Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Ethiopic

(Encyclopedia)Ethiopic ēthēŏpˈĭk [key], extinct language of Ethiopia belonging to the North Ethiopic group of the South Semitic (or Ethiopic) languages, which, in turn, belong to the Semitic subfamily of the A...

Miami, indigenous people of North America

(Encyclopedia)Miami mīămˈē, –ə [key], group of Native Americans of the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They shared the cultural traits of the Ea...

Tsimshian

(Encyclopedia)Tsimshian tsĭmˈshēən [key], Native North Americans speaking a language probably falling within the Penutian linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They lived around the Skeena and Nass ...

Omaha, indigenous people of North America

(Encyclopedia)Omaha ōˈməhä, –hô [key], Native Americans whose language belongs to the Siouan branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They, with the Ponca, migrated from t...

Williams, William, American political leader

(Encyclopedia)Williams, William, 1731–1811, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Lebanon, Conn. He served in the French and Indian War and held many public of...

Afrikaans

(Encyclopedia)Afrikaans ăfˌrəkänsˈ [key], member of the West Germanic group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages). Although its classification is still dis...

Daughters of the American Revolution

(Encyclopedia)Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), a Colonial patriotic society in the United States, open to women having one or more ancestors who aided the cause of the Revolution. The society was organiz...

Hamilton, Andrew, colonial American lawyer

(Encyclopedia)Hamilton, Andrew, 1676?–1741, colonial American lawyer, defender of John Peter Zenger, b. Scotland. He practiced law in Maryland and then Pennsylvania, where he became (1717) attorney general and he...

Yates, Richard, American political leader

(Encyclopedia)Yates, Richard, 1815–73, American political leader, b. Warsaw, Ky. He studied law and became a lawyer and Whig politician in Jacksonville, Ill. A state legislator (1842–46, 1848–50) and U.S. Con...

Armstrong, John, 1717?–1795, American pioneer

(Encyclopedia)Armstrong, John, 1717?–1795, American pioneer, known as the “hero of Kittanning,” b. Co. Fermanagh, Ireland. He laid out the town of Carlisle, Pa. In 1756 he led the expedition that destroyed Ki...

Browse by Subject