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counterpoint

(Encyclopedia)counterpoint, in music, the art of combining melodies each of which is independent though forming part of a homogeneous texture. The term derives from the Latin for “point against point,” meaning ...

Smollett, Tobias George

(Encyclopedia)Smollett, Tobias George smŏlˈĭt [key], 1721–71, Scottish novelist. After studying at Glasgow he came to London in 1739. Failing to get his tragedy The Regicide produced, he shipped as a surgeon's...

Schwarzenegger, Arnold Alois

(Encyclopedia)Schwarzenegger, Arnold Alois, 1947–, Austrian-American actor, bodybuilder, and politician, b. Thal, Austria. He began competing in bodybuilding contests in his teens, and won his first of five Mr. U...

Rush, Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Rush, Benjamin, 1745?–1813, American physician, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Byberry (now part of Philadelphia), Pa., grad. College of New Jersey (now Princeton, 1760), M.D. Univ. o...

Tyndale, William

(Encyclopedia)Tyndale, Tindal, or Tindale, William all: tĭnˈdəl [key], c.1494–1536, English biblical translator (see Bible) and Protestant martyr. He was probably ordained shortly before entering (c.1521) the ...

Belasco, David

(Encyclopedia)Belasco, David bəlăsˈkō [key], 1853–1931, American theatrical manager and producer, b. San Francisco. He was actively connected with the theater from his youth, and while associated with Dion Bo...

Oliveros, Pauline

(Encyclopedia)Oliveros, Pauline, 1932–2016, American composer and musician, b. Houston, Tex., studied Univ. of Houston, San Francisco State College (B.A., 1957). She began playing the accordion as a child, and it...

Valdivia, Pedro de

(Encyclopedia)Valdivia, Pedro de pāˈdhrō dā väldēˈvyä [key], c.1500–1554, Spanish conquistador, conqueror of Chile. One of Francisco Pizarro's best officers in the conquest of Peru, educated, energetic, s...

boycott

(Encyclopedia)boycott, concerted economic or social ostracism of an individual, group, or nation to express disapproval or coerce change. The practice was named (1880) after Capt. Charles Cunningham Boycott, an Eng...

Sophists

(Encyclopedia)Sophists sŏfˈĭsts [key], originally, itinerant teachers in Greece (5th cent. b.c.) who provided education through lectures and in return received fees from their audiences. The term was given as a ...