Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Omri

(Encyclopedia)Omri ŏmˈrī [key]. 1 King of Israel. He was a general in the army of Elah, and on the king's death at the hands of Zimri (1,) Omri proclaimed himself king. Soon after this Zimri killed himself. Omri...

Mandelstam, Osip Emilyevich

(Encyclopedia)Mandelstam, Osip Emilyevich ôˈsĭp ĕmyēlˈyəvĭch mänˈdĭlstəm [key], 1892–1938, Russian poet. Mandelstam was a leader of the Acmeist school. He wrote impersonal, fatalistic, meticulously co...

Latin America

(Encyclopedia)Latin America, the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. The 20 republics are Arge...

Kyffhäuser

(Encyclopedia)Kyffhäuser kĭfˈhoizər [key], forested mountain, c.1,550 ft (470 m), Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany. It is crowned by the two ruined castles of Rothenburg (7th cent.) and Kyffhausen (12th cent.) an...

Pollonarrua

(Encyclopedia)Pollonarrua or Polonnaruwa both: pŏlˌənəro͞oˈə [key], ruined ancient city, NE Sri Lanka. Pollonarrua, beautifully situated on a lake, was once the most splendid city of Sri Lanka. It became a r...

Bradford, city, England

(Encyclopedia)Bradford, city and metropolitan borough, N central England, on a small tributary of the Aire River. It is a center of the worsted industry, which dates ...

turquoise

(Encyclopedia)turquoise, hydrous phosphate of aluminum and copper, Al2(OH)3PO4·H2O+Cu, used as a gem. It occurs rarely in crystal form, but is usually cryptocrystalline. Turquoise is opaque and has a waxy luster; ...

sod house

(Encyclopedia)sod house, house with walls made of strips of sod laid horizontally in courses like bricks. Sod houses were common in the frontier days on the western plains of the United States, where wood and stone...

Solovetski Islands

(Encyclopedia)Solovetski or Solovetsky Islands sələvyĕtˈskē [key], archipelago, c.150 sq mi (390 sq km), N European Russia, in the White Sea at the entrance of Onega Bay. A monastery, built in the first half o...

Bedford, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Bedford. 1 City (2020 pop. 13,068), seat of Lawrence co., S Ind.; inc. 1889. Bedford limestone, quarried there and shipped all over the world, was ...