Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

349 results found

Crusades

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Crusader States (c.1140) Crusades kro͞oˈsādz [key], series of wars undertaken by European Christians between the 11th and 14th cent. to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims. After...

Medieval Latin literature

(Encyclopedia)Medieval Latin literature, literary works written in the Latin language during the Middle Ages. Many literary genres were already being taken over by writing in the vernacular, which had begun in...

thermodynamics

(Encyclopedia)thermodynamics, branch of science concerned with the nature of heat and its conversion to mechanical, electric, and chemical energy. Historically, it grew out of efforts to construct more efficient he...

espionage

(Encyclopedia)espionage ĕsˈpēənäzhˌ [key], the act of obtaining information clandestinely. The term applies particularly to the act of collecting military, industrial, and political data about one nation for ...

piracy

(Encyclopedia)piracy, robbery committed or attempted on the high seas. It is distinguished from privateering in that the pirate holds no commission from and receives the protection of no nation but usually attacks ...

tennis

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Tennis court tennis, game played indoors or outdoors by two players (singles) or four players (doubles) on a level court. In 1900 the international team competition known as the Davis Cup t...

Cretaceous period

(Encyclopedia)Cretaceous period krĭtāˈshəs [key], third and last period of the Mesozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table), lasting from approximately 144 to 65 millio...

Iroquois Confederacy

(Encyclopedia)Iroquois Confederacy or Iroquois League ĭrˈəkwoiˌ, –kwäˌ [key], North American confederation of indigenous peoples, initially comprising the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca; the n...

modern architecture

(Encyclopedia)modern architecture, new architectural style that emerged in many Western countries in the decade after World War I. It was based on the “rational” use of modern materials, the principles of funct...

music

(Encyclopedia)music. For information on types of music see such articles as absolute music; aleatory music; chamber music; church music; computer music; electronic music; jazz; program music; rock music; serial mus...