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daylight saving time

(Encyclopedia)daylight saving time (DST), time observed when clocks and other timepieces are set ahead so that the sun will rise and set later in the day as measured by civil time. The amount of daylight on a given...

Prakrit

(Encyclopedia)Prakrit präˈkrĭt [key], any of a number of languages belonging to the Indic group of the Indo-Iranian subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Indo-Iranian). The Prakrits are usually...

week

(Encyclopedia)week, period of time shorter than the month, commonly seven days. The ancient Egyptians used a 10-day period, as did the French under the short-lived French Revolutionary calendar. In many regions a f...

Dexippus

(Encyclopedia)Dexippus (Publius Herennius Dexippus) dĕksĭpˈəs [key], fl. 253–276, Greek historian of the Roman period. He commanded Greek troops in an unsuccessful attempt to halt a Gothic invasion in 262. Hi...

Dioscorides, Pedanius

(Encyclopedia)Dioscorides, Pedanius pĭdānˈēəs dīəskôrˈĭdēz [key], fl. 1st cent. a.d., Greek physician of Anazarbus, Cilicia. While traveling as a surgeon in the Roman army, he collected information on th...

Henry of Huntingdon

(Encyclopedia)Henry of Huntingdon, d. 1155, English chronicler, archdeacon of Huntingdon. His Historia Anglorum is important not because it gives many new facts but because it was much used by later writers. It is ...

Hermonthis

(Encyclopedia)Hermonthis hərmŏnˈthĭs [key], ancient city, N Egypt, 8 mi (13 km) S of Thebes. It was founded in prehistoric times and was prominent during the period of Roman supremacy. Originally the shrine of ...

Buto

(Encyclopedia)Buto byo͞oˈtō [key], ancient city, N Egypt, in the Nile delta. The precise location is uncertain. Capital of Lower Egypt in prehistoric times (before 3100 b.c.), it had a temple dedicated to the se...

Isis, in Egyptian religion

(Encyclopedia)Isis īˈsĭs [key], nature goddess whose worship, originating in ancient Egypt, gradually extended throughout the lands of the Mediterranean world during the Hellenistic period and became one of the ...

heptarchy

(Encyclopedia)heptarchy hĕpˈtärkē [key] [Gr.,=seven-kingdom], name traditionally applied to the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England in the period prior to the Danish conquests of the 9th cent. The term was probably...