Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

58 results found

buckthorn

(Encyclopedia)buckthorn, common name for some members of the Rhamnaceae, a family of woody shrubs, small trees, and climbing vines widely distributed throughout the world. The buckthorns (several species of the gen...

Butler, Walter

(Encyclopedia)Butler, Walter, 1752?–1781, Loyalist officer in the American Revolution, b. New York State; son of John Butler. He was an officer in his father's Loyalist troop, Butler's Rangers. He was captured (1...

Ozaki, Yukio

(Encyclopedia)Ozaki, Yukio yo͞oˈkēō ōzäˈkē [key], 1859–1954, Japanese statesman, the outstanding liberal of late 19th-century and early 20th-century Japan. A newspaper editor, he helped Okuma form the Kai...

Nazimova, Alla

(Encyclopedia)Nazimova, Alla nəzĭˈməvə [key], 1879–1945, Russian-American actress. She turned from music to drama, studying with Stanislavsky and later appearing at the Moscow Art Theater. In 1905 she emigra...

The Dalles

(Encyclopedia)The Dalles dălz [key], city (1990 pop. 11,060), seat of Wasco co., N Oreg., on the Columbia River; inc. 1857. It is a busy inland port; ships passing through the locks at Bonneville Dam (c.50 mi/80 k...

brandy

(Encyclopedia)brandy [for brandywine, from Du.,=burnt, i.e., distilled, wine], strong alcoholic spirit distilled from wine or from marc, the residue of the wine press. The most noted brandy is cognac, made from whi...

plum, in botany

(Encyclopedia)plum, common name for a tree of any of many species of the genus Prunus of the family Rosaceae (rose family) and for its fruit, a drupe. The plum is generally cultivated in the temperate zones, though...

Brant, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Brant, Joseph, 1742–1807, chief of the Mohawk. His Mohawk name is usually rendered as Thayendanegea. He served under Sir William Johnson in the French and Indian War, and Johnson sent him (1761) to ...

Mbeki, Govan Archibald Mvuyelwa

(Encyclopedia)Mbeki, Govan 1910–2001, anti-apartheid activist, politician, and writer. Mbeki was an influential leader of the African National Congress, the ...

curculio

(Encyclopedia)curculio kərkyo͞oˈlēō [key], name applied to various weevils (members of the snout beetle family, or Curculionidae), especially those that attack fruit. The term is sometimes limited to the acorn...

Browse by Subject