Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

morning glory

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Morning glory, Convolvulus arvensis morning glory, common name for members of the Convolvulaceae, a family of herbs, shrubs, and small trees (many of them climbing forms) inhabiting warm regio...

Nahuatlan

(Encyclopedia)Nahuatlan näˈwŏtˌlən [key], group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan branch of the Aztec-Tanoan linguistic stock of North and Central America. A Nahuatlan language of great historical importance is ...

Athabascan

(Encyclopedia)Athabascan both: –păsˈ– [key], group of related Native American languages forming a branch of the Nadene linguistic family or stock. In the preconquest period, Athabascan was a large and extensi...

jumping mouse

(Encyclopedia)jumping mouse, rodent slightly larger than the common mouse, found in North America and N Asia, also called the kangaroo mouse. Its long hind legs and tail enable it to leap distances up to 12 ft (3.7...

jackrabbit

(Encyclopedia)jackrabbit, popular name for several hares of W North America, characterized by very long legs and ears. Jackrabbits are powerful jumpers and fast runners. In normal progress leaps are alternated with...

conquistador

(Encyclopedia)conquistador kŏnkwĭsˈtədôr, Span. kōng-kēˌstäᵺôrˈ [key], military leader in the Spanish conquest of the New World in the 16th cent. Francisco Pizarro, the conqueror of Peru, and Hernán C...

North American Native art

(Encyclopedia)North American Native art, diverse traditional arts of Native North Americans. In recent years Native American arts have become commodities collected and marketed by nonindigenous Americans and Europe...

Baja California, peninsula, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Baja California Span.: bäˈhä kälēfōrˈnyä [key] or Lower California, peninsula, c.760 mi (1,220 km) long and from 30 to 150 mi (48–241 km) wide, NW Mexico, separating the Gulf of California f...

North, George

(Encyclopedia)North, George, fl. 1561–81, English gentleman, man of letters, and diplomat. A minor figure in the court of Queen Elizabeth I, he served as an ambassador to Sweden in 1564 and translated or adapted ...

Browse by Subject