Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

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...

blowfly

(Encyclopedia)blowfly, name for flies of the family Calliphoridae. Blowflies are about the same size as, and resemble, the housefly; because they are usually metallic blue or green they are also called bluebottle o...

Joseph, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Joseph, Saint, husband of the Virgin Mary, a carpenter, a descendant of the house of David. He was apparently dead at the time of the Passion, for his last appearance in the Gospels is at the finding ...

naval stores

(Encyclopedia)naval stores, term initially applied to the cordage, mask, resin, tar, and timber used in building wooden sailing ships; it now designates the products obtained from the pine tree, e.g., pine oil, pit...

Karloff, Boris

(Encyclopedia)Karloff, Boris kärˈlôf, –lŏf [key], 1887–1969, Anglo-American actor, b. Dulwich, England; his original name was William Henry Pratt. A distinguished character actor with a superb speaking voic...

Böcklin, Arnold

(Encyclopedia)Böcklin or Boecklin, Arnold both: ärˈnôlt bökˈlēn [key], 1827–1901, Swiss painter. Most of his life was spent in Italy. With Feuerbach he led the group of painters known as “German Romans,�...

Judgment Day

(Encyclopedia)Judgment Day or Doomsday, central point of early Christian, Jewish, and Islamic eschatology, sometimes called the Day of the Lord. References to it throughout the Bible are numerous. The Christian bel...

Unknown Soldier, Tomb of the

(Encyclopedia)Unknown Soldier, Tomb of the, form of memorial to a nation's war dead, adopted by many countries after World War I. The Tomb of the Unknowns, a memorial to the American dead of World Wars I and II, th...

eel

(Encyclopedia)eel, common name for any fish in the order Anguilliformes, and characterized by a long snakelike body covered with minute scales embedded in the skin. Eels lack the hind pair of fins, adapting them fo...

Justin Morgan

(Encyclopedia)Justin Morgan, 1792–1821, American horse, the foundation sire of the Justin Morgan breed of horses. Originally called “Figure,” the stallion was renamed for his first owner, Justin Morgan (1747�...