Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

phosgene

(Encyclopedia)phosgene fŏsˈjēn [key], colorless poison gas, first used during World War I by the Germans (1915). When dispersed in air, the gas has the odor of new-mowed hay. The gas is highly toxic; when inhale...

sake

(Encyclopedia)sake, alcoholic beverage made from rice by fermentation. Although sake is sometimes called rice wine, and can have a smooth body and be quite aromatic, it has a higher alcohol content and is produced ...

union, labor

(Encyclopedia)union, labor, association of workers for the purpose of improving their economic status and working conditions through collective bargaining with employers. Historically there have been two chief type...

Diniz

(Encyclopedia)Diniz, Port. Dinis dēnēshˈ [key], 1261–1325, king of Portugal (1279–1325), son and successor of Alfonso III. Like his grandfather, Alfonso X of Castile, whose legal works he had translated into...

Dwight, Timothy, 1752–1817, American clergyman, author, and educator

(Encyclopedia)Dwight, Timothy, 1752–1817, American clergyman, author, educator, b. Northampton, Mass., grad. Yale, 1769. He renounced legal for theological studies and after 1783 was pastor for 12 years of a Cong...

Copernicus, Nicholas

(Encyclopedia)Copernicus, Nicholas kōpûrˈnĭkəs [key], Pol. Mikotaj Kopérnik, 1473–1543, Polish astronomer. After studying astronomy at the Univ. of Kraków, he spent a number of years in Italy studying vari...

jai alai

(Encyclopedia)jai alai hīˈlīˌ [key], handball-like game of Spanish Basque origin. It is also called pelota. Jai alai is played on a three-walled court with a hard rubber ball that must be hurled against the fro...

nullity of marriage

(Encyclopedia)nullity of marriage, in law, an unlawful marriage that is either void or voidable because of conditions existing at the time of the marriage. A bigamous or incestuous marriage, for example, is void, a...

Pennsylvania Railroad

(Encyclopedia)Pennsylvania Railroad, former U.S. transportation company; inc. 1846 by the Pennsylvania legislature. It opened in 1854 as a single-track line between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Beginning in 1857, t...

Warham, William

(Encyclopedia)Warham, William wôrˈəm [key], 1450?–1532, English churchman, archbishop of Canterbury. He studied at Oxford and became widely known in England for his legal ability, went often on diplomatic miss...