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kookaburra

(Encyclopedia)kookaburra ko͝okˈəbûrˌə [key], common name for a squat, long-tailed Australian kingfisher, Dacelo novaeguineae. It is one of the largest birds of the family Alcedinidae (kingfisher family). Beca...

rotavirus

(Encyclopedia)rotavirus, double-stranded RNA virus, genus Rotavirus, with a wheellike appearance that can cause severe watery diarrhea and vomiting, sometimes leading to severe dehydration and death. The virus is t...

Chabon, Michael

(Encyclopedia)Chabon, Michael, 1963–, American writer, b. Washington, D.C., B.A. Univ. of Pittsburgh, 1984, M.A. Univ. of California, Irvine, 1987. Chabon's novels combine intriguing plots, usually involving Jewi...

Endymion

(Encyclopedia)Endymion ĕndĭmˈēən [key], in Greek mythology, young shepherd, loved by Selene (the moon). In one version of his legend, he asked Zeus for immortality and perpetual youth. Zeus consented on the co...

Anna, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Anna ănˈə [key], [Gr.,=Heb. Hannah], in the Bible. 1 Aged prophetess who hailed Jesus' presentation at the Temple. 2 In the Book of Tobit, the mother of young Tobias. ...

Tyrwhitt, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Tyrwhitt, Thomas tĭrˈĭt [key], 1730–86, English scholar. He was noted for his studies of Shakespeare (1766) and for his edition of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (5 vol., 1775–78). Tyrwhitt reveale...

Baldwin, James

(Encyclopedia)Baldwin, James, 1924–87, American author, b. New York City. He spent an impoverished boyhood in Harlem, became a Pentecostal preacher at 14, and left the church three years later. He moved to Paris ...

Mills College

(Encyclopedia)Mills College, at Oakland, Calif.; for women; est. 1852 as the Young Ladies' Seminary at Benicia, Calif., moved 1871, chartered as Mills College 1885. The first women's college in the Far West, it has...

Acontius

(Encyclopedia)Acontius əkŏnˈshəs [key], in Greek mythology, young man who loved Cydippe. He met her at a festival of Artemis and threw before her an apple inscribed, “I swear by the temple of Artemis to marry...

Wall, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Wall, Richard, 1694–1778, Spanish statesman. Born in France of Irish parents, Wall entered the Spanish military service as a young man and later held important diplomatic posts. He helped negotiate ...