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wake

(Encyclopedia)wake, watch kept over a dead body, usually during the night preceding burial. Ancient peoples in various parts of the world observed the custom. As an ancient ritual, it was rooted in a concern that n...

Timrod, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Timrod, Henry, 1828–67, American poet, b. Charleston, S.C., studied at the Univ. of Georgia. He was known as “the laureate of the Confederacy.” Timrod became editor of the Columbia South Carolin...

Weenix, Jan Baptist

(Encyclopedia)Weenix, Jan Baptist yän bäptĭstˈ vāˈnĭks [key], 1621–63, Dutch painter and engraver. About 1649 he settled in Utrecht, becoming in the same year the master of the painters' guild there. Weeni...

Wilson, Edmund

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, Edmund, 1895–1972, American critic and author, b. Red Bank, N.J. grad. Princeton, 1916. He is considered one of the most important American literary and social critics of the 20th cent. From...

Theseus

(Encyclopedia)Theseus thēˈsyo͞os, –sēəs [key], in Greek mythology, hero of Athens; son of either King Aegeus or Poseidon. Before Aegeus left Troezen he placed his sword and sandals beneath a huge rock and to...

Palestine, region, Asia

(Encyclopedia)Palestine pălˈəstīn [key], historic region on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, at various times comprising parts of modern Israel, the West Bank and Gaza (recognized internationally by ...

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