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Sogdiana

(Encyclopedia)Sogdiana sŏgdēāˈnə [key], part of the ancient Persian Empire in central Asia between the Oxus (Amu Darya) and Jaxartes (Syr Darya) rivers. Corresponding to the later emirate of Bukhara and region...

Donatus

(Encyclopedia)Donatus (Aelius Donatus) ēˈlēəs dōnätˈəs [key], fl. 4th cent. a.d., Roman grammarian; teacher of St. Jerome. His only well-known work, the Ars grammatica [elements of grammar], was throughout ...

conjunction, part of speech

(Encyclopedia)conjunction, in English, part of speech serving to connect words or constructions, e.g., and, but, and or. Most languages have connective particles similar to English conjunctions. In some languages w...

Alexius II

(Encyclopedia)Alexius II (Alexius Comnenus), 1168–83, Byzantine emperor (1180–83), son and successor of Manuel I. His mother, Mary of Antioch, who was regent for him, alienated the population by favoring the La...

Cheke, Sir John

(Encyclopedia)Cheke, Sir John chēk [key], 1514–57, English scholar. As professor of Greek at Cambridge he taught Roger Ascham and later was tutor to Edward VI. A Protestant, he was imprisoned by Mary I. Although...

Higden, Ranulf

(Encyclopedia)Higden, Ranulf, d. c.1364, English chronicler. He wrote the Polychronicon, a universal history, interesting chiefly for its display of the geographical, scientific, and historical knowledge of its tim...

Grimald, Nicholas

(Encyclopedia)Grimald, Grimalde, or Grimoald, Nicholas all: grĭmˈôld [key], 1519?–1562?, English poet. He contributed 40 poems to the first edition (1557) of Tottel's miscellany, of which “A Funeral Song upo...

anagram

(Encyclopedia)anagram [Gr.,=something read backward], rearrangement of the letters of a word or words to make another word or other words. A famous Latin anagram was an answer made out of a question asked by Pilate...

Froben, Johannes

(Encyclopedia)Froben, Johannes yōhäˈnəs frōˈbən [key], 1460–1527, German printer. He established himself at Basel and there in 1516 printed the Greek New Testament, edited and translated into Latin by Eras...

Calverley, Charles Stuart

(Encyclopedia)Calverley, Charles Stuart, 1831–84, English poet and translator. Expelled from Oxford for a youthful prank, he earned academic honors at Cambridge. He became famous for the wit and erudition of his ...