Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Méhul, Étienne Nicolas

(Encyclopedia)Méhul, Étienne Nicolas ātyĕnˈ nēkôläˈ māülˈ [key], 1763–1817, French operatic composer of outstanding importance during the Revolutionary period. Méhul's masterpiece was the biblical op...

Acominatus, Michael

(Encyclopedia)Acominatus, Michael kōnēāˈtēz [key], c.1140–1220, Byzantine writer and metropolitan of Athens. Acominatus' speeches, poems, and letters give much information about medieval Athens, which he, a ...

Lurgan

(Encyclopedia)Lurgan lûrˈgən [key], town (1991 pop. 21,905), Co. Ulster, central Northern Ireland, near Lough Neagh. A textile center since the 17th cent., Lurgan is also a market hub with factories that produce...

prelude

(Encyclopedia)prelude prāˈlo͞od [key], musical composition of no universal style, usually for the keyboard. It was originally used to precede a ceremony and later a second, often larger piece. Early preludes rep...

Preti, Mattia

(Encyclopedia)Preti, Mattia mät-tēˈä prĕˈtē [key], 1613–99, Italian baroque painter, called Il Calabrese for his birthplace. Preti went to Rome c.1630 and studied with Lanfranco. His most dramatic works we...

Caerleon

(Encyclopedia)Caerleon kärlēˈən [key], town, Newport, SE Wales, on the Usk River. Militarily important ...

Camagüey, province, Cuba

(Encyclopedia)Camagüey kämägwāˈ, kämäwāˈ [key], province (1995 est. pop. 840,000), E central Cuba. Camagüey is the capital. The area is a vast prairie and is Cuba's largest province. The major economic ac...

Bosse, Abraham

(Encyclopedia)Bosse, Abraham äbrä-ämˈ bôs [key], 1602–76, French engraver and painter. He studied art in Paris and became a teacher of perspective in the Académie royale. A prolific and skillful worker, he ...

Bradley, James

(Encyclopedia)Bradley, James, 1693–1762, English astronomer. His discovery of the aberration of light, announced in 1728, provided an important line of evidence for the motion of the earth around the sun. In 1742...

velocity

(Encyclopedia)velocity, change in displacement with respect to time. Displacement is the vector counterpart of distance, having both magnitude and direction. Velocity is therefore also a vector quantity. The magnit...