Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Akihito

(Encyclopedia)Akihito äkēˈhētō [key], 1933–, emperor of Japan (1989–2019). As crown prince, he traveled widely, visiting Great Britain, Canada, the United States, and many countries of Asia and South Ameri...

emerald

(Encyclopedia)emerald, the green variety of beryl, of which aquamarine is the blue variety. Chemically, it is a beryllium-aluminum silicate whose color is due to small quantities of chromium compounds. The emerald ...

snuff

(Encyclopedia)snuff, preparation of pulverized tobacco used by sniffing it into the nostrils, chewing it, or placing it between the gums and the cheek. The blended tobacco from which it is made is often aged for tw...

plateau

(Encyclopedia)plateau, elevated, level or nearly level portion of the earth's surface, larger in summit area than a mountain and bounded on at least one side by steep slopes, occurring on land or in oceans. Some pl...

Prince, Thomas, 1687–1758, American clergyman, scholar, and historian

(Encyclopedia)Prince, Thomas, 1687–1758, American clergyman, scholar, and historian, b. Sandwich, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1709. From 1709 to 1717 he was abroad; he studied in London and preached at a Congregational...

partridge

(Encyclopedia)partridge, common name applied to various henlike birds of several families. The true partridges of the Old World are members of the pheasant family (Phasianidae); the common European or Hungarian spe...

range

(Encyclopedia)range, large area of land unsuited to cultivation but supporting native grasses and other plants suitable for livestock grazing. Principal areas in the western hemisphere are the pampas of South Ameri...

ocelot

(Encyclopedia)ocelot äsˈəlŏtˌ, ōˈsə– [key], medium-sized cat, Leopardus pardalis, of Central and South America. It is occasionally found as far N as Texas. The ocelot has a yellow-brown coat with black sp...

Onychophora

(Encyclopedia)Onychophora ŏnˌəkŏfˈərə [key], small phylum with about 70 species of animals that are often called “missing links” between annelids (phylum Annelida) and arthropods (phylum Arthropoda). The...

Viñoly, Rafael

(Encyclopedia)Viñoly, Rafael, 1944–, Uruguayan-American architect, b. Montevideo. Even before receiving his architectural degrees (1968, 1969) from the Univ. of Buenos Aires, he and six associates founded Argent...