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aneurysm

(Encyclopedia)aneurysm ănˈyo͝orĭzəm [key], localized dilatation of a blood vessel, particularly an artery, or the heart. Dilatation of an artery, and therefore weakness of that portion of the arterial wall, ma...

Hariri, Rafik

(Encyclopedia)Hariri, Rafik or Rafiq räfēkˈ härēˈrē [key], 1944–2005, Lebanese tycoon and political leader, b. Sidon. The son of a poor Sunni Muslim farmer, he moved to Saudi Arabia in 1965. After teaching...

heating

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Typical warm-air heating system heating, means of making a building comfortably warm relative to a colder outside temperature. Old, primitive methods of heating a building or a room within it ...

Stanislaus I

(Encyclopedia)Stanislaus I, 1677–1766, king of Poland (1704–1709, 1733–35) and duke of Lorraine (1735–66). He was born Stanislaus Leszczynski. Early in the Northern War (1700–1721), Charles XII of Sweden ...

life

(Encyclopedia)life, although there is no universal agreement as to a definition of life, its biological manifestations are generally considered to be organization, metabolism, growth, irritability, adaptation, and ...

mercury, chemical element

(Encyclopedia)mercury or quicksilver [from the Roman god Mercury], metallic chemical element; symbol Hg [Lat. hydrargyrum=liquid silver]; at. no. 80; at. wt. 200.59; m.p. −38.842℃; b.p. 356.58℃; sp. gr. 13.55...

potassium

(Encyclopedia)potassium pətăsˈēəm [key], a metallic chemical element; symbol K [Lat. kalium=alkali]; at. no. 19; at. wt. 39.0983; m.p. 63.25℃; b.p. 760℃; sp. gr. .862 at 20℃; valence +1. Potassium is a s...

ocean

(Encyclopedia)ocean, interconnected mass of saltwater covering 70.78% of the surface of the earth, often called the world ocean. It is subdivided into four (or five) major units that are separated from each other i...

Meiji restoration

(Encyclopedia)Meiji restoration, The term refers to both the events of 1868 that led to the “restoration” of power to the emperor and the entire period of revolutionary changes that coincided with the Meiji emp...

Safavid

(Encyclopedia)Safavid säfäˈwēd [key], Iranian dynasty (1499–1736), that established Shiite Islam in Iran as an official state religion. The Safavid state provided both the territorial and societal foundations...