Columbia Encyclopedia

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carpentry

(Encyclopedia)carpentry, trade concerned with constructing wood buildings, the wooden portions of buildings, or the temporary timberwork used during the construction of buildings. It comprises the larger and more s...

teacher training

(Encyclopedia)teacher training, professional preparation of teachers, usually through formal course work and practice teaching. Although the concept of teaching as a profession is fairly new, most teachers in indus...

prostitution

(Encyclopedia)prostitution, act of granting sexual access for payment. Although most commonly conducted by females for males, it may be performed by females or males for either females or males. Prostitution in A...

Freemasonry

(Encyclopedia)Freemasonry, teachings and practices of the secret fraternal order officially known as the Free and Accepted Masons, or Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Because of its identification with 19th-cent...

Calhoun, John Caldwell

(Encyclopedia)Calhoun, John Caldwell kălˌho͞onˈ [key], 1782–1850, American statesman and political philosopher, b. near Abbeville, S.C., grad. Yale, 1804. He was an intellectual giant of political life in his...

school

(Encyclopedia)school, term commonly referring to institutions of pre-college formal education. It also properly includes colleges, universities, and many types of special training establishments (see adult educatio...

Bank of the United States

(Encyclopedia)Bank of the United States, name for two national banks established by the U.S. Congress to serve as government fiscal agents and as depositories for federal funds; the first bank was in existence from...

Mexican War

(Encyclopedia)Mexican War, 1846–48, armed conflict between the United States and Mexico. The United States had won an easy victory, partly because Mexico, torn by civil strife, could not present a united fron...

commerce, in economics

(Encyclopedia)commerce, traffic in goods, usually thought of as trade between states or nations. Engaged in by all peoples from the earliest times, it has been carried on in some areas and by some peoples more than...

civil service

(Encyclopedia)civil service, entire body of those employed in the civil administration as distinct from the military and excluding elected officials. The term was used in designating the British administration of I...