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Babenberg

(Encyclopedia)Babenberg bäˈbənbĕrk [key], ruling house of Austria (976–1246). It possibly descended from, or succeeded, a powerful Franconian family of the 9th cent. from whose castle the city of Bamberg prob...

Achenwall, Gottfried

(Encyclopedia)Achenwall, Gottfried gôtˈfrēt äkhˈənväl [key], 1719–72, German statistician and political scientist. He used the term Statistik for the first time in his Staatsverfassung der heutigen vornehm...

Knickerbocker

(Encyclopedia)Knickerbocker nĭkˈərbŏkˌər [key], term used almost synonymously with the adjective “Dutch” in respect to Dutch families and customs and the Dutch region of early New York state. A History of...

jargon

(Encyclopedia)jargon, pejorative term applied to speech or writing that is considered meaningless, unintelligible, or ugly. In one sense the term is applied to the special language of a profession, which may be unn...

Carnatic

(Encyclopedia)Carnatic kärnăˈtĭk [key], historic region in SE India, comprising roughly the area between the S Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal and the Deccan Plateau. The region comprised the domains of t...

impeachment

(Encyclopedia)impeachment, in Great Britain and United States, formal accusation issued by a legislature against a public official charged with crime or other serious misconduct. In a looser sense the term is somet...

Gothic revival

(Encyclopedia)Gothic revival, term designating a return to the building styles of the Middle Ages. Although the Gothic revival was practiced throughout Europe, it attained its greatest importance in the United Stat...

Dia Art Foundation

(Encyclopedia)Dia Art Foundation, American foundation that supports contemporary art and artists, est. 1974 by art dealer Heiner Friedrich and his wife, art patron Philippa de Menil. The foundation, which commissio...

Malayan

(Encyclopedia)Malayan māˈlā [key], general term for one of a population of persons inhabiting SE Asia and the adjacent islands. The Malays vary greatly in physical appearance. The term Indonesian, used as an alt...

dialectic

(Encyclopedia)dialectic dīəlĕkˈtĭk [key] [Gr.,= art of conversation], in philosophy, term originally applied to the method of philosophizing by means of question and answer employed by certain ancient philosop...