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Dutch language

(Encyclopedia)Dutch language, member of the West Germanic group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages). Also called Netherlandish, it is spoken by about 15 milli...

Aldus Manutius

(Encyclopedia)Aldus Manutius älˈdō mäno͞oˈtsyō [key], 1450–1515, Venetian printer. He was educated as a humanistic scholar and became tutor to several of the great ducal families. One of them, the Pio fami...

Aaron, Hank

(Encyclopedia)Aaron, Hank (Henry Louis Aaron), 1934–2021, U.S. baseball player, b. Mobile, Ala. A durable outfielder and consistent hitter noted for his powerful wrists and explosive swing, Aaron joined the Negro...

Monteverdi, Claudio

(Encyclopedia)Monteverdi, Claudio klouˈdyō mōntāvĕrˈdē [key], 1567–1643, Italian composer; first great figure in the history of opera. His earliest published works, a set of three motifs, appeared when he ...

caudillo

(Encyclopedia)caudillo kôdēlˈyō Span. kouᵺēˈyō [key], [Span.,= military strongman], type of South American political leader that arose with the 19th-century wars of independence. The first caudillos were o...

sword

(Encyclopedia)sword, weapon of offense and defense in personal combat, consisting of a blade with a sharp point and one or two cutting edges, set in a hilt with a handle protected by a metal case or cross guard. Th...

Sophists

(Encyclopedia)Sophists sŏfˈĭsts [key], originally, itinerant teachers in Greece (5th cent. b.c.) who provided education through lectures and in return received fees from their audiences. The term was given as a ...

Sosa, Sammy

(Encyclopedia)Sosa, Sammy (Samuel Kevin Sosa Peralta) sämwĕlˈ sōˈsä pĕrälˈtä [key], 1968–, Dominican baseball player. An outfielder and designated hitter, he broke into the major leagues with the Texas ...

Ungaretti, Giuseppe

(Encyclopedia)Ungaretti, Giuseppe jo͞ozĕpˈpā o͞ongärĕtˈtē [key], 1888–1970, Italian poet, critic, and translator, b. Alexandria, Egypt. Ungaretti spent his youth in North Africa, where he was greatly inf...

Schacht, Hjalmar Horace Greeley

(Encyclopedia)Schacht, Hjalmar Horace Greeley yälˈmär shäkht [key], 1877–1970, German financier. He held executive positions in several major German banks before becoming (1923) commissioner of currency. Infl...