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Abd al-Aziz

(Encyclopedia)Abd al-Aziz Turk. äbdülˈäzēzˈ [key], 1830–76, Ottoman sultan (1861–76), brother and successor of Abd al-Majid. The economic and political reforms enacted under his rule could not outpace the...

badger

(Encyclopedia)badger, name for several related members of the weasel family. Most badgers are large, nocturnal, burrowing animals, with broad, heavy bodies, long snouts, large, sharp claws, and long, grizzled fur. ...

hostage

(Encyclopedia)hostage, person held by another as a guarantee that certain actions or promises will or will not be carried out. During periods of internal turmoil, insurgents often seize hostages; recent examples in...

ass

(Encyclopedia)ass, hoofed, herbivorous mammal of the genus Equus, closely related to the horse. It is distinguished from the horse by its small size, large head, long ears, and small hooves. There are three living ...

brazilwood

(Encyclopedia)brazilwood, common name for several trees of the family Leguminosae (pulse family) whose wood yields a red dye. The dye has largely been replaced by synthetic dyes for fabrics, but it is still used in...

citrus fruits

(Encyclopedia)citrus fruits, widely used edible fruits of plants belonging to Citrus and related genera of the family Rutaceae (orange family). Included are the tangerine, citrange, tangelo, orange, pomelo, grapefr...

illiteracy

(Encyclopedia)illiteracy, inability to meet a certain minimum criterion of reading and writing skill. Throughout most of history most people have been illiterate. In feudal society, for example, the ability to re...

Balkan Wars

(Encyclopedia)Balkan Wars, 1912–13, two short wars, fought for the possession of the European territories of the Ottoman Empire. The outbreak of the Italo-Turkish War for the possession of Tripoli (1911) encourag...

Bulgaria

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Bulgaria bŭlgârˈēə [key], Bulgarian Balgarija, officially Republic of Bulgaria, r...

Elam

(Encyclopedia)Elam ēˈləm [key], ancient country of Asia, N of the Persian Gulf and E of the Tigris, now in W Iran. A civilization seems to have been established there very early, probably in the late 4th millenn...