Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

alyssum

(Encyclopedia)alyssum əlĭsˈəm [key], any species of the genus Alyssum of the family Cruciferae (or Brassicaceae; mustard family), annual and perennial herbs native to the Mediterranean area. A few species, nota...

Boise, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Boise boiˈsē, –zē [key], city (2020 pop. 235,684), state capital...

dipper

(Encyclopedia)dipper, common name for the only aquatic member of the order Perciformes (perching birds) found near cold mountain streams. With their short, stubby wings and tails and their thick brownish plumage, d...

weathering

(Encyclopedia)weathering, collective term for the processes by which rock at or near the earth's surface is disintegrated and decomposed by the action of atmospheric agents, water, and living things. Some of these ...

Taft, Lorado

(Encyclopedia)Taft, Lorado lərāˈdō [key], 1860–1936, American sculptor, lecturer, and writer on art, b. Elmwood, Ill., studied at the École des Beaux-Arts. In 1886 he became instructor at the Art Institute o...

schooner

(Encyclopedia)schooner sko͞oˈnər [key], sailing vessel, rigged fore-and-aft, with from two to seven masts. Schooners can lie closer to the wind than square-rigged sailing ships, need a smaller crew, and are very...

gesneria

(Encyclopedia)gesneria gĕsnĭrˈēə [key], common name for some members of the Gesneriaceae, a family of chiefly tropical and subtropical perennial herbs and shrubs with showy blossoms. The best-known members of ...

Feld, Eliot

(Encyclopedia)Feld, Eliot, 1942–, American dancer and choreographer, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. As a teenager he danced in musicals, notably West Side Story on Broadway and film, and on television. While a dancer (1963–...

Edgerton, Harold

(Encyclopedia)Edgerton, Harold, 1903–90, American inventor and educator, b. Fremont, Nebr. He was educated at the Univ. of Nebraska and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (D.Sc., 1931), and taught at the l...

Albert I, king of the Belgians

(Encyclopedia)Albert I, 1875–1934, king of the Belgians (1909–34), nephew and successor of Leopold II. He married (1900) Elizabeth, a Bavarian princess. In World War I his heroic resistance (1914) to the German...