Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

emerald

(Encyclopedia)emerald, the green variety of beryl, of which aquamarine is the blue variety. Chemically, it is a beryllium-aluminum silicate whose color is due to small quantities of chromium compounds. The emerald ...

Pembroke Welsh corgi

(Encyclopedia)Pembroke Welsh corgi, breed of short-legged, hardy working dog thought to have been introduced into South Wales by Flemish immigrants in the early 12th cent. It stands from 10 to 12 in. (25.4–30.5 c...

Thorez, Maurice

(Encyclopedia)Thorez, Maurice mōrēsˈ tôrĕzˈ [key], 1900–1964, French Communist leader. The son of a coal miner, Thorez himself worked in the mines. He early joined the Socialist party and in 1920 became one...

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...

naturopathy

(Encyclopedia)naturopathy or naturopathic medicine, branch of alternative medicine concerned with holistic and noninvasive methods of treating illness and maintaining health. Centered on the use of natural substanc...

Nazarenes

(Encyclopedia)Nazarenes năzˈərēnz [key], group of German artists of the early 19th cent., who attempted to revive Christian art. In 1809, J. F. Overbeck and Franz Pforr formed an art cooperative in Vienna calle...

Tawney, Richard Henry

(Encyclopedia)Tawney, Richard Henry tôˈnē [key], 1880–1962, British economic historian, b. Calcutta (now Kolkata). He was professor at the Univ. of London from 1931 to 1949. A leading socialist, Tawney helped ...

Teniers, David

(Encyclopedia)Teniers, David tənērzˈ, tĕnˈyərz, Flemish tĕnērsˈ [key], the elder, 1582–1649, Flemish painter. He spent many years in Rome. Works attributed to him have often been confused with the early ...

Testament of Moses

(Encyclopedia)Testament of Moses, an early Jewish apocalypse discovered in 1861 and extant only in an incomplete 6th cent. a.d. Latin manuscript. The original work was probably written in Hebrew in the early 1st ce...

adoptionism

(Encyclopedia)adoptionism, Christian heresy taught in Spain after 782 by Elipandus, archbishop of Toledo, and Felix, bishop of Urgel (Seo de Urgel). They held that Jesus at the time of his birth was purely human an...

Browse by Subject