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decorations, civil and military

(Encyclopedia)decorations, civil and military, honors bestowed by a government to reward services or achievements, particularly those implying valor. The practice of bestowing such decorations dates back at least t...

vicuña

(Encyclopedia)vicuña vĭko͞oˈnyə, vĭkyo͞oˈnə [key], wild South American hoofed mammal, Vicugna vicugna, the smallest member of the camel family. It is 30 in. (75 cm) high at the shoulder, with a long, slend...

Apuleius, Lucius

(Encyclopedia)Apuleius, Lucius ăˌpyo͝olēˈəs [key], c.124–c.170, Latin writer, satirist, rhetorician, b. Hippo (now Bône, Algeria). His narrative romance The Golden Ass or Metamorphoses is the only Latin wo...

Chrysophyta

(Encyclopedia)Chrysophyta krəsŏfˈətə [key], phylum (division) of unicellular marine or freshwater organisms of the kingdom Protista consisting of the diatoms (class Bacillariophyceae), the golden, or golden-br...

Jacobus da Varagine

(Encyclopedia)Jacobus da Varagine jəkōˈbəs dä värăjˈĭnē [key], c.1230–1298, Italian hagiographer, b. Varazze (then Voraggio), near Savona; also known as Jacobus de Voragine. He became a Dominican in 124...

Dura, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Dura, in the Bible, plain, near Babylon, where Nebuchadnezzar set up a golden image.

wool

(Encyclopedia)wool, fiber made from the fleece of the domestic sheep. In the United States, by the Wool Products Labeling Act of 1939, the term wool may be applied only to fabrics made entirely of new wool; t...

Divine Proportion

(Encyclopedia)Divine Proportion: see Golden Section. ...

Ilf, Ilya Arnoldovich

(Encyclopedia)Ilf, Ilya Arnoldovich ēlyäˈ ərnôlˈdəvĭch ēlf [key], 1897–1937, Russian humorist whose original name was Ilya Arnoldovich Fainzilberg. In all his writing he collaborated with Yevgeny Petrovi...

Order of American Knights

(Encyclopedia)Order of American Knights: see Knights of the Golden Circle. ...