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patristic literature

(Encyclopedia)patristic literature, Christian writings of the first few centuries. They are chiefly in Greek and Latin; there is analogous writing in Syriac and in Armenian. The first period of patristic literature...

Spanish Main

(Encyclopedia)Spanish Main, mainland of Spanish America, particularly the coast of South America from the isthmus of Panama to the mouth of the Orinoco River. Spanish treasure fleets, sailing home from the New Worl...

holly

(Encyclopedia)holly, common name for members of the Aquifoliaceae, a family of widely distributed trees and shrubs, most numerous in Central and South America. The evergreen English holly (Ilex aquifolium), the com...

Alegría, Ciro

(Encyclopedia)Alegría, Ciro sēˈrō älāgrēˈä [key], 1909–67, Peruvian novelist. Imprisoned several times for his political activities, Alegría was exiled to Chile in 1934. He gained fame with his novel La...

Euphorion

(Encyclopedia)Euphorion yo͞ofôrˈēən [key], c.275–187? b.c., Greek poet, b. Chalcis. He was made (c.223 b.c.) librarian at Antioch by Antiochus the Great and held the position until his death. Highly regarded...

Grotefend, Georg Friedrich

(Encyclopedia)Grotefend, Georg Friedrich gāˈôrkh frēˈdrĭkh grōˈtəfĕnt [key], 1775–1853, German archaeologist and philologist. He specialized in Latin and Italian and wrote works on the Umbrian and Oscan...

Grace, William Russell

(Encyclopedia)Grace, William Russell, 1832–1904, American financier, b. Queenstown, Ireland. He was in business in England and Peru before establishing (1865) W. R. Grace & Company in New York City. After Per...

Gildas, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Gildas, Saint gĭlˈdəs [key], d. 570, British historian, possibly a Welsh monk. Shortly before 547 he wrote the De excidio et conquestu Britanniae, a Latin history of Britain dealing with the Roman ...

Genovesi, Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Genovesi, Antonio äntôˈnyō jānōvĕˈzē [key], 1712–69, Italian philosopher and economist, a pioneer in writing philosophy in Italian instead of in Latin. Genovesi introduced new ideas, partic...

frijole

(Encyclopedia)frijole frēhōˈlē [key] [Span. fríjol ], in Mexico and the Spanish-American countries, any cultivated bean of the genus Phaseolus. The term frijole refers to the small, flat, black bean that ran...