Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Pentecostalism

(Encyclopedia)Pentecostalism, worldwide 20th–21st-century Christian movement that emphasizes the experience of Spirit baptism, generally evidenced by speaking in tongues (glossolalia). The name derives from Pente...

alcoholism

(Encyclopedia)alcoholism, 04/00 disease characterized by impaired control over the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Alcoholism is a serious problem worldwide; in the United States the wide availability of alcoho...

Parliament

(Encyclopedia)Parliament, legislative assembly of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Over the centuries it has become more than a legislative body; it is the sovereign power of Great Britain,...

South Carolina

(Encyclopedia)CE5 South Carolina, state of the SE United States. It is bordered by North Carolina (N), the Atlantic Ocean (SE), and, across the Savannah River, Georgia (SW). World War II and the postwar pe...

Irish Land Question

(Encyclopedia)Irish Land Question, name given in the 19th cent. to the problem of land ownership and agrarian distress in Ireland under British rule. The long-term result of conquest, confiscation, and colonization...

Independent Treasury System

(Encyclopedia)Independent Treasury System, in U.S. history, system for the retaining of government funds in the Treasury and its subtreasuries independently of the national banking and financial systems. In one for...

obesity

(Encyclopedia)obesity, condition resulting from excessive storage of fat in the body. Obesity is now usually defined using a formula known as the body mass index (BMI), in which weight (in kilograms) is divided by ...

Mary I, 1516–58, queen of England

(Encyclopedia)Mary I (Mary Tudor), 1516–58, queen of England (1553–58), daughter of Henry VIII and Katharine of Aragón. During the spread of Protestantism in the reign of her half-brother, Edward VI, Mary w...

Palestine Liberation Organization

(Encyclopedia)Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), coordinating council for Palestinian organizations, founded (1964) by Egypt and the Arab League and initially controlled by Egypt. Composed of various guerrill...

Birmingham, city, England

(Encyclopedia)Birmingham bûrˈmĭngəm [key], city and metropolitan borough (2021 city pop. 2,606,374; met...