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loom

(Encyclopedia)loom, frame or machine used for weaving; there is evidence that the loom has been in use since 4400 b.c. Modern looms are of two types, those with a shuttle (the part that carries the weft through the...

Tagore, Sir Rabindranath

(Encyclopedia)Tagore, Sir Rabindranath rəbĭnˈdrənät təgôrˈ, täko͝orˈ [key], 1861–1941, Indian author and guru, b. Calcutta (now Kolkata). Tagore came from a wealthy Bengali family. He went abroad in 18...

Poussin, Nicolas

(Encyclopedia)Poussin, Nicolas nēkôläˈ [key], 1594–1665, French painter, b. Les Andelys. Poussin was considered the greatest of living painters by his contemporaries. Although he spent most of his life in Ita...

pragmatic sanction

(Encyclopedia)pragmatic sanction, decision of state dealing with a matter of great importance to a community or a whole state and having the force of fundamental law. The term originated in Roman law and was used o...

Clinton, Sir Henry

(Encyclopedia)Clinton, Sir Henry, 1738?–1795, British general in the American Revolution, b. Newfoundland; son of George Clinton (1686?–1761). He was an officer in the New York militia and then in the Coldstrea...

Farragut, David Glasgow

(Encyclopedia)Farragut, David Glasgow fărˈəgət [key], 1801–70, American admiral, b. near Knoxville, Tenn. Appointed a midshipman in 1810, he first served on the frigate Essex, commanded by David Porter, his s...

Hidalgo y Costilla, Miguel

(Encyclopedia)Hidalgo y Costilla, Miguel mēgĕlˈ ēᵺälˈgō ē kōstēˈyä [key], 1753–1811, Mexican priest and revolutionary, a national hero. A creole intellectual, he was influenced by the French Revolut...

Talmud

(Encyclopedia)Talmud tălˈməd [key] [Aramaic from Heb.,=learning], in Judaism, vast compilation of the Oral Law with rabbinical elucidations, elaborations, and commentaries, in contradistinction to the Scriptures...

trust

(Encyclopedia)trust, in law, arrangement whereby property legally owned by one person is administered for the benefit of another. Three parties are ordinarily needed for the relation to arise: the settlor, who bequ...

tower

(Encyclopedia)tower, structure, the greatest dimension of which is its height. Towers have belonged to two general types. The first embodies practical uses such as defense (characteristic of the Middle Ages), to ca...