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sexually transmitted disease

(Encyclopedia)sexually transmitted disease (STD) or venereal disease, term for infections acquired mainly through sexual contact. Five diseases were traditionally known as venereal diseases: gonorrhea, syphilis, an...

novel

(Encyclopedia)novel, in modern literary usage, a sustained work of prose fiction a volume or more in length. It is distinguished from the short story and the fictional sketch, which are necessarily brief. Although ...

fern

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Life cycle of a fern fern, any plant of the division Polypodiophyta. Fern species, numbering several thousand, are found throughout the world but are especially abundant in tropical rain fores...

Icelandic literature

(Encyclopedia)Icelandic literature, the literature of Iceland. For the earliest literature of Iceland, see Old Norse literature. The 20th cent. saw the rise of a more introspective writing, influenced by Nietzsch...

golf

(Encyclopedia)golf, game of hitting a small hard ball with specially made clubs over an outdoor course sometimes (particularly if it is near the coast) called a links. The object is to deposit the ball in a specifi...

Pluto, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Pluto, in astronomy, a dwarf planet and the first Kuiper belt, or transneptunian, object (see comet) to be discovered (1930) by astronomers. Pluto has an elliptical orbit usually lying beyond that of ...

Sparta

(Encyclopedia)Sparta spärˈtə [key], city of ancient Greece, capital of Laconia, on the Eurotas (Evrótas) River in the Peloponnesus. By the 6th cent. b.c., Sparta was the strongest Greek city. In the Persian ...

science fiction

(Encyclopedia)science fiction, literary genre in which a background of science or pseudoscience is an integral part of the story. Although science fiction is a form of fantastic literature, many of the events recou...

Red Cross

(Encyclopedia)Red Cross, international organization concerned with the alleviation of human suffering and the promotion of public health; the world-recognized symbols of mercy and absolute neutrality are the Red Cr...

scene design and stage lighting

(Encyclopedia)scene design and stage lighting, settings and illumination designed for theatrical productions. See also drama, Western; Asian drama; theater; directing; acting. Scene designers in the early 20th ce...