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Hassan II

(Encyclopedia)Hassan II häˈsän [key], 1929–99, king of Morocco (1961–99). Formerly crown prince Moulay Hassan ben Mohammed Alaoui, he ascended the throne on the death (1961) of his father, Muhammad V. A grad...

lyric

(Encyclopedia)lyric, in ancient Greece, a poem accompanied by a musical instrument, usually a lyre. Although the word is still often used to refer to the songlike quality in poetry, it is more generally used to ref...

Tillman, Benjamin Ryan

(Encyclopedia)Tillman, Benjamin Ryan, 1847–1918, U.S. Senator from South Carolina (1895–1918), b. Edgefield co., S.C. A farmer, he became the leader of the backcountry whites in South Carolina and fostered thei...

Judaism

(Encyclopedia)Judaism jo͞oˈdəĭzˌəm, jo͞oˈdē– [key], the religious beliefs and practices and the way of life of the Jews. The term itself was first used by Hellenized Jews to describe their religious prac...

Mendelssohn, Felix

(Encyclopedia)Mendelssohn, Felix (Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn) mĕnˈdəlsən, Ger. yäˈkôp lo͝otˈvĭkh fāˈlĭks mĕnˈdəls-zōnˌ [key], 1809–47, German composer; grandson of the Jewish philosopher Mos...

Albee, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Albee, Edward ălˈbē [key], 1928–2016, American playwright, one of the leading dramatists of his generation, b. Washington, D.C., as Edward Harvey. His most characteristic work constitutes an absu...

Great Zimbabwe

(Encyclopedia)Great Zimbabwe zĭmbäbˈwā [key] [Bantu,=stone houses], ruined city, SE Zimbabwe, near Masvingo (formerly Fort Victoria). Its mortarless, curving granite walls and buildings were constructed in 11th...

cedar

(Encyclopedia)cedar, common name for a number of trees, mostly coniferous evergreens. The true cedars belong to the small genus Cedrus of the family Pinaceae (pine family). All are native to the Old World from the ...

pitta

(Encyclopedia)pitta pĭtˈə [key], name used to refer to a genus (Pitta) of small, plump, brightly colored birds. The genus, including some twenty-three species, constitutes the whole of the family Pittidae. Known...

humor

(Encyclopedia)humor, according to ancient theory, any of four bodily fluids that determined human health and temperament. Hippocrates postulated that an imbalance among the humors (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and b...