Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

303 results found

clothes moth

(Encyclopedia)clothes moth, name for several species of moths of the family Tineidae, whose larvae feed on wool, furs, feathers, upholstery, and a variety of animal products. Clothes moths are of Old World origin. ...

Křenek, Ernst

(Encyclopedia)Křenek, Ernst krĕˈnĕk, Czech kerzhĕˈnĕk [key], 1900–1991, Austrian-American composer, b. Vienna. to Czech parents. He studied in Vienna and Berlin, and in the early 1920s he composed chamber ...

Woden

(Encyclopedia)Woden ōˈdĭn [key], in Germanic religion and mythology, the supreme god. His cult, although widespread among the Germanic tribes, was sometimes subordinated to that of his son Thor. With his brother...

Adonis, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Adonis ədōˈnĭs, ədŏnˈĭs [key], in Greek mythology, beautiful youth beloved by Aphrodite and Persephone. He was born of the incestuous union of Myrrha (or Smyrna) and Cinyras, king of Cyprus. A...

trichina

(Encyclopedia)trichina trĭkīˈnə [key], common name for species of roundworm of the phylum Nematoda. The species Trichinella spiralis is an important parasite, occurring in rats, pigs, and man, and is responsibl...

puberty

(Encyclopedia)puberty pyo͞oˈbərtē [key], period during which the onset of sexual maturity occurs. It usually takes place between the ages of 10 and 15 in both sexes but sometimes occurs as early as 7 or 8 years...

wave, in physics

(Encyclopedia)wave, in physics, the transfer of energy by the regular vibration, or oscillatory motion, either of some material medium or by the variation in magnitude of the field vectors of an electromagnetic fie...

animal

(Encyclopedia)animal, any member of the animal kingdom (kingdom Animalia), as distinguished from organisms of the plant kingdom (kingdom Plantae) and the kingdoms Fungi, Protista, and Monera in the five-kingdom sys...

Schoenberg, Arnold

(Encyclopedia)Schoenberg, Arnold ärˈnôlt shönˈbĕrkh [key], 1874–1951, Austrian composer, b. Vienna. Before he became a U.S. citizen in 1941 he spelled his name Schönberg. He revolutionized modern music by ...

Gaelic literature

(Encyclopedia)Gaelic literature, literature in the native tongue of Ireland and Scotland. Since Scots Gaelic became separate from Irish Gaelic only in the 17th cent., the literature is conventionally divided into O...

Browse by Subject