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hornpipe

(Encyclopedia)hornpipe, English folk dance known since the 16th cent., when it obtained its name from the wind instrument that accompanied it. The hornpipes of the 17th and 18th cent. have moderate 3–2 time and 4...

Wadai

(Encyclopedia)Wadai wädīˈ [key], former sultanate, N Chad, E of Lake Chad. Founded in the 16th cent., it was from time to time loosely subject to Darfur. Toward the end of the 19th cent., Wadai came under the in...

clepsydra

(Encyclopedia)clepsydra klĕpˈsĭdrə [key] or water clock, ancient device for measuring time by means of the flow of water from a container. A simple form of clepsydra was an earthenware vessel with a small openi...

anomalistic year

(Encyclopedia)anomalistic year ənŏmˌəlĭsˈtĭk [key], time required for the earth to go from the perihelion point once around the sun and back to the perihelion point. It is 365 days, 6 hr, 13 min, 53.0 sec of...

linguistics

(Encyclopedia)linguistics, scientific study of language, covering the structure (morphology and syntax; see grammar), sounds (phonology), and meaning (semantics), as well as the history of the relations of language...

Vatel, François

(Encyclopedia)Vatel, François fräNswäˈ vätĕlˈ [key], fl. 17th cent., French chef, famous in the time of Louis XIV. Mme Marie de Sévigné, in her letters, speaks of him as the chef of the prince of Condé an...

uniformitarianism

(Encyclopedia)uniformitarianism, in geology, doctrine holding that changes in the earth's surface that occurred in past geologic time are referable to the same causes as changes now being produced upon the earth's ...

hedging

(Encyclopedia)hedging, in commerce, method by which traders use two counterbalancing investment strategies so as to minimize any losses caused by price fluctuations. It is generally used by traders on the commoditi...

Schweitzer, Albert

(Encyclopedia)Schweitzer, Albert älˈbĕrt shvīˈtsər [key], 1875–1965, Alsatian theologian, musician, and medical missionary. Determined to become a medical missionary, he obtained a doctorate in medicine at ...

party, political

(Encyclopedia)party, political, organization whose aim is to gain control of the government apparatus, usually through the election of its candidates to public office. Political parties take many forms, but their m...