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scale, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)scale, in zoology, an outgrowth, either bony or horny, of the skin of an animal. The major component of the scales of fishes is bone, and they are formed directly in the skin membrane as the fish grow...

seal, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)seal, carnivorous aquatic mammal with front and hind feet modified as flippers, or fin-feet. The name seal is sometimes applied broadly to any of the fin-footed mammals, or pinnipeds, including the wa...

secession, in art

(Encyclopedia)secession, in art, any of several associations of progressive artists, especially those in Munich, Berlin, and Vienna, who withdrew from the established academic societies or exhibitions. The artists ...

Adam, in genetics

(Encyclopedia)Adam, in genetics, popular term for a theoretical male ancestor of all living people; see Eve, in genetics. ...

sin, in religion

(Encyclopedia)sin, in religion, unethical act. The term implies disobedience to a personal God, as in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and is not used so often in systems such as Buddhism where there is no persona...

siren, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)siren: see salamander.

bast, in botany

(Encyclopedia)bast: see bark.

baroque, in music

(Encyclopedia)baroque, in music, a style that prevailed from the last decades of the 16th cent. to the first decades of the 18th cent. Its beginnings were in the late 16th-century revolt against polyphony that gave...

set, in mathematics

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Union and intersection of sets A and B: The union of A and B, A∪B, contains all members belonging to either A or B. The intersection of A and B, A∩B, contains all members common to both A a...

Shammai, in 1 Chronicles

(Encyclopedia)Shammai shămˈāī [key], in 1 Chronicles. 1 Jerahmeelite. 2, 3 Descendants of Caleb. ...