Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

More, Hannah

(Encyclopedia)More, Hannah, 1745–1833, English author and social reformer. She was educated, and later taught, at her sisters' school for girls in Bristol. At the age of 22 she became engaged to William Turner, a...

atheism

(Encyclopedia)atheism āˈthē-ĭzˌəm [key], denial of the existence of God or gods and of any supernatural existence, to be distinguished from agnosticism, which holds that the existence cannot be proved. The te...

Limoges

(Encyclopedia)Limoges lēmôzhˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 136,407), capital of Haute-Vienne dept., W central France, on the Vienne River. It is famous for its ceramics industry, which uses the abundant kaolin in the ...

Abydos, ancient city of Egypt

(Encyclopedia)Abydos əbīˈdəs [key], ancient city of Egypt, c.50 mi (80 km) NW of Thebes, near modern El Balyana. Associated in religion with Osiris, Abydos became the most venerated place in Egypt. It was the f...

Kaplan, Mordecai Menahem

(Encyclopedia)Kaplan, Mordecai Menahem môrˈdĭkīˌ mənäkhˈəm kăpˈlən [key], 1881–1983, American rabbi, educator, and philosopher, b. Lithuania, grad. College of the City of New York, 1900, M.A. Columbia...

Belvedere

(Encyclopedia)Belvedere bĕlˈvədēr, Ital. bālvādĕˈrā [key], court of the Vatican named after a villa built (1485–87) for Innocent VIII. The villa was decorated with frescoes by Pinturicchio and others; a ...

Breasted, James Henry

(Encyclopedia)Breasted, James Henry brĕsˈtĭd [key], 1865–1935, American Egyptologist, b. Rockford, Ill., grad. North Central College, 1888, M.A. Yale, 1891, Ph.D. Univ. of Berlin, 1894. He began teaching at th...

bigamy

(Encyclopedia)bigamy bĭˈgəmē [key], crime of marrying during the continuance of a lawful marriage. Bigamy is not committed if a prior marriage has been terminated by a divorce or a decree of nullity of marriage...

Zuñi

(Encyclopedia)Zuñi zo͞oˈnyē, zo͞oˈnē [key], pueblo (1990 pop. 7,405), McKinley co., W N.Mex., in the Zuñi Reservation; built c.1695. Its inhabitants are Pueblo of the Zuñian linguistic family. They are a s...

Tanzimat

(Encyclopedia)Tanzimat tänˈzēmät [key], [Turk.,=reorganization], the name referring to a period of modernizing reforms instituted under the Ottoman Empire from 1839 to 1876. In 1839, under the rule of Sultan Ab...