Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Deirdre

(Encyclopedia)Deirdre dârˈdrə, dērˈ– [key], beautiful heroine of Irish legend. A druid prophesied at her birth that she would bring great misfortunes. Deirdre, chosen to be the wife of Conchobar, king of Uls...

Pilon, Germain

(Encyclopedia)Pilon, Germain zhĕrmăNˈ pēlôNˈ [key], 1535–90, French sculptor. He was court sculptor under the later Valois sovereigns. He executed several sculptures on Henry II's mausoleum at Saint-Denis. ...

Paray-le-Monial

(Encyclopedia)Paray-le-Monial pärāˈ-lə-mônyälˈ [key], town (1990 pop. 10,568), Saône-et-Loire dept., E central France. Ceramics and hosiery are produced. In the 17th cent. St. Margaret Mary founded the cult...

Boyle, Kay

(Encyclopedia)Boyle, Kay, 1903–93, American writer, b. St. Paul, Minn. A European expatriate in the interwar years, she returned to Europe as a correspondent for the New Yorker (1946–53) and subsequently taught...

Menen, Aubrey Clarence

(Encyclopedia)Menen, Aubrey Clarence mĕnˈən [key], 1912–89, English novelist, b. London. The son of an Indian father and an Irish mother, he was a drama critic, theater director, and advertising agency executi...

Loewi, Otto

(Encyclopedia)Loewi, Otto lōˈē [key], 1873–1961, American physiologist and pharmacologist, b. Frankfurt, Germany. He was professor of pharmacology (1909–38) at the Univ. of Graz, Austria, until forced into e...

García Godoy, Héctor

(Encyclopedia)García Godoy, Héctor ĕkˈtōr gärsēˈä gōˈᵺoi [key], 1921–70, president of the Dominican Republic (1965–66). A lawyer and diplomat, he served as foreign minister under President Juan Bos...

cough

(Encyclopedia)cough, sudden, forceful expiration of air from the lungs caused by an involuntary contraction of the muscles controlling the process of breathing. The cough is a response to some irritating condition ...

Cuautla

(Encyclopedia)Cuautla kwouˈtlä [key], city, Morelos state, S Mexico, in the Cuautla River valley. It is a ...

coltsfoot

(Encyclopedia)coltsfoot, Eurasian perennial herb (Tussilago farfara) of the family Asteraceae (aster family), now a widespread weed in most northern lands. The scaly flower stalk bears a yellow flower head and down...

Browse by Subject