Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

allegiance

(Encyclopedia)allegiance, in political terms, the tie that binds an individual to another individual or institution. The term usually refers to a person's legal obligation of obedience to a government in return for...

Gulf War syndrome

(Encyclopedia)Gulf War syndrome, popular name for a variety of ailments experienced by veterans after the Persian Gulf War. Symptoms reported include nausea, cramps, rashes, short-term memory loss, fatigue, difficu...

handedness

(Encyclopedia)handedness, habitual or more skillful use of one hand as opposed to the other. Approximately 90% of humans are thought to be right-handed. It was traditionally argued that there is a slight tendency t...

stuttering

(Encyclopedia)stuttering or stammering, speech disorder marked by hesitation and inability to enunciate consonants without spasmodic repetition. Known technically as dysphemia, it has sometimes been attributed to a...

Székely

(Encyclopedia)Székely sāˈkəlē [key], ethnic group of Transylvania and of present-day Romania. Except in a few isolated communities, where the ancient customs of the Székely have survived, there is little diff...

Breton literature

(Encyclopedia)Breton literature brĕtˈən [key], in the Celtic language of Brittany. Although there are numerous allusions in other literatures of the 12th to 14th cent. to the “matter of Brittany,” which incl...

Agent Orange

(Encyclopedia)Agent Orange, herbicide used by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War to expose enemy guerrilla forces in forested areas. Agent Orange contains varying amounts of dioxin. Exposure to the defoliant has be...

Pocahontas

(Encyclopedia)Pocahontas pōkəhŏnˈtəs [key], c.1595–1617, Native North American woman, daughter of Chief Powhatan. Pocahontas, meaning “playful one” (her birth name was Amonute, and her family called her ...

New River

(Encyclopedia)New River, c.320 mi (510 km) long, rising in the Blue Ridge, NW N.C. It flows NE through SW Virginia, then NW into West Virginia where it joins with the Gauley River to form the Kanawha River. It is u...

Nyborg

(Encyclopedia)Nyborg nüˈbôr [key], city (1992 pop. 15,352), Fyn co., S central Denmark, a seaport at the head of Nybord Fjord (an arm of the Store Bælt). It is an industrial center, with shipyards and plants ma...