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nonconformists

(Encyclopedia)nonconformists, in religion, those who refuse to conform to the requirements (in doctrine or discipline) of an established church. The term is applied especially to Protestant dissenters from the Chur...

merger

(Encyclopedia)merger, in corporate business, fusion of two or more corporations by the transfer of all property to a single corporation. The remaining corporation continues in existence, having absorbed the other(s...

bankruptcy

(Encyclopedia)bankruptcy, in law, settlement of the liabilities of a person or organization wholly or partially unable to meet financial obligations. The purposes are to distribute, through a court-appointed receiv...

representation

(Encyclopedia)representation, in government, the term used to designate the means by which a whole population may participate in governing through the device of having a much smaller number of people act on their b...

Anne, queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland

(Encyclopedia)Anne, 1665–1714, queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1702–7), later queen of Great Britain and Ireland (1707–14), daughter of James II and Anne Hyde; successor to William III. Queen Anne ...

duress

(Encyclopedia)duress dyo͝oˈrĭs, do͝oˈ–, do͝orĕsˈ [key], in law, actual or threatened violence or imprisonment, by reason of which a person is forced to enter into an agreement or to perform some other act...

Durkee, John

(Encyclopedia)Durkee, John dûrˈkē [key], 1728–82, American pioneer and Revolutionary officer, b. Windham, Conn. Durkee, a leading member of the Connecticut Sons of Liberty, led the group that forced Jared Inge...

Dos Passos, John Randolph

(Encyclopedia)Dos Passos, John Randolph dəs păsˈəs [key], 1844–1917, American lawyer, b. Philadelphia. He was admitted to the bar in 1865 and moved (1867) to New York City, where he conducted his practice. Hi...

Duffy, Sir Charles Gavan

(Encyclopedia)Duffy, Sir Charles Gavan, 1816–1903, Irish-Australian statesman. He founded (1842) the Nation, a patriotic Irish literary journal. Duffy agitated for the repeal of the union of Ireland and England, ...

coup

(Encyclopedia)coup ko͞o [key] [Fr.,=blow], among Native North Americans of the Plains culture, a war honor, awarded for striking an enemy in such a way that it was considered an extreme act of bravery. Generally, ...