Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

465 results found

hostel

(Encyclopedia)hostel [O.Fr.,=guest place], an informal establishment offering travelers a place to stay for short periods of time. The accommodations are typically dormitorylike, and most often used by younger peop...

Dwight, Theodore

(Encyclopedia)Dwight, Theodore, 1764–1846, American author, b. Northampton, Mass.; brother of Timothy Dwight and grandson of Jonathan Edwards. A leader of the Federalist party in New England, he became famous for...

waltz

(Encyclopedia)waltz, romantic dance in moderate triple time. It evolved from the German Ländler and became popular in the 18th cent. The dance is smooth, graceful, and vital in performance. The waltz in Vicente Ma...

Gera

(Encyclopedia)Gera gāˈrä [key], city, Thuringia, E Germany, on the White Elster River. It is an industri...

Isocrates

(Encyclopedia)Isocrates īsŏkˈrətēz [key], 436–338 b.c., one of the Ten Attic Orators. He was a pupil of Socrates and of the Sophists. Perhaps the greatest teacher in Greek history, he taught every younger or...

Pellan, Alfred

(Encyclopedia)Pellan, Alfred älfrĕdˈ pĕläNˈ [key], 1906–88, Canadian painter, b. Quebec. Pellan sold his painting Corner of Old Quebec to the National Gallery, Ottawa, when he was 16. He lived in Paris from...

Zerah

(Encyclopedia)Zerah zēˈrə [key], in the Bible. 1 Younger of the twin sons of Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar. The following patronymics are apparently derived from his name: Zarhite, Izrahite, and Ezrahite. ...

Bromley

(Encyclopedia)Bromley brŏmˈlē [key], outer borough of Greater London, SE England. It is the largest of t...

Hart, Moss

(Encyclopedia)Hart, Moss, 1904–61, American dramatist, b. New York City, studied at Columbia. His first important play, Once in a Lifetime (1930), marked the beginning of a long collaboration with George S. Kaufm...

Dutch language

(Encyclopedia)Dutch language, member of the West Germanic group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages). Also called Netherlandish, it is spoken by about 15 milli...