Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

431 results found

Annaba

(Encyclopedia)Annaba ăn-näbˈə [key], formerly Bône (bōn), city, capital of Annaba prov., extreme NE Algeria, a port on the Mediterranean Sea. One of the country's leading ports, t...

Frazer, Sir James George

(Encyclopedia)Frazer, Sir James George, 1854–1941, Scottish classicist and anthropologist, b. Glasgow, educated at the universities of Glasgow and Cambridge. He is known especially for his masterpiece, The Golden...

monarchianism

(Encyclopedia)monarchianism mōnärˈkēənĭzəm [key] [Gr.,=belief in the rule of one], the concept of God that maintains his sole authority even over Christ and the Holy Spirit. Its characteristic tenet, that Go...

Baeck, Leo

(Encyclopedia)Baeck, Leo lāˈō bĕk [key], 1873–1956, German rabbi and scholar. He studied at the conservative Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau and then at the liberal Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des...

Whitby, Synod of

(Encyclopedia)Whitby, Synod of, called by King Oswy of Northumbria in 663 at Whitby, England. Its purpose was to choose between the usages of the Celtic and Roman churches, primarily in the matter of reckoning the ...

Tieck, Ludwig

(Encyclopedia)Tieck, Ludwig lo͝otˈvĭtkh tēk [key], 1773–1853, German writer. In his youth he led the transition from Sturm und Drang to romanticism, writing with W. H. Wackenroder Phantasien über die Kunst (...

Shapur II

(Encyclopedia)Shapur II or Sapor II, 310–79, king of Persia (310–79), of the Sassanid, or Sassanian, dynasty. He was the posthumous son of Hormuz II and therefore was born king. His long reign was marked by gre...

Picts

(Encyclopedia)Picts, ancient inhabitants of central and N Scotland, of uncertain origin. First mentioned (a.d. 297) by the Roman writer Eumenius as northern invaders of Roman Britain, they were probably descendants...

sin, in religion

(Encyclopedia)sin, in religion, unethical act. The term implies disobedience to a personal God, as in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and is not used so often in systems such as Buddhism where there is no persona...

Edwin

(Encyclopedia)Edwin or Eadwin both: ĕdˈwĭn [key], 585?–632, king of Northumbria (616–32), The son and heir of Ælla, king of Deira, he was kept from his inheritance by Æthelfrith. Edwin sought refuge with R...

Browse by Subject