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iceberg

(Encyclopedia)iceberg, mass of ice that has become detached, or calved, from the edge of an ice sheet or glacier and is floating on the ocean. Because ice is slightly less dense than water about one ninth of the to...

Elche

(Encyclopedia)Elche ĕlˈchā [key], Valencian Elx, city, Alicante prov., SE Spain, in Valencia. It is surr...

Dionysius Exiguus

(Encyclopedia)Dionysius Exiguus dīənĭshˈēəs ĕksĭgˈyo͞oəs [key], d. c.545, Roman monk, chronologist, and scholar, a transmitter of Greek thought to the Middle Ages. He made collections of 5th-century papa...

Dior, Christian

(Encyclopedia)Dior, Christian krēstyäNˈ dē-ôrˈ [key], 1905–57, French fashion designer. He established his main house of couture in Paris (1946) and by 1958 had salons in 15 countries employing more than 2,...

Davis, Lydia

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Lydia, 1947–, American writer known for innovative, very short stories, b. Northampton, Mass., studied Barnard College. Davis earned early praise for her translations from the French and has ...

Levitt, William Jaird

(Encyclopedia)Levitt, William Jaird lĕvˈət [key], 1907–94, American builder, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. After studying at New York Univ., he (and his brother) joined his father's construction company; it became (1929) ...

Lorenzo Monaco

(Encyclopedia)Lorenzo Monaco mōˈnäkō [key], c.1370–1425?, Italian painter, one of the leading artists in Florence at the beginning of the 15th cent. His real name was Piero di Giovanni. Born in Siena, he came...

treaty

(Encyclopedia)treaty, in international law, formal agreement between sovereign states or organizations of states. The term treaty is ordinarily confined to important formal agreements, while less formal internation...

plane

(Encyclopedia)plane, in mathematics, flat surface of infinite extent but no thickness. An example of a plane, or more exactly of a bounded portion of a plane, is the surface forming one face, or side, of a cube. A ...

Beecham, Sir Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Beecham, Sir Thomas bēˈchəm [key], 1879–1961, English conductor. Beecham was educated at Oxford but did not attend any formal music school. Early in his career as a conductor and producer, he int...