Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Engleheart, George

(Encyclopedia)Engleheart, George, 1752–1829, English miniature painter. He studied with Sir Joshua Reynolds and made copies in miniature of Reynolds's paintings. Court miniaturist under George III, he competed su...

Paris green

(Encyclopedia)Paris green, also called Schweinfurt green, an extremely poisonous, bright green powder that was formerly used extensively as a pigment (e.g., in wallpaper) and that is sometimes used as an insecticid...

retable

(Encyclopedia)retable rēˈtābəl [key], frame for decorative panels at the back of an altar in European churches. Retables, often sumptuously decorated in alabaster and gold, generally contained scenes from the B...

infarction

(Encyclopedia)infarction, blockage of blood circulation to a localized area or organ of the body resulting in tissue death. Infarctions commonly occur in the spleen, kidney, lungs, brain, and heart. The acute emerg...

concentration

(Encyclopedia)concentration, in chemistry, measure of the relative proportions of two or more quantities in a mixture. The concentration of a solute is very important in studying chemical reactions because it deter...

colon cancer

(Encyclopedia)colon cancer, cancer of any part of the colon (often called the large intestine). Colon cancer is the second most common cancer diagnosed in the United States. Epidemiological evidence has shown that ...

Alzheimer's disease

(Encyclopedia)Alzheimer's disease ălsˈhīˌmərz, ôls– [key], degenerative disease of nerve cells in the cerebral cortex that leads to atrophy of the brain and senile dementia and, ultimately, death. The disea...

trust

(Encyclopedia)trust, in law, arrangement whereby property legally owned by one person is administered for the benefit of another. Three parties are ordinarily needed for the relation to arise: the settlor, who bequ...

arbitration

(Encyclopedia)arbitration, industrial, method of settling disputes between two parties by seeking and accepting the decision of a third party. Arbritration differs from mediation in that the arbritrator does not at...

Malluch

(Encyclopedia)Malluch mălˈək [key], in the Bible. 1 Merarite. 2, 3 Two who gave up foreign wives. 4, 5 Two signers of the covenant. 6 Priestly family returned with Zerubbabel; an alternate form is Melicu. Some o...

Browse by Subject