Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

giant

(Encyclopedia)giant, in mythology, manlike being of great size and strength. The giant has been the symbol for the expression of certain recurring beliefs in the mythologies of all races. He is universally represen...

Mizpah

(Encyclopedia)Mizpah or Mizpeh both: mĭzˈpə [key], in the Bible. 1 See Galeed. 2 Unidentified place, E of the Jordon River, identical with Ramath-Mizpeh. 3 Place, on the boundary between Israel and Judah, a reli...

Olives, Mount of

(Encyclopedia)Olives, Mount of, or Olivet ŏlˈĭvĕt [key], ridge, E of Jerusalem, mentioned in the Old Testament as the scene of David's flight from the city, Ezekiel's theophany, and Zechariah's prophecy, and in...

Ahijah

(Encyclopedia)Ahijah əhīˈjə [key], common name in the Bible, occasionally spelled Ahiah. 1 Prophet from Shiloh. 2 Priest in the time of Saul, perhaps the same as Ahimelech (1.) 3 One of David's captains. 4 Scri...

Wiesel, Torsten Nils

(Encyclopedia)Wiesel, Torsten Nils, 1924–, Swedish neurobiologist, b. Uppsala, Sweden. After earning a degree in medicine from Karolinska Univ., Stockholm (1954), he took a research position at Johns Hopkins, whe...

Rude, François

(Encyclopedia)Rude, François fräNswäˈ rüd [key], 1784–1855, French sculptor. As a Bonapartist, he left Paris after the battle of Waterloo and spent 12 years in Brussels. Rude is best known for his monumental...

Rule, Britannia

(Encyclopedia)Rule, Britannia, English patriotic song. The music was composed by Thomas Augustine Arne for his masque Alfred, first performed August 1, 1740, in commemoration of the accession of George I. The words...

Blantyre

(Encyclopedia)Blantyre blăntīˈər [key], city (2021 est. pop. 584,877), S Malawi, in the Shire Highlands. It ...

Zuloaga, Ignacio

(Encyclopedia)Zuloaga, Ignacio ēgnäˈthyō tho͞olōäˈgä [key], 1870–1945, Spanish painter. He was the son of a celebrated Basque goldsmith. Zuloaga lived chiefly in Paris after 1889, but his subjects were u...

Sperry, Roger Wolcott

(Encyclopedia)Sperry, Roger Wolcott, 1913–94, American biologist, b. Hartford, Conn., Ph.D. Univ. of Chicago, 1941. He studied zoology before teaching biology at the Univ. of Chicago (1946–52) and the Californi...