Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

306 results found

Terminus

(Encyclopedia)Terminus tûrˈmĭnəs [key], in ancient Rome, both the boundary markers between properties and the name of the god who watched over boundaries. Property lines were of great importance, particularly t...

Piedras Negras, ancient city, Guatemala

(Encyclopedia)Piedras Negras pyāˈᵺräs nāˈgräs [key] [Span.,=black stones], ruined city of the Classic era of the Maya, NW Petén, Guatemala, in the Usumacinta valley. Reaching a peak of sculptural achieveme...

Oronsay

(Encyclopedia)Oronsay ôˈrənsā, ŏˈrənzā [key], island, 3 sq mi (7.8 sq km), Argyll and Bute, NW Scotland, one of the Inner Hebrides. The island contains ruins of a 14th-century priory, a sculptured cross fro...

Velikiye Luki

(Encyclopedia)Velikiye Luki vyĭlyēˈkēə lo͞oˈkē [key], city (1989 pop. 114,000), W central European Russia, on the Lovat River. A railroad junction, it has industries producing rolling stock and foodstuffs. ...

maze

(Encyclopedia)maze, detail of landscape gardening based on the Greek labyrinth, consisting of intricate paths or alleys lined with high hedges and having a center and exit difficult to find. It was a prominent feat...

month

(Encyclopedia)month, in chronology, the conventional period of a lunation, i.e., passage of the moon through all its phases. It is usually computed at approximately 29 or 30 days. For the computation of the month a...

Mainland

(Encyclopedia)Mainland. 1 Island (1991 pop. 14,150), 178 sq mi (461 sq km), N Scotland. The largest of the Orkney Islands, it is also called Pomona. Kirkwall, the seat of the Orkney Islands council area, is on the ...

bearing

(Encyclopedia)bearing, machine part designed to reduce friction between moving parts or to support moving loads. There are two main kinds of bearings: the antifriction type, such as the roller bearing and the ball ...

cromlech

(Encyclopedia)cromlech krŏmˈlĕk [key] [Welsh or Breton,=crooked stone], term that has changed in meaning from its original equivalent to dolmen. It later came to be used for a single standing stone and now usual...

Changes in English Pronunciation (table)

(Encyclopedia)Changes in English Pronunciation ...