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Barlaam and Josaphat

(Encyclopedia)Barlaam and Josaphat bärˈläəm, jōˈsəfăt [key], legend popular in medieval times. It corresponds in part to the legend of Buddha. Versions of the story have been found in nearly every language....

Rufinus

(Encyclopedia)Rufinus ro͞ofīˈnəs [key], d. 395, Roman statesman, minister of Theodosius I and Arcadius. After Theodosius' death (395) he virtually ruled the Eastern Empire for Arcadius, but his attempt to marry...

sapodilla

(Encyclopedia)sapodilla, the edible fruit of Manilkara zapota (formerly Achras zapota), of the family Sapotaceae. The fleshy, brown fruit is the size of a small tomato, and has the flavor and texture of cinnamon, a...

Rowson, Susanna Haswell

(Encyclopedia)Rowson, Susanna Haswell rouˈsən [key], 1762–1824, American author and actress, b. England. She was brought to America as a young child, but after the Revolution, the family returned to England. He...

Campbell, Robert, Canadian fur trader and explorer

(Encyclopedia)Campbell, Robert, 1808–94, Canadian fur trader and explorer, b. Scotland. Employed as a young man by the Hudson's Bay Company, he was sent in 1834 to the Mackenzie River region, where he remained un...

cane, in botany

(Encyclopedia)cane, in botany, name for the hollow or woody, usually slender and jointed stems of plants (particularly rattan and other bamboos) and for various tall grasses, e.g., sugarcane, sorghum, and also othe...

Cecil, Lord David

(Encyclopedia)Cecil, Lord David sĭsˈəl, sĕs– [key] (Lord Edward Christian David Gascoyne Cecil), 1902–86, English biographer. He was professor of English literature at Oxford (1948–70). Cecil's works are ...

Carriera, Rosalba

(Encyclopedia)Carriera, Rosalba rōzälˈbä kär-rēāˈrä [key], 1675–1757, Italian portrait and miniature painter, one of the greatest of her day. At 24 she had achieved a reputation throughout Italy and abro...

Renard, Jules

(Encyclopedia)Renard, Jules zhül rənärˈ [key], 1864–1910, French writer. His Écornifleur (1892) is a novel about a young writer's selfish exploitation of a bourgeois family. Poil de carotte (1894), an autobi...

Pourbus

(Encyclopedia)Pourbus po͝orˈbəs, –büs [key], family of Flemish painters. Pieter Pourbus, 1510–84, painted portraits and religious subjects. His Last Judgment is in the Bruges Museum; the Metropolitan Museum...