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will, in law

(Encyclopedia)will, in law, document expressing the wishes of a person (known as a testator) concerning the disposition of her property after her death. If a person dies intestate, i.e., without a valid will, statu...

valerian, in botany

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Valerian, Valeriana officinalis valerian, common name for some members of the Valerianaceae, a family chiefly of herbs and shrubs of temperate and colder regions of the Northern Hemisphere; a ...

value, in colorimetry

(Encyclopedia)value, in colorimetry: see color.

value, in economics

(Encyclopedia)value, in economics, worth of a commodity in terms of other commodities, or in terms of money (see price). Value depends on both desirability and scarcity. The marginal theory of value, pioneered in t...

variation, in biology

(Encyclopedia)variation, in biology: see Darwinism. ...

variation, in music

(Encyclopedia)variation, in music, a compositional device in which certain features of a musical unit, e.g., phase, are altered while others are retained in a subsequent statement of the unit. Modifications include...

bellflower, in botany

(Encyclopedia)bellflower or bluebell, name commonly used as a comprehensive term for members of the Campanulaceae, a family of chiefly herbaceous annuals or perennials of wide distribution, characteristically found...

Venus, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Venus, in astronomy, 2d planet from the sun; it is often called the evening star or morning star and is brighter than any object in the sky except the sun and the moon. Because its orbit lies between ...

veronica, in botany

(Encyclopedia)veronica, in botany: see figwort. ...

Vulcan, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Vulcan, in astronomy, hypothetical planet whose existence was proposed by Le Verrier to explain part of the advance of the perihelion of Mercury, not all of which could be accounted for by gravitation...