Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Morteratsch

(Encyclopedia)Morteratsch môrˈtəräch [key], glacier, SE Switzerland, one of the largest in the country. It lies at the foot of Piz Morteratsch, an Alpine peak, 12,317 ft (3,754 m) high, in the Bernina Mts. ...

onion

(Encyclopedia)onion, plant of the family Liliaceae (lily family), of the same genus (Allium) as the chive (A. schoenoprasum), garlic (A. sativum), leek (A. porrum), and shallot (A. ascalonium). These plants are cha...

Malta

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Malta môlˈtə [key], officially Republic of Malta, republic (2015 est. pop. 428,000), 122 sq mi (316 sq km), in the Mediterranean Sea S of Sicily. It comprises the islands of Malta (95 sq mi/...

Colossae

(Encyclopedia)Colossae kəlŏsˈē [key], ancient city of SW Phrygia, Asia Minor, S of the Maeander (modern Menderes) River, in W Turkey, 4 mi (6.4 km) E of Denizli. It flourished as a trading town until eclipsed b...

Cicero, Quintus Tullius

(Encyclopedia)Cicero, Quintus Tullius, c.102 b.c.–43 b.c., Roman general; brother of Cicero the orator. After service in Asia he accompanied Julius Caesar to Britain (55 b.c.); wintered in Gaul (54 b.c.), where h...

Issus

(Encyclopedia)Issus ĭsˈəs [key], ancient town of SE Asia Minor, now in Turkey, 5 mi (8 km) NW of Dörtyol. Located near the head of a gulf (the modern Gulf of Iskenderun), Issus was on a narrow strip of land bac...

Mélusine

(Encyclopedia)Mélusine mĕlyo͝osēˈnä [key], in French legend, a fairy who changed into a serpent from the waist down every Saturday. She married a mortal, Count Raymond, said to be the ancestor of the house of...

Myra

(Encyclopedia)Myra mīˈrə [key], ancient city and seaport of Lycia, S Asia Minor (now S Turkey). The Acts of the Apostles reports that the city was visited by Paul. According to tradition, it was the see of St. N...

neem tree

(Encyclopedia)neem tree or margosa tree, a fast-growing broad-leaved evergreen, Azadirachta indica, native to India and Myanmar. Its extracts have been used for centuries in Asia as pesticides, toothpaste, medicine...

Malik, Charles Habib

(Encyclopedia)Malik, Charles Habib, 1906–87, Lebanese statesman and educator, grad. American Univ. of Beirut, 1927, Ph.D. Harvard, 1937. After teaching philosophy at the American Univ. of Beirut (1937–45), Mali...