Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Bethel, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Bethel bĕthˈəl [key] [Heb.,=house of God]. 1 Ancient city of central Palestine, the modern Baytin, the West Bank, N of Jerusalem. According to the Bible, where it is frequently mentioned, it was or...

Bethesda, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Bethesda bĕthĕzˈdə, –thĕsˈ– [key], pool in Jerusalem, perhaps the one discovered under the Crusaders' Church of St. Anne near St. Stephen's Gate in the northeast corner of the city. Accordin...

Baruch, book of the Septuagint and of the Apocrypha

(Encyclopedia)Baruch, early Jewish book included in the Septuagint, but not included in the Hebrew Bible and placed in the Apocrypha in the Authorized Version. It is named for a Jewish prince Baruch (fl. 600 b.c.),...

Bodoni, Giambattista

(Encyclopedia)Bodoni, Giambattista jämbät-tēˈstä bōdōˈnē [key], 1740–1813, Italian printer b. Piedmont. He was the son of a printer and worked for a time at the press of the Vatican. Under the patronage ...

Bryant, William Cullen

(Encyclopedia)Bryant, William Cullen brīˈənt [key], 1794–1878, American poet and newspaper editor, b. Cummington, Mass. The son of a learned and highly respected physician, Bryant was exposed to English poetry...

tent

(Encyclopedia)tent, portable shelter of canvas, skins, felt, matting, or other material usually supported by poles and used chiefly by nomads, hunters, and campers. Tents have been used by pastoral peoples since an...

Clarke, Arthur C.

(Encyclopedia)Clarke, Arthur C. (Sir Arthur Charles Clarke), 1917–2008, British science fiction writer. During World War II he served as a radar instructor and aviator in the Royal Air Force. After the war he obt...

Grant, Mudcat

(Encyclopedia) Grant, Mudcat, 1935-2021, African-American baseball player, b. Lacoochee, Fl., as James Timothy Grant Jr. As a teenager, Grant played baseball, footba...

hexameter

(Encyclopedia)hexameter hĕksămˈətər [key] [Gr.,=measure of six], in prosody, a line to be scanned in six feet (see versification). The most celebrated hexameter measure is dactylic, which was the meter for mos...

Belfast

(Encyclopedia)Belfast bĕlfăstˈ [key], Gaelic Béal Feirste, city (2021 est. pop. 635,000), capital of No...