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fiat money

(Encyclopedia)fiat money fīˈət, fīˈăt [key], inconvertible money that is made legal tender by the decree, or fiat, of the government but that is not covered by a specie reserve. It is commonly understood to b...

imprinting

(Encyclopedia)imprinting, acquisition of behavior in many animal species, in which, at a critical period early in life, the animals form strong and lasting attachments. Imprinting is important for normal social dev...

Hart, Oliver Simon D'Arcy

(Encyclopedia)Hart, Oliver Simon D'Arcy, 1948–, British-American economist, b. London, England, Ph.D. Princeton, 1974. He has been a professor at the London School of Economics (1981–85), the Massachusetts Inst...

anaphylaxis

(Encyclopedia)anaphylaxis ănˌəfəlăkˈsĭs [key], hypersensitive state that may develop after introduction of a foreign protein or other antigen into the body tissues. When an anaphylactic state exists, a secon...

gerbil

(Encyclopedia)gerbil jûrˈbĭl [key], small desert rodent found throughout the hot arid regions of Africa and Asia. Also known as sand rats, gerbils have large eyes and powerful, elongated hind limbs upon which th...

game laws

(Encyclopedia)game laws, restrictions on the hunting or capture of wild game, whether bird, beast, or fish. After the Norman Conquest (1066), England enacted stringent game laws, known as the Forest Laws, which mad...

astigmatism

(Encyclopedia)astigmatism əstĭgˈmətĭzˌəm [key], type of faulty vision caused by a nonuniform curvature in the refractive surfaces—usually the cornea, less frequently the lens—of the eye. As a result, lig...

Augustine of Canterbury, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Augustine of Canterbury, Saint ôˈgəstēn, –tĭn; ôgŭsˈtĭn [key], d. c.605, Italian missionary, called the Apostle of the English, first archbishop of Canterbury (from 601). A Roman monk, he w...

nail, in anatomy

(Encyclopedia)nail, in anatomy, the horny outgrowth shielding the tip of the finger and the toe in humans and most other primates. The nail consists of dead cells pushed outward by dividing cells in the root, a fol...

ohmmeter

(Encyclopedia)ohmmeter ōmˈmēˌtər [key], instrument used to measure the electrical resistance of a conductor. It is usually included in a single package with a voltmeter, and often an ammeter. In normal usage, ...