Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

fertility rites

(Encyclopedia)fertility rites, magico-religious ceremonies to insure an abundance of food and the birth of children. The rites, expressed through dances, prayers, incantations, and sacred dramas, seek to control th...

Garrick, David

(Encyclopedia)Garrick, David, 1717–79, English actor, manager, and dramatist. He was indisputably the greatest English actor of the 18th cent., and his friendships with Diderot, Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, ...

Hubballi-Dharwad

(Encyclopedia)Hubballi-Dharwad, formerly Hubli-Dharwad ho͝oˈblē-därˈvär [key], city, Karnataka (forme...

jaundice

(Encyclopedia)jaundice jônˈdĭs, jänˈ– [key], abnormal condition in which the body fluids and tissues, particularly the skin and eyes, take on a yellowish color as a result of an excess of bilirubin. During t...

spear

(Encyclopedia)spear, primitive weapon consisting of a wooden shaft tipped with a sharp point, usually 8 to 9 ft (2.4–2.7 m) in length. The point may be carved from the shaft and hardened in a fire, or made from a...

Brancusi, Constantin

(Encyclopedia)Brancusi, Constantin bränkyo͞oˈzē, Rom. bränˈko͞osh [key], 1876–1957, Romanian sculptor. Brancusi is considered one of the foremost of modern artists. In 1904 he went to Paris, where he worke...

Cabral de Melo Neto, João

(Encyclopedia)Cabral de Melo Neto, João dĭ māˈlü nāˈtü [key], 1920–99, Brazilian poet and dramatist. Raised on his family's sugarcane plantation, he entered the foreign service in 1945 and retired in 1990...

Cagliostro, Alessandro, Conte di

(Encyclopedia)Cagliostro, Alessandro, Conte di älĕs-sänˈdrō kōnˈtā dē kälyōˈstrō [key], 1743–95, Italian adventurer, magician, and alchemist, whose real name was Giuseppe Balsamo. After early misadve...

Perseus, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Perseus pûrˈsēəs, –so͝os [key], in Greek mythology, son of Zeus and Danaë. His grandfather, Acrisius, had been warned by an oracle that his grandson would kill him and therefore put Perseus an...

Wood, Grant

(Encyclopedia)Wood, Grant, 1891–1942, American painter, b. Anamosa, Iowa, studied Art Institute of Chicago and in Paris. He experimented with an impressionist style in Paris, but in Munich in 1928 he was decisive...