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chlorophyll

(Encyclopedia)CE5 chlorophyll klôrˈəfĭlˌ [key], green pigment that gives most plants their color and enables them to carry on the process of photosynthesis. Chemically, chlorophyll has several similar forms...

blackbird

(Encyclopedia)blackbird, common name in North America of a perching bird allied to the bobolink, the meadow lark, the oriole, and the grackle and belonging to the family Icteridae. The European blackbird, Turdus me...

Mabinogion

(Encyclopedia)Mabinogion măbĭnōˈgēən [key], title given to a collection of medieval Welsh stories. Scholars differ as to the meaning of the word mabinogion: some think it to be the plural of the Welsh word ma...

mastiff

(Encyclopedia)mastiff măsˈtĭf [key], breed of very large, powerful working dog developed in England more than 2,000 years ago. It stands from 27 to 33 in. (68.6–83.8 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 16...

Sequoyah

(Encyclopedia)Sequoyah sĭkwoiˈə [key], c.1766–1843, Native North American leader, creator of the Cherokee syllabary, b. Loudon co., Tenn. Although many historians believe that he was the son of a Cherokee woma...

pangolin

(Encyclopedia)pangolin păng-gōˈlĭn [key], armored, toothless mammal of tropical Asia and Africa. Pangolins range in length from 3 to 6 ft (90–180 cm) including the long, broad tail. Their snouts are narrow an...

Nazca

(Encyclopedia)Nazca or Nasca both: näsˈkä [key], ancient culture of the Nazca, Pisco, and Ica river valleys on the desert coast of S Peru. Flourishing during the first millennium a.d., the Nazca culture seems to...

tektite

(Encyclopedia)tektite tĕktīt [key], naturally occurring, silica-rich (65%–80% SiO2) glass resembling obsidian and sometimes shale, and is normally jet black to olive green. They appear as small rounded or elong...

Atchafalaya

(Encyclopedia)Atchafalaya əchăˈfəlīˌə [key], navigable river, c.170 mi (270 km) long, S central La. The Atchafalaya meanders south, in a former channel of the Mississippi, to the Gulf of Mexico. A distributa...

Kawasaki, Tomisaku

(Encyclopedia)Kawasaki, Tomisaku, 1925–2020, Japanese pediatrician. He joined (1950–90) what is now the Japanese Red Cross Medical Center, Tokyo, and became director of pediatrics there in 1973. In 1961 he enco...