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diminishing returns, law of

(Encyclopedia)diminishing returns, law of, in economics, law stating that if one factor of production is increased while the others remain constant, the overall returns will relatively decrease after a certain poin...

wages

(Encyclopedia)wages, payment received by an employee in exchange for labor. It may be in goods or services but is customarily in money. The term in a broad sense refers to what is received in any way for labor, but...

ignis fatuus

(Encyclopedia)ignis fatuus ĭgˈnĭs făchˈo͞oəs [key]: see will-o'-the-wisp. ...

leprechaun

(Encyclopedia)leprechaun lĕpˈrəkŏn [key], Irish fairy represented as a tiny old man. Leprechauns are mischievous and elusive creatures, said to possess buried crocks of gold, the location of which they will rev...

Romeoville

(Encyclopedia)Romeoville, village (1990 pop. 14,074), Will co., NE Ill., on the Des Plaines River, with access to the Illinois and Mississippi Canal and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal; inc. 1901. A suburb of t...

dower

(Encyclopedia)dower, that portion of a deceased husband's real property that a widow is legally entitled to use during her lifetime to support herself and their children. A wife may claim the dower if her husband d...

Thessalonians

(Encyclopedia)Thessalonians thĕsˌəlōˈnēənz [key], two letters of the New Testament. First Thessalonians was written by St. Paul from Corinth, c.a.d. 51, and addressed to the newly founded church at Thessalon...

carpe diem

(Encyclopedia)carpe diem kärˈpĕ dēˈĕm [key], a descriptive term for literature that urges readers to live for the moment [from the Latin phrase “seize the day,” used by Horace]. The theme, which was widel...

cargo cult

(Encyclopedia)cargo cult, native religious movement found in Melanesia and New Guinea, holding that at the millennium the spirits of the dead will return and bring with them cargoes of modern goods for distribution...

baldness

(Encyclopedia)baldness, thinning or loss of hair as a result of illness, functional disorder, or hereditary disposition; also known as alopecia. Male pattern baldness, a genetic trait, is the most common cause of b...