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Benedictus

(Encyclopedia)Benedictus bĕnədĭkˈtəs [key], hymn of Zachary, taken from Luke 1.68–79. It begins in Latin, “Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel” [blessed be the Lord God of Israel]. It is used at funerals and ...

Byrd, William, English composer

(Encyclopedia)Byrd, William, 1543–1623, English composer, organist at Lincoln Cathedral and, jointly with Tallis, at the Chapel Royal. Although Roman Catholic, he composed anthems and services for the English Chu...

Brathwaite, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Brathwaite, Richard brăthˈwāt [key], 1588?–1673, English poet. His Barnabae Itinerarium, a doggerel travelogue of provincial England, was written first in Latin (1636) and later published with an...

Carissimi, Giacomo

(Encyclopedia)Carissimi, Giacomo jäˈkōmō kärēsˈsēmē [key], 1605–74, Italian composer. Most of his life was spent in Rome, where he wrote chamber cantatas in a style that lasted for over a century. His La...

White, T. H.

(Encyclopedia)White, T. H. (Terence Hanbury White), 1906–64, British author, b. Bombay (now Mumbai), India. His best-known work, the tetralogy The Once and Future King (1939–58), is a dramatic and delightfully ...

Monboddo, James Burnett, Lord

(Encyclopedia)Monboddo, James Burnett, Lord, 1714–99, English writer, b. Scotland. A pioneer in anthropology, he wrote Of the Origin and Progress of Language (6 vol., 1774–92), in which he anticipated Darwin an...

mikado

(Encyclopedia)mikado mĭkäˈdō [key], a former title of the emperor of Japan used chiefly in the English language. ...

Jackson, Abraham Valentine Williams

(Encyclopedia)Jackson, Abraham Valentine Williams, 1862–1937, American Orientalist, b. New York City. Teaching at Columbia (1895–1935), he was a great authority on ancient Persian religion, language, and litera...

Otomí

(Encyclopedia)Otomí ōtōmēˈ [key], a Macro-Otomanguean language spoken by Native Americans of W central Mexico. See Native American languages. ...

Zend

(Encyclopedia)Zend zĕnd [key], term formerly used for the language of the Avesta (see Zoroastrianism). ...