Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

136 results found

dream

(Encyclopedia)dream, mental activity associated with the rapid-eye-movement (REM) period of sleep. It is commonly made up of a number of visual images, scenes or thoughts expressed in terms of seeing rather than in...

Hoffmann, Ernst Theodor Amadeus

(Encyclopedia)Hoffmann, Ernst Theodor Amadeus ĕrnst tāˈōdōr ämädāˈo͝os hôfˈmän [key], 1776–1822, German romantic novelist and composer, a lawyer. At one time an opera composer and musical director at...

Kern, Jerome

(Encyclopedia)Kern, Jerome kûrn [key], 1885–1945, American composer of musicals, b. New York City. After studying in New Jersey and New York he studied composition in Germany and England. His first success was t...

Seuss, Dr.

(Encyclopedia)Seuss, Dr., pseud. of Theodor Seuss Geisel, 1904–91, American author and illustrator of children's books, b. Springfield, Mass, grad. Dartmouth College, studied Lincoln College, Oxford. After workin...

Kneller, Sir Godfrey

(Encyclopedia)Kneller, Sir Godfrey gôtˈfrēt fən knĭlˈər [key], 1646–1723, English portrait painter, b. Germany. After study in Amsterdam, Rome, and Venice, he settled in England in 1675, achieving success ...

Taylor, Elizabeth, Anglo-American film actress

(Encyclopedia)Taylor, Elizabeth, 1932–2011, Anglo-American film actress, b. London. Regarded as one of the world's most beautiful women, Taylor went from child star and typical teenager roles to a series of ladyl...

Searle, Ronald William Fordham

(Encyclopedia)Searle, Ronald William Fordham, 1920–2011, British cartoonist, b. Cambridge. He joined the army as World War II broke out, was captured (1942) by the Japanese at Singapore, and was in the forced lab...

proverb

(Encyclopedia)proverb, short statement of wisdom or advice that has passed into general use. More homely than aphorisms, proverbs generally refer to common experience and are often expressed in metaphor, alliterati...

lion

(Encyclopedia)lion, large carnivore of the cat family, Panthera leo, found in open country in Africa, with a few surviving in India. Lions have short-haired coats of tawny brown, with the tail ending in a dark tuft...

Brahman cattle

(Encyclopedia)Brahman cattle, breed of beef cattle developed in the S United States in the early 1900s by combining several breeds or strains of zebu cattle of India. Brahman cattle have a very distinctive appearan...