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syncopation

(Encyclopedia)syncopation sĭngˌkəpāˈshən, sĭnˌ– [key] [New Gr.,=cut off ], in music, the accentuation of a beat that normally would be weak according to the rhythmic division of the measure. Although th...

pinnacle

(Encyclopedia)pinnacle pĭnˈĭkəl [key], minor architectural motif of vertical tapering shape, usually crowning a pier, buttress, or gable. Although sometimes it appears in Renaissance design, as in the Certosa d...

podiatry

(Encyclopedia)podiatry pōdīˈətrē, pə– [key], science concerned with disorders, diseases, and deformities of the feet, also called chiropody. Podiatrists treat such common conditions as bunions, corns and ca...

Sufism

(Encyclopedia)Sufism so͞oˈfĭzəm [key], an umbrella term for the ascetic and mystical movements within Islam. While Sufism is said to have incorporated elements of Christian monasticism, gnosticism, and Indian m...

arrack

(Encyclopedia)arrack ârˈək [key], strong spirits distilled chiefly in Asia from fermented fruits, grains, or sugarcane. In the 19th cent., Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) became quite noted for palm toddy arrack and in m...

Museum of Primitive Art

(Encyclopedia)Museum of Primitive Art, New York City, a privately supported institution, established in 1957. It was devoted entirely to the arts of the indigenous cultures of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas and ...

Kuznetsk Alatau

(Encyclopedia)Kuznetsk Alatau ko͞oznyĕtskˈ əläˈtou [key], mountain range, S Siberian Russia, E of Novokuznetsk, rising to about 6,900 ft (2,100 m). Part of the great mountain system of central Asia, the range...

Polo, Marco

(Encyclopedia)Polo, Marco märˈkō pōˈlō [key], 1254?–1324?, Venetian traveler in China. His father, Niccolò Polo, and his uncle, Maffeo Polo, had made (1253–60) a trading expedition to Constantinople. A w...

Indian Ocean

(Encyclopedia)Indian Ocean, third largest ocean, c.28,350,000 sq mi (73,427,000 sq km), extending from S Asia to Antarctica and from E Africa to SE Australia; it is c.4,000 mi (6,400 km) wide at the equator. It con...

Nicholson, James William Augustus

(Encyclopedia)Nicholson, James William Augustus, 1821–87, American naval officer, b. Dedham, Mass.; grandson of Samuel Nicholson. He was appointed a midshipman in 1838, served under Commodore Perry in East Asia (...