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operetta

(Encyclopedia)operetta ŏpərĕtˈə [key], type of light opera with a frivolous, sentimental story, often employing parody and satire and containing both spoken dialogue and much light, pleasant music. In the earl...

Swabian League

(Encyclopedia)Swabian League, association of Swabian cities and other powers in SW Germany for the protection of trade and for regional peace. The Swabian League of 1488–1534 is the best known of the long series ...

Francis Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Francis Joseph or Franz Joseph, 1830–1916, emperor of Austria (1848–1916), king of Hungary (1867–1916), nephew of Ferdinand, who abdicated in his favor. His long reign began in the stormy days o...

Scheler, Max

(Encyclopedia)Scheler, Max mäks shāˈlər [key], 1874–1928, German philosopher. He taught at the universities of Jena (1901–7) and Munich (1907–10), where he was influenced by Franz Brentano and the followe...

tellurium

(Encyclopedia)tellurium tĕlo͝orˈēəm [key] [Lat.,=earth], semimetallic chemical element; symbol Te; at. no. 52; at. wt. 127.60; m.p. 450℃; b.p. 990℃; sp. gr. 6.24 at 20℃; valence −2, +4, or +6. Telluriu...

Hurston, Zora Neale

(Encyclopedia)Hurston, Zora Neale, 1891?–60, African-American writer, b. Notasulga, Ala. She grew up in the pleasant all-black town of Eatonville, Fla., and graduated from Barnard College, where she studied with ...

secession, in art

(Encyclopedia)secession, in art, any of several associations of progressive artists, especially those in Munich, Berlin, and Vienna, who withdrew from the established academic societies or exhibitions. The artists ...

Siebold

(Encyclopedia)Siebold tāˈōdōr ĕrnst [key], 1804–85, also a physician, was one of the foremost biologists of his time. He specialized in the comparative anatomy of invertebrates and wrote the first volume (18...

caricature

(Encyclopedia)caricature, a satirical drawing, plastic representation, or description which, through exaggeration of natural features, makes its subject appear ridiculous. Although 16th-century Northern painters, s...

Reformed Church in America

(Encyclopedia)Reformed Church in America, Protestant denomination founded in colonial times by settlers from the Netherlands and formerly known as the Dutch Reformed Church. The Reformed Church in Holland emerged i...