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American University in Cairo

(Encyclopedia)American University in Cairo, at Cairo, Egypt; English language; founded 1919. It has faculties of anthropology, computer science, economics and political science, engineering, English and comparative...

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...

Leonov, Leonid Maksimovich

(Encyclopedia)Leonov, Leonid Maksimovich lyāənyētˈ məksyēmˈəvĭch lyāôˈnəf [key], 1899–1994, Russian novelist and playwright. Leonov was a major figure in the development of psychological and social r...

Wrangel, Baron Piotr Nikolayevich

(Encyclopedia)Wrangel, Baron Piotr Nikolayevich pyôˈtər nyĭkəlīˈəvĭch vränˈgĭl [key], 1878–1928, Russian general. After serving in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–5) and in World War I, he joined (late...

Indo-Iranian

(Encyclopedia)Indo-Iranian, subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages, spoken by more than a billion people, chiefly in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka (see The Indo-Eu...

Kyakhta

(Encyclopedia)Kyakhta or Kiakhta both: kyäkhˈtə [key], city, Buryat Republic, S Siberian Russia, near the Russian-Mongolian border. Kyakhta is on the highway from Ulan-Ude to Ulaanbaatar and is a major transit p...

Lebedev, Pyotr Nikolaevich

(Encyclopedia)Lebedev, Pyotr Nikolaevich pyôˈtə nyĭkəlīˈəvĭch lāˈbyədyəf [key], 1866–1912, Russian physicist. The most noted Russian physicist of his time, he studied at Strasbourg and Berlin and was...

Krylenko, Nikolai Vasilyevich

(Encyclopedia)Krylenko or Krilenko, Nikolai Vasilyevich both: nyĭkəlīˈ vəsēˈlyəvĭch krĭlyĕnˈkō [key], 1885–1938, Russian revolutionary and Soviet jurist. In Nov., 1917, Trotsky promoted him from ensi...

Vernadsky, George

(Encyclopedia)Vernadsky, George vĕrnätˈskē [key], 1887–1973, American historian, b. Russia. He emigrated to the United States in 1927 and was research associate in history (1927–46) and professor of Russian...

Glazunov, Aleksandr Konstantinovich

(Encyclopedia)Glazunov, Aleksandr Konstantinovich əlyĭksänˈdər kənstəntyēˈnəvĭch gläzo͞oˈnôf [key], 1865–1936, Russian composer, director of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, 1906–30. He assisted ...

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