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Romance languages

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Romance languages, group of languages belonging to the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Italic languages). Also called Romanic, they are spoken by about 670 millio...

Hebrew language

(Encyclopedia)Hebrew language, member of the Canaanite group of the West Semitic subdivision of the Semitic subfamily of the Afroasiatic family of languages (see Afroasiatic languages). Hebrew was the language of t...

Southeast Asian languages

(Encyclopedia)Southeast Asian languages, family of languages, sometimes also called Austroasiatic, spoken in SE Asia by about 80 million people. According to one school of thought, it has three subfamilies: the Mon...

international language

(Encyclopedia)international language, sometimes called universal language, a language intended to be used by people of different linguistic backgrounds to facilitate communication among them and to reduce the misun...

myasthenia gravis

(Encyclopedia)myasthenia gravis mīəsthēˈnēə gräˈvĭs [key], chronic disorder of the muscles characterized by weakness and a tendency to tire easily. It is caused by an autoimmune attack on the acetylcholine...

Quechua

(Encyclopedia)Quechua, Kechua kēchˈwä [key], linguistic family belonging to the Andean branch of the Andean-Equatorial stock of Native American languages (mainly in South America). Encompassing far more native ...

aardvark

(Encyclopedia)aardvark ärdˈvärk [key] [Du.,=ground pig], nocturnal mammal of the genus Orycteropus, sole representative of the order Tubulidentata. There are two species, one in central Africa and the other in S...

Yellowstone

(Encyclopedia)Yellowstone, river, 671 mi (1,080 km) long, rising in NW Wyo., and flowing NE through Mont. to enter the Missouri River near the N.Dak. line; it drains c.70,400 sq mi (182,340 sq km). The Yellowstone ...

Randolph, John

(Encyclopedia)Randolph, John, 1773–1833, American legislator, known as John Randolph of Roanoke, b. Prince George co., Va. He briefly studied law under his cousin Edmund Randolph. He served in the U.S. House of R...

pork

(Encyclopedia)pork, flesh of swine prepared as food, one of the principal commodities of the meatpacking industry. Pork has long been a staple food in most of the world, although religious taboos have limited its u...