Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Amenhotep III

(Encyclopedia)Amenhotep III ăˌmĕnōˈfĭs [key], d. c.1372 b.c., king of ancient Egypt, of the XVIII dynasty. He succeeded his father, Thutmose IV, c.1411 b.c. His reign marks the culmination and the start of th...

firearm

(Encyclopedia)firearm, device consisting essentially of a straight tube to propel shot, shell, or bullets by the explosion of gunpowder. Although the Chinese discovered gunpowder as early as the 9th cent., they did...

Basil the Great, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Basil the Great, Saint băˈzĭl, bāˈ– [key], c.330–379, Greek prelate, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Doctor of the Church and one of the Four Fathers of the Greek Church. He was a brother o...

prime minister

(Encyclopedia)prime minister or premier, chief member of the cabinet in a parliamentary system of government. The prime minister is head of the government, in contrast with the head of state, who may be a constitut...

St. Clair, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)St. Clair, Arthur, 1734–1818, American general, b. Thurso, Scotland. He left the Univ. of Edinburgh to become (1757) an ensign in the British army and served in the French and Indian War at Louisbur...

Bar, Confederation of

(Encyclopedia)Bar, Confederation of, union formed in 1768 at Bar, in Podolia (now in W Ukraine), by a number of Polish nobles to oppose the interference of Catherine II of Russia in Polish affairs. Headed by the Pu...

Rachmaninoff, Sergei Vasilyevich

(Encyclopedia)Rachmaninoff, Sergei Vasilyevich syĭrgāˈ vəsēˈlyĭvĭch räkhmäˈnēnôf [key], 1873–1943, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor. He became known as one of the greatest pianists of his gen...

paranoia

(Encyclopedia)paranoia prˌənoiˈə [key], in psychology, a term denoting persistent, unalterable, systematized, logically reasoned delusions, or false beliefs, usually of persecution or grandeur. In the former ca...

Yehoshua, A. B.

(Encyclopedia)Yehoshua, A. B. (Abraham, or Avraham, “Bulli” Yehoshua), 1936–, Israeli writer.He has taught at several schools, and since 1967 has lived in Haifa, where he teaches at the city's university. One...

terbium

(Encyclopedia)terbium tûrˈbēəm [key] [from Ytterby, a village in Sweden], metallic chemical element; symbol Tb; at. no. 65; at. wt. 158.92535; m.p. 1,356℃; b.p. 3,123℃; sp. gr. about 8.25; valence +3 or +4....