Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Cephas

(Encyclopedia)Cephas sēˈfəs [key], in the Gospels, Jesus' name for St. Peter. It is a transliteration of the Aramaic word for rock, and identical in meaning with “Peter” in Greek. ...

Karadjordjević

(Encyclopedia)Karadjordjević or Karageorgevich both: kărəjôrˈjəvĭch [key], Serbian dynasty, descended from Karageorge (Karadjordje). Its ruling members were Alexander, prince of Serbia, and kings Peter I, Al...

John of Procida

(Encyclopedia)John of Procida prōˈchēdä [key], c.1225–c.1302, Italian conspirator, lord of the island of Procida. He was an ardent supporter of the Hohenstaufen cause in Sicily and attempted to secure the isl...

Romanov

(Encyclopedia)Romanov rōˈmənŏf, Rus. rəmäˈnəf [key], ruling dynasty of Russia from 1613 to 1917. The name Romanov was adopted in the 16th cent. by a family of boyars (great nobles) that traced its beginning...

Keats, Ezra Jack

(Encyclopedia)Keats, Ezra Jack, 1916–83, American author and illustrator of children's books, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., as Jacob Ezra Katz. During the Great Depression, he painted murals for the Works Progress Administr...

Gilbreth, Frank Bunker

(Encyclopedia)Gilbreth, Frank Bunker, 1868–1924, b. Fairfield, Me., and his wife, Lillian Moller Gilbreth, 1878–1972, b. Oakland, Calif., pioneering American industrial engineers. He was a largely self-taught e...

petrel

(Encyclopedia)petrel pĕˈtrəl [key], common name given various oceanic birds belonging, like the albatross and the shearwater, to the order known commonly as tube-nosed swimmers. There are two families of petrels...

Anna, czarina of Russia

(Encyclopedia)Anna (Anna Ivanovna) änˈnə ĭväˈnôvnə [key], 1693–1740, czarina of Russia (1730–40), daughter of Ivan V and niece of Peter I (Peter the Great). On the death of her distant cousin, Peter II,...

Petrozavodsk

(Encyclopedia)Petrozavodsk pyĕtˌrəzəvôtskˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 269,500), capital of Karelia, NW European Russia, a port on Lake Onega. It produces lumbering equipment and has shipyards, fish canneries, saw...

Zaandam

(Encyclopedia)Zaandam zändämˈ [key], municipality (1991 est. pop. 130,000), North Holland prov., W Netherlands, near Amsterdam. Manufactures include food products, chemicals, lumber, and machinery. Peter I of Ru...

Browse by Subject