Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

pupa

(Encyclopedia)pupa pyo͞oˈpə [key], name for the third stage in the life of an insect that undergoes complete metamorphosis, i.e., develops from the egg through the larva and the pupa stages to the adult. A compl...

García Lorca, Federico

(Encyclopedia)García Lorca, Federico fāᵺārēˈkō gärthēˈä lôrˈkä [key], 1898–1936, Spanish poet and dramatist, b. Fuente Vaqueros. The poetry, passion, and violence of his work and his own tragic and...

Dover, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Dover. 1 City (2020 pop. 39,403), state capital, and seat of Kent co., central Del., on the St. Jones River; founded 1683 on orders of William ...

Haile Selassie

(Encyclopedia)Haile Selassie hīˈlē səlăsˈē, –läˈsē [key], [Amharic,=power of the Trinity], 1892–1975, emperor of Ethiopia (1930–74). He was born Tafari Makonnen, the son of a noted general and the g...

Stephen, Sir Leslie

(Encyclopedia)Stephen, Sir Leslie, 1832–1904, English author and critic. The first serious critic of the novel, he was also editor of the great Dictionary of National Biography from its beginning in 1882 until 18...

reptile

(Encyclopedia)reptile, name for the dry-skinned, usually scaly, cold-blooded vertebrates (see Chordata) of the order Reptilia. Reptiles are found in a variety of habitats throughout the warm and temperate regions (...

chivalry

(Encyclopedia)chivalry shĭvˈəlrē [key], system of ethical ideals that arose from feudalism and had its highest development in the 12th and 13th cent. Chivalric ethics originated chiefly in France and Spain and ...

materialism

(Encyclopedia)materialism, in philosophy, a widely held system of thought that explains the nature of the world as entirely dependent on matter, the fundamental and final reality beyond which nothing need be sought...

Shakers

(Encyclopedia)Shakers, popular name for members of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, also called the Millennial Church. Members of the movement, who received their name from the tremblin...

Gell-Mann, Murray

(Encyclopedia)Gell-Mann, Murray gĕlˈ-män [key], 1929–2019, American theoretical physicist, b. New York City, grad. Yale 1948, Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1951. He was associated with the Univ....