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epitaph

(Encyclopedia)epitaph, strictly, an inscription on a tomb; by extension, a statement, usually in verse, commemorating the dead. The earliest such inscriptions are those found on Egyptian sarcophagi. In England epit...

Lollardry

(Encyclopedia)Lollardry lŏlˈyo͝ordrē [key] or Lollardy, medieval English movement for ecclesiastical reform, led by John Wyclif, whose “poor priests” spread his ideas about the countryside in the late 14th ...

Memphis, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Memphis mĕmˈfĭs [key], city (1990 pop. 610,337), seat of Shelby co., SW Tenn., on the Fourth, or Lower, Chickasaw Bluff above the Mississippi, at the mouth of the Wolf River; inc. 1826. A river por...

sin, in religion

(Encyclopedia)sin, in religion, unethical act. The term implies disobedience to a personal God, as in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and is not used so often in systems such as Buddhism where there is no persona...

Schwabach

(Encyclopedia)Schwabach shväˈbäkh [key], city (1994 pop. 37,307), Bavaria, S Germany. Manufactures include wire, needles, chemicals, and processed foods. Schwabach was chartered in the late 14th cent. It passed ...

Josquin Desprez

(Encyclopedia)Josquin Desprez or Des Prés both: zhōsˈkăN dāprāˈ [key], c.1440–1521, Flemish composer, b. Hainaut, regarded by his contemporaries as the greatest of his age. Luther spoke highly of Desprez, ...

Alexander City

(Encyclopedia)Alexander City, city (2020 pop. 14,843), Tallapoosa co., E central Ala., in a piedmont farm area; inc. 1874. Nearby Martin Dam supplies power for the city's textile mills; the dam also has...

Schmalkalden

(Encyclopedia)Schmalkalden shmälˈkälˌdən [key], town (1994 pop. 16,096), Thuringia, central Germany. It has been a metalworking center since the Middle Ages, and its manufactures include tools, kitchen utensil...

Greenfield Village

(Encyclopedia)Greenfield Village, reproduction of an early American village, est. 1933 by Henry Ford at Dearborn, Mich., as part of the Edison Institute. A white-spired church, a town hall, an inn, a school, a cour...

Carrera, José Miguel

(Encyclopedia)Carrera, José Miguel hōsāˈ mēgĕlˈ [key], 1785–1821, Chilean revolutionist. With his brothers, Juan José and Luis, he overthrew the revolutionary junta headed by Martínez de Rozas in 1813 an...