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Marais des Cygnes

(Encyclopedia)Marais des Cygnes mĕrˈē də sēn [key], river, c.140 mi (230 km) long, rising in E central Kans., SW of Topeka, and flowing SE into W Mo. to join the Little Osage River and form the Osage River. Su...

Cerdic

(Encyclopedia)Cerdic kûrˈdĭk, sûrˈ– [key], d. 534, traditional founder of the kingdom of Wessex. A Saxon, he and his son Cynric landed on the southern coast of England in 495. Little is certain about him exc...

Beer, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Beer bēˈər [key], in the Bible. 1 Unidentified place, to which Gideon's son Jotham fled. 2 Unidentified place, E of the Dead Sea between the Arnon and the Jordan, where Israel camped and dug a well...

teraphim

(Encyclopedia)teraphim tĕrˈəfĭm [key], in the Bible, a plural term of uncertain origin referring either to household idols or to idols set up in a local sanctuary, or consulted for purposes of divination. Littl...

Wynants, Jan

(Encyclopedia)Wynants or Wijnants, Jan both: yän vīˈnänts [key], c.1625–84, Dutch landscape painter. A follower of Ruisdael, he worked chiefly in Haarlem. The little figures in his paintings are the work of o...

Qeshm

(Encyclopedia)Qeshm or Qishm both: kēˈshəm [key], largest island of Iran, c.500 sq mi (1,300 sq km), S Iran, in the Strait of Hormuz. It is mostly rocky and has little vegetation; dates and fruits are raised. Qe...

pillar

(Encyclopedia)pillar, freestanding columnar supporting member. It is a general term, little used as an exact architectural definition except as applied to an upright support in the medieval styles, consisting of an...

Cotton Belt

(Encyclopedia)Cotton Belt, former agricultural region of the SE United States where cotton was the main cash crop throughout the 19th and much of the 20th cent. Located on the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains and o...

Clark, William

(Encyclopedia)Clark, William, 1770–1838, American explorer, one of the leaders of the Lewis and Clark expedition, b. Caroline co., Va.; brother of George Rogers Clark. He was an army officer (1792–96), serving ...

hawthorn

(Encyclopedia)hawthorn, any species of the genus Crataegus of the family Rosaceae (rose family), shrubs and trees widely distributed in north temperate climates and especially common in E North America. They usuall...