the Pacific Ocean, largely along the 180th meridian. By international agreement, when it is 12:01 a.m. Sunday just west of the line, it is 12:01 a.m. Saturday just east of it. See time.

ILO is acceptable on second reference. Headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland.

See Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees.

ILWU is acceptable on second reference. Headquarters is in San Francisco.

Longshoremen's union is acceptable in all references. ILA is acceptable after the full name has been used. Headquarters is in New York.

IMF is acceptable on second reference. Headquarters is in Washington.

A worldwide system of linked computer networks. The Net is acceptable on second reference. See World Wide Web , which is part of the Internet.

See IP address and URL (URLs) .

Acceptable in all references for International Criminal Police Organization. Headquarters is in Paris.

ICC is acceptable on second reference.

interview See Q-and-A format.

An uprising, specifically the revolt started in 1987 by Palestinian Arabs to protest Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Always lowercase.

Hyphenate with a capitalized word or to avoid a double-a: intra-European, intra-atomic. Elsewhere, follow Webster's New World, hyphenating words not listed there. Also: Intracoastal Waterway.

Lowercase. A computer network for a single company or organization.

IUD is acceptable on second reference.

See libel.

Do not abbreviate. See state(s)

A unique numeric address for each computer connected to the Internet. Example: 120.101.27.6. IP address is synonymous with Internet address. See URL (URLs).

International Press Telecommunications Council.

Acceptable in all references for intelligence quotient.

The nation formerly called Persia. It is not an Arab country; do not call its citizens Arabs. The people are properly called Iranians, though they are sometimes called Persians or Irani. Iranians call their language Farsi, but outside Iran it is more commonly called Persian.

The Arab nation, coinciding more or less with ancient Mesopotamia. Its people are Iraqi(s). The dialect of Arabic is Iraqi.

Usually acceptable for the Irish Republic. But use the full name if needed to differentiate it from Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom.

IRA is acceptable on second reference.

Term used by Winston Churchill in 1946 to describe the Soviet-imposed barrier between Eastern and Western Europe. "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the continent."

The correct word is regardless.

For Integrated Services Digital Network. An ISDN line is a digital telephone line that cantransfer information at faster speeds than conventional lines. An even faster digital service is a DSL line (Digital Subscriber Line). Both types of service are offered by telephone companies in many cities. See DSL.

The Muslim religion. Its deity is Allah. Mohammed is its founder and prophet. The adjective is Islamic. See Muslim .

Capitalize island or islands as an integral part of a proper name: Prince Edward Island, the Hawaiian Islands. Lowercase elsewhere, including all island of constructions: an island, a Mississippi island, the Pacific islands, the island of Nantucket. See datelines.

For internet service provider, a company that provides Internet access.

Use this pronoun, not she or her, to refer to countries and ships.

It's is a contraction for it is or it has: It's up to you. It's been a long time. Its is possessive: The company lost its assets.

Acceptable on second reference to the intravenous procedure or apparatus.

Ivory Coast Avoid using Cote d'Ivoire, the official name of the republic in western Africa. If it must be used, such as in a direct quotation, explain it. The people are Ivoirians.

Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Yale and the University of Pennsylvania.