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paleography

(Encyclopedia)paleography pālēŏgˈrəfē [key] [Gr.,=early writing], term generally meaning all study and interpretation of old ways of recording language. In a narrower sense, it excludes epigraphy (the study o...

Faliscan

(Encyclopedia)Faliscan fəlĭsˈkən [key], extinct language belonging to the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. See Italic languages. ...

Umbrian

(Encyclopedia)Umbrian ŭmˈbrēən [key], extinct language belonging to the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. See Italic languages. ...

Oscan

(Encyclopedia)Oscan ŏsˈkən [key], extinct language belonging to the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. See Italic languages. ...

Norse

(Encyclopedia)Norse, another name for the North Germanic, or Scandinavian, group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages). The modern Norse languages—Danish, Fae...

Frisch, Karl von

(Encyclopedia)Frisch, Karl von frĭsh [key], 1887–1982, Austrian zoologist, b. Vienna, Austria. He studied zoology with Richard von Hertwig, whom he later succeeded as professor of zoology at Munich Univ. For his...

Picts

(Encyclopedia)Picts, ancient inhabitants of central and N Scotland, of uncertain origin. First mentioned (a.d. 297) by the Roman writer Eumenius as northern invaders of Roman Britain, they were probably descendants...

Gela

(Encyclopedia)Gela jāˈlä [key], city, S Sicily, Italy, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is a port, industria...

column

(Encyclopedia)column, vertical architectural support, circular or polygonal in plan. A column is generally at least four or five times as high as its diameter or width; stubbier freestanding masses of masonry are u...

pidgin

(Encyclopedia)pidgin pĭjˈən [key], a lingua franca that is not the mother tongue of anyone using it and that has a simplified grammar and a restricted, often polyglot vocabulary. The earliest documented pidgin i...