Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Annapolis Convention

(Encyclopedia)Annapolis Convention, 1786, interstate convention called by Virginia to discuss a uniform regulation of commerce. It met at Annapolis, Md. With only 5 of the 13 states—Delaware, New Jersey, New York...

mealybug

(Encyclopedia)mealybug, common name for certain unarmored scale insects that exude a granular white secretion, giving them a mealy appearance. Many are common greenhouse and crop pests. Adult females are wingless, ...

model and modeling

(Encyclopedia)model and modeling, in painting, the use of light and shade to simulate volume in the representation of solids. In sculpture the terms denote a technique involving the use of a pliable material such a...

Loos, Adolf

(Encyclopedia)Loos, Adolf äˈdôlf lōs [key], 1870–1933, Austrian architect. His rationalist design theories were strongly influenced by his stay in the United States from 1893 to 1896, where he admired America...

octave

(Encyclopedia)octave ŏkˈtĭv [key] [Lat.,=eighth], in music, the perfect interval between the 1st and 8th tones of the diatonic scale. The upper note of a perfect octave has a frequency of vibration twice that of...

match

(Encyclopedia)match, small stick whose chemically coated tip bursts into flame when struck on a rough surface. Before the introduction of the match, fire was made by friction methods using the stick and the groove,...

Abadan

(Encyclopedia)Abadan ăbədănˈ, äbädänˈ [key], city, Khuzestan prov., SW Iran, on Abadan Island, in the delta of the Shatt al Arab, at the head of the Persian Gulf. It is the term...

Aroostook War

(Encyclopedia)Aroostook War, Feb.–May, 1839, border conflict between the United States and Canada. In 1838, Maine and New Brunswick both claimed territory left undetermined on the U.S.-Canadian border, including ...

Klinger, Max

(Encyclopedia)Klinger, Max klĭngˈər [key], 1857–1920, German painter, sculptor, and etcher. Before 1886 he produced cycles of original and somewhat morbidly imaginative etchings, such as Deliverances of Sacri...

Piranesi, Giovanni Battista

(Encyclopedia)Piranesi, Giovanni Battista jōvänˈnē bät-tēˈstä pēränāˈzē [key], 1720–78, Italian etcher and architect. The greater part of his life was spent in Rome, where he made etchings of the bui...