Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Pigalle, Jean Baptiste

(Encyclopedia)Pigalle, Jean Baptiste zhäN bätēstˈ pēgälˈ [key], 1714–85, French sculptor. His skill embraced a wide range, from small works appealing to the taste of the court to large and elaborate tombs....

Stephen V

(Encyclopedia)Stephen V, 1239–72, king of Hungary (1270–72), son and successor of Bela IV. As a child he was named duke of Transylvania, and in 1259 he was made duke of Styria. After the loss (1260) of Styria t...

mental hygiene

(Encyclopedia)mental hygiene, the science of promoting mental health and preventing mental illness through the application of psychiatry and psychology. A more commonly used term today is mental health. In 1908, th...

Igarka

(Encyclopedia)Igarka ēgärˈkə [key], city, NW Siberian Russia, on the lower Yenisei River. It has sawmills and is a major lumber port. Igarka was founded in 1928. During the Stalin period forced labor was used i...

Hitchcock, Frank Harris

(Encyclopedia)Hitchcock, Frank Harris, 1867–1935, U.S. Postmaster General (1909–13), b. Amherst, Ohio. After service in the Dept. of Agriculture (1897–1903), the Dept. of Commerce and Labor (1903–5), and as...

Geryon

(Encyclopedia)Geryon jĕrˈēən, jərĭˈən [key], in Greek mythology, three-bodied monster who, with his dog Orthrus, watched over a great herd of cattle. He and Orthrus were killed by Hercules when, as his 10th...

metonymy

(Encyclopedia)metonymy mĭtŏnˈəmē [key], figure of speech in which an attribute of a thing or something closely related to it is substituted for the thing itself. Thus, “sweat” can mean “hard labor,” an...

Kohler

(Encyclopedia)Kohler, village (1990 pop. 1,817), Sheboygan co., E Wis., on the Sheboygan River; inc. 1912. The Kohler plumbing-fixtures plant there, which still produces its famous stainless-steel products, has bee...

Stymphalian birds

(Encyclopedia)Stymphalian birds stĭmfāˈlēən [key], in Greek mythology, dangerous man-eating birds that infested the woods around Lake Stymphalus in Arcadia. As his fifth labor, Hercules frightened the birds in...

Commerce, United States Department of

(Encyclopedia)Commerce, United States Department of, federal executive department charged with promoting U.S. economic development and technological advancement. In Feb., 1903, the Congress established a Department...