Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Congregationalism

(Encyclopedia)Congregationalism, type of Protestant church organization in which each congregation, or local church, has free control of its own affairs. The underlying principle is that each local congregation has...

legislature

(Encyclopedia)legislature, representative assembly empowered to enact statute law. Generally the representatives who compose a legislature are constitutionally elected by a broad spectrum of the population. While...

art nouveau

(Encyclopedia)art nouveau ärˌ no͞ovōˈ [key], decorative-art movement centered in Western Europe. It began in the 1880s as a reaction against the historical emphasis of mid-19th-century art, but did not survive...

lungfish

(Encyclopedia)lungfish, common name for any of a group of fish belonging to the families Ceratodontidae, Lepidosirenidae, and Protopteridae, found in the rivers of Australia, South America, and Africa, respectively...

Lieber, Francis

(Encyclopedia)Lieber, Francis lēˈbər [key], 1798–1872, German-American political philosopher, b. Berlin. Ardently patriotic, he enlisted in the Prussian army and fought and was wounded at the battle of Waterlo...

Kosciusko, Thaddeus

(Encyclopedia)Kosciusko or Kosciuszko, Thaddeus kŏsˌēŭsˈkō [key], Pol. Tadeusz Andrzej Bonawentura Košciuszko, 1746–1817, Polish general. Trained in military academies in Warsaw and Paris, he offered his s...

direct action

(Encyclopedia)direct action, theory and methods used by certain labor groups to fight employers, capitalist institutions, and the state by direct economic action, without using intermediate organizations. Political...

Constable, John

(Encyclopedia)Constable, John, 1776–1837, English painter, b. Suffolk. Constable and Turner were the leading figures in English landscape painting of the 19th cent. Constable became famous for his landscapes of S...

Chávez, César Estrada

(Encyclopedia)Chávez, César Estrada sāˈsär āsträˈᵺä shäˈvĕz [key], 1927–93, American agrarian labor leader, b. near Yuma, Ariz. A migrant worker, he became involved (1952) in the self-help Community...

Pius V, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Pius V, Saint, 1504–72, pope (1566–72), an Italian named Michele Ghislieri, b. near Alessandria; successor of Pius IV. He was ordained in the Dominicans (1528) and became celebrated for his auster...