Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

212 results found

Rehoboth, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Rehoboth rĭhōˈbəth [key] [Heb.,=broad places]. 1 As occurring in the Book of Genesis, well dug by Isaac. 2 City of Assyria, or possibly a part of Nineveh, mentioned in Genesis. 3 In the Bible, a p...

atomism

(Encyclopedia)atomism, philosophic concept of the nature of the universe, holding that the universe is composed of invisible, indestructible material particles. The theory was first advanced in the 5th cent. b.c. b...

Abimelech

(Encyclopedia)Abimelech əbĭmˈəlĕk [key], in the Bible. 1 Name or title of a king of Gerar who had various dealings with Abraham and Isaac. 2 See Ahimelech (1.) 3 Son of Gideon. He murdered his 70 brothers, exc...

Banks, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Banks, Thomas, 1735–1805, English neoclassical sculptor, studied at the Royal Academy. A traveling scholarship enabled him to study in Rome from 1772 to 1779. In 1781 he went to Russia, where Cather...

Comnenus

(Encyclopedia)Comnenus kŏmnēˈnəs [key], family name of several Byzantine emperors—Isaac I, Alexius I, John II, Manuel I, Alexius II, and Andronicus I—who reigned in the 11th and 12th cent., and of the histo...

Abraham

(Encyclopedia)Abraham [according to the Book of Genesis, Heb.,=father of many nations] or Abram āˈbrəm [key] [Heb.,=exalted father], in the Bible, progenitor of the Hebrews; in the Qur'an, ancestor of the Arabs....

Lalande, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Lalande, Jean (Saint John Lalande) zhäN läläNdˈ [key], d. 1646, French Jesuit missionary in Canada and New York, one of the Jesuit Martyrs of North America. He came to the New World in 1644. He ac...

newton, unit of measure

(Encyclopedia)newton, abbr. N, unit of force in the mks system of units, which is based on the metric system; it is the force that produces an acceleration of 1 meter per second per second when exerted on a mass of...

Barre

(Encyclopedia)Barre băˈrē [key], city (2020 pop. 8,378), Washington co., central Vt., SE of Montpelier; ...

Shelby

(Encyclopedia)Shelby, city (1990 pop. 14,669), seat of Cleveland co., W N.C., in a fertile piedmont farming (cotton, grain, soybeans, livestock) area; inc. 1843. There is dairy processing, and plastic and metal pro...

Browse by Subject