Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Venus, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Venus, in astronomy, 2d planet from the sun; it is often called the evening star or morning star and is brighter than any object in the sky except the sun and the moon. Because its orbit lies between ...

Vikings

(Encyclopedia)Vikings, Scandinavian warriors who raided the coasts of Europe and the British Isles from the 9th cent. to the 11th cent. In their language, the word “viking” originally meant a journey, as for tr...

commedia dell'arte

(Encyclopedia)commedia dell'arte kōm-māˈdēä dĕl-lärˈtā [key], popular form of comedy employing improvised dialogue and masked characters that flourished in Italy from the 16th to the 18th cent. The impac...

alphabet

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Examples of letters in various alphabets (arrows indicate the direction of reading) alphabet [Gr. alpha-beta, like Eng. ABC], system of writing, theoretically having a one-for-one relation bet...

Shelumiel

(Encyclopedia)Shelumiel shēlo͞oˈmīəl [key], in the Bible, Simeonite prince at the time of the Exodus. ...

stroboscope

(Encyclopedia)stroboscope strŏbˈəskōp [key], optical instrument for making a moving object appear to be slowed down or stationary. This effect is created by interrupting the observer's view so that the object i...

Gimzo

(Encyclopedia)Gimzo gĭmˈzō [key], town, SW ancient Palestine, N of Gezer. Second Chronicles reports that it was conquered by the Philistines in Ahaz's time. ...

Hezir

(Encyclopedia)Hezir hēˈzĭr [key], in the Bible. 1 Chief priest in the time of David. 2 Signer of the covenant. ...

referendum

(Encyclopedia)referendum, referral of proposed laws or constitutional amendments to the electorate for final approval. This direct form of legislation, along with the initiative, was known in Greece and other early...

Ripken, Cal, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Ripken, Cal, Jr. (Calvin Edward Ripken, Jr.), 1960–, American baseball player, b. Havre de Grace, Md. The son of a long-time coach and manager in the Baltimore Orioles organization, he joined the te...