Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Punjabi

(Encyclopedia)Punjabi pŭnjäˈbē [key], language belonging to the Indic group of the Indo-Iranian subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. See Indo-Iranian languages. ...

reed

(Encyclopedia)reed, name used for several plants of the family Graminae (grass family). The common American reed, also called reedgrass and canegrass, is a tall perennial grass (Phragmites australis), widely distri...

Butler, John

(Encyclopedia)Butler, John, 1728–96, Loyalist commander in the American Revolution, b. New London, Conn. He served in the French and Indian Wars and distinguished himself especially by leading the Native American...

Northwest Territory

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Northwest Territory Northwest Territory, first possession of the United States, comprising the region known as the Old Northwest, S and W of the Great Lakes, NW of the Ohio River, and E of the...

Krasnodar Territory

(Encyclopedia)Krasnodar Territory, administrative division (1995 pop. 5,004,200), 32,317 sq mi (83,701 sq km), SE European Russia, extending E from the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea into the Kuban steppe and stradd...

Khoikhoi

(Encyclopedia)Khoikhoi koiˈkoiˌ [key], people numbering about 55,000 mainly in Namibia and in W South Africa. The Khoikhoi have been called Hottentots by whites in South Africa. In language and in physical type t...

Caribs

(Encyclopedia)Caribs kărˈĭbz [key], native people formerly inhabiting the Lesser Antilles, West Indies. They are also known as Island Caribs; their Domincan descendants called themselves Kalinago. They seem to h...

Dustin, Hannah

(Encyclopedia)Dustin, Hannah, b. 1657, d. after 1729, Colonial New England heroine. She was captured (1697) in a Native American raid on Haverhill, Mass., and taken up the Merrimack River to a place near modern Con...

Coolidge Dam

(Encyclopedia)Coolidge Dam, 249 ft (76 m) high, 920 ft (280 m) long, on the Gila River, SE Ariz.; built 1927–28. It irrigates c.100,000 acres (40,470 hectares), half of which are Native American lands in San Carl...

Plant City

(Encyclopedia)Plant City, city (1990 pop. 22,754), Hillsborough co., W central Fla.; inc. 1885. It is a processing, trade, and shipping center located in a growing suburban region. The city is known especially for ...