Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Tierra del Fuego

(Encyclopedia)Tierra del Fuego tyĕˈrä dĕl fwāˈgō [key], [Span.,=land of fire], archipelago, 28,476 sq mi (73,753 sq km), off S South America, separated from the mainland by the Strait of Magellan. It consist...

Labille-Guiard, Adélaide

(Encyclopedia)Labille-Guiard, Adélaide ädāläēdˈ läbēˈyə-gēärˈ [key], 1749–1803, French painter. Labille-Guiard was a painter of the French nobility before the Revolution and survived to paint the cit...

prion

(Encyclopedia)prion prēˈŏn [key], abnormal form of a protein found in mammals, now generally believed to cause a group of diseases known as prion diseases or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, which are ...

legislature

(Encyclopedia)legislature, representative assembly empowered to enact statute law. Generally the representatives who compose a legislature are constitutionally elected by a broad spectrum of the population. While...

Sandwich, John Montagu, 4th earl of

(Encyclopedia)Sandwich, John Montagu, 4th earl of, 1718–92, British politician. He served variously as secretary of state (1763–65, 1770–71) and first lord of the admiralty (1748–51, 1763, 1771–82). He ea...

Destouches, Philippe Néricault

(Encyclopedia)Destouches, Philippe Néricault fēlēpˈ nārēkōˈ dāto͞oshˈ [key], 1680–1754, French dramatist. He was known for his moralistic comedies. Le Glorieux (1732, tr. 1791), his masterpiece, treats...

gull

(Encyclopedia)gull, common name for an aquatic bird of the family Laridae, which also includes the tern and the jaeger. It is found near all oceans and many inland waters. Gulls are larger and bulkier than terns, a...

Tewfik Pasha

(Encyclopedia)Tewfik Pasha (Muhammad Tewfik) toufēkˈ päshäˈ [key], 1852–92, khedive of Egypt (1879–92). He acceded to office when his father, Ismail Pasha, was deposed. In 1880, Tewfik accepted joint Frenc...

Guinicelli, Guido

(Encyclopedia)Guinicelli or Guinizelli, Guido gwēˈdō gwēnēchĕlˈlē; gwēnētsĕlˈlē [key], c.1230–1276?, Italian poet. In his best verse he wrote of love as an inner spirituality or nobility, disassociat...

Bruce, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Bruce, Edward, d. 1318, Scottish king of Ireland, brother of Robert I of Scotland. He aided his brother in the war for independence from England and in 1315 was declared heir to Robert's throne. With ...