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Empedocles

(Encyclopedia)Empedocles ĕmpĕdˈəklēz [key], c.495–c.435 b.c., Greek philosopher, b. Acragas (present Agrigento), Sicily. Leader of the democratic faction in his native city, he was offered the crown, which h...

Esther

(Encyclopedia)Esther ĕsˈtər [key], book of the Bible. It is the tale of the beautiful Jewish woman Esther [Heb.,= Hadassah], who is chosen as queen by the Persian King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I or II) after he has rep...

pseudocyesis

(Encyclopedia)pseudocyesis so͞oˌdōsīēˈsĭs [key], imaginary pregnancy in women usually resulting from a strong desire or need for motherhood. In the absence of conception, the menstrual periods nevertheless c...

Hananiah

(Encyclopedia)Hananiah hănənīˈə [key]. 1 One of the Three Young Men. According to the Book of Daniel, he was one of Daniel's three companions and was also known as Shadrach. 2 In the Book of Jeremiah, a false ...

Rabelais, François

(Encyclopedia)Rabelais, François răbˈəlā, Fr. fräNswäˈ räblāˈ [key], c.1490–1553, French writer and physician, one of the great comic geniuses in world literature. His father, a lawyer, owned several e...

Belteshazzar

(Encyclopedia)Belteshazzar bĕltəshăzˈər [key], in the Book of Daniel, Babylonian name of the prophet Daniel. ...

Bartlett, William Henry

(Encyclopedia)Bartlett, William Henry, 1800–1854, English painter and illustrator. After four visits to the United States, Bartlett illustrated a book, American Scenery (1840), with panoramic vistas of the Americ...

Gibbar

(Encyclopedia)Gibbar gĭbˈär [key], in the Book of Ezra, family that returned with Zerubbabel. In a similar list in the Book of Nehemiah, Gibeon appears instead; therefore, Gibbar may stand for Gibeon, and the ch...

behemoth

(Encyclopedia)behemoth bēˈhĭmŏth, bĭhēˈ– [key] [Heb.,=plural of beast], large, fanciful primeval monster, like Leviathan, evoking the hippopotamus mentioned in the Book of Job. In the Book of Psalms the te...