Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

semantics

(Encyclopedia)semantics [Gr.,=significant] in general, the study of the relationship between words and meanings. The empirical study of word meanings and sentence meanings in existing languages is a branch of lingu...

truffle

(Encyclopedia)truffle trŭfˈəl [key] [Fr.], subterranean edible fungus that forms a mutually beneficial (symbiotic) relationship with the roots of certain trees and plants. The part of the fungus used as food is ...

privacy, right of

(Encyclopedia)privacy, right of, the right to be left alone without unwarranted intrusion by government, media, or other institutions or individuals. While a consensus supporting the right to privacy has emerged (a...

Stuart, John, duke of Albany

(Encyclopedia)Stuart or Stewart, John, duke of Albany ôlˈbənē [key], 1481–1536, regent of Scotland; son of Alexander Stuart, duke of Albany, and grandson of James II of Scotland. He was brought up on his esta...

Norton, Charles Eliot

(Encyclopedia)Norton, Charles Eliot, 1827–1908, American scholar and teacher, b. Cambridge, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1846. As professor of the history of art at Harvard (1875–98) and as a man of letters he had a s...

nursery rhymes

(Encyclopedia)nursery rhymes, verses, generally brief and usually anonymous, for children. The best-known examples are in English and date mostly from the 17th cent. A popular type of rhyme is used in “counting-o...

Li Ch'ing-chao

(Encyclopedia)Li Ch'ing-chao lēˈ chĭngˌ-chouˈ [key], 1084?–c.1151, Chinese poet. Li's 78 extant song lyrics [tz'u] have earned her a reputation as a master of lyrical poetry. She achieves a simple, natural v...

Lilith

(Encyclopedia)Lilith lĭlˈĭth [key], female demon of Jewish mythology, originally probably the Assyrian storm demon Lilitu. In Talmudic tradition many evil attributes were given to this supposedly nocturnal creat...

Larkin, Thomas Oliver

(Encyclopedia)Larkin, Thomas Oliver, 1802–58, American merchant and diplomatic agent, b. Charlestown, Mass. He settled (1832) in Monterey, Calif., where he became a successful merchant trading with Mexico and the...

Reed, Walter

(Encyclopedia)Reed, Walter, 1851–1902, American army surgeon, b. Gloucester co., Va. In 1900 he was sent to Havana as head of an army commission to investigate an outbreak of yellow fever among American soldiers....