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court tennis

(Encyclopedia)court tennis, indoor racket and net game of ancient origin. It is believed to have originated (about the 14th cent.) in medieval France and is the forerunner of most modern racket games. In its early ...

Portobelo

(Encyclopedia)Portobelo, Porto Bello pwārˈtō bāˈyō [key], town, central Panama, on the Caribbean Sea. The site, an excellent harbor, was visited by Columbus. The town was founded in 1597. A thriving colonial...

banner system

(Encyclopedia)banner system, Manchu conscription system. Companies of Manchu warriors were grouped (1601) into brigades, each with a distinctive banner. The banner system integrated former tribal units into a burea...

Nevers

(Encyclopedia)Nevers nəvĕrˈ [key], city (1991 pop. 43,889), capital of Nièvre dept., central France, on the Loire and Nièvre rivers. It is noted for its pottery and china industries. Other manufactures include...

Saint-Étienne

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Étienne săNtātyĕnˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 201,569), capital of Loire dept., SE France, in the Massif Central. The metropolitan region occupies much of what was once a major coal-mining and ...

Trujillo , city, Peru

(Encyclopedia)Trujillo tro͞ohēˈyō [key], city (1993 pop. 256,744), capital of La Libertad dept., NW Peru, in a fertile oasis of the coastal desert. A thriving commercial and industrial center, Trujillo processe...

Rabat

(Encyclopedia)Rabat räbätˈ [key], city (1994 pop. 787,745), capital of Morocco, on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Bou Regreg estuary, opposite Salé. Silting problems have diminished the city's role as a...

Reggio nell' Emilia

(Encyclopedia)Reggio nell' Emilia nĕlˌāmēˈlyä [key], city (1991 pop. 132,030), capital of Reggio nell' Emilia prov., in Emilia-Romagna, N central Italy, on the Aemilian Way. It is an agricultural and major in...

parabola

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Parabola parabola pərăbˈələ [key], plane curve consisting of all points equidistant from a given fixed point (focus) and a given fixed line (directrix) (see illustration). It is the conic...

Swansea, city and county, Wales

(Encyclopedia)Swansea swŏnˈzē, –sē [key], Welsh Abertawe, city (1981 pop. 172,433) and county, 146 sq mi (378 sq km), S Wales. Located on Swansea Bay at the mouth of the Tawe River, the city of Swansea is a m...