Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

199 results found

Ramah

(Encyclopedia)Ramah rāˈmə [key], in the Bible. 1 Town, NE ancient Palestine, allotted to Naphtali. 2 Town of Asher. 3 Unidentified town of Simeon, called Ramah of the south. It is apparently intended by the Ramo...

Old Vic

(Encyclopedia)Old Vic, London repertory company and theater. The Old Vic theater opened in 1818 as the Coburg, and was renamed the Royal Victoria in 1833, soon familiarized to the Old Vic. In 1914 it became a Shake...

Zechariah, persons in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Zechariah zĕkˌərīˈə [key], in the Bible. 1 Prophet and author of the book of Zechariah. 2 Prophet who, with the connivance of King Jehoash, was stoned to death for his public rebuke of idolatry....

passion music

(Encyclopedia)passion music, choral music whose text depicts events immediately surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus. The earliest passions, composed from the 9th to the 14th cent., were monophonic and employed the...

elegy

(Encyclopedia)elegy, in Greek and Roman poetry, a poem written in elegiac verse (i.e., couplets consisting of a hexameter line followed by a pentameter line). The form dates back to 7th cent. b.c. in Greece and poe...

Micah, book of the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Micah mīˈkə [key], 6th of the books of the Minor Prophets of the Bible, containing the oracles of the prophet Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah whose career spanned the period c.750–c.700 b.c. The ...

Rugby, town, England

(Encyclopedia)Rugby, town (1991 pop. 59,039), Warwickshire, central England. An important railroad junction and engineering center, Rugby is the seat of one of England's most esteemed public schools. Rugby School w...

Maris

(Encyclopedia)Maris mäˈrĭs [key], three Dutch painters, who were brothers. Jacob or Jakob Maris, 1837–99, the most celebrated, painted domestic interiors but is particularly famous for his vigorous landscapes ...

Penrose, Boies

(Encyclopedia)Penrose, Boies boiz [key], 1860–1921, American political leader, b. Philadelphia. A lawyer, he was (1884–97) a member of the Pennsylvania legislature and coauthored a scholarly work, The City Gove...

San Francisco Opera

(Encyclopedia)San Francisco Opera, opera company, founded 1923 by Italian-American conductor Gaetano Merola, who oversaw its early years as a touring company. In 1932 it established a permanent home at the War Memo...