Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

317 results found

ormolu

(Encyclopedia)ormolu ôrˈməlo͞o [key], finish used on metal to imitate gold. It is employed chiefly for furniture mountings. The term originally applied to a coating of ground gold and was extended to alloys of ...

cancan

(Encyclopedia)cancan kănˈkăn [key], a lively French dance marked chiefly by high kicking. It was developed in Paris in the 1830s and became a popular social dance there. By the mid-19th cent. it was incorporated...

Chaleur Bay

(Encyclopedia)Chaleur Bay shəlo͝orˈ [key], inlet of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, c.85 mi (140 km) long and from 15 to 25 mi (24–40 km) wide, between N N.B. and the Gaspé Peninsula, E Que., Canada. It is the subm...

Smith College

(Encyclopedia)Smith College, at Northampton, Mass.; undergraduate for women, graduate coeducational; chartered 1871, opened 1875 through a bequest of Sophia Smith. The first president, Laurenus Clark Seelye, was in...

Urban IV

(Encyclopedia)Urban IV, d. 1264, pope (1261–64), a Frenchman (b. Troyes) named Jacques Pantaléon; successor of Alexander IV. In the pontifical service he was sent on missions into N Germany; then he was made bis...

Marat, Jean Paul

(Encyclopedia)Marat, Jean Paul zhäN pōl märäˈ [key], 1743–93, French revolutionary, b. Switzerland. He studied medicine in England, acquired some repute as a doctor in London and Paris, and wrote scientific ...

Cluny Museum

(Encyclopedia)Cluny Museum, 14th- and 15th-century Gothic and Renaissance structure in Paris, built by Pierre de Chaslus, abbot of Cluny, and rebuilt by Jacques d'Ambroise. The site is that of the ancient Roman bat...

Horatii

(Encyclopedia)Horatii hōrāˈshēī [key], in Roman legend, male triplets who represented Rome in a battle against Alba, which was represented by the Curiatii, also triplets. After two of the Horatii had been kill...

Magdalen Islands

(Encyclopedia)Magdalen Islands ēl-də-lä-mädlĕnˈ [key], group of nine main islands and numerous islets (1991 pop. 13,991), Que., Canada, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence N of Prince Edward Island. They were discove...

Pasquier, Étienne

(Encyclopedia)Pasquier, Étienne ātyĕnˈ päkyāˈ [key], 1529–1615, French jurist and man of letters. After study under Jacques Cujas, Pasquier began his legal career in 1549. Always a confirmed advocate of Ga...