Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

ocher

(Encyclopedia)ocher ōˈkər [key], mixture of varying proportions of iron oxide and clay, used as a pigment. It occurs naturally as yellow ocher (yellow or yellow-brown in color), the iron oxide being limonite, or...

Phaeophyta

(Encyclopedia)Phaeophyta fēŏfˈətə [key], phylum (division) of the kingdom Protista consisting of those organisms commonly called brown algae. Many of the world's familiar seaweeds are members of Phaeophyta. Th...

Ahad Ha-am

(Encyclopedia)Ahad Ha-am äkhädˈ hä-äm [key] [Heb.,=One of the People], 1856–1927, Jewish thinker and Zionist leader, b. Ukraine. Originally named Asher Ginzberg, he adopted his pen name when he published his...

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kans.

(Encyclopedia)Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kans., case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954. Linda Brown was denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka because she was black. When, com...

botanical garden

(Encyclopedia)botanical garden, public place in which plants are grown both for display and for scientific study. An arboretum is a botanical garden devoted chiefly to the growing of woody plants. The plants in bot...

Greenfield

(Encyclopedia)Greenfield <1> City (2020 pop. 18,937), Monterey co., SW Calif.; inc. 1947. Thirty-three miles SE of Salinas, the town was originally founded in 1...

Hughes, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Hughes, Thomas, 1822–96, English author. A lawyer, Hughes eventually became a judge; he was also a Liberal member of Parliament and worked assiduously for social reforms. His novel of school life, T...

limonite

(Encyclopedia)limonite hĕmˈətīt, hēˈ– [key], yellowish to dark brown mineral, a hydrated oxide of iron, FeO(OH)·nH2O, occurring commonly in deposits of secondary origin, i.e., those formed by the alteratio...

Brussels griffon

(Encyclopedia)Brussels griffon, breed of sturdy toy dog developed in Belgium in the 18th and 19th cent. It stands about 8 in. (20.3 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 6 to 12 lb (2.7–5.5 kg). There are two ...

Adrogué

(Encyclopedia)Adrogué älmēränˈtā [key], city, Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It was settled in 1873 by families fleeing a yellow fever epidemic in the city of Buenos Aires. It w...