Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

solar system

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Solar system CE5 solar system, the sun and the surrounding planets, natural satellites, dwarf planets, asteroids, meteoroids, and comets that are bound by its gravity. The sun is by far the ...

Ibizan hound

(Encyclopedia)Ibizan hound ēbēˈzŏn, ĭbˈə– [key], also called Ibizan Podenco, breed of tall, swift dog of ancient origin now found chiefly in the Balearic Islands and other areas of Spain. It stands from 22...

egret

(Encyclopedia)egret ēgrĕtˈ [key], common name for several species of herons of the Old and New Worlds, belonging to the family Ardeidae. Before they were protected by law the birds were nearly exterminated by hu...

dipper

(Encyclopedia)dipper, common name for the only aquatic member of the order Perciformes (perching birds) found near cold mountain streams. With their short, stubby wings and tails and their thick brownish plumage, d...

colorization, motion picture

(Encyclopedia)colorization, motion picture, electronic process that uses computers to add color to black-and-white movies, creating new colored videotape versions. Invented by Canadians Wilson Markle and Brian Hunt...

columbine, in botany

(Encyclopedia)columbine kŏlˈəmbīn [key], any plant of the genus Aquilegia, temperate-zone perennials of the family Ranunculaceae (buttercup family), popular both as wildflowers and as garden flowers. Columbines...

Baker, Russell

(Encyclopedia)Baker, Russell, 1925–2018, American journalist, author, humorist, and television personality, b. Loudon Co., Va., grad. John Hopkins (1947). He began as a night police reporter for The Baltimore Sun...

prairie schooner

(Encyclopedia)prairie schooner, wagon covered with white canvas, made famous by its almost universal use in the migration across the Western prairies and plains, and so called in allusion to the white-topped schoon...

Ryman, Robert Tracy

(Encyclopedia)Ryman, Robert Tracy, 1930–2019, American painter, b. Nashville, Tenn. While working (1953–60) as a guard at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City he was immersed in modern and contemporary wor...

nutcracker

(Encyclopedia)nutcracker, common name for a small crow of the genus Nucifraga in the family Corvidae (crow family). The Old World nutcracker (N. caryocatactes) is found throughout the colder regions of Europe, incl...