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Adam de la Halle

(Encyclopedia)Adam de la Halle lə bōsüˈ [key], c.1240–1287, French dramatist and poet-musician, one of the great trouvères. Many of his songs and polyphonic motets are preserved, as is the pastoral comedy wi...

Sunni

(Encyclopedia)Sunni so͞oˈnī [key] [Arab. Sunna,=tradition], from ahl al-sunnah wa-l-jamaa [Arab.,=the people of the custom of the Prophet and community], the largest division of Islam. Sunni Islam is the heir to...

United Arab Emirates

(Encyclopedia)CE5 United Arab Emirates, federation of sheikhdoms (2015 est. pop. 5,780,000), c.30,000 sq mi (77,700 sq km), SE Arabia, on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The federation, commonly known as ...

Algardi, Alessandro

(Encyclopedia)Algardi, Alessandro älās-sänˈdrō älgärˈdē [key], 1595–1654, Italian sculptor and designer, b. Bologna. He studied under Lodovico Carracci. In Rome his friend Domenichino obtained his first ...

alkali

(Encyclopedia)alkali ălˈkəlī [key] [Arab., al-gili=ashes of saltwort], hydroxide of an alkali metal. Alkalies are readily soluble in water and form strongly basic solutions with a characteristic acrid taste. Th...

Ctesiphon

(Encyclopedia)Ctesiphon tĕsˈĭfŏnˌ, tēˈsĭ– [key], ruined ancient city, 20 mi (32 km) SE of Baghdad, Iraq, on the left bank of the Tigris opposite Seleucia and at the mouth of the Diyala River. After 129 b....

Daddi, Bernardo

(Encyclopedia)Daddi, Bernardo bārnärˈdō dädˈdē [key], fl. 1312–48, Italian painter of the Florentine school. First influenced by his contemporary Giotto, he soon adopted the delicate line and lyrical expre...

greenhouse

(Encyclopedia)greenhouse, enclosed glass house used for growing plants in regulated temperatures, humidity, and ventilation. A greenhouse can range from a small room carrying a few plants over the winter, to an imm...

Fornés, María Irene

(Encyclopedia)Fornés, María Irene, 1930–2018, Cuban-American playwright and director; she emigrated from Cuba with her family after her father's death in 1945. An early experimental work, Promenade (1965), a mu...

Miller, Joaquin

(Encyclopedia)Miller, Joaquin wäkēnˈ [key], pseud. of Cincinnatus Heine (or Hiner) Miller, 1839?–1913, American poet, b. Liberty, Ind. In 1852 his family moved to frontier Oregon. He lived in gold-mining camps...