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family leave

(Encyclopedia)family leave, social policy permitting workers to take a specified amount of time off from the job to attend to pressing family needs. The U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act (1993) attempts to balance ...

Iwakura, Tomomi, Prince

(Encyclopedia)Iwakura, Tomomi, Prince tōmōˈmē ēwäˈko͞orä [key], 1825–83, Japanese statesman. A court noble, he supported the Meiji restoration and became a minister of state (1871–83). In 1871 he heade...

japanning

(Encyclopedia)japanning jəpănˈing [key], method of varnishing a surface, such as wood, metal, or glass, to obtain a durable, lustrous finish. The term is derived from a process popular in England, France, the Ne...

mother-of-pearl

(Encyclopedia)mother-of-pearl or nacre nāˈkər [key], the iridescent substance that forms the lining of the shells of some fresh-water and some salt-water mollusks. Like the pearl it is a secretion of the mantle,...

Miyagi

(Encyclopedia)Miyagi mēyäˈgē [key], prefecture (1990 pop. 2,248,521), 2,808 sq mi (7,273 sq km), N Honshu, Japan. A mountainous prefecture, it is known for the more than 200 pine-covered islands in Matsushima B...

Waley, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Waley, Arthur, 1889–1966, English orientalist, b. London as Arthur David Schloss, educated at Cambridge. He was and still is considered one of the world's great Asian scholars. His most important wo...

Borschberg, André

(Encyclopedia)Borschberg, André, 1952–, Swiss engineer, businessman, and pilot. With Bertrand Piccard (see under Piccard, Auguste) he founded Solar Impulse to develop a solar-powered plane capable of circumnavig...

surfperch

(Encyclopedia)surfperch, any member of the family Embiotocidae, a large family of spiny-finned, carnivorous fishes of the perch order. Also known as seaperches and surf fish, most surfperches are found off sandy sh...

Taishō

(Encyclopedia)Taishō tīˈshō [key], 1879–1926, reign name of emperor of Japan (1912–26). His given name was Yoshihito. The son of Mutsuhito, the Meiji emperor, he succeeded to the throne in 1912, but because...

Profumo, John Dennis

(Encyclopedia)Profumo, John Dennis, 1915–2006, British politician. After studying at Harrow and Oxford, he entered Parliament as a Conservative member in 1940 and left in 1945 for an appointment as chief of staff...