Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Savigny, Friedrich Karl von

(Encyclopedia)Savigny, Friedrich Karl von frēˈdrĭkh kärl fən säˈvĭnyē [key], 1779–1861, German jurist and legal historian, a founder of the historical school of jurisprudence. He taught (1810–42) Roman...

apartment house

(Encyclopedia)apartment house, building having three or more dwelling units. Numerous early examples of this form of dwelling have been found in remains of Roman and medieval cities and in the 17th-cent. Pueblo vil...

gentian

(Encyclopedia)gentian jĕnˈshən [key], common name for some members of the Gentianaceae, a family of widely distributed herbs, chiefly perennial and fall blooming. There are many types of gentians (genus Gentiana...

Romance languages

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Romance languages, group of languages belonging to the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Italic languages). Also called Romanic, they are spoken by about 670 millio...

Aguirre, Lope de

(Encyclopedia)Aguirre, Lope de lōˈpā ᵺā agēˈrā [key], c.1510–1561, Spanish rebel and adventurer in colonial South America. He was often involved in violence and sedition before joining (1560) the expedit...

frozen foods

(Encyclopedia)frozen foods, products of the food preservation process of freezing. This process has been employed by people in the Arctic from prehistoric times. Eskimos throw fresh-caught fish on the ice to freeze...

Evangelical and Reformed Church

(Encyclopedia)Evangelical and Reformed Church, Protestant denomination formed by the merger (1934) of the Reformed Church in the United States and the Evangelical Synod of North America. Both of these bodies had or...

Carboniferous period

(Encyclopedia)Carboniferous period kärbənĭfˈərəs [key], fifth period of the Paleozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table), from 350 to 290 million years ago. The pl...

Triassic period

(Encyclopedia)Triassic period trīăsˈĭk [key], first period of the Mesozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table) from 205 to 250 million years ago. Throughout the Triassi...

Fraser, river, Canada

(Encyclopedia)Fraser, chief river of British Columbia, Canada, c.850 mi (1,370 km) long. It rises in the Rocky Mts., at Yellowhead Pass, near the British Columbia–Alta. line and flows northwest through the Rocky ...

Browse by Subject