Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

anthropology

(Encyclopedia)anthropology, classification and analysis of humans and their society, descriptively, culturally, historically, and physically. Its unique contribution to studying the bonds of human social relations ...

hieroglyphic

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Examples of hieroglyphics hieroglyphic hīˌrəglĭfˈĭk, hīˌərə– [key] [Gr.,=priestly carving], type of writing used in ancient Egypt. Similar pictographic styles of Crete, Asia Minor,...

Ali, Sabahattin

(Encyclopedia)Ali, Sabahattin, 1907–48, Turkish fiction writer. During his lifetime he was best known for his popular and realistic short stories, many of which were concerned with the plight of Turkey's poor. Hi...

de la Roche, Mazo

(Encyclopedia)de la Roche, Mazo māˈzō də lä rôsh [key], 1885–1961, Canadian novelist, b. Toronto. Her popular novel, Jalna (1927), was followed by a series depicting the history, through 150 years, of the v...

demiurge

(Encyclopedia)demiurge dĕmˈēûrjˌ [key] [Gr.,=workman, craftsman], name given by Plato in a mythological passage in the Timaeus to the creator God. In Gnosticism the Demiurge, creator of the material world, was...

Alleyn, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Alleyn, Edward ălˈĭn [key], 1566–1626, English actor. He was the foremost member of the Admiral's Men, joining the group c.1587, and was the only rival of Richard Burbage. An exceptionally large ...

Damrosch, Walter Johannes

(Encyclopedia)Damrosch, Walter Johannes, 1862–1950, German-American conductor and composer; son of Leopold Damrosch. At his father's death in 1885, he finished the season as conductor of the Metropolitan Opera, N...

Culbertson, Ely

(Encyclopedia)Culbertson, Ely ēˈlē kŭlˈbərtsən [key], 1891–1955, American authority on contract bridge, b. Romania. His father was an American engineer then living in Romania, and his mother was of Russian...

Cooper, Gary

(Encyclopedia)Cooper, Gary, 1901–61, American film actor, b. Helena, Mont., as Frank James Cooper. His first important starring role in A Farewell to Arms (1933) was followed by such films as Mr. Deeds Goes to To...

Chamisso, Adelbert von

(Encyclopedia)Chamisso, Adelbert von (Louis Charles Adelaide de Chamisso) äˈdəlbĕrt fən shəmĭˈsō [key], 1781–1838, German poet and naturalist, b. Château de Boncourt, France. He served as page at the co...