Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

rosewood

(Encyclopedia)rosewood, popular name for the ornamental wood of several species of tropical trees, especially for the heartwood of certain leguminous trees of the genus Dalbergia of the family Leguminosae (pulse fa...

creole

(Encyclopedia)creole crēōlˈyō [key] [probably from crío=child], term originally applied in West Indies to the native-born descendants of the Spanish conquerors. The term has since been applied to certain desce...

formaldehyde

(Encyclopedia)formaldehyde fôrmălˈdəhīdˌ [key], HCHO, the simplest aldehyde. It melts at −92℃, boils at −21℃, and is soluble in water, alcohol, and ether; at STP, it is a flammable, poisonous, colorle...

Luxembourg Palace

(Encyclopedia)Luxembourg Palace, large Renaissance palace in Paris, on the left bank of the Seine near the Sorbonne. It was built (1615–20) for Marie de' Medici by Salomon de Brosse on the site of a former palace...

Montero Ríos, Eugenio

(Encyclopedia)Montero Ríos, Eugenio āo͞ohāˈnyō mōntāˈrō rēˈōs [key], 1832–1914, Spanish statesman and jurist. He was professor of canon law at the universities of Oviedo, Santiago, and Madrid. He ent...

Lee of Fareham, Arthur Hamilton Lee, 1st Viscount

(Encyclopedia)Lee of Fareham, Arthur Hamilton Lee, 1st Viscount fârˈəm [key], 1868–1947, British politician. He was (1900–1918) a Conservative member of the House of Commons. During World War I, Lee was mili...

Rakovsky, Christian Georgyevich

(Encyclopedia)Rakovsky, Christian Georgyevich khrĭstyänˈ gēyŏrˈgyĭvĭch rəkôfˈskē [key], 1873–1938, Soviet Communist diplomat. His early revolutionary activities extended from his native Bulgaria throu...

Beer, George Louis

(Encyclopedia)Beer, George Louis, 1872–1920, American historian, b. Staten Island, N.Y. He was a tobacco importer for 10 years but also lectured on European history at Columbia from 1893 to 1897. After 1903 he de...

Graham, Otto Everett, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Graham, Otto Everett, Jr., 1921–2003, American football player and coach, b. Waukegan, Ill. He was an All-American football and basketball player at Northwestern Univ. before he joined the Cleveland...

Garrettson, Freeborn

(Encyclopedia)Garrettson, Freeborn, 1752–1827, American Methodist preacher, b. Maryland. At the time of his conversion to Methodism (1775), he freed his slaves and began his journeys as a preacher. In 1784 he tra...