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Ordovician period

(Encyclopedia)Ordovician period ôrdəvĭshˈən [key] [from the Ordovices, ancient tribe of N Wales], second period of the Paleozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table) fr...

Chickasaw

(Encyclopedia)Chickasaw chĭkˈəsô [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Muskogean branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They occupied N Mississippi an...

hyssop

(Encyclopedia)hyssop hĭsˈəp [key], aromatic, perennial, somewhat woody herb (Hyssopus officinalis) of the family Labiatae (mint family), native to the Old World but partially naturalized in North America. The pl...

Fraser, Simon, Canadian explorer

(Encyclopedia)Fraser, Simon, 1776–1862, Canadian explorer and fur trader. Born in Bennington, Vt., he was taken to Canada as a child. He entered the service of the North West Company in 1792, and in 1801 he was m...

bittersweet

(Encyclopedia)bittersweet, name for two unrelated plants, belonging to different families, both fall-fruiting woody vines sometimes cultivated for their decorative scarlet berries. One, called also woody nightshade...

fur

(Encyclopedia)fur, hairy covering of an animal, especially the skins of animals that have thick, soft, close-growing hair next to the skin itself and coarser protective hair above it. The underhair is frequently ca...

Hakluyt, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Hakluyt, Richard hăkˈlo͞ot, hăkˈəlwĭt [key], 1552?–1616, English geographer. He graduated in 1574 from Oxford, where he later lectured on geography. A passionate interest in the history of di...

pelican

(Encyclopedia)pelican, common name for a large, gregarious aquatic bird of warm regions, allied to the cormorants and gannets. Pelicans are heavy-bodied, long-necked birds with large, flat bills. They are graceful ...

wintergreen

(Encyclopedia)wintergreen or checkerberry, low evergreen plant (Gaultheria procumbens) of the family Ericaceae (heath family), native to sandy and acid woods (usually of evergreens) of E North America and frequentl...

Spangenberg, August Gottlieb

(Encyclopedia)Spangenberg, August Gottlieb ouˈgo͝ost gôtˈlēp shpängˈənbĕrk [key], 1704–92, a bishop of the Moravian Church and a founder of that church in America, b. Prussia. While at the Univ. of Jena,...