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fantasia

(Encyclopedia)fantasia făntāˈzhə [key] [Ital.,=fancy], musical composition not restricted to a formal design, but constructed freely in the manner of an improvisation. In the 16th and 17th cent., however, the t...

evergreen

(Encyclopedia)evergreen, term commonly used as synonymous with conifer and applied also to all those broad-leaved plants that bear green leaves throughout the year. Of the latter, most are plants of the tropics, su...

Vásquez, Horacio

(Encyclopedia)Vásquez, Horacio ōräˈsyō väˈskās [key], 1860–1936, president of the Dominican Republic (1899–1903, 1903–7, 1924–30). A dominating figure in the nation, even when out of office, Vásque...

barbecue

(Encyclopedia)barbecue [West Indian or South American], in the United States, traditionally an open-air gathering, political or social, in which meats are roasted whole over a pit of embers and food and drink are l...

identity

(Encyclopedia)identity, in philosophy, problem of distinguishing sameness from change, or unity from diversity; primarily examined in connection with personal identity, universals, and the law of identity in logic....

contralto

(Encyclopedia)contralto kəntrălˈtō [key], female voice of lowest pitch. Originally, the term denoted a second voice set against (contra) a high voice (alto); thus, a second high voice. Since most second parts w...

Jarvis, Thomas Jordan

(Encyclopedia)Jarvis, Thomas Jordan, 1836–1915, governor of North Carolina (1879–85), b. Jarvisburg, Currituck co., N.C., grad. Randolph-Macon College (B.A., 1860; M.A., 1861). Wounded at Drewry's Bluff (1864) ...

world soul

(Encyclopedia)world soul, Lat. anima mundi, in philosophy, term denoting a universal spirit or soul that functions as an organizing principle. While many early Greek philosophers saw the world as of one principle, ...

instinct

(Encyclopedia)instinct, term used generally to indicate an innate tendency to action, or pattern of behavior, elicited by specific stimuli and fulfilling vital needs of an organism. Examples of almost purely instin...

Knowles, James Sheridan

(Encyclopedia)Knowles, James Sheridan nōlz [key], 1784–1862, Anglo-Irish dramatist; cousin of Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Although he was one of the leading playwrights of his time, his works are seldom produced ...