Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Velde, van de

(Encyclopedia)Velde, van de vän də vĕlˈdə [key], 17th-century Dutch family of artists. Jan van de Velde, 1593–1641, was a draftsman and engraver as well as a painter. His cousin Esaias van de Velde, c.1591�...

stagecoach

(Encyclopedia)stagecoach, heavy, closed vehicle on wheels, usually drawn by horses, formerly used to transport passengers and goods overland. Throughout the Middle Ages and until about the end of the 18th cent., th...

sweat

(Encyclopedia)sweat or perspiration, fluid secreted by the sweat glands of mammalian skin and containing water, salts, and waste products of body metabolism such as urea. The dissolved solid content of sweat is onl...

Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna

(Encyclopedia)Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna blətvătˈskē [key], 1831–91, Russian theosophist and occultist. She was the daughter of a German named Hahn who had settled in Russia and who was distantly connected wi...

tide

(Encyclopedia)tide, alternate and regular rise and fall of sea level in oceans and other large bodies of water. These changes are caused by the gravitational attraction of the moon and, to a lesser extent, of the s...

horse racing

(Encyclopedia)horse racing, trials of speed involving two or more horses. It includes races among harnessed horses with one of two particular gaits, among saddled Thoroughbreds (or, less frequently, quarterhorses) ...

Jewish liturgical music

(Encyclopedia)Jewish liturgical music, the music used in the religious services of the Jews. The Bible and the Talmud record that spontaneous music making was common among the ancient Jews on all important occasion...

Monnier, Henri

(Encyclopedia)Monnier, Henri äNrēˈ mônyāˈ [key], 1799–1877, French lithographer and writer. His work became popular (c.1825) when he illustrated La Fontaine's Fables with pen drawings. He wrote and illustra...

morris dance

(Encyclopedia)morris dance or morrice dance, rustic dance of the north of England that had its origin in country festivals, such as those of May Day and Whitsunday. Reference to it in English literature is made as ...

Munkácsy, Mihály

(Encyclopedia)Munkácsy, Mihály mĭˈhälyə mo͝onˈkächĭ [key], 1844–1909, Hungarian genre and historical painter, whose original name was Michael Lieb. In 1868 he went to Düsseldorf, where he painted The L...