Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

269 results found

Colosseum

(Encyclopedia)Colosseum or Coliseum both: kŏləsēˈəm [key], Ital. Colosseo, common name of the Flavian Amphitheater in Rome, near the southeast end of the Forum, between the Palatine and Esquiline hills. Begun ...

Charron, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Charron, Pierre pyĕr shärôNˈ [key], 1541–1603, French Roman Catholic theologian and philosopher. He was an important contributor to 17th-century theological thought, combining an individual form...

Grail, Holy

(Encyclopedia)Grail, Holy, a feature of medieval legend and literature. It appears variously as a chalice, a cup, or a dish and sometimes as a stone or a caldron into which a bleeding lance drips. It was identified...

Jos

(Encyclopedia)Jos jôs [key], city (1991 est. pop. 182,000), central Nigeria, on the Jos Plateau. It is a mining center for tin ore, which is processed in the city, and a collection point for hides and skins and fo...

Mark, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Mark, Saint [Lat. Marcus], Christian apostle, traditional author of the 2d Gospel (see Mark, Gospel according to). His full name was John Mark. His mother, named Mary, had a house in Jerusalem, which ...

Abd al-Mumin

(Encyclopedia)Abd al-Mumin äbˌdäl-mŭˈmĭn [key], d. 1163, founder of the empire of the Almohads. He was the favorite of the Almohad religious reformer Ibn Tumart and became (1130) his successor. Even before hi...

Syriac

(Encyclopedia)Syriac sērˈēăkˌ [key], late dialect of Aramaic, which is a West Semitic language (see Afroasiatic languages). The early Christians of Mesopotamia and Syria gave the Greek name Syriac to the Arama...

Valerian, Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Valerian (Publius Licinius Valerianus) vəlērˈēən [key], d. after 260, Roman emperor (253–60). He held important posts, both civil and military, under the emperors Decius and Gallus. After the s...

Wenceslaus, Saint, duke of Bohemia

(Encyclopedia)Wenceslaus, Saint wĕnˈsəsləs [key], d. 929, duke of Bohemia. He was reared in the Christian faith by his grandmother, St. Ludmilla. He became duke at an early age, and during his minority his moth...

circumcision

(Encyclopedia)circumcision sûrˌkəmsĭzhˈən [key], operation to remove the foreskin covering the glans of the penis. It dates back to prehistoric times and was widespread throughout the Middle East as a religio...