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oriel

(Encyclopedia)oriel ôrˈēəl [key], projecting or bay window in an upper story, supported on brackets, corbels, or an engaged column, usually polygonal or curved in plan. It is most characteristic of the late med...

Pannini, Giovanni Paolo

(Encyclopedia)Pannini or Panini, Giovanni Paolo jōvänˈnē päˈōlō pänēnˈnē, pänēˈnē [key], 1691–1765, Italian painter. Pannini abandoned the study of architecture for painting, becoming famed for hi...

Fracastoro, Girolamo

(Encyclopedia)Fracastoro, Girolamo jērôˈlämō fräkästôˈrō [key], 1483–1553, Italian physician and poet. He was born in Verona, where he practiced after studying at Padua. He studied epidemic diseases and...

hunchback

(Encyclopedia)hunchback, abnormal outward curvature of the spine in the thoracic region. It is also known as kyphosis and humpback, and in its severe form a noticeable hump is evident on the back. Hunchback may be ...

handball, team

(Encyclopedia)handball, team, or field handball, team court game. Despite its status as an Olympic sport, the game is virtually unknown in the United States. Originated in central Europe in the early 1900s as an ou...

bayou

(Encyclopedia)bayou bīˈō, bīˈo͞o [key] [Louisiana Fr.; from Choctaw bayuk=small stream], term used mainly in U.S. Gulf states, especially Louisiana and Mississippi, to describe a stationary or sluggishly movi...

cam, mechanical device

(Encyclopedia)cam, mechanical device for converting a rotating motion into a reciprocating, or back-and-forth, motion, or for changing a simple motion into a complex one. A simple form of cam is a circular disk set...

canker

(Encyclopedia)canker, small sore on the inside of the mouth. A canker appears as a shallow, whitish ulcer surrounded by a thin, red area. It is tender, sometimes painful, and may occur singly or as one of a group o...

bolero

(Encyclopedia)bolero bəlârˈō [key], national dance of Spain, introduced c.1780 by Sebastian Zerezo, or Cerezo. Of Moroccan origin, it resembles the fandango. It is in 2–4 or 3–4 time for solo or duo dancing...

bowlegs

(Encyclopedia)bowlegs (genu varum), outward curvature of the leg bone (tibia) or thighbone (femur) causing the knees to separate when the feet are placed together. When the condition is severe enough to be consider...