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Song of Solomon

(Encyclopedia)Song of Solomon, Song of Songs, or Canticles, book of the Bible, 22d in the order of the Authorized Version. Although traditionally ascribed to King Solomon, many scholars date it as late as the 3d c...

carol

(Encyclopedia)carol, popular hymn, of joyful nature, in celebration of an occasion such as May Day, Easter, or Christmas. The earliest English carols date from the 15th cent. The carol is characterized by simplicit...

Rhyniophyta

(Encyclopedia)Rhyniophyta rīˌnēŏfˈətə [key], division of plants known only from fossils, of which the genus Rhynia was perhaps the most important. These plants date from the Silurian and Devonian age. Relati...

consols

(Encyclopedia)consols, contraction of consolidated annuities, a bond issue designed to consolidate two or more outstanding issues, used in reference to British government stock. Public borrowing began in England wi...

Mufaddaliyat

(Encyclopedia)Mufaddaliyat mō– [key], great Arabic anthology compiled by the celebrated philologist Al Mufaddal ad-Dabbi (d. c.775). It contains 126 poems, some complete odes, others fragmentary. They are all of...

Twelve Tables

(Encyclopedia)Twelve Tables, early code of Roman law. Most modern authorities accept the traditional date of 450 b.c., but several place the work later. The tables were supposedly written in response to the plebeia...

Zechariah, book of the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Zechariah zĕkˌərīˈə [key], prophetic book of the Bible, which dates from 520 b.c.–518 b.c. at Jerusalem. The prophet was associated with Haggai in a movement to restore the Temple. The book, a...

Stephen, Saint, duke and king of Hungary

(Encyclopedia)Stephen, Saint, or Stephen I, 975–1038, duke (997–1001) and first king (1001–38) of Hungary, called the Apostle of Hungary. The Hungarian state may be said to date from his reign. Because he con...

Stabat Mater Dolorosa

(Encyclopedia)Stabat Mater Dolorosa stäˈbät mäˈtĕr dōˌlōrōˈsä [key] [Lat.,=the sorrowful mother was standing], 13th-century hymn of the Roman Church attributed to Jacopone da Todi. A prayer meditating o...

Šibenik

(Encyclopedia)Šibenik shēbĕˈnĭk [key], Ital. Sebenico, town (2011 pop. 46,332), S Croatia, on the Adriatic Sea. It is a seaport, naval base, and resort center on the Dalmatian coast. The city has shipbuilding,...