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Montferrat

(Encyclopedia)Montferrat mŏntfərătˈ, –rätˈ [key], Ital. Monferrato, historic region of Piedmont, NW Italy, south of the Po River, now mostly in Alessandria prov. It is largely hilly, and wine, fruit, and ce...

Opus Dei

(Encyclopedia)Opus Dei ōˈpəs dāˈē [key] [Lat.,=work of God], Roman Catholic organization, particularly influential in Spain, officially the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei. Opus Dei was founded in 19...

Channel Islands, California

(Encyclopedia)Channel Islands or Santa Barbara Islands sănˈtə bärˈbrə, –bərə [key], chain of eight rugged islands and many islets, extending c.150 mi (240 km) along the S Calif. coast from Point Conceptio...

Oviedo

(Encyclopedia)Oviedo ōvyāˈᵺō [key], city (1990 pop. 194,637), capital of Asturias and of the coextensive Oviedo prov., NW Spain, near the mining district of the Cantabrian Mts. Oviedo has long been one of the...

titles

(Encyclopedia)CE5 titles, terms used to designate degrees of sovereignty, nobility, and honor. In the Muslim world the temporal successors of Muhammad received the title caliph (literally, “successor”). ...

functional group

(Encyclopedia)CE5 functional group, in organic chemistry, group of atoms within a molecule that is responsible for certain properties of the molecule and reactions in which it takes part. Organic compounds are f...

Cambrai

(Encyclopedia)Cambrai käNbrāˈ [key], city, Nord dept., N France, a port on the Escaut (Scheldt) River. I...

Quadruple Alliance

(Encyclopedia)Quadruple Alliance, any of several European alliances. The Quadruple Alliance of 1718 was formed by Great Britain, France, the Holy Roman emperor, and the Netherlands when Philip V of Spain, guided by...

Río Tinto

(Encyclopedia)Río Tinto, Ríotinto mēˈnäs dā [key], town (1990 pop. 5,934), Huelva prov., SW Spain, in the Sierra Morena Mts., in Andalusia. It is the center of the Río Tinto mining region, named for the riv...

occultation

(Encyclopedia)occultation ŏkˌəltāˈshən [key], in astronomy, eclipse of one celestial body by another, e.g., when the moon lies between a star and the earth. Occultations of stars by the moon are important in ...