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Urban VIII

(Encyclopedia)Urban VIII, 1568–1644, pope (1623–44), a Florentine named Maffeo Barberini; successor of Gregory XV. Throughout his pontificate the Thirty Years War raged in Germany. For various political reasons...

umlaut

(Encyclopedia)umlaut o͝omˈlout [key] [Ger.,=transformed sound], in inflection, variation of vowels of the type of English man to men. In this instance it is the end product of the effect of a y (long since disapp...

bassoon

(Encyclopedia)bassoon băso͞onˈ [key], double-reed woodwind instrument that plays in the bass and tenor registers. Its 8-ft (2.4-m) conical tube is bent double, the instrument thus being about 4 ft (1.2 m) high. ...

Rosbash, Michael Morris

(Encyclopedia)Rosbash, Michael Morris, 1944–, American geneticist, b. Kansas City, Mo., Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1970. Rosbash has been a professor at Brandeis Univ. since 1974, and he is also ...

pulse, in anatomy

(Encyclopedia)pulse, alternate expansion and contraction of artery walls as heart action varies blood volume within the arteries. Artery walls are elastic. Hence they become distended by increased blood volume duri...

Dawes Plan

(Encyclopedia)Dawes Plan, presented in 1924 by the committee headed (1923–24) by Charles G. Dawes to the Reparations Commission of the Allied nations. It was accepted the same year by Germany and the Allies. The ...

chinoiserie

(Encyclopedia)chinoiserie shēnwäzrēˈ [key], decorative work produced under the influence of Chinese art, applied particularly to the more fanciful and extravagant manifestations. Intimations of Eastern art reac...

fine

(Encyclopedia)fine. 1 In criminal law, sum of money exacted by a lawful tribunal as punishment for a crime. In the case of misdemeanors and minor infractions of the law, convicted persons ordinarily have the altern...

antiseptic

(Encyclopedia)antiseptic, agent that kills or inhibits the growth of microorganisms on the external surfaces of the body. Antiseptics should generally be distinguished from drugs such as antibiotics that destroy mi...

foreign exchange

(Encyclopedia)foreign exchange, methods and instruments used to adjust the payment of debts between two nations that employ different currency systems. A nation's balance of payments has an important effect on the ...