Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Sanhedrin

(Encyclopedia)Sanhedrin sănhĕdˈrĭn [key], ancient Jewish legal and religious institution in Jerusalem that appears to have exercised the functions of a court between c.63 b.c. and c.a.d. 68. The accounts of it ...

Rebecca

(Encyclopedia)Rebecca or Rebekah both: rēbĕkˈə [key], wife of Isaac and mother of Jacob. One day, as was her custom, she drew water at the city well; while there she showed kindness to Eliezer, Abraham's servan...

Rehovot

(Encyclopedia)Rehovot –bəth [key], town (1994 pop. 84,900), central Israel. It is the trade center for a large citrus-growing area, and its industries include fruit packing and the production of citrus concentra...

fennel

(Encyclopedia)fennel, common name for several perennial herbs, genus Foeniculum vulgare of the family Umbelliferae (parsley family), related to dill. The strawlike foliage and the seeds are licorice-scented and are...

ivy

(Encyclopedia)ivy, name applied loosely to any trailing or climbing plant, particularly cultivated forms, but more popularly a designation for Hedera helix, the so-called English ivy, and some related species of th...

Messiah

(Encyclopedia)Messiah məsīˈəs [key] [Heb.,=anointed], in Judaism, a man who would be sent by God to restore Israel and reign righteously for all humanity. The idea developed among the Jews especially in their a...

Vilnius

(Encyclopedia)Vilnius vĭlˈnēo͝os [key], Rus. Vilna, Pol. Wilno, city (1993 pop. 590,100), capital of Lithuania, on the Neris River. It is a rail and highway junction, a commercial and industrial city, and a cen...

caper

(Encyclopedia)caper, common name for members of the Capparidaceae, a family of tropical plants found chiefly in the Old World and closely related to the family Cruciferae (or Brassicaceae; mustard family). Capparis...

bluebell

(Encyclopedia)bluebell, common name for several plants belonging to completely different classes, particularly the bellflower and the Virginia cowslip, or Virginia bluebell, of the family Boraginaceae (borage famil...

sandbur

(Encyclopedia)sandbur or bur grass, any species of the genus Cenchrus of the family Poaceae (grass family), sandy-soil plants of tropical and temperate regions. At maturity the sharp spines and burlike seeds make t...

Browse by Subject