Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Holmes, William Henry

(Encyclopedia)Holmes, William Henry, 1846–1933, American geologist, anthropologist, and museum director, b. Harrison co., Ohio. He was internationally recognized for his work in museum science. In 1872 he became ...

Lerner, Alan Jay

(Encyclopedia)Lerner, Alan Jay, 1918–86, American lyricist and librettist, b. New York City. After two years as a radio scriptwriter, Lerner began an association with the composer Frederick Loewe that resulted in...

Eskimo

(Encyclopedia)Eskimo ĕsˈkəmō [key], a general term used to refer to a number of groups inhabiting the coastline from the Bering Sea to Greenland and the Chukchi Peninsula in NE Siberia. A number of distinct gro...

Lithuanian

(Encyclopedia)Lithuanian lĭthˌo͞oāˈnēən [key], a language belonging to the Baltic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Baltic languages). The official language of Lithuania since 1918, Lit...

Phoenix, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Phoenix, city (1990 pop. 983,403), state capital and seat of Maricopa co., S Ariz., on the Salt River; inc. 1881. It is the largest city in Arizona, the hub of the rich agricultural region of the Salt...

Allen, James Lane

(Encyclopedia)Allen, James Lane, 1849–1925, American novelist, b. Lexington, Kentucky. Among his stylized, “genteel” novels set in his native region are A Kentucky Cardinal (1894), Aftermath (1895), and The C...

Hesychius of Alexandria

(Encyclopedia)Hesychius of Alexandria hēsĭkˈēəs [key], fl. 5th cent.?, Alexandrian grammarian. Hesychius is known as the compiler of an invaluable lexicon, a glossary of unusual words and expressions occurring...

Prakrit

(Encyclopedia)Prakrit präˈkrĭt [key], any of a number of languages belonging to the Indic group of the Indo-Iranian subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Indo-Iranian). The Prakrits are usually...

Means, Russell

(Encyclopedia)Means, Russell, 1939–2012, Native American activist, b. Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, S.Dak. An Oglala Sioux, he grew up near San Francisco, and attended four colleges but never graduated. He joine...

Browse by Subject