Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Jethro

(Encyclopedia)Jethro jĕthˈrō [key], Midianite priest of the peninsula of Sinai who was the companion and father-in-law of Moses. He is also called Reuel, Raguel, and Hobab. ...

Amram

(Encyclopedia)Amram ămˈrăm [key], in the Bible. 1 Moses' father; ancestor of a Levitical family. 2 Edomite. 1 Chron. 1.41. Hemdan: Gen. 36.26. 3 Jew who had married a foreign wife. ...

primitivism

(Encyclopedia)primitivism, in art, the style of works of self-trained artists who develop their talents in a fanciful and fresh manner, as in the paintings of Henri Rousseau and Grandma Moses. The term primitive ha...

Numbers

(Encyclopedia)Numbers, book of the Bible, fourth of the five books of the Law (the Pentateuch or Torah) ascribed by tradition to Moses. Numbers begins at Sinai and ends in Moab on the eve of the Hebrews' entry into...

Dunkirk, town, France

(Encyclopedia)Dunkirk dŭnˈkûrk [key], Fr. Dunkerque, town, Nord dept., N France, on the North Sea. It is...

Potemkin, Grigori Aleksandrovich

(Encyclopedia)Potemkin, Grigori Aleksandrovich pōtĕmˈkĭn, Rus. grĭgôˈrē əlyĭksänˈdrəvĭch pŭtyômˈkĭn [key], 1739–91, Russian field marshal and favorite of Catherine II. He studied at Moscow Univ....

Jeshaiah

(Encyclopedia)Jeshaiah jēshāˈyə [key], in the Bible. 1 Chief singer. 2 Tribal chief accompanying Ezra. 3 Descendant of Moses. An alternate form is Isshiah. 4 Merarite who returned with Ezra. ...

Gershom

(Encyclopedia)Gershom gûrˈshəm [key], in the Bible. 1 Moses' first son. 2 See Gershon. 3 One of Ezra's companions. ...

Lindsay, Sir David

(Encyclopedia)Lindsay or Lyndsay, Sir David both: lĭnˈzē [key], c.1490–c.1555, Scottish poet. He was a courtier and diplomat by profession. As a writer he was a harsh satirist and moralist who directed most of...

Littleton, Sir Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Littleton, Sir Thomas, 1422?–1481, English jurist. He became a sergeant-at-law, i.e., a barrister, in the Court of Common Pleas in 1453 and a judge in 1466. He is best known for his Tenures, a short...

Browse by Subject