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fer-de-lance

(Encyclopedia)fer-de-lance fĕrˌ-də-lănsˈ [key], highly poisonous snake, Bothrops atrox, found in tropical South America and the West Indies. A pit viper, related to the bushmaster and the rattlesnake, it has h...

Fermat, Pierre de

(Encyclopedia)Fermat, Pierre de pyĕr də fĕrmäˈ [key], 1601–65, French mathematician. A magistrate whose avocation was mathematics, Fermat is known as a founder of modern number theory and probability theory....

Fernando de Noronha

(Encyclopedia)Fernando de Noronha fərnänˈdo͝o dĭ no͝orôˈnyə [key], group of 21 islands, c.10 sq mi (26 sq km), in the Atlantic Ocean, c.225 mi (360 km) off the northeast coast of Brazil. A federal territor...

Saussure, Ferdinand de

(Encyclopedia)Saussure, Ferdinand de fĕrdēnäNˈ də sōsürˈ [key], 1857–1913, Swiss linguist. One of the founders of modern linguistics, he established the structural study of language, emphasizing the arbit...

Rojas, Fernando de

(Encyclopedia)Rojas, Fernando de fārnänˈdō ᵺā rōˈhäs [key], 1465?–1541?, Spanish writer. Scanty records show him to have practiced law at Salamanca. He wrote La Celestina, published anonymously in 1499....

Barros, João de

(Encyclopedia)Barros, João de zhwouN dĭ bäˈro͝osh [key], 1496–1570, Portuguese historian. Of noble family, he early entered the service of the prince who became King John III. The most important office he he...

Scudéry, Madeleine de

(Encyclopedia)Scudéry, Madeleine de zhôrzh [key], 1601–67, who was probably only a secondary collaborator. Georges wrote plays and other works and actively attacked Corneille's Cid. ...

Siger de Brabant

(Encyclopedia)Siger de Brabant sēzhāˈ də bräbäNˈ [key], fl. 1260–77, French theologian, head of the movement known as Latin Averroism. At the Univ. of Paris he taught that the individual soul had no immort...

Bartholomew de Glanville

(Encyclopedia)Bartholomew de Glanville or Bartholomaeus Anglicus bärthŏlˌəmēˈəs ăngˈglĭkəs [key], fl. c.1250, English Friar Minor. He taught theology at Paris, and he was the author of De proprietatibus ...

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