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Elamite

(Encyclopedia)Elamite ēˈləmītˌ [key], extinct language of uncertain relationship that was once spoken in the ancient kingdom of Elam, located in SW Asia. It appears to be unrelated to any other languages, alth...

Cork, county, Ireland

(Encyclopedia)Cork, county, 2,881 sq mi (7,462 sq km), SW Republic of Ireland. Cork is the county seat. Largest of the Irish counties, it has a rocky and much-indente...

coffin

(Encyclopedia)coffin, closed receptacle for a corpse. Its purpose is usually to protect and to aid preservation of the body, although in the past some have believed that it may confine the spirit of the deceased. B...

fetish

(Encyclopedia)fetish fĕtˈĭsh [key], inanimate object believed to possess some magical power. The fetish may be a natural thing, such as a stone, a feather, a shell, or the claw of an animal, or it may be artific...

Grail, Holy

(Encyclopedia)Grail, Holy, a feature of medieval legend and literature. It appears variously as a chalice, a cup, or a dish and sometimes as a stone or a caldron into which a bleeding lance drips. It was identified...

Moab

(Encyclopedia)Moab mōˈăb [key], ancient nation located in the uplands E of the Dead Sea, now part of Jordan. The area is unprotected from the east, hence its history is a chain of raids by the Bedouin. The Moabi...

Nazareth

(Encyclopedia)Nazareth năzˈərĭth [key], town (1993 pop. 53,500), N Israel, in Galilee. As the home of Jesus, it is a great pilgrimage and tourist center. Nazareth is also the trade center for an agricultural re...

açaí

(Encyclopedia)açaí äˌsäēˈ [key], tree, Euterpe oleracea, of the family Arecaceae (palm family) and its fruit, grown chiefly in Pará state in the Amazon region of Brazil. The tre...

Madrid, autonomous community and province, Spain

(Encyclopedia)Madrid mədrĭdˈ, Span. mäᵺhrēᵺˈ [key], autonomous community and coextensive prov., (2011 pop. 6,421,874), 3,099 sq mi (8,027 sq km), central Spain. Madrid, the capital of Spain, is also its c...

Kempe, Margery

(Encyclopedia)Kempe, Margery kĕmp [key], d. 1438 or afterward, English religious writer, b. King's Lynn. She was the wife of a prominent citizen and the mother of 14 children. Her autobiography, The Book of Marger...