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mortmain

(Encyclopedia)mortmain môrtˈmānˌ [key] [Fr.,=dead hand], ownership of land by a perpetual corporation. The term originally denoted tenure (see tenure, in law) by a religious corporation, but today it includes o...

church, aggregation of Christian believers

(Encyclopedia)church [probably Gr.,=divine], aggregation of Christian believers. The traditional belief has the church the community of believers, living and dead, headed by Jesus, who founded it in the apostles. T...

Tokarczuk, Olga

(Encyclopedia)Tokarczuk, Olga, 1962–, Polish writer. Widely considered the foremost Polish novelist of her generation, she also is politically active and has been a frequent critic of Poland's right-wing governme...

Dorcas

(Encyclopedia)Dorcas tăbˈĭthə [key] [Gr. Dorcas and Aramaic Tabitha=gazelle], in the Acts of the Apostles, Christian woman of Joppa whom St. Peter raised from the dead. She made clothes for the poor. ...

Echinodermata

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Internal anatomy of a sea star, representative of the phylum Echinodermata Echinodermata əkīˌnōdûrˈmətə [key] [Gr.,=spiny skin], phylum of exclusively marine bottom-dwelling invertebra...

Hemans, Felicia Dorothea (Browne)

(Encyclopedia)Hemans, Felicia Dorothea (Browne) hĕmˈənz [key], 1793–1835, English poet. She married Capt. Alfred Hemans in 1812, had five children, and separated from him in 1818. Although she wrote much mild ...

Sebastian, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Sebastian, Saint, fl. 3d cent.?, Roman martyr. Little is known of his life. According to tradition he was an officer of the Praetorian guards much favored by Emperor Diocletian, who did not know that ...

saprophyte

(Encyclopedia)saprophyte săpˈrəfītˌ [key], any plant that depends on dead plant or animal tissue for a source of nutrition and metabolic energy, e.g., most fungi (molds) and a few flowering plants, such as Ind...

Avalon

(Encyclopedia)Avalon ăvˈəlŏn [key], in Celtic mythology, the blissful otherworld of the dead. In medieval romance it was the island to which the mortally wounded King Arthur was taken, and from which it was exp...

Valhalla

(Encyclopedia)Valhalla or Walhalla both: vălhälˈə, –hălˈə [key], in Norse mythology, Odin's hall for slain heroes. This martial paradise was one of the most beautiful halls of Asgard. The dead warriors, br...