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batholith

(Encyclopedia)batholith, enormous mass of intrusive igneous rock, that is, rock made of once-molten material that has solidified below the earth's surface (see rock). Batholiths usually are granitic (see granite) i...

Ramadan

(Encyclopedia)Ramadan rämädänˈ, rămˌədänˈ [key], in Islam, the ninth month of the Muslim year, during which all Muslims must fast during the daylight hours. Indulgence of any sort is forbidden during the f...

Adventists

(Encyclopedia)Adventists ădˈvĕnˌtĭsts [key] [advent, Lat.,=coming], members of a group of related religious denominations whose distinctive doctrine centers in their belief concerning the imminent second comin...

Dionysius Periegetes

(Encyclopedia)Dionysius Periegetes pĕˌrēəjēˈtēz [key], fl. c.300? b.c., Greek poet. He wrote the poem Description of the Inhabited Earth, which was popular in antiquity. ...

alkaline earths

(Encyclopedia)alkaline earths ălˈkəlīn, –lĭn [key], oxides of the alkaline-earth metals, especially of calcium, strontium, and barium. They are not readily soluble in water and form solutions less basic than...

Schiehallion

(Encyclopedia)Schiehallion shĭhălˈyən [key], mountain, 3,547 ft (1,081 m) high, Perth and Kinross, central Scotland, near Loch Rannoch. In 1774, Nevil Maskelyne experimented there to determine the density of th...

Trophonius

(Encyclopedia)Trophonius trəfōˈnēəs [key], in Greek mythology, famous architect. He and his brother Agamedes built the temple of Apollo at Delphi and the treasury of King Hyrieus. According to one legend, Trop...

red shift

(Encyclopedia)red shift or redshift, in astronomy, the systematic displacement of individual lines in the spectrum of a celestial object toward the red, or longer wavelength, end of the visible spectrum. The effect...

aurora borealis

(Encyclopedia)aurora borealis ôstrāˈlĭs [key], luminous display of various forms and colors seen in the night sky. The aurora borealis of the Northern Hemisphere is often called the northern lights, and the aur...

Lucifer

(Encyclopedia)Lucifer lo͞oˈsĭfər [key] [Lat.,=light-bearing], in Christian tradition a name for Satan. In the Vulgate, Lucifer served as a translation of the Hebrew epithet meaning “Day Star,” a name associ...