(Encyclopedia) roninroninrōˈnĭn [key], in Japanese history, masterless samurai. Ronin were retainers who were deprived of their place in the usual loyalty patterns of Japanese feudalism. The daimyo…
(Encyclopedia) Scholz's star, dim binary star system, consisting of a red dwarf and brown dwarf, in the constellation Monoceros, apparent magnitude 18.3. The red dwarf is a tiny star, with less than…
(Encyclopedia) episomeepisomeĕpˈĭsōm [key], unit of genetic material composed of a series of genes that sometimes has an independent existence in a host cell and at other times is integrated into a…
(Encyclopedia) puffin, common name for a diving bird of the family Alcidae (auk family). Its large, triangular bill, brilliantly colored in yellow, blue, and vermilion, is adapted to carrying several…
(Encyclopedia) Horvitz, H. Robert (Howard Robert Horivtz), 1947–, American geneticist, b. Chicago, Ill., Ph.D. Harvard, 1974. Horvitz has been a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology…
(Encyclopedia) Eleusinian MysteriesEleusinian Mysteriesĕly&oomacr;sĭnˈēən [key], principal religious mysteries of ancient Greece. The mysteries may have originated as part of an early agrarian…
(Encyclopedia) KabirKabirkəbērˈ [key], 1440–1518, Indian mystic and poet. A Muslim by birth, he was a weaver in Benares (Varanasi) and early in life may have become the disciple of the famous Hindu…
(Encyclopedia) Simnel, LambertSimnel, Lambertsĭmˈnəl [key], c.1475–1525, imposter and pretender to the English throne. Little is known of his early life, but before 1486 he caught the attention of an…
(Encyclopedia) bulb, thickened, fleshy plant bud, usually formed under the surface of the soil, which carries the plant over from one blooming season to another. It may have many fleshy layers (as in…
(Encyclopedia) Calisher, HortenseCalisher, Hortensekălˈĭshər [key], 1911–2009, American author, b. New York City, grad. Barnard College, 1932. Her novels are difficult to categorize, blending deft…
