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Bouterse, Désiré Delano

(Encyclopedia)Bouterse, Désiré Delano, 1945–, Surinamese military and political leader, president of Suriname (2010–20). He received military training in the Netherlands and was stationed at a German military...

Boutwell, George Sewall

(Encyclopedia)Boutwell, George Sewall so͞oˈəl boutˈwəl, –wĕl [key], 1818–1905, American politician, b. Brookline, Mass. He served seven terms in the Massachusetts legislature between 1842 and 1851, was el...

South China Sea

(Encyclopedia)South China Sea, western arm of the Pacific Ocean, c.1,000,000 sq mi (2,590,000 sq km), between the SE Asian mainland and Taiwan, the Philippines, and Borneo. It is connected with the East China Sea b...

petal

(Encyclopedia)petal, one of the four basic parts of a flower, next innermost organ from the sepal. The whorl of petals is known collectively as the corolla [Lat.,=little crown]. The number of petals is usually cons...

fraction

(Encyclopedia)fraction [Lat.,=breaking], in arithmetic, an expression representing a part, or several equal parts, of a unit. When fractions having the same denominator, as 3⁄10 and 4⁄10, are added, only the ...

ballad

(Encyclopedia)ballad, in literature and music, short, narrative poem or song usually relating a single, dramatic event. Two forms of the ballad are often distinguished—the folk ballad, dating from about the 12th ...

inflection

(Encyclopedia)inflection, in grammar. In many languages, words or parts of words are arranged in formally similar sets consisting of a root, or base, and various affixes. Thus walking, walks, walker have in common ...

friction

(Encyclopedia)friction, resistance offered to the movement of one body past another body with which it is in contact. In certain situations friction is desired. Without friction the wheels of a locomotive could not...

Zuma, Jacob Gedleyihlekisa

(Encyclopedia)Zuma, Jacob Gedleyihlekisa, 1942–, South African political leader, b. Indkandla, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal) prov. Zuma received no formal schooling and joined the African National Congress (ANC) when...

dimension, in mathematics

(Encyclopedia)dimension, in mathematics, number of parameters or coordinates required locally to describe points in a mathematical object (usually geometric in character). For example, the space we inhabit is three...