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Johnson, Denis

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Denis, 1949–2017, American writer, b. Munich, Germany, where his father was a diplomat; B.A. Univ. of Iowa, 1971, M.F.A. Iowa Writers' Workshop, 1974. Years of drinking and taking drugs end...

Ibn Gabirol, Solomon ben Judah

(Encyclopedia)Ibn Gabirol, Solomon ben Judah ĭˈbən gäbēˈrôl [key], c.1021–1058, Jewish poet and philosopher, known also as Avicebron, b. Malaga. His secular poetry deals partly with nature and love, but mo...

shell

(Encyclopedia)shell, in zoology, hard outer covering secreted by an animal for protection. It is also called the test, crust, or carapace. The term usually refers to the calcareous shells of the many species of mol...

Rosh ha-Shanah

(Encyclopedia)Rosh ha-Shanah hə-shäˈnə [key] [Heb.,=head of the year], the Jewish New Year, also known as the Feast of the Trumpets. It is observed on the first day of the seventh month, Tishri, occurring usual...

tarots

(Encyclopedia)tarots târˈōz [key], playing cards that are used mainly for fortunetelling, sometimes called “the book of divination of the Gypsies.” It is generally believed that the cards were introduced int...

Sark

(Encyclopedia)Sark, Fr. Sercq (sĕrk), island (1991 pop. 575), 2 sq mi (5 sq km), in the English Channel, E of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands. It is divided into Great Sark and Little Sark, which are connecte...

Baha Ullah

(Encyclopedia)Baha Ullah or Baha Allah bähäˈ o͝olˈä [key] [Arab.,=glory of God], 1817–92, Persian religious leader originally named Mirza Husayn Ali Nuri. One of the first disciples of the Bab (see Babism),...

Wirt, William

(Encyclopedia)Wirt, William wûrt [key], 1772–1834, U.S. Attorney General and author, b. Bladensburg, Md. He had little formal schooling but was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1792. His first book was an anonymo...

Arod

(Encyclopedia)Arod āˈrŏd [key], in the Bible, son of Gad. Num. 26.17. He is the Arodi who appears in the Book of Genesis. ...

Gospel

(Encyclopedia)Gospel [M.E.,=good news; evangel from Gr.,= good news], a written account of the life of Jesus. Though the Gospels of the New Testament are all anonymous, since the 2d cent. they have been named Matth...