Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Theresa, Saint (Theresa of Lisieux)

(Encyclopedia)Theresa or Thérèse, Saint (Theresa of Lisieux), 1873–97, French Carmelite nun, one of the most widely loved saints of the Roman Catholic Church, b. Alençon. Her original name was Marie-Françoise...

Simon Magus

(Encyclopedia)Simon Magus māˈgəs [key], Samaritan sorcerer who attempted to buy spiritual power from the apostles. From this comes the term simony. He is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. He was said to hav...

Philoctetes

(Encyclopedia)Philoctetes fĭlŏktēˈtēz [key], in Greek mythology, son of Poias. He acquired, by gift, the bow and arrow of Hercules by lighting the pyre on which the hero was consumed alive. On his way to the T...

Mark, Gospel according to

(Encyclopedia)Mark, Gospel according to, 2d book of the New Testament. The shortest of the four Gospels and probably the earliest, it is usually thought to have been composed shortly before the destruction of the T...

Pearlstein, Philip

(Encyclopedia)Pearlstein, Philip, 1924–, American painter, b. Pittsburgh. He paints monumental nude figures directly from life with a verisimilitude that captures sagging and sallow flesh, works that recall photo...

handball, team

(Encyclopedia)handball, team, or field handball, team court game. Despite its status as an Olympic sport, the game is virtually unknown in the United States. Originated in central Europe in the early 1900s as an ou...

Dreyer, Carl Theodor

(Encyclopedia)Dreyer, Carl Theodor kärl tāˈōdôrˌ drīˈər [key], 1889–1968, Danish motion picture director. He began making films in Denmark in 1919. His Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), widely regarded as a...

Suffolk, Charles Brandon, 1st duke of

(Encyclopedia)Suffolk, Charles Brandon, 1st duke of sŭfˈək [key], d. 1545, English nobleman. A member of the court of Henry VIII, he received many preferments. He was created (1513) Viscount Lisle on his betroth...

Louis XIII, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Louis XIII, 1601–43, king of France (1610–43). He succeeded his father, Henry IV, under the regency of his mother, Marie de' Medici. He married Anne of Austria in 1615. Even after being declared o...

energy, sources of

(Encyclopedia)energy, sources of, origins of the power used for transportation, for heat and light in dwelling and working areas, and for the manufacture of goods of all kinds, among other applications. The develop...

Browse by Subject