Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

confirmation

(Encyclopedia)confirmation, Christian rite in which the initiation into the church that takes place by baptism is confirmed. In the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Eastern churches, it is a sacrament by which a Christi...

Frederick IV, king of Denmark and Norway

(Encyclopedia)Frederick IV, 1671–1730, king of Denmark and Norway (1699–1730), son and successor of Christian V. He allied himself (1699) with Augustus II of Poland and Saxony and with Peter I of Russia against...

Meghalaya

(Encyclopedia)Meghalaya māˌgəlāˈyə [key], state (2001 provisional pop. 2,306,069), c.8,700 sq mi (22,530 sq km), NE India, bordered on the south by Bangladesh. The capital is Shillong. Meghalaya is in the Gar...

Philemon, epistle of the New Testament

(Encyclopedia)Philemon fĭlēˈmən [key], letter of the New Testament, written to a Colossian named Philemon by Paul, probably when the latter was a prisoner in Rome (c.a.d. 60). Onesimus, Philemon's fugitive slav...

hemophilia

(Encyclopedia)hemophilia hēˌməfĭlˈēə, –fēlˈyə [key], genetic disease in which the clotting ability of the blood is impaired and excessive bleeding results. The disease is transmitted through females but...

Erastus

(Encyclopedia)Erastus ĭrăsˈtəs [key], in the New Testament. 1 Companion of Paul. 2 Early Christian, probably the same as 1. 3 Chamberlain of Corinth. ...

Campbellites

(Encyclopedia)Campbellites: see Campbell, Alexander; Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). ...

Fernández de Córdoba, Gonzalo

(Encyclopedia)Fernández de Córdoba, Gonzalo fārnänˈdāth dā kōrˈdōbä [key], 1453–1515, Spanish general, called the Great Captain. He fought in the civil wars preceding and following the accession of Is...

Anne of Cleves

(Encyclopedia)Anne of Cleves klēvz [key], 1515–57, fourth queen consort of Henry VIII of England. The sister of William, duke of Cleves, one of the most powerful of the German Protestant princes, she was conside...

Frederick II, king of Sicily

(Encyclopedia)Frederick II, 1272–1337, king of Sicily (1296–1337), 3d son of Peter III of Aragón. When his brother, who was king of Sicily, became (1291) king of Aragón as James II, Frederick was his regent i...