Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

431 results found

Pinzón, Martín Alonso

(Encyclopedia)Pinzón, Martín Alonso märtēnˈ älōnˈsō pēnthōnˈ [key] d.1493, Spanish navigator. The commander of the Pinta on Columbus's first voyage to the New World in 1492, he was already an experience...

Rivera, Fructuoso

(Encyclopedia)Rivera, Fructuoso rēvāˈrä [key], 1790?–1854, first president of Uruguay (1830–34, 1839–42). After serving with Artigas, he was one of the Thirty-three Immortals who raised the standard of i...

dogfish

(Encyclopedia)dogfish, name for a number of small sharks of several different families. Best known are the spiny dogfishes (family Squalidae) and the smooth dogfishes (family Triakidae). Spiny dogfishes have two sp...

Group of Seven

(Encyclopedia)Group of Seven (G7), international organization officially established in 1985 to facilitate economic and commercial cooperation among the world's largest industrial nations, including efforts to aid ...

mica

(Encyclopedia)mica mīˈkə [key], general term for a large group of minerals, hydrous silicates of aluminum and potassium, often containing magnesium, ferrous iron, ferric iron, sodium, and lithium and more rarely...

Pombal, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, marquês de

(Encyclopedia)Pombal, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, marquês de səbəstyouNˈ zho͝ozĕˈ dĭ kərväˈlyō ē mĕˈlo͝o märkāsˈ dĭ po͝ombälˈ [key], 1699–1782, Portuguese statesman. After studying...

voodoo

(Encyclopedia)voodoo vo͞oˈdo͞o [key] [from the god Vodun], native W African religious beliefs and practices that also has adherents in the New World. Voodoo believers are most numerous in Haiti, where voodoo was...

caudillo

(Encyclopedia)caudillo kôdēlˈyō Span. kouᵺēˈyō [key], [Span.,= military strongman], type of South American political leader that arose with the 19th-century wars of independence. The first caudillos were o...

tantalum

(Encyclopedia)tantalum tănˈtələm [key] [from Tantalus], metallic chemical element; symbol Ta; at. no. 73; at. wt. 180.94788; m.p. 2,996℃; b.p. 5,400±100℃; sp. gr. 16.65 at 20℃; valence +2, +3, +4, or +5....

sage

(Encyclopedia)sage, any species of the large genus Salvia, aromatic herbs or shrubs of the family Labiatae (mint family). The common sage of herb gardens is S. officinalis, a strongly scented shrubby perennial, nat...