Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

jatropha

(Encyclopedia)jatropha jăˈtrəfə [key], any plant of a widely distributed genus (Japtropha) of perennial herbs, shrubs, and trees in the family Euphorbiaceae (spurge family), native to tropical areas of the West...

Dublin, county, Republic of Ireland

(Encyclopedia)Dublin, county, 327 sq mi (847 sq km), E central Republic of Ireland, on the Irish Sea. The region is dominated by Dublin, which is ...

East Flanders

(Encyclopedia)East Flanders, Du. Oost-Vlaanderen ōst-vlänˈdərən [key], Fr. Flandre Orientale, prov...

Elder, Lee

(Encyclopedia) Elder, Lee, 1934-2021, American professional golfer, b. Dallas, Tx., as Robert Lee Elder. Elder broke many racial barriers in professional golf as the ...

Ankylosaurus

(Encyclopedia)Ankylosaurus ănˌkələsôrˈəs [key], [Gr.,=crooked lizard], genus of heavily armored, herbivorous quadripedal dinosaurs, the best known of which is the species A. magniventris, the largest and hea...

Kapitza, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Kapitza, Peter käˈpētsə [key], 1894–1984, Russian physicist, educated at the polytechnic institute of Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) and at Cambridge. He developed equipment (for a laboratory at...

Kellogg, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Kellogg, Edward, 1790–1858, American economist, b. Norwalk, Conn. He advocated a financial scheme to abolish interest, which was often usurious at the time he wrote. Kellogg devised a system of fina...

Stuart, Alexander, duke of Albany

(Encyclopedia)Stuart or Stewart, Alexander, duke of Albany, 1454?–1485, Scottish nobleman; second son of James II of Scotland. He was captured (1463) by the English while he was at sea en route to the Low Countri...

sudden infant death syndrome

(Encyclopedia)sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) or crib death, sudden, unexpected, and unexplained death of an apparently healthy infant under one year of age (usually between two weeks and eight months old). SID...

squill

(Encyclopedia)squill, common name for two genera of Old World bulbous plants of the family Liliaceae (lily family). The horticulturists' squill is any plant of the genus Scilla, mostly spring-blooming low herbs wit...