(Encyclopedia) abbreviation, in writing, arbitrary shortening of a word, usually by cutting off letters from the end, as in U.S. and Gen. (General). Contraction serves the same purpose…
(Encyclopedia) Zorrilla y Moral, JoséZorrilla y Moral, Joséhōsāˈ thôrēˈlyä ē mōrälˈ [key], 1817–93, Spanish poet and dramatist. His works and life epitomized the brief period of Spanish romanticism.…
(Encyclopedia) Pinza, EzioPinza, Ezioātsˈyō pēnˈtsä [key], 1892–1957, Italian bass, b. Rome, studied at the Bologna Conservatory. After military service (1915–19), he resumed his operatic career in…
(Encyclopedia) Grabbe, Christian DietrichGrabbe, Christian Dietrichkrĭsˈtēän dēˈtrĭkh gräbˈə [key], 1801–36, German dramatist and journalist. Critical of “Shakespearomania,” Grabbe strove for a…
(Encyclopedia) mandolinmandolinmănˌdəlĭnˈ, mănˈdəlĭnˌ [key], musical instrument of the lute family, with a half-pear-shaped body, a fretted neck, and a variable number of strings, plucked with the…
(Encyclopedia) Kerr, Jean Collins, 1923–2003, American comic author and playwright, b. Scranton, Pa., wife of Walter Kerr. Kerr had a knack for finding wry humor in the worlds of marriage, suburbia,…
(Encyclopedia) Kulikovo, battle ofKulikovo, battle ofk&oomacr;lyĭkôˈvə [key], 1380, victory of Grand Duke Dmitri Donskoi of Moscow over Khan Mamai of the Golden Horde. The battle was fought on a…
(Encyclopedia) Vierge, Daniel UrrabietaVierge, Daniel Urrabietadänyĕlˈ &oomacr;räbyāˈtä vyārˈhā [key], 1851–1904, Spanish illustrator. He went to Paris before 1870 and won recognition for his…
(Encyclopedia) YeletsYeletsyĭlyĕtsˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 120,000), E central Russia, on the Sosna River, a tributary of the Don. A rail junction in a black-earth agricultural district, the city…
(Encyclopedia) Otway, Thomas, 1652–85, English dramatist, educated at Winchester and at Oxford. After failing as an actor, Otway wrote his first play, Alcibiades, produced in 1675. Later plays…
