Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

parallelogram

(Encyclopedia)parallelogram, closed plane figure bounded by four line segments, or sides, with opposite pairs of sides parallel and equal in length. The rhombus, rectangle, and square are special types of parallelo...

net neutrality

(Encyclopedia)net neutrality, the principle or requirement that Internet service providers (ISPs) allow equal access to all Internet content. The issue of insuring net neutrality has become of greater concern as In...

Cave, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Cave, Edward, 1691–1754, English publisher. He founded (1731) the Gentleman's Magazine, the first modern magazine in English. Cave gave Samuel Johnson his first regular literary employment when he p...

aphorism

(Encyclopedia)aphorism ăfˈərĭzˌəm [key], short, pithy statement of an evident truth concerned with life or nature; distinguished from the axiom because its truth is not capable of scientific demonstration. Hi...

triangle , in mathematics

(Encyclopedia)triangle, in mathematics, plane figure bounded by three straight lines, the sides, which intersect at three points called the vertices. Any one of the sides may be considered the base of the triangle....

Catanzaro

(Encyclopedia)Catanzaro kätändzäˈrō [key], city, capital of Catanzaro prov. and of Calabria, S Italy, on a ...

Forbes, William Cameron

(Encyclopedia)Forbes, William Cameron, 1870–1959, American business executive and diplomat, b. Milton, Mass. He entered the mercantile house of his grandfather, John Murray Forbes, in Boston and was a partner in ...

square

(Encyclopedia)square, closed plane figure bounded by four straight line segments of equal length and meeting at right angles. The points of intersection of the lines, or sides, are called vertices. The diagonals of...

Plessy v. Ferguson

(Encyclopedia)Plessy v. Ferguson, case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1896. The court upheld an 1890 Louisiana statute mandating racially segregated but equal railroad carriages, ruling that the equal protect...

Federal Theatre

(Encyclopedia)Federal Theatre (1935–39), branch of the Work Projects Administration designed to provide employment for actors, directors, writers, and scene designers. As well as providing a nationwide audience w...