Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

columbine, in botany

(Encyclopedia)columbine kŏlˈəmbīn [key], any plant of the genus Aquilegia, temperate-zone perennials of the family Ranunculaceae (buttercup family), popular both as wildflowers and as garden flowers. Columbines...

coma, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)coma, in astronomy: see comet.

coma, in medicine

(Encyclopedia)coma, in medicine, deep state of unconsciousness from which a person cannot be aroused even by painful stimuli. The patient cannot speak and does not respond to command. Coma is the result of damage t...

combination, in business

(Encyclopedia)combination, in business: see trust. ...

combinations, in mathematics

(Encyclopedia)combinations, in mathematics: see probability. ...

commerce, in economics

(Encyclopedia)commerce, traffic in goods, usually thought of as trade between states or nations. Engaged in by all peoples from the earliest times, it has been carried on in some areas and by some peoples more than...

commune, in agriculture

(Encyclopedia)commune, in agriculture: see collective farm. ...

competition, in biology

(Encyclopedia)competition, in biology, relationship between members of the same or different species in which individuals are adversely affected by those having the same living requirements, such as food or space. ...

competition, in economics

(Encyclopedia)competition, in economics, rivalry in supplying or acquiring an economic service or good. Sellers compete with other sellers, and buyers with other buyers. In its perfect form, there is competition am...

composition, in art

(Encyclopedia)composition, in art, the organization of forms and colors within the work of art. In traditional sculpture this means the arrangement of masses and planes. In representational painting it means the gr...