Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

musical notation

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Musical notation musical notation, symbols used to make a written record of musical sounds. Two different systems of letters were used to write down the instrumental and the vocal music of anc...

Melbourne, William Lamb, 2d Viscount

(Encyclopedia)Melbourne, William Lamb, 2d Viscount mĕlˈbərn [key], 1779–1848, British statesman. He entered Parliament as a Whig in 1805, was (1827–28) chief secretary for Ireland, and entered (1828) the Hou...

Helena

(Encyclopedia)Helena. 1 City (2020 pop. 20,633), Jefferson and Shelby cos., central Ala.; inc. 1877. White settlers began to occupy the area after the War of ...

Guizot, François

(Encyclopedia)Guizot, François fräNswäˈ gēzōˈ [key], 1787–1874, French statesman and historian. The son of a Protestant family of Nîmes, he was educated at Geneva. He began a legal career in Paris in 1805...

folk medicine

(Encyclopedia)folk medicine, methods of curing by means of healing objects, herbs, or animal parts; ceremony; conjuring, magic, or witchcraft; and other means apart from the formalized practice of medical science. ...

Epicurus

(Encyclopedia)Epicurus ĕpĭkyo͝orˈəs [key], 341–270 b.c., Greek philosopher, b. Samos; son of an Athenian colonist. He claimed to be self-taught, although tradition states that he was schooled in the systems ...

Ibn Saud

(Encyclopedia)Ibn Saud (Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud) ĭˈbən säo͞odˈ [key], c.1880–1953, founder of Saudi Arabia and its first king. His family, with its regular seat at Riyadh in the Nejd, were the traditional lead...

Congreve, William

(Encyclopedia)Congreve, William, 1670–1729, English dramatist, b. near Leeds, educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and studied law in the Middle Temple. After publishing a novel of intrigue, Incognita (1692), and...

cherry

(Encyclopedia)cherry, name for several species of trees or shrubs of the genus Prunus (a few are sometimes classed as Padus) of the family Rosaceae (rose family) and for their fruits. The small, round red to black ...

Chandler, family of American real estate developers and publishers

(Encyclopedia)Chandler, family of American real estate developers and publishers. Harry Chandler, 1864–1944, b. Landaff, N.H., moved to Los Angeles and during the early 20th cent. was very largely responsible for...