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Myra

(Encyclopedia)Myra mīˈrə [key], ancient city and seaport of Lycia, S Asia Minor (now S Turkey). The Acts of the Apostles reports that the city was visited by Paul. According to tradition, it was the see of St. N...

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...

Garabogazkol

(Encyclopedia)Garabogazkol kəräˌ-bəgäzˌ-gôlˈ [key], shallow bay,, in Turkmenistan. An arm of the Caspian Sea, it acts as a natural evaporation basin, drawing off the water of the Caspian and depositing salt...

dumb show

(Encyclopedia)dumb show, a theatrical pantomime included as part of a drama, especially in Elizabethan works, from the middle of the 16th cent. well into the 17th cent. Whether presented as a spectacle, with music,...

Salamis, ancient city, Cyprus

(Encyclopedia)Salamis sălˈəmĭs [key], ancient city on Cyprus, once the principal city. St. Paul visited it on his first missionary journey (Acts 13.5). Excavations there revealed the ruins of a Greek theater; t...

Bowie, David

(Encyclopedia)Bowie, David, 1947–2016, British rock-and-roll singer and songwriter who successfully, merged rock, art, and fashion, b. London as David Robert Jones. After singing with five different bands in the ...

cruelty, prevention of

(Encyclopedia)cruelty, prevention of. In the 19th cent. many laws were passed in Great Britain and the United States to protect the helpless, especially children, lunatics, and domestic animals, from willful and ma...

serotonin

(Encyclopedia)serotonin sĕrˌətōˈnĭn [key], organic compound that was first recognized as a powerful vasoconstrictor occurring in blood serum. It was partially purified, crystallized, and named in 1948, and it...

Yüan

(Encyclopedia)Yüan yüän [key], Mongol dynasty of China that ruled from 1271 to 1368. It was a division of the great empire conquered by the Mongols. Kublai Khan, who adopted the Chinese dynastic name Yüan in 12...

Candace

(Encyclopedia)Candace kănˈdəsē, kăndāˈsē [key], title for queens in ancient Cush (Kush). The Latinized form of kandake, it was mistakenly treated in some sources as a name. One of them made war (c.22 b.c.) ...