Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Zaleucus

(Encyclopedia)Zaleucus zəlo͞oˈkəs [key], fl. c.650 b.c., Greek lawgiver of Locris, in Italy. According to tradition, his was the earliest codification of Greek law. References to Zaleucus' code, which was widel...

bushido

(Encyclopedia)bushido bo͝oshˈĭdō, bo͞oˈshĭdō [key] [Jap.,=way of the warrior], code of honor and conduct of the Japanese nobility. Of ancient origin, it grew out of the old feudal bond that required unwaver...

Ine

(Encyclopedia)Ine īˈnə [key], king of Wessex (688–726). In 694 he forced the people of Kent to pay compensation for the murder of a kinsman, and he extended his sway over Sussex and Surrey and probably over De...

cryptography

(Encyclopedia)cryptography krĭptŏgˈrəfē [key] [Gr.,=hidden writing], science of secret writing. There are many devices by which a message can be concealed from the casual reader, e.g., invisible writing, but t...

Bustamante, Antonio Sánchez de

(Encyclopedia)Bustamante, Antonio Sánchez de də bo͞ostämänˈtā [key], 1865–1951, Cuban authority on international law, author of the Bustamante Code. A delegate to the Paris Peace Conference (1919), he was...

London, Declaration of

(Encyclopedia)London, Declaration of, international code of maritime law, especially as related to war, proposed in 1909. The declaration grew largely out of the attempt at the second of the Hague Conferences to se...

signaling

(Encyclopedia)signaling, transmission of information by visible, audible, or other detectable means. Since prehistoric times humans have sought and employed ever more effective means of communicating over distance....

military law

(Encyclopedia)military law, system of rules established for the government of persons in the armed forces. In most countries the legislature establishes the code of military law. It is distinguished from both marti...

bankruptcy

(Encyclopedia)bankruptcy, in law, settlement of the liabilities of a person or organization wholly or partially unable to meet financial obligations. The purposes are to distribute, through a court-appointed receiv...

courtly love

(Encyclopedia)courtly love, philosophy of love and code of lovemaking that flourished in France and England during the Middle Ages. Although its origins are obscure, it probably derived from the works of Ovid, vari...

Browse by Subject