Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

marjoram

(Encyclopedia)marjoram or sweet marjoram märˈjərəm [key], Old World perennial aromatic herb (Marjorana hortensis) of the family Labiatae (mint family), cultivated in gardens for flavoring. The tops yield origan...

Oxford and Asquith, Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Oxford and Asquith, Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st earl of, 1852–1928, British statesman. Of a middle-class family, he attended Oxford, became a barrister in London in 1876, and was elected to Parliamen...

Hall, Stuart Henry McPhail

(Encyclopedia)Hall, Stuart, 1932–2014, Jamaican-born British sociologist and cultural theorist, b. Kingston, Jamaica. Hall attended Jamaica College and moved to Eng...

orange, in botany

(Encyclopedia)orange, name for a tree of the family Rutaceae (rue, or orange, family), native to China and Indochina, and for its fruit, the most important fresh fruit of international commerce. Its physical charac...

Kanoya

(Encyclopedia)Kanoya känōˈyä [key], city (1990 pop. 77,655), Kagoshima prefecture, S Kyushu, Japan, on the Osumi Peninsula. It is an agricultural market for cereals and sweet potatoes, and it has a small weavin...

Fosse, Bob

(Encyclopedia)Fosse, Bob (Robert Louis Fosse) fôˈsē, fŏsˈē [key], 1927–87, American choreographer and director, b. Chicago. Generally recognized as the most talented and influential theatrical choreographer...

Minden, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Minden, city (1990 pop. 13,661), seat of Webster parish, NW La.; settled 1835 by German immigrants as a socialist commune, inc. 1850. It is the shipping center of an area rich in timber, oil, and natu...

heliotrope

(Encyclopedia)heliotrope hēˈlēətrōpˌ [key] [Gr.,=sun-turning] or turnsole, name for any plant that turns to face the sun, especially members of the genus Heliotropium of the family Boraginaceae. The garden he...

cherry

(Encyclopedia)cherry, name for several species of trees or shrubs of the genus Prunus (a few are sometimes classed as Padus) of the family Rosaceae (rose family) and for their fruits. The small, round red to black ...

Browse by Subject