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birthmark

(Encyclopedia)birthmark, pigmented maldevelopment of the skin that varies in size, either present at birth or developing later. Birthmarks may appear as moles (melanocytic nevi) that vary in color from light brown ...

Faust

(Encyclopedia)Faust yōˈhän [key], fl. 16th cent., learned German doctor who traveled widely, performed magical feats, and died under mysterious circumstances. According to legend he had sold his soul to the devi...

part of speech

(Encyclopedia)part of speech, in traditional English grammar, any one of about eight major classes of words, based on the parts of speech of ancient Greek and Latin. The parts of speech are noun, verb, adjective, a...

Pershing, John Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Pershing, John Joseph pûrˈshĭng [key], 1860–1948, American army officer and commander in chief of the American Expeditionary Force in World War I, b. Linn co., Mo. After graduating (1886) from We...

bat

(Encyclopedia)bat, winged mammal of the order Chiroptera, which includes 900–1,000 species classified in about 200 genera and 17 families. Bats range in size from a wingspread of over 5 ft (150 cm) to a wingsprea...

Hawkes, John

(Encyclopedia)Hawkes, John (John Clendennin Burne Hawkes, Jr.), 1925–98, American writer, b. Stamford, Conn., grad. Harvard, 1949. He taught English at Brown Univ. after 1958. Hawkes is considered one of the most...

Margaret

(Encyclopedia)Margaret, 1930–2002, British princess, second daughter of King George VI and sister of Queen Elizabeth II, b. Glamis, Scotland. In 1960 she married a commoner, the photographer Antony Armstrong-Jone...

Timaeus , Greek historian

(Encyclopedia)Timaeus tīmēˈəs [key], c.356–c.260 b.c., Greek historian of Tauromenium (now Taormina), Sicily. Son of the tyrant of the city, he was banished by Agathocles either in 317 or 312 b.c. and lived f...

black-eyed Susan

(Encyclopedia)black-eyed Susan or yellow daisy, North American daisylike wildflower (Rudbeckia hirta) of the family Asteraceae (aster family) with yellow rays and a dark brown center. It is a weedy biennial or annu...

Briggs, Le Baron Russell

(Encyclopedia)Briggs, Le Baron Russell, 1855–1934, American educator, b. Salem, Mass., grad. Harvard (B.A., 1875; M.A., 1882). As a teacher at Harvard he developed, with Barrett Wendell, a prescribed and widely i...