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rye, in botany

(Encyclopedia)rye, cereal grain of the family Poaceae (grass family). The grain, Secale cereale, is important chiefly in Central and N Europe. It seems to have been domesticated later than wheat and other staple gr...

phoenix, in mythology

(Encyclopedia)phoenix, fabulous bird that periodically regenerated itself, used in literature as a symbol of death and resurrection. According to legend, the phoenix lived in Arabia; when it reached the end of its ...

precipitation, in chemistry

(Encyclopedia)precipitation, in chemistry, a process in which a solid is separated from a suspension, sol, or solution. In a suspension such as sand in water the solid spontaneously precipitates (settles out) on st...

precipitation, in meteorology

(Encyclopedia)precipitation, in meteorology, condensed moisture that falls to the surface of the earth in the form of rain, sleet, snow, hail, frost, or dew. ...

Proconsul, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)Proconsul, extinct group of apes. Proconsul fossils have been discovered in E Africa. It had a mixture of ape and Old World monkey characteristics, and lived from 23 to 25 million years ago. ...

saint, in Christianity

(Encyclopedia)saint [O.Fr., from Latin sanctus=holy], in Christianity, a person who is recognized as worthy of veneration. Accounts of saints' lives have been favorite reading material for many, and at times thei...

root, in botany

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Longitudinal cross section of a root root, in botany, the descending axis of a plant, as contrasted with the stem, the ascending axis. In most plants the root is underground, but in epiphytes ...

root, in mathematics

(Encyclopedia)root, in mathematics, number or quantity r for which an equation f(r)=0 holds true, where f is some function. If f is a polynomial, r is called a root of f; for example, r=3 and r=−4 are roots of th...

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