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locust, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)locust, in zoology, name for certain migratory members of the short-horned grasshopper family (Acrididae). Like other members of this family, locusts have antennae shorter than their bodies, song-prod...

ash, in chemistry

(Encyclopedia)ash, in chemistry, solid residue of combustion. The chemical composition of an ash depends on that of the substance burned. Wood ash contains metal carbonates (e.g., potassium carbonate) and oxides fo...

abacus, in mathematics

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Chinese abacus: Numbers are represented by moving beads to the central crossbar. abacus ăbˈəkəs, əbăkˈ– [key], in mathematics, simple device for performing arithmetic calculations. Th...

love-in-a-mist

(Encyclopedia)love-in-a-mist, hardy annual garden plant (Nigella damascena) of the family Ranunculaceae (buttercup family), having finely cut foliage and blue or white flowers surrounded by a cluster of thready bra...

Ascension, in Christianity

(Encyclopedia)Ascension, name usually given to the departure of Jesus from earth as related in the Gospels according to Mark (16) and Luke (24) and in Acts 1.1–11. The annual commemoration of this is one of the p...

magic, in entertainment

(Encyclopedia)magic, in entertainment, the seeming manipulation and supernatural control of the natural world for the amusement and amazement of an audience. Entertainment magic can be divided into four main catego...

abacus, in architecture

(Encyclopedia)abacus ăbˈəkəs [key], in architecture, flat slab forming the top member of a capital. In classical orders it varies from a square form having unmolded sides in the Greek Doric, to thinner proporti...

limerick, in poetry

(Encyclopedia)limerick, type of humorous verse. It is always short, often nonsensical, and sometimes ribald. Of unknown origin, the limerick is popular rather than literary and has even been used in advertising. Th...

Mass, in Christianity

(Encyclopedia)Mass, religious service of the Roman Catholic Church, which has as its central act the performance of the sacrament of the Eucharist. It is based on the ancient Latin liturgy of the city of Rome, now ...

mass, in physics

(Encyclopedia)mass, in physics, the quantity of matter in a body regardless of its volume or of any forces acting on it. The term should not be confused with weight, which is the measure of the force of gravity (se...