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vegetarianism

(Encyclopedia)vegetarianism, theory and practice of eating only fruits and vegetables, thus excluding animal flesh, fish, or fowl and often butter, eggs, and milk. In a strict vegetarian, or vegan, diet (i.e., one ...

Harsha, Indian emperor

(Encyclopedia)Harsha hûrˈshə [key], b. c.590, Indian emperor (606–47). He became (606) king of a small state in the upper Ganges Valley, and by 612 he had built up a vast army with which he forged nearly all I...

Karakorum, mountain range, Kashmir

(Encyclopedia)Karakorum or Karakoram, mountain range, extending c.300 mi (480 km), between the Indus and Yarkant rivers, N Kashmir, S central Asia; SE extension of the Hindu Kush. It covers disputed territory, held...

suttee

(Encyclopedia)suttee sŭˌtēˈ, sŭˈtēˌ [key] [Skt. sati=faithful wife], former Indian funeral practice in which the widow immolated herself on her husband's funeral pyre. The practice of killing a favorite wif...

Brahma

(Encyclopedia)Brahma bräˈmə [key], a god often identified, with Vishnu and Shiva, as one of the three supreme gods in Hinduism. In the late Vedic period he was called Prajapati, the primeval man whose sacrifice ...

Thomas Aquinas, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Thomas Aquinas, Saint əkwīˈnəs [key] [Lat.,=from Aquino], 1225–74, Italian philosopher and theologian, Doctor of the Church, known as the Angelic Doctor, b. Rocca Secca (near Naples). He is the ...

Laval University

(Encyclopedia)Laval University, at Quebec, Que., Canada; Roman Catholic, coeducational, French language; chartered 1852, an outgrowth of a seminary established 1663 by Bishop Laval. In 1876 a branch was established...

Krochmal, Nachman

(Encyclopedia)Krochmal, Nachman näkhˈmän krôkhˈmäl [key], 1785–1840, Jewish secular historian and writer, b. Galicia. He was a leader in the movement of the Jewish enlightenment and a pioneer of modern Jewi...

Barkla, Charles Glover

(Encyclopedia)Barkla, Charles Glover glŭˈvər bärˈklə [key], 1877–1944, English physicist. He was professor of natural philosophy at Edinburgh from 1913. For his discovery of the characteristic X rays of ele...

Clapp, Verner

(Encyclopedia)Clapp, Verner, 1901–72, American librarian, b. Johannesburg, South Africa. After studying philosophy at Harvard, Clapp worked for the Library of Congress (1922–56), becoming chief assistant librar...