Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Hell, Stefan Walter

(Encyclopedia)Hell, Stefan Walter, 1962–, German physicist, Ph.D. Heidelberg Univ., 1990. Hell worked at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg (1991–93) and at the Univ. of Turku in Finland (1...

zorilla

(Encyclopedia)zorilla, small, carnivorous, nocturnal mammal, Ictonyx striatus, of the weasel family, found in dry regions of Africa. It is also called striped weasel and striped polecat. Although it strongly resemb...

blenny

(Encyclopedia)blenny, common name of various species of extremely numerous small fishes belonging to the suborders Blennioidei (blennies) and Notothenioidei (Antarctic blennies). They are characterized by elongated...

platypus

(Encyclopedia)platypus plătˈəpəs [key], semiaquatic egg-laying mammal, Ornithorhynchus anatinus, of Tasmania and E Australia. Also called duckbill, or duckbilled platypus, it belongs to the order Monotremata (s...

Oberalp

(Encyclopedia)Oberalp ōˈbər-älp [key], Alpine pass, 6,733 ft (2,052 m) high, between Grisons and Uri cantons, S central Switzerland. Oberalpsee, a small lake, is nearby, and the Alpine peak Oberalpstock, 10,926...

Lérins

(Encyclopedia)Lérins lārăNsˈ [key], group of four small islands, Alpes-Maritimes dept., SE France, in the Mediterranean Sea SE of Cannes. Sainte-Marguerite is the largest island. On Saint-Honorat is the oldest ...

Aa, in European place names

(Encyclopedia)Aa ä [key] [from a word for “water” of the same Indo-European root as Lat. aqua], name of many small streams of N Europe and Switzerland. Aa, or a derivative of it, is a component part of hundred...

Mingan Islands

(Encyclopedia)Mingan Islands mĭngˈgən [key], group of 15 small islands and many islets, E Que., Canada, in the St. Lawrence River, N of Anticosti island. They were visited (1535) by Jacques Cartier, the French e...

Morgarten

(Encyclopedia)Morgarten môrˈgärtən [key], mountain, 4,084 ft (1,245 m) high, N central Switzerland, on the border of Schwyz and Zug cantons. There, on Nov. 15, 1315, a small Swiss force decisively defeated the ...

Mandal

(Encyclopedia)Mandal mänˈdäl [key], town (1995 pop. 12,921), Vest-Agder co., extreme S Norway, on the Skagerrak. A renowned seaport in the 17th cent., it is now a small trading and shipping center, known for its...