Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Hur

(Encyclopedia)Hur, in the Bible. 1 One who upheld a hand of Moses at Rephidim. 2 Grandfather of Bezaleel (1,) perhaps the same as 1. 3 Midianite king killed by the Hebrews. 4 Father of an officer of Solomon. 5 Fath...

Meléndez, Luis

(Encyclopedia)Meléndez, Luis lo͞oēsˈ mālānˈdāth [key], 1716–80, Spanish painter. He assisted his father, artist Francisco Melendez, until 1737, when he began studying with Lewis-Michel Vanloo, the court p...

Edmund Ironside

(Encyclopedia)Edmund Ironside, d. 1016, king of the English (1016), son of Æthelred the Unready. Contrary to the wishes of his father, he married (1015) the widow of Siferth, a Danish thane, and was accepted as ru...

Burbage, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Burbage, Richard bûrˈbĭj [key], 1567?–1619, first great English actor. The leading tragedian of the Chamberlain's Men, he originated the title roles in Shakespeare's Hamlet, Lear, Othello, and Ri...

Iddo

(Encyclopedia)Iddo ĭdˈō [key], in the Bible. 1 Ruler of Manasseh. 2 Father of one of Solomon's stewards. 3 Prophet, whose book is mentioned as a source. 4 Father or grandfather of the prophet Zechariah. 5 A lead...

Amphitryon

(Encyclopedia)Amphitryon ămfĭˈtrēən, –ŏnˌ [key], in Greek mythology, son of Alcaeus. While betrothed to Alcmene, he accidentally killed her father, Electryon. Alcmene and Amphitryon fled to Thebes, but she...

Jehiel

(Encyclopedia)Jehiel jēhīˈəl [key], in the Bible. 1 Ancestor of Saul. 2 One of David's mighty men. 3 Musician of David. 4 Son of Jehoshaphat. 5 Levite under David. An alternate form is Jehieli. 6 Tutor of David...

mandala

(Encyclopedia)mandala mŭnˈdələ [key], [Skt.,=circular, round] a concentric diagram having spiritual and ritual significance in Hindu and Buddhist Tantrism. The mandala may have derived from the circular stupa a...

Sayers, Dorothy Leigh

(Encyclopedia)Sayers, Dorothy Leigh sāˈərz [key], 1893–1957, English writer, grad. Somerville College, Oxford, 1915. Taking first-class honors in medieval literature, she was one of the first women to receive ...

Chatterjee, Bankim Chandra

(Encyclopedia)Chatterjee, Bankim Chandra bəngˈkĭm chŭnˈdrə chäˈtərjē [key], 1838–94, Indian nationalist writer, b. Bengal. He popularized a Bengali prose style that became the vehicle of the major natio...