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chief

(Encyclopedia)chief or chieftain, political leader of a band, tribe, or confederation of tribes. At the simpler levels of social organization, the band or tribe usually lacks centralized authority and is ruled by t...

Brown, John, Scottish essayist

(Encyclopedia)Brown, John, 1810–82, Scottish essayist. He was a physician. His writing was collected in Horae Subsecivae (3 vol., 1858–82), which included his unique picture of a dog, Rab and His Friends (1859)...

sociology

(Encyclopedia)sociology, scientific study of human social behavior. As the study of humans in their collective aspect, sociology is concerned with all group activities—economic, social, political, and religious. ...

Manning, Olivia

(Encyclopedia)Manning, Olivia, 1911–80, English novelist, b. Portsmouth, Hampshire. During World War II she served as a journalist in the Middle East. She is best known for her “Balkan trilogy”: The Great For...

Shakers

(Encyclopedia)Shakers, popular name for members of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, also called the Millennial Church. Members of the movement, who received their name from the tremblin...

Mayfield

(Encyclopedia)Mayfield, city (2020 pop. 10,017), seat of Graves co., SW Ky., in an area of farms and clay deposits; founded 1823. It is an agricultural trade center w...

Daphnis

(Encyclopedia)Daphnis dăfˈnĭs [key], in Greek mythology, shepherd, the son of Hermes and a nymph. He was unfaithful to a nymph who loved him, and in revenge she blinded him. He tried to comfort himself by playin...

Everyman

(Encyclopedia)Everyman, late-15th-century English morality play. It is the counterpart of the Dutch play Elckerlijk; which of these anonymous plays is the original has been the subject of controversy. When Everyman...

Pike, James Albert

(Encyclopedia)Pike, James Albert, 1913–69, American Episcopal bishop, b. Oklahoma City. A lawyer who had been raised as a Roman Catholic, he served (1943–45) in the U.S. navy and then studied for the Episcopal ...