Columbia Encyclopedia

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vital statistics

(Encyclopedia)vital statistics, primarily records of the number of births and deaths in a population. Other factors, such as number of marriages and causes of death, by age groups, are regularly included. From thes...

lepton

(Encyclopedia)lepton lĕpˈtŏnˌ [key] [Gr.,=light (i.e., lightweight)], class of elementary particles that includes the electron and its antiparticle, the muon and its antiparticle, the tau and its antiparticle, ...

wire

(Encyclopedia)wire, metal filament, strand, or solid rod usually having a round cross section. Metals and alloys used for wiremaking are chosen for high tensile strength and ductility or for their electrical conduc...

Norris, Edwin

(Encyclopedia)Norris, Edwin, 1795–1872, English philologist. Norris wrote a number of articles on little-known languages of Asia and Africa. His most important work was his uncompleted Assyrian Dictionary (3 vol....

sand worm

(Encyclopedia)sand worm, name applied to a number of marine sand-dwelling Worms used as bait in fishing. See Class Polychaeta under Annelida. ...

Girardot

(Encyclopedia)Girardot hērärᵺōtˈ [key], city, central Colombia, on the Bogotá and Magdalena rivers. ...

Hérold, Louis Joseph Ferdinand

(Encyclopedia)Hérold, Louis Joseph Ferdinand lwē zhôzĕfˈ fĕrdēnäNˈ ārôldˈ [key], 1791–1833, French composer. He composed a number of operas, two of which—Zampa (1831) and Le Pré aux clercs (1832)�...

Jaazaniah

(Encyclopedia)Jaazaniah jāˌāzənīˈə [key], in the Bible. 1 Head of a number of idolatrous priests whom Ezekiel saw in a vision. 2 Captain active in the politics of Palestine at the time of the fall of Jerusal...

Hadewijch

(Encyclopedia)Hadewijch häˈdəvīkh [key], fl. early 13th cent., Dutch mystical poet, a nun. Her works, beautiful lyrics on the love of God and a number of letters in rhyme and visions in prose, are a monument bo...

Pembroke, Mary Herbert, countess of

(Encyclopedia)Pembroke, Mary Herbert, countess of, 1561–1621; sister of Sir Philip Sidney. His Arcadia was written for her, and after his death she prepared it and his other works for publication. Patron of a num...