Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

fair

(Encyclopedia)fair, market exhibition at which producers, traders, and consumers meet either to barter or to buy and sell goods and services. Before the development of transportation and marketing, fairs furnished ...

wire

(Encyclopedia)wire, metal filament, strand, or solid rod usually having a round cross section. Metals and alloys used for wiremaking are chosen for high tensile strength and ductility or for their electrical conduc...

Moussorgsky, Modest Petrovich

(Encyclopedia)Moussorgsky, Modest Petrovich mədyĕstˈ pĕtrôˈvĭch mo͞osôrgˈskē [key], 1839–81, Russian composer. His name is also transliterated as Mussorgsky and Musorgsky. He was one of the first to pr...

Baker, Ella Josephine

(Encyclopedia)Baker, Ella Josephine, 1903–1986, U.S. civil rights activist, b. Norfolk, Va. Ella Baker was an activist and organizer whose b...

party, political

(Encyclopedia)party, political, organization whose aim is to gain control of the government apparatus, usually through the election of its candidates to public office. Political parties take many forms, but their m...

autism

(Encyclopedia)autism ôˈtĭzəm [key], developmental disability resulting from a neurological disorder that affects the normal functioning of the brain. It is characterized by the abnormal development of communica...

caisson

(Encyclopedia)caisson kāˈsən, –sŏn [key] [Fr.,=big box], in engineering, a chamber, usually of steel but sometimes of wood or reinforced concrete, used in the construction of foundations or piers in or near a...

airport

(Encyclopedia)airport or airfield, place for landing and departure of aircraft, usually with facilities for housing and maintaining planes and for receiving and discharging passengers and cargo. There are about 16,...

computer program

(Encyclopedia)computer program, a series of instructions that a computer can interpret and execute; programs are also called software to distinguish them from hardware, the physical equipment used in data processin...

Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, marquis de

(Encyclopedia)Lafayette, or La Fayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, marquis de märēˈ zhôzĕfˈ pôl ēv rôk zhēlbĕrˈ dü môtyāˈ märkēˈ də läfāĕtˈ [key], 1757–1834, French gen...