Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Launcelot, Sir

(Encyclopedia)Launcelot, Sir lănˈsəlŏtˌ, lŏnˈ–, lônˈ– [key], in Arthurian legend, bravest and most celebrated knight at the court of King Arthur. He was kidnapped as an infant by the mysterious Lady of...

Spenser, Edmund

(Encyclopedia)Spenser, Edmund, 1552?–1599, English poet, b. London. He was the friend of men eminent in literature and at court, including Gabriel Harvey, Sir Philip Sidney, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Robert Sidney,...

Citrine, Walter McLennan Citrine, 1st Baron

(Encyclopedia)Citrine, Walter McLennan Citrine, 1st Baron sĭtrēnˈ [key], 1887–1983, English trade union leader. An electrician, he became district secretary of the electrical trade union in 1914 and rose to be...

Modred, Sir

(Encyclopedia)Modred, Sir: see Arthurian legend. ...

Mordred, Sir

(Encyclopedia)Mordred, Sir: see Arthurian legend. ...

Pelleas, Sir

(Encyclopedia)Pelleas, Sir: see Arthurian legend. ...

mahogany

(Encyclopedia)mahogany, common name for the Meliaceae, a widely distributed family of chiefly tropical shrubs and trees, often having scented wood. The valuable hardwood called mahogany is obtained from many member...

Percivale, Sir

(Encyclopedia)Percivale, Sir: see Arthurian legend and Parsifal. ...

Brooke, Sir James

(Encyclopedia)Brooke, Sir James, 1803–68, rajah of Sarawak on Borneo, b. India, of English parents. After active service in Burma (1825–26), he retired (1830) from the army of the East India Company. He sailed ...

Wyatt, Sir Francis

(Encyclopedia)Wyatt, Sir Francis, 1588–1644, English colonial governor of Virginia. Married to a niece of Sir Edwin Sandys of the London Company, he went to Virginia as governor in 1621, taking with him the first...