Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Alypius

(Encyclopedia)Alypius or Alypios both: əlĭpˈēəs [key], fl. c.360, Greek author of Introduction to Music, chief source of modern knowledge of Greek musical notation. ...

Hexapla

(Encyclopedia)Hexapla hĕkˈsəplə [key] [Gr.,=sixfold], polyglot edition of the Hebrew Bible prepared by Origen (c.185–c.255). It was mainly in six columns—a Hebrew text (probably the Masoretic), a Greek tran...

Vörösmarty, Mihály

(Encyclopedia)Vörösmarty, Mihály mĭˈhälyə vöˈröshmŏrˌtē [key], 1800–1855, Hungarian poet. Considered one of the greatest Hungarian poets, he created a new poetic language and combined the characteris...

city-state

(Encyclopedia)city-state, in ancient Greece, Italy, and Medieval Europe, an independent political unit consisting of a city and surrounding countryside. The first city-states were in Sumer, but they reached their p...

Cresilas

(Encyclopedia)Cresilas or Kresilas both: krĕsˈĭləs [key], fl. c.450 b.c., Greek sculptor, b. Crete. He worked at Athens. His statue of Pericles is the earliest Greek portrait statue that has been identified. ...

Akkadian

(Encyclopedia)Akkadian əkāˈdēən [key], extinct language belonging to the East Semitic subdivision of the Semitic subfamily of the Afroasiatic family of languages (see Afroasiatic languages). Also called Assyro...

Mesolóngion

(Encyclopedia)Mesolóngion mĭsəlôngˈgē [key], town (1991 pop. 12,103), capital of Aetolia and Acarnania prefecture, W central Greece, a port on the Gulf of Pátrai. It trades in fish, wine, and tobacco. Mesol�...

Migne, Jacques Paul

(Encyclopedia)Migne, Jacques Paul zhäk pôl mēˈnyə [key], 1800–1875, French publisher of theological works, a Roman Catholic priest (ordained 1824). He set up a printing press in Paris and printed many religi...

Mavrokordatos, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Mavrokordatos or Mavrocordatos, Alexander both: mävˌrôkôr-ᵺäˌtôs [key], 1791–1865, Greek patriot and statesman. He took an active part in the Greek revolt (1821) against Turkey and wrote th...

Alabama, indigenous people of North America

(Encyclopedia)Alabama ăləbămˈə [key], indigenous people of North America whose language belongs to the Muskogean branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They lived in S Ala...